Chapter 22
Walking into the room, she headed straight for the bed, sitting down next to him.
"Nick? Nick...wake up...Nick..." She called.
He moaned, rolling onto his back, his teeth chattering.
"Oh Nick." She frowned, reaching out and placing a hand on his forehead to find he was burning up, yet when she pulled her hand away, her hand wet. He was sweating profusely.
Standing quickly, she went over and shut the window and started down the stairs quickly, going to the door, grabbing one of the bottles of water and heading back up. She shook it to find that it hadn't frozen totally yet. Making her way up the stairs, she stopped in her room, grabbing a small hand towel out of her bag and made her way back into his room.
She walked over, sitting next to him again. She knew she had to bring the fever down. Reaching out, she ran a hand over his warm forehead gently. "Nick...wake up." She whispered.
"Mmm?"
"Come on Nick, wake up."
Slowly his eyes opened, unfocused and cloudy. "Nyla?"
"Yeah, come on, you have to drink something. You have a really bad fever."
"Not...not thirsty."
"Come on Nick, it'll feel good. You have to stay hydrated. Sit up, can you sit up for me please?"
He struggled a bit, but finally sat up a bit, breathing hard.
Nyla opened the bottle, mad that she didn't have any straws. "Ok, now I want you to sip at this Nick and don't argue."
He nodded and she set the bottle to his lips, he started to reach up to hold it when she gently pushed his hands down.
"I got it, trust me." She whispered. She doubted he'd have the strength to hold it anyway, he looked terrible. Pale, his face drawn and dark rings circled his eyes. There were no signs of the face that thousands of girls went crazy for. Slowly, carefully she tipped the bottle up, pouring the cold water into his mouth. He sipped slowly as she instructed, coughing suddenly. "Ok, enough. We'll try some more later." She pulled the bottle away. "Ok, go on and lie back down, I'll be right back."
She made her way into the bathroom, taking the hand towel with her. Holding the towel over the sink, she poured some of the water onto the cloth, soaking it, walking back into the room, she placed the towel on his head and sat back down next to him. Reaching out, she pulled the covers and blankets over him, tucking them around his body tightly.
He shouldn't have gone out in that weather, that's probably where he picked it up from. It tore at her to see him like this and there wasn't much she could do because she didn't have anything to work with. She was growing frustrated; reaching out she pulled his hand out and held it tightly, needing some kind of contact.
I want to hold the hand inside you
I want to take a breath that's true
I look to you and I see nothing
I look to you to see the truth
She watched him carefully, her heart constricting with emotions and feelings she shouldn't be feeling. She remembered what it'd been like to be with him. Always on the road always ducking out and moving along in the shadows, sometimes not wanting to be seen, other times, not able to get away from it all. And he dealt with it.
Sometimes he'd just black right out, go into this mode where he did things and didn't remember. He'd fall into bed and sleep for days straight only to wake and have to go right back out again.
And he couldn't see, couldn't see what was in front of him sometimes and he'd miss out, he'd miss her. Or so she thought, that sometimes he didn't see her, couldn't see her. But then she remembered one time, one time he told her. That throughout the darkness that sometimes overwhelmed him and he couldn't see, that's when she'd come. The light to his darkness and light the way for him. And she'd been happy to be that light.
You live your life, you go in shadows
You'll come apart and you'll go black
Some kind of night into your darkness
Colors your eyes with what's not there
And he'd been that for her and then some. She'd allow herself to get lost in the stories he'd tell about his travels and his experiences. She drank him in, let him flow into her, his voice, his eyes. And when she told him how much he helped her and how he'd changed her life, he was always shocked. She'd laugh and tell him that he had to know, but he didn't, he never knew.
Fade into you
Strange you never knew
Fade into you
I think it's strange you never knew
He hid a lot, she knew it. Wouldn't let her see sometimes how it all got to him. How draining it was and sometimes she felt as if she never even knew him. Everything he went through and just recently with him going solo and all the changes. It was like he was lost, trying to find his way back home. It was tough but he did it and was stronger for it.
But Nyla could see beyond that, to the scared little kid hiding beneath the rocker. The tears that threatened in those soft blue eyes. And past the smiles that always seemed to be there, the smiles that covered his real feelings and his heart.
A stranger's light comes on slowly
A stranger's heart without a home
You put your hands into your hair
And with smiles cover your heart
She sighed, watching as he shifted on the bed, unable to get comfortable, still shivering. Getting up, she grabbed the towel and headed into the bathroom, pouring more water over it and walking back out and placing it on his head, running her fingers through his now damp hair.
She'd stay with him and make sure his fever broke, she'd do it cause she did it back then and she'd do it now because he needed her, just like she'd always needed him.
Fade into you
Strange you never knew
Fade into you
I think it's strange you never knew
Fade Into You- Mazzy Star
