Chapter Twenty~Four
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Nick awoke to the sounds of birds chirping in his ear and the sweet smell of
perfume in his nose. "Damn" he swore softly, remembering last night. "Now
she must really think I'm a basket-case." He gently moved his arm out from
underneath her and carried her upstairs to the spare bedroom. After he set
Aileen on the bed, he sat beside her and pulled the covers over her.
"You're so beautiful." he said quietly. "Why did this have to happen, why
do I feel this way?" Nick went downstairs to retrieve his drawing tablet.
On his way back upstairs he looked over his last few drawings. They were
all of Aileen in various poses. Smiling at a concert, laughing at a picnic
they all had before this happened, swimming in the ocean behind his house,
dancing at one of her shows. He'd been drawing her for a few months now.
He sighed and sat down on the bed beside her. Nick caressed her face and
brushed the hair out of her eyes. Then he carefully began to draw her
sleeping form.
When Aileen woke up, it took her a few minutes to orient herself. Then she remembered last night. She must have fallen asleep when Nick was crying. It was hard to say who fell asleep first, actually. He wouldn't let her go and she didn't want to leave him alone until he was asleep. She stretched and looked around the room. Her eyes fell on the drawing pad on the nightstand. "I guess it's time to find out what this is all about, huh?" she asked, picking up the book. After she freshened up in the bathroom, she headed downstairs. "Wow, that's quite a spread!" she exclaimed, looking at the table. Nick had set out what looked to be everything from his cupboard for breakfast. "Well, I didn't know what you liked for breakfast, so I made a little bit of everything." he said shyly. He helped her into her seat and sat down across from her. "I'm sorry about last night." he said. "I hate to cry in front of people, but I seem to be doing a lot of it lately." Aileen took a deep breath. "Is what's in here some of what's bothering you?" He looked up and back down again, quickly. "You saw them?" "I saw them in the hospital, Nick. I came down one day and you were asleep. I noticed your book and flipped through it." she said. "I'm sorry." he said again. "The drawings are beautiful, Nick, really excellent." He kept his head down. "Thanks." he mumbled. Aileen put her hand under his chin and lifted his head up. "Am I that wonderful a subject or is something going on here?" she asked. He looked at her and was just about to say something when a wave of pain hit his head. Nick cried out and put his head in his hands. "Nick, are you alright?" Nick just sat there,rocking back and forth holding his head. "Nick, what's wrong?" Aileen was terrified, she didn't know that he was still having the headaches. Nick pushed her away when she tried to comfort him. "I'm okay." he said slowly, finally, as the pain faded. She looked at him curiously, "Have you been having these headaches ever since you came home?" "Just a few times, it's okay, really." He tried to keep her mind off her earlier question. "I'm fine, really." Nick stood up and gave her a hug. "Thanks for being with me last night, it helped a lot." She studied his face. "Are you sure? I'm heading to the hospital to see Kevin and I can drive you..." "No, really." Nick flashed her one of his famous grins. "Go see Kev and let me know how he's doing okay?" Aileen promised to call him later and left for the hospital, more confused than ever. |