Chapter 33
"We have been
spending far too much time sitting in hospital waiting rooms lately,"
Kevin said wryly, as he tried to patiently wait for news on Nick and Tara.
"They all look the
same though, you ever noticed?" AJ remarked, picking up a magazine from
the table. "Same magazines, same tacky chairs, same wallpaper."
"Why is it taking so
long?" Brian asked softly, ignoring AJ's ramblings. "Shouldn't they
be able to tell us something by now?" The color had returned to Brian's
face, somewhat, since the explosion in the hotel room, but his mood was still
strangely subdued.
"I'm sure a doctor
will be out soon," Kevin said reassuringly.
"Nicky's going to be
all right, you saw, he just got his hands cut up," Howie said confidently.
"What about
Howie pursed his lips,
and shook his head slowly. "I don't know about
"She was only trying
to help us," Brian said sadly, running a hand through his hair. "What
if we went and got her killed? What do we do? She was just trying to
help."
"
"No!" Brian
said sharply, appearing insulted by the suggestion. "My best friend is in
here, I'm not going anywhere!"
"I just want to make
sure you're all right too…."
"I'm fine,"
Brian insisted. "I just want to hear that Nick…and Tara…are going to be
ok."
"Nick Carter?"
A doctor walked out from behind a pair of swinging doors, looking at the group
expectantly. He smiled wryly when they all jumped up to run to him, "your
friend will be just fine."
"Really?" Brian
asked, sighing with relief. "Thank god."
"He's getting a few
stitches on his hands from the glass shards we had to pull out, but I see no
reason why you can't take him home tonight. He'll most likely be out in a few
minutes."
"If Nick is so fine,
why did he pass out before, then?" AJ asked, his eyes narrowed. "He
just conked out."
"Nick lost a fair
amount of blood due to the cuts in his hands, but I suspect he most likely
passed out from shock," the doctor explained. "From what he has told
us, he was in rather poor condition already, that, on top of the shock, is probably
why he fainted. It is important that he sleeps and eats normally from here on
out, his body needs its strength to recover properly from this."
"A lot has happened
to Nick over the past couple of weeks, I don't know if anyone could remain all
that strong given what's been going on," Howie said softly.
"Yes, he explained
that to us, as he was in some pain from those stitches," the doctor
nodded. "I understand it has been difficult for him, but he still will
need his strength."
"He's been getting
better," Kevin said, looking at the doctor. "Much better,
lately."
"His nerves are
still extremely frayed, as you will see when he is discharged," the doctor
sighed heavily.
"What do you
mean?" Brian asked, his eyes widening.
"The moment Nick
awoke, he asked about the condition of the young woman who accompanied him,
Tara? A nurse told him what she knew of her condition, and he became
hysterical. I'm afraid we had to sedate him."
"Sedate him?"
"We could not risk
having Nick rip his stitches, either those in his hands or," the doctor
made a face, "elsewhere. The sedation should keep him somewhat subdued
until the morning, at which time I hope he will be in a better mindset."
"What about
"No, she is
alive," the doctor said quickly, smiling wryly when Kevin sighed with
relief. "However, her condition as of yet is still uncertain."
"What's uncertain
mean?" Brian asked quickly, his face losing what little color it had
regained over the past few hours.
"
"Oh god," Brian
gasped, covering his mouth with his hand.
"Hopefully, she will
wake up within the next couple of hours, and we will be better able to assess
her condition then."
"So you're telling
us you don't know how she is," Kevin said grimly.
"I am telling you
that she is alive," the doctor said solemnly. "Beyond that, I cannot
say as of yet. She has lost a lot of blood, even superficial head wounds tend
to bleed quite a lot, and it is impossible to truly evaluate her condition
while she is unconscious."
"Jesus, no wonder
Nick lost it," AJ sighed, and shook his head. "Poor Nicky…"
"I'm fine."
The group turned around
at the weak voice behind them, all of them smiling at the sight of Nick being
rolled out in a wheelchair.
"Thank god you're
all right," Brian said, running to his best friend and bending down to
give him a hug. "How do you feel?"
"Fuzzy," Nick
said, returning the smile lightly. "Did they tell you about
"They just
did," Kevin said softly. "Are you ok?"
"No," he
replied, his lower lip trembling as he looked at Kevin. "She's in bad
shape, Kev, and it's all my fault." He ran a hand over his head, frowning
when he was unable to catch his hair between his fingers with the thick
bandages covering his hands.
"It's not your
fault, Nicky, nobody thinks that," Howie said quickly, shaking his head.
"I think that,"
Nick told him, frowning. "They wanna make me go back to the hotel, but I
wanna stay here with her…can you make them let me stay here?" He asked,
his eyes meeting Kevin's. "Please?"
Kevin turned to look at
the doctor, sighing when the man shook his head no. "I think you should
get some sleep back at the hotel tonight, Nick."
"I'm not gonna
sleep," Nick tried to sound forceful, making a face when he found himself
unable to summon the strength to properly argue. "No matter how much they
drug me, I still know what's happened."
"He's got a
point," Kevin said, looking at the doctor again.
"I love her, don't
make me leave her," Nick begged, struggling to stand up. He took a shaky
step towards the doctor, "please don't?"
The doctor sighed, and
nodded. "All right. But you can't stay here alone, I do need someone
watching you tonight."
"I'll stay,"
Kevin said quickly, before gesturing for Nick to get back in the wheelchair.
"We can keep this, right? Until he leaves?"
"Yes, I'd rather he
stays in it as much as possible," the doctor nodded. "I will be back
as soon as I have some more news for you, or when your friend is assigned a
room."
"Thanks," Kevin
said, watching the doctor leave. "Nick? You ok?"
The second the doctor had
left Nick began to cry, looking near comical with his white wrapped hands
covering his face. "No," he mumbled through the gauze, shaking his
head. "Look what I did."
"She's gonna be ok,
Nicky," Kevin said reassuringly. "All the doctor said was that he
doesn't know."
"Not knowing
sucks," he said bluntly, sniffling as he looked at Kevin. "When are
we gonna know?"
"Soon, Nicky,
soon."
****************************************************************
"She looks
awful," Nick said for the hundredth time, trying to touch
"She's going to be
all right," Kevin gave his standard answer, although he had to admit he
was starting to wonder how truthful that answer was.
"Can I take them
off, you think? Just so I can touch her," Nick yanked on the gauze on his
hands, frowning when it refused to budge. His coordination was slowly returning
to normal as the effects of the sedative wore off, but he was still rather
fuzzy, and his speech was still slurred.
"I don't think
that's a good idea, Nick, you have stitches under there," Kevin said,
fighting back a yawn. "Maybe you should try to get some sleep?"
"Can't," Nick's
wheelchair was pulled up to the side of
"I'm awake,"
"
"My eyes won't
open," she said weakly, raising a hand to touch him. "How's that,
convince you I'm awake?"
"Your face is
swollen," Nick said, touching her cheek lightly.
"So that's why I
feel like someone over my head with a truck,"
"The sugar container
exploded, do you remember?" Nick asked, watching as she struggled to open
her eyes further to look at him. "Don't hurt yourself, baby."
"I'm gonna go get
the doctor," Kevin told them, standing up and leaving the room.
"I want to see
you,"
"Kevin."
"He's here?"
"He stayed here with
me last night," Nick said, taking her hand in his and squeezing it as well
as he could with his bandages. "I wasn't gonna leave you."
"What's on your
hands, Nicky? They feel funny,"
"Same as what you
got all over your head and face," Nick replied, bending down to kiss her
hand. "I'm so glad you're awake, baby."
"I was asleep?"
"Knocked out,
yeah," Nick sighed, and frowned. "That bastard got to you in our
hotel room, just like you thought he would."
"You have to go get
him, Nick, before anyone else gets hurt,"
"I can't leave
you!" Nick argued, shaking his head. "Not when you're like
this."
"Nick, he was going
to threaten all of you, and then he was going to kill you,"
"I can't leave
you," Nick repeated, looking at her. "Baby, this is my fault…"
"Then you need to
make it right!"
"I don't want to
lose you…"
"And I don't want to
lose YOU,"
Nick bit his lip, and
nodded slowly, "you sure you'll be ok here by yourself?"
"Positive,"
"I love you,"
Nick whispered, standing up to place a kiss on her forehead. "Still trying
to help us, even when you're like this."
"I love you too,
Kaos."
Nick sighed, and kissed
her again, feeling like leaving her was going to be one of the hardest things
he'd ever done. "Baby?"
"Yeah Nicky?"
He leaned forward to
whisper in her ear, running a hand along the side of her face as he spoke.
"I'm gonna go stop this guy, then we're gonna get you out of here. And
then…" he paused to kiss her forehead again.
"Then what?"
"Then I'm going to
make love to you until you can't see straight, and hold you all night long
afterwards. I've never been able to hold you after, you realize that?"
Nick sighed, and stood up, looking down at her sadly. "What a messed up
relationship we've had."
"We'll make it
right, Nick. Just go and get this guy. Jessica. Jessica's the key, I know
it,"
"Better be. I'll be
right back," Nick said, and turned to leave. "Wait," he turned
back, and shook his head. "I don't want to say that, do I."
"Never say
that,"
"So what do I say,
then?"
"Just say I love
you."
Nick smiled, and nodded.
"I love you, Tara," he said softly.
***