Chapter 22 By Julie “Nick’s awake!” Howie cried. AJ gasped and broke into a grin. “Seriously?” he asked, his eyes wide. “Yes!” Howie exclaimed. “Can I see him?” AJ asked. “Not right now. Dr. MacDonald just took him for some tests,” Howie said. “Where’s Brian and Kevin?” “Well, that’s what I came up to tell you about,” AJ said. “Brian almost got hit by a car when he ran out of here awhile ago, but the… the ghost saved him.” “The ghost?! You saw it?” Howie asked. AJ nodded. “Yeah, Brian was in the road, in shock, and this car was coming right for him, and I saw the ghost appear in the middle of the road. He pushed Brian out of the way just in time.” Howie gasped. “Anyway, Brian fell backwards and hit his head, and it was bleeding. He had to get stitches in the Emergency Room,” AJ finished. “Oh no,” Howie said. “Where is he?” “Kev and I are taking him home. He’s still in shock right now, and he needs to sleep,” AJ explained. “Oh, ok. Well, I’ll just stay here to wait for Nicky to get done with his tests,” Howie said. “Ok,” AJ said. “We’ll be up later to see him, ok?” “Sure,” Howie said. “See ya later.” “Kay. Bye, D,” AJ called as he headed back down the hall. “Bye, Aje!” Howie called back, as AJ disappeared into the elevator. ***AJ headed down to the parking lot, where he met up with Kevin and Brian. “Hey guys, guess what!” he exclaimed. “What?” Kevin asked. “Nick is awake!” AJ cried. He looked at Brian. Suddenly, as the information processed, the distant look on Brian’s face disappeared, and he broke into a smile. “He is?” he asked happily. AJ nodded, grinning back. Brian’s eyes filled with happy tears. “I don’t want to go home now. I’ve gotta go see him,” he said. “No, you can’t now. Howie said he’s having tests done now. We’re going home. You need to sleep, buddy,”AJ said. “Yeah, Brian,” Kevin added. “Come on, let’s go home now, and we can come back in a couple of hours to see Nick, ok?” “Fine,” Brian said, sighing. As they headed home, AJ was in a great mood. Things were finally getting better. Nick had woken up, and Brian was not in shock anymore. The news of Nick waking up had snapped him right out of it. And AJ was glad. *** Once they were home, Brian took a nap, while AJ and Kevin took hot showers and ate. Two hours later, they were back in the car, on their way to the hospital, feeling refreshed and happy. When they got to the hospital, they immediately hurried up to Nick’s room. Brian burst in first and grinned when he saw Nick propped up in his bed. “Frick!” Nick cried, grinning. “Frack!” Brian shouted and immediately ran to his best friend’s bedside. Howie was already in the room. “Nice to see you too, Brian,” he said, chuckling. Brian grinned sheepishly. “Hi, Howie,” he greeted. Howie grinned and rolled his eyes. “I need some coffee,” he said to the guys and left the room. “Hey, Nick, how ya doin’?” Brian asked eagerly. “I’m okay,” Nick said. “Pretty weak, and my head hurts, but I’ll be fine.” “That’s great, Frack,” Brian said, his grin growing wider. “Howie told me what happened to you,” Nick said. “Are you okay?” “Oh, sure, I’m fine,” Brian replied. “The ghost saved me.” “That’s what Howie said,” Nick said. “So you guys finally believe me, huh?” Kevin’s eyes grew teary as he perched on the edge of Nick’s bed. “Nick, I’m so sorry,” he said. “This is all my fault.” “No, Kev, it’s not your fault. It was the ghost. He scared me, and I fell off the balcony. It’s not your fault at all,” Nick said. “You fell?” AJ asked. “You mean, you didn’t jump?” A look of confusion passed over Nick’s face. “Jump?” he asked. “Why would I jump off the balcony?” The tears streamed down Kevin’s cheeks. “We thought you tried to commit suicide, Nick,” he said softly. “Oh, my God. Why would I do that?” Nick asked. “Because I yelled at you,” Kevin said, hanging his head. “Kev, the things you said hurt me, but I would never try to kill myself over it,” Nick whispered. Kevin’s tears flowed ever faster. His shoulders began to shake. “Kevin, come here,” Nick said, extending his arms. Wordlessly, Kevin hugged Nick and didn’t let go. Nick held onto him, rubbing his back gently, until he stopped crying. “Nicky, I love you, you know that, don’t you?” Kevin asked when they had let go of each other. “I know, Kev,” Nick said. “I love you too.” Kevin smiled. Suddenly, Nick grew solemn. “Guys, I have to tell you something,” he said seriously. “I told Howie about this already, but I need to tell you too.” “What is it, Nick?” Brian asked. “It’s about a dream I had while I was in the coma,” Nick said. “I dreamed that I was at this house. It looked a lot like our house, but it was a long time ago. I was watching this little girl play outside, and then she went into the house, and I went with her. We went down to the basement of the house, and she was sewing or something. Then we heard the dog barking from upstairs, and when I started to go upstairs, I realized the house was on fire. There were flames all over upstairs, and I couldn’t get out of the basement because they were in front of the door. They spread really quickly down the steps. I kept yelling at the little girl, but she couldn’t hear me. Finally, she smelled the smoke and started to go upstairs, and then she saw the flames. She didn’t get out of the way in time, and she caught on fire. I stood there and watched as she burnt to death, and I could hear her screaming, and there was nothing I could do.” “Oh, my God,” Brian whispered. Suddenly, Nick reached over and picked up something off his night table. Brian realized it was the article they had copied at the library. Nick pointed to a picture. It was the picture of the little girl. “This was the girl,” he said. “You read that article?” Kevin asked. Nick nodded. “That’s them,” he said “The ghost and the girl in my dream.” Suddenly, he remembered something else. “And earlier, before my fall, the ghost showed me a picture. It was of that little girl.” Brian and Kevin exchanged glances. “Yeah, he showed it to us too,” Brian said softly. “I think he’s looking for her,” Nick said. “His daughter. Maybe that’s what he wants.” “How are we supposed to help with that?” AJ asked. “In here, it says her body was never found. In my dream, she was in the basement. And at the very end, I heard this sound, like wood splintering. And in the article, it says the house collapsed. The little girl would have been buried under the rubble, in the basement,” Nick said. “And then our house was built right where the old one was,” Brian said softly. “Do you think her body could be buried under the house?” “That’s what I was thinking,” Nick replied, his eyes wide. Kevin took a deep breath. “Guys, I think we’ve got some work to do.”
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