Chapter 5
Nick climbed out of bed in his hotel room and walked out to the
balcony. He'd tossed and turned all night long worrying about how Grace was
doing and he'd barely gotten a wink of sleep. He looked out at the gorgeous
view of Perth, Australia his hotel afforded him and thought about all the fun
the two of them would be having together if she was here with him. He sat down,
his back against the wall and stared out into the darkness waiting for the sun
to rise. They had done this every morning on their trip to Hawaii. Snuck down
to the beach together and laid beneath the stars until the sun came up.
He flipped open the cover of his cellphone and glanced at the time, it
read 6:57 am which meant that it was 6:57 pm in Kentucky... not too late to
call. And yet he knew that she would not be up for conversation. He clicked #2
on his speed dial to make sure that their home phone rang and not her cellphone
and took the chance. It rang several times before anyone answered.
"Yello." A voice came through the line. He recognized it
instantly as Kevin.
"Hey Kev, it's Nick... how's my girl?" He asked skipping the
small talk and getting straight to the point.
"Hey Nick. Man, I'll be honest, today was rough. She's definitely
been as sick as I've ever seen her. They gave her some meds and she's sleeping
now."
Nick sighed. She'd been afraid that this treatment would make her much
more sick than she'd been in the past. He wished more than anything that he
could be there with her at that moment, taking care of her.
"Are you guys making sure she gets enough fluids? Oh, And she
likes to have her feet rubbed when she feels really sick... it helps to ease
the nausea." Nick added feeling like he needed to be there to make sure
she was being properly taken care of.
"Well I'm here at the house, I just got back, but they're keeping
her in the hospital at least until tomorrow to make sure she's getting enough
fluids. Kelly and Angel are there with her."
"Oh. Okay." Nick was worried now. This was the first time
they'd ever kept her at the hospital after treatments. They'd talked about it
before and even suggested it once when she first started but they'd always
managed to get through them on their own.
"You guys having a good time?" Kevin asked trying to take
Nick's mind off of the negative if only for a moment.
"Yeah. It's beautiful here... but I wish Gracie was here to see it
with me." As much as Nick tried to enjoy his time in the beautiful
countries he traveled to his thoughts would always be with her.
"I know Nick. Oh and by the way, she said if I talked to you for
me to tell you that she loves you."
"Thanks Kev. Tell her I love her too, more than anything in the
world."
"I will Nick."
"Oh and Kevin?"
"Yeah Nick."
"She's okay? I mean... she's gonna be okay right?"
Kevin could hear Nick's voice falter and he wished he knew the right
words to say... but he didn't. When his father was dying of cancer so many
people had said things like he would be okay, or that if he died he'd at least
no longer be in pain. None of those things were helpful. Kevin sighed, he
didn't know what to say to Nick because no words seemed adequate enough. The
girl they were talking about was the love of Nick's life, true... but she was
Kevin's cousin too and he'd held a special place in his heart for her since the
day she was born. He couldn't imagine the world without her smile, he couldn't
imagine never hearing her sing or watching her laugh... he couldn't imagine a
world without her compassion and courage.
"God I hope so Nick. I really truly hope so."
"Me too Kevin."
There was a pause on the line for a few moments as both of the men sat
silently, Kevin wiping his tears on the sleeve of his jacket, Nick letting his
splash onto the tiled floor of the balcony where he sat. Nick was the first to
break the silence, "I want you guys... you, Bri, Aje, and Howie to know
that I love you. You guys have been there for me through all of this... I don't
know what I'd do without you."
Kevin could tell he was crying now and he held the phone to his heart
for a moment before lifting it back to his ear.
"We love you too Nick. You have been so strong through all of
this. We all think the world of you."
"Thanks man."
Nick yawned and looked out across the city just in time to see the sun
rising above the skyline. "I guess I'm going to get off here and try to
get some sleep. I'll talk to you tomorrow though. Call if anything
changes."
"Will do Nick. Try to get some rest."
"Night Kev."
"Night kid."
And with that Nick hung up the phone and watched as the sun continued
to make itself known. A new day in Australia... a day just ending in Kentucky.
He yawned again and rubbed his eyes. They had the day off today, thankfully. He
felt tired now, truly tired and for the first time since he'd gone to bed the
night before he lay down and quickly fell into a deep sleep.
***
