"Wow! What a trip!" Elisa exclaimed as she exited the white, stretch limo. The first thing she saw when she got out was Nick Carter's smiling face. "Hey Aaron?" Elisa poked her head back in the limo. "Your brother's here!"
There was a delighted cry of: "He is?" from inside. Then Aaron excitedly scampered out to see Nick. His face lit up. "Nick!"
"Hey buddy!" Nick smiled. Aaron ran and threw his arms around his brother.
"Nick! I've missed you sooooooooo much!" Aaron told him.
Nick's smile widened. "I've missed you too, pal! What am I suppose to do with myself when I don't have a hyper eleven-year-old around to pester?"
"Ah! You don't bug me!" Aaron replied.
"Only when I beat you at Nintendo, right?" Nick laughed.
"You never beat me!" Aaron challenged.
"We're on for a game then?" Nick smiled.
"Anytime! Any place!" Aaron announced.
"You gents wanna take this one outside?" Beki asked. Nick looked up and saw the four female members of Solid HarmoniE, Elisa, Beki, Mariama and Melissa, watching them with wide smiles.
"Hey guys!" Nick greeted happily. He broke away from Aaron to give hugs. "I haven't seen ya in a long time!"
"I know, we've missed you sweeties," Melissa joked as she hugged Nick.
"Oh, but we did have Aaron!" Mariama was quick to reminded her.
"Yes, Aaron is totally sweet!" Elisa nodded in agreement. "And if I live to be a hundred I will beat you at that game!" She told him.
"Oh, so you've been getting some practice, huh?" Nick asked his brother.
Aaron nodded. "Yeah, but she's really good!" Elisa smiled at him.
"Hey!" Came a voice from behind them. Elisa looked up to see the rest of the Backstreet Boys walking out of the hotel to welcome their friends and opening acts.
"Hi!" The girls chorused happily. Hugs, kisses and playful banter were exchanged until they decided it was time to head up to their rooms.
Elisa made light conversation with Howie, but he seemed distant. "Is something wrong?" She asked as they boarded the elevator.
Howie shrugged. "Yeah, but I don't really want to talk about it . . . The guys will probably tell you . . ."
Elisa nodded and gave Nick a worried glance. Nick acknowledged her with an ‘I know' nod. They exited the elevator and headed to their rooms.
"Did Howie seem bit different to you?" Elisa asked Melissa as her friend carefully put their bags off to the side and lined up their shoes.
"They all seemed a little bit . . . unsettled," Melissa agreed in her sweet accent. "I'm sure they'll get over it though, whatever it is. I saw them on The Tonight Show last night and they were really fantastic.
"When are we going to meet their new opening act, do you know?" Elisa continued, pulling her light brown hair up into a high pony tail.
"Not a clue! But I hope they're nice! We'll be spending the next few months with them!" Melissa replied
Elisa nodded. She looked up at her friend and smiled. "This tour is going to rock!"
Alison sat quietly on her bed, staring out the window. She was thinking about Grace. ‘How could something like this happen to someone so nice,' She wondered. She heard a door slam, but didn't turn her head.
"Aaron Carter and Solid HarmoniE just got here," Cora informed her.
"Did you meet them?" Alison asked softly.
Cora kicked her shoes off and jumped on to her bed. "Nah, they were chatting with the guys and everything. I didn't want to interrupt. Oh! I did talk to Johnny and Donna though!"
Alison turned to her friend in surprise. "Johnny and Donna are here?"
"Yeah," Cora nodded. "They're staying for the concerts then they're heading back to Orlando. They'll be stopping by through out the tour . . . They were really sad to hear about what happened with Grace . . ."
Alison swallowed. "Yeah . . . Someone should tell Lou. He put her on the tour, did she tell you?"
"Yeah," Cora nodded. "Said she saved someone in his family's life . . .His kid I think . . ."
The two friends fell into a lapse of silence. Slowly they met each other's eyes. Cora bit her lip. "I didn't know Solid HarmoniE was British . . ."
"Elisa's not, she's American," Alison told her.
"That's gotta be weird . . ." Cora sighed. "I don't think I want to talk about Grace, okay?"
"Yeah, I know," Alison agreed. "But she is going to be okay . . ."
"I've gotta go burn off some excess energy," Cora said as she grabbed her gym bag. "I'll see you!"
"Bye," Alison replied softly.
Howie sat alone in his room. He heard someone knock on the door. "Come in!" He called.
He heard Donna's voice. "It's locked."
Howie hurried to the door and pulled it open. "Hey Donna," He tried to smile.
"Can I come in?" She requested.
Howie nodded quickly. "Of course. What's up?" He asked sitting down on the edge of his bed.
Donna carefully sat down beside him. "I just wanted to know how you're doing . . . I heard about Grace."
Howie swallowed. "It's not going to effect my performance. I'll be fine. Grace is going to be fine. Everything is -"
"Howie," Donna cut in softly. "Everything is not fine. You're right, Grace is going to be fine and hopefully she will return for the rest of the tour in a month or so. But you have been through a major event. It is not easy to see someone, especially a child, . . . die." She paused. She could see her words were having an effect on him. Howie bowed is head slightly and waited for her to continue. "I think it would be a good idea for you to talk to someone."
Howie turned his head. "Who?" He asked softly.
"A counselor. I know you're Catholic," She tried to meet is eyes. "Maybe a priest."
"Maybe . . ." Howie murmured. "I'll think about it, okay?"
"You do that," Donna nodded. She stood. "Johnny and I are here with you until tomorrow. I know the guys are very supportive. If you need someone to talk to, we're here for you."
Howie didn't speak. He stared blankly at his hands.
"You're going to pull through this," Donna told him. She gave his shoulder a quick squeeze. Howie didn't even glance up when she left the room.
Cora hit the punching bag. She swung at it, then backed off and tried a jump kick. She punched it and punched it until she felt tired. Until some of her anger had disappeared.
"Did the bag deserve it?" A female voice asked with a strong accent.
Cora spun around quickly to see a young womyn with curly, brown hair smiling at her. She shrugged and moved over to the treadmill.
"I quite enjoy a good box myself," the dark haired womyn continued. "Helps to release anger, but also makes a good work out."
Cora nodded, but still said nothing. She turned up the speed dial on the treadmill.
"Not too talkative are you?" the womyn continued.
Cora shook her head. "Not when I'm working out."
"And not when your friend is in the hospital?" She asked.
Cora stopped and almost fell off the exercise equipment. She quickly turned it off. "How did you know about Grace?"
"I'm Melissa Graham, from Solid HarmoniE. I was having a chat with Nick Carter. He told me a bit of what happened." She paused, but Cora remained silent. "I wanted to let you know, that I may know a bit of what you're feeling . . . And although you don't know me too well, I'm around to talk if you need it." Melissa smiled.
Cora nodded mutely. She walked past Melissa and grabbing her towel, wiped the sweat from her face. "Thanks." Cora said. Melissa watched as she slowly walked out of the room.
Grace opened her eyes to see that she was still in her hospital bed, in her small hospital room. It was very dark. The air was stale and smelled thick with cleaners and disinfectants. The room was filled with a hallow silence.
Grace tried to sit up, but found that her arms and feet were clamped with restraints. Grace pulled at them, but they held strong. She lay back and attempted sleep.
Suddenly the silence was shattered by a raw cry.
Grace struggled to sit up, but found she could only turn her head sideways. She looked and saw the bed next to her own. The white hospital sheets were stained with fresh blood. It was dripping on to the cold, sterile floor.
Grace anxiously twisted her arms in attempts to remove the tight restraints. Her hand reached hopelessly for the red emergency button. The cries continued.
Slowly, Grace turned her head back to the bed beside her. It now shone with a greenish glow. At the center of the glow was the small, little girl still dressed her pretty, pink, blood stained dress. Her mouth opened and closed, but no words escaped. Her eyes were wide with terror.
Grace screamed, but no sound escaped her lips. She began to choke as she jerked on her restraints.
Grace screamed and screamed, until she was shaken awake.
"Grace! Grace!" A firm voice hushed her. "Grace wake up!"
Grace quieted immediately and opened her eyes. Shooting pains sprang up her arm. She sighed deeply and lay back in her bed. "Nurse Owens, it happened again."
The large, kindly faced nurse sat down on the edge of Grace's bed. "You dreamed of her again?" She inquired softly.
"Yes," Grace nodded as her eyes filled with tears. "It was different this time. I was here, in this room and she was in the bed next to me and she was - she was -" Grace stuttered.
"Shhh, Shh," Nurse Owens told her. "She's not here anymore. She's gone to a better place now . . ."
Grace nodded. "But she -"
"Shhh," Nurse Owens continued. "It's alright now. It's alright now."
Grace started to relax as the large womyn squeezed her hand softly. She took a deep breath and released it. She felt the stress begin to dissipate.
Nurse Owens began fixing the sling around her shoulder. "If you keep thrashing around like this all night, that shoulder is never going to heal."
Grace cracked a smile. "I know, but a womyn can't help what she dreams . . ."
"Not true," the nurse replied. "A dream is an answer to a question that we haven't figured out how to ask. Your subconscious is torturing you because you think that somehow, that little girl's death was your fault . . . Hmm?"
Grace looked into her eyes. "So - so how do I stop?"
The nurse smiled. "You figure it out for yourself, hun."
Grace turned and looked at the bed next to her. An older woman was sleeping. Grace couldn't tell what was wrong with her.
"How long before I can leave this place?" Grace asked for the millionth time.
Nurse Owens smiled down at her. "Oh, I'd say another week or so."
Grace sighed.
"Rest easy, at least your ambulatory," The nurse told her. "I've got to be going now, but there are other staff members around if you need something." The nurse gave Grace one last smile before bustling away.
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