Chapter 22
No. Oh, God, no, Marissa’s
mind screamed as she stared at the recent pictures of Nick, lying helplessly in
a bed, and the horrible words that went along with them. Permanent brain damage.
We did this, Marissa thought, her whole body
shaking. We’ve ruined his life. He’ll never be the same now, and it’s all
our faults.
“Are you ready to check out, miss?” a
voice asked.
Marissa looked up and realized that
she was up in line. She mumbled a yes
and tossed the tabloid down with her eggs and milk. She numbly paid the cashier and walked out
of the store with her bag.
Once she was in her car, she did not
start the engine. Instead she glanced
once again at the tabloid peeking out of her bag and began to sob.
***
Brian pushed a cart through the local KMart, picking up the
items on the list Leighanne had made for him.
Usually it was she would did the shopping for them, but
after weeks and weeks of spending all his time at the hospital or at home,
caring for Nick, Brian was feeling restless and stir-crazy. Leighanne insisted that he needed to get out
and sent him to Kmart to buy the things they needed.
Brian had been reluctant to leave Nick at first, but
Leighanne had assured him that Nick would be fine with her. So he had gone, and now that he was there,
he had to admit, it felt good to get out.
Brian got into one of the check-out lines and glanced at
the magazine racks, as he usually did. He passed over the teen and women’s magazines
and read through the tabloid headlines, for those were always the most
interesting.
“Hm… ‘Leonardo DiCaprio Suicide Attempt’… ‘Baby Spice
Battles Bulimia’… ‘Santana Charged With Child Molestation’… ‘Lance Bass’
Homosexuality Revealed’…” Brian chuckled at the latter one. But suddenly, his laughing stopped as his
eyes came to rest on another headline on the front of the National Enquirer. “Nick Carter Impaired for Life,” it
read.
Brian shook his head in shock and disbelief. No, please no, he begged silently,
squeezing his eyes closed. But when he
opened them, the headline was still there, big and bold.
He grabbed the tabloid from the rack and thumbed through
the pages until he got to the article. He stared hard at the pictures that decorated
it. These were recent pictures, taken
in Nick’s room, in Brian’s own house! Who
did this? Brian wondered, outraged.
He had no more time to ponder it, for he had reached the
check-out counter. He slammed the
magazine down onto the counter and unloaded the rest of his purchases. He couldn’t wait to get home.
***
“Brian? Baby, what’s
wrong?” Leighanne asked as she caught sight of her husband’s angry face, as he
entered the living room.
“What’s wrong? This
is what’s wrong,” Brian snapped, slamming the tabloid down in her lap.
Leighanne studied it in shock. Brian grabbed it, flipped to the article,
and set it back down in front of her.
“Oh, God, Brian,” Leighanne whispered, looking up at him
with wide blue eyes. “Who would do such
a thing?”
“That’s what I want to know,” Brian said, his voice low
with anger. “No one has even been in
this house with Nick besides us, the guys, and… the nurse.” His eyes flashed.
“You think Mrs. Thompson did this?!” Leighanne cried.
“Well, who else could have, Leigh?” Brian reasoned. “No one else has been in that room besides
her.”
“But-“
“She had to have done this,” Brian continued.
“You don’t know that for sure,” Leighanne argued, unable to
believe that the kind nurse would take advantage of Nick like that.
“Well, there’s only one way to find out,” Brian said,
grabbing the phone.
“Brian-“ Leighanne started, but Brian had already finished
dialing.
***
