Chapter 17
He awoke with a start at the sound of
the doorbell ringing. He had fallen asleep at the kitchen table and now glanced
up at the clock to realize that a couple of hours had passed by. He stretched
and walked through the kitchen, the doorbell rang again and he quickened his
pace hoping that they wouldn't wake up Grace.
"Hey bro!" Aaron said as he
flung the door back and jumped into Nick's waiting arms.
Nick took him into his arms and held
him tight. He'd always been closest to his little brother and he hadn't seen
him in months. He pulled him back out in front of him and couldn't believe how
much he'd grown. He hugged him again and ruffled his hair with his fingers.
"Damn dude... where'd that
skinny, scrawny little kid I always knew go?"
Aaron laughed and punched him
playfully in the side.
Nick dodged his punch and put him in a
headlock tickling him under the arms until he begged him to stop.
"Happy Thanksgiving Nick."
Nick looked up from where he was
tickling Aaron to see Angel standing in the doorway now carrying a suitcase and
Aaron's duffel bag. She dropped them in the doorway and gave Aaron a nasty
look. "Carry your own damn bag next time."
Nick released his little brother after
giving him a playful punch in the ribs and took Angel into a hug. "Hey
sis. I'm glad you guys are here."
He ushered the two of them into the
living room out of the cold and fixed them each a mug of hot cocoa before
sitting down on the couch between them.
"So," He said looking back
and forth at the two of them, "what have you two been up to?"
They sat and talked for a little
while, Aaron told Nick about his new album and his recording studio in Orlando
and Angel talked about her modeling career out in LA. Nick sat and listened. He
couldn't help but be impressed at how mature the two of them were. Yeah Aaron
could act like a little kid at times, but it sounded like he finally had his
head in the right place.
"Well," Nick sighed after
they'd been chatting for a while. "It is Thanksgiving, so we should at
least do something festive!" He reached over to the coffee table and
flipped on the tv to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. He remembered watching
this with his family every year as a child and he smiled as he watched Aaron
and Angel talking back and forth about the character floats and the
cheerleaders, the bands and even making fun of Al Roker. He'd actually gotten
to be a part of the parade one year with the Backstreet Boys. It had been an
experience he'd never forget.
It was Aaron who broke the silence
that had settled in the room.
"Where's Grace?" He asked
after a little while of watching the parade. "I thought she loved this
thing."
"She's still sleep..."
Nick's words were cut off by the harsh
sounds of wretching coming through the baby monitor on the coffee table.
"Damn!" He cried as he leapt
of the couch and ran up the stairs as fast as his feet could carry him. He
flung the door of the bedroom open to find her lying in the bed gasping for air
between each bout of dry heaves. He scooped her up in his arms and carried her
into the bathroom where he sat on the floor with her and held her tight.
"It's okay baby," He said
gently rubbing her back as she wretched once more and was finally able to vomit
into the toilet, "I'm here... it's okay."
"Do you need anything?"
Angel asked from the doorway trying to make herself useful.
"Yeah actually," Nick
steadied his voice in an attempt to remain calm after what he'd just seen.
"Call 911... she's throwing up blood."
Angel ran from the bathroom hollering
down the stairs for Aaron to call for an ambulance. Nick could do nothing but
sit there and hold her in his arms. He was terrified.
"Please don't die!" He found
himself saying... "Please don't die."
***
