Chapter 32 Sniffling, Nick slowly sat up, yawning. Looking at his watch, he saw that it was about eight in the morning, he couldn't sleep any longer though, he'd been in bed all day yesterday and he didn't plan on spending another day there.  Slipping out of bed, he stretched, feeling a lot better than he had the day before, granted he hadn't been out of bed that long, but that dizzy feeling wasn't there anymore and he could breathe a lot better. He figured he'd be alright by tomorrow.  Bending over, he grabbed the bottle of water beside his bed again and the washcloth, wetting it a bit and wiping at his face. What he wouldn't give for some mouthwash, frowning he made his way out the room and over to Nyla's. She'd have some, she had everything.   Thoughts of the night before came rushing back, he wondered how she was today. He knew she'd been crying when she left and he knew what she'd been thinking about, because he'd been thinking about it too, only he didn't have any tears left to cry.  Knocking softly, he listened for a response before knocking again.  "Nyla? Nyla are you up?" Again no response and he carefully opened the door, poking his head through. "Nyla?" He stilled when he saw her asleep on top of the covers, her leg and hand hanging off the side. Slowly he made his way in and over to her, pulling the covers out from under her and pushing her leg and arm under the covers and pulling the covers up over her. The rush of protectiveness came quickly and was as familiar to him as breathing, it's funny the things your heart remembers.   Reaching out, he ran his hand lightly over her forehead, the feel of her skin below his fingers bittersweet and painful. A small, sad smile spread over his lips as he looked down at her, such a loss. Blinking he carefully removed his hand and turned, making his way out quietly, shutting the door softly behind him.  Making his way downstairs, he headed over to the large window and pushed the curtains aside, looking out. It was still a mess, snow everywhere, and not a single car on the road from what he could see. Looking up, Nick watched as the snow started to fall again and sighed, when would it stop? He had to get some information, turning he headed back up and into his room, getting his stereo out, putting the batteries in and trying to get a station in. After a few minutes, he was able to pick up a local radio station and waited for the weather report to come on.  "The storm is intensifying and the National Weather Service is keeping the severe winter storm warning in effect until further notice. Temperatures below are currently below freezing and are expecting to drop even lower as we come into the evening hours. Expect hail and freezing rain at times with lake effect and drifting snow surrounding most areas and counties. White outs have been reported and several areas without power. Once again, no unnecessary driving if at all possible or traveling of any sorts. People are advised to stay in out of the cold for risk of frost bite or hypothermia. If you do have to go out for some reason, dress wisely with lots of warm clothing, gloves, scarves and so on. Stay tuned to this station for further updates as they come in."  Nick groaned and slumped down on the bed, this was crazy. He couldn't believe they were stuck there. Four days so far in this mansion, and seven days since they left Florida. It wasn't so bad if he didn't think about it, but now that he was all alone, he couldn't help but think about it. He should call his Mother and let her know what was going on, she must be worried sick. Grabbing his cell from the table next to the bed, he turned it on, dialed and waited. Three tries later, he finally got through. "Hello?" "Mom!" "Nickolas! Sweetie it's so good to hear your voice! How are you? Are you feeling better?" Nick blinked, "You knew?" "Nyla was able to call last night and let us know what was going on. How are you baby? You don't sound too bad."  "No, I'm doing better, you know how I am with colds." He smiled. "I sure do. How are things over there? Are you two ok? How's the weather?" "We're fine Mom, the weather here is terrible. We're under a severe storm watch and no one's supposed to drive or go out or anything. I don't know how much longer we're gonna be here either." He frowned. "I really miss you Mom." "I miss you too baby, I can't wait for you to come home, everyone's worried sick. The guys have been calling asking about you, I'll tell them that you called."  "Thanks Mom. I guess I should be going, gonna call Phil and let him know what's going on."  "Ok sweetie, oh, don't forget to call Celeste, she's beside herself with worry."  Shit! He hadn't even thought about how worried Celeste would be. "I'll call Mom, I promise."  "Ok, well, call me again soon if you can, keep me updated as to what's going on, ok?" "Yes Mom, I love you." "I love you too, bye honey." "Bye Mom." Nick hung up and rubbed at his forehead. Dialing again, after a few tries,  he managed to get ahold of Phil and explain what was happening briefly before hanging up and dialing Celeste. It was getting harder and harder to get any kind of connection, but after a while, he was able to get ahold of her. "Hello?" "Hey baby." "Nick! Oh god! How are you? Are you ok? I'm so glad to hear from you finally." Celeste cried. "Calm down Leste, I'm fine honey, really. Just had a bit of a cold, but I'm doing better." "I was so worried, I'm so glad to finally get to hear from you. Why didn't you call sooner?" He couldn't believe this, "Weren't you listening Lest? I was sick, I couldn't call you when I could barely stand." "You weren't sick before Nick! What about Nyla? Where's she at?" "She asleep in her room."  Celeste was quiet suddenly.  "Celeste? Are you still there?" "Yeah I'm here Nick."   "What's wrong?" "Nothing, look I'm sorry. I was just so worried about you. I mean, I kept trying to call and call and couldn't get through. But Nyla calls your Mom and won't call Scott? Then she turns her phone off? It's like she's trying to hide something, like she doesn't want anyone to get ahold of her." "God Celeste, now is not the time to be petty damnit! We've been trying over and over and over to get through, but we can hardly get a damn connection! I had to try three times just to get through now. I'm surprised we haven't gotten cut off yet. And as far as things go with Nyla, she probably like me, is trying to save her battery, we can't recharge them ya know, there's no power. Mom called and told you right? You found out ok? Relax! We need to call immediate people, you know Mom would get ahold of you and let you know of anything. And you know I'd call you as soon as I was able to." Celeste sighed heavily. "Yeah."  He wasn't in the mood to deal with her right now. "Look Celeste, I'll call you again when I can." He could hear the connection starting to break. "...You can...ever..."  "You're starting to break up Celeste, I'm gonna let you go ok?" "...eh...Fine." "Bye Lest, I love you." Nick sighed. "Bye."  He hung up, frustrated and a bit angry. This was not the time to be upset because Nyla had her phone off. Obviously they couldn't do much with their limited means, but she just couldn't seem to understand that.  Standing, he stormed out his room, he had to think.