Chapter
12
By Julie
A few minutes after Kevin had left, Brian rubbed his
bloodshot eyes and stood up. “Bye,
Frack,” he said, giving Nick’s hand a final squeeze before he left the
room. Once in the hall, he wandered
down to the waiting room, where the other three guys sat. Kevin’s face was buried in his hands, and
Howie was gently stroking his back. AJ
glanced up at Brian solemnly when he approached them.
“Hey, Rok,” he muttered.
“We’ve decided that some of us should be at the hospital at all times,
so how about you and Kev go on home and get some sleep and then come back
later, so Howie and I can go home and sleep?”
Brian nodded. “Sure,
Bone,” he said tonelessly. “What time
should we come back?” AJ glanced at his
watch.
“It’s about ten now,” he said. “Why don’t you guys come back around six or
seven in the morning?” he suggested.
“Really? Gosh, Aje,
that’s a long time to stay awake,” Brian said.
AJ shrugged. “We’ll
drink some coffee, and we’ll be fine.
You and Kevin need sleep. You’ve
already been in this hospital as a patient twice today. We don’t want you to pass out again.” He offered Brian a grin.
Brian smiled sheepishly.
“Okay, we’ll go home and be back at six,” he said. He didn’t want to leave Nick, but he had to
admit, he was exhausted. And Kevin
looked like he needed to get away from the hospital as well. Brian walked over to where he was sitting and
gently placed his hand on his cousin’s shoulder. “Come on, Kev, we’re leaving now,” he
said. Kevin said nothing, just slowly
climbed to his feet. “See you guys
tomorrow morning,” Brian said as he led Kevin down the hall to the
elevator. The two others nodded and
solemnly waved as Brian and Kevin disappeared into the elevator.
As Brian and Kevin walked out to the car, Kevin’s words played
over and over again in Brian’s mind. He
felt horrible for Kevin. He knew his
poor cousin blamed himself for Nick’s injuries.
Brian wasn’t sure
what to think himself. Had Nick
actually tried to commit suicide? Nick
was usually so cheerful and happy, Brian would never think that he would ever
consider that. But lately, ever since
they had arrived at the house, Nick hadn’t been himself. Brian didn’t know what to believe about the
whole ghost thing. He had never believed
in ghosts, and he knew Nick was infamous for his pranks, but if it was just a
joke, Nick had been taking it too far.
Far enough that Kevin had reamed him out, more than once. If it was just a joke, wouldn’t Nick have
quit by now?
Then another disturbing thought made it’s way into Brian’s
mind. What if Nick had gone crazy? Maybe Nick really believed he was seeing
ghosts. Maybe that’s what drove him to
throw himself off the balcony. Or maybe
it was all an accident. Brian was
extremely puzzled by the whole thing.
Brian decided to drive them home because Kevin was clearly
in no state to drive. He hadn’t said a
word to Brian, just stared straight ahead, his green eyes brimming with unshed
tears. Once they were home, Brian went
upstairs and changed into a pair of boxers and a t-shirt. Kevin disappeared into his room and locked
the door. Brian decided to leave him
alone. He knew Kevin needed some time to
himself. Brian walked out onto the
balcony. He looked all around for
evidence as to what had happened to Nick. There was nothing on the balcony. Brian began to tremble as he saw where the
railing had broken. Maybe it was an
accident. Maybe Nick had just been
leaning on the railing, and it broke.
Brian wasn’t sure, but he hoped that was the truth. It would make things a little easier on all
of them, especially Kevin, if Nick had fallen by accident.
Suddenly, a shiver ran down Brian’s spine. He wrapped his arms around himself. “Whew, it’s chilly out here,” he
thought. He looked down at his
arms. They were covered in goose bumps,
and all the hairs were standing straight up.
Suddenly, he had a very strange feeling, like someone was behind
him. He spun around, but nothing was
there. Brian shook his head. “All this ghost stuff has got me freaking out
now too,” he thought.
He turned back
towards the railing… and screamed.
There, standing right in front of him, was a man. It was not an ordinary man though. This man was an old-fashioned looking man,
wearing an old looking pair of overalls and a plaid shirt. But that wasn’t the first thing Brian
noticed when he looked at the man. It
was the fact that the man was nearly transparent.
Brian stood there, as if he was frozen in place, gazing in
fear at this being that stood before him.
The man reached out his hand to Brian.
Brian snapped back to his senses and ran into the house, slamming the
door shut behind him and locking it.
Then he ran to Kevin’s room. He tried the doorknob, but the door was still
locked. “Kev!!” Brian screamed, nearly
in tears. He banged on Kevin’s
door. Kevin must have heard the anguish
in Brian’s voice, for he opened the door right away.
“Brian? What’s
wrong?” he asked, seeing his cousin’s terrified expression.
“I… I saw a… a ghost,” Brian said, his voice shaking as
much as the rest of him was.
“Brian, shut-up,” Kevin said, sounding annoyed. “I don’t have time for this crap. Don’t you understand that? I can’t believe you would say such a thing
after what happened tonight.”
Brian’s eyes filled with tears. He wanted to tell Kevin about the ghost,
maybe even show him. But he knew that
Kevin was not going to believe such a story.
Feeling dejected, he turned and headed to his room.
“Wait, Brian!” Kevin called, but Brian ignored him. He would talk to Kevin in the morning. Right now, he needed to be alone to
think. Once alone in his room, he locked
the door and flopped down on his bed. He
pondered what he had seen outside. Could
it be that he was just seeing things?
“I’m just tired,” Brian thought. “Maybe
I was just imagining it. With all that
has happened, I wouldn’t be surprised if my eyes were just playing tricks on
me.” He tried to convince himself of
that while he lay in the dark, trying to get some sleep.
***
