Almost eight hours later, Brian leaned back in one of the uncomfortable waiting room chairs and surveyed the surreal scene that surrounded him. Kevin was over in the corner on a payphone; Mrs. Kelly was in the bathroom for probably the twenty- fifth time in the last seven hours, and Mr. Kelly sat alone with his head in his hands. Brian moved his gaze to where Nick had begun pacing less than an hour before. Pain and concern was written all over his young face as he wore a path in the carpet. Brian turned to where Ashley lay on one of the couches that the waiting room was equipped with. He could see the tears slipping quietly from her eyes and sliding down the vinyl of the couch to drop onto the floor. She was beyond the comfort that any of them could provide.
Brian had listened for a few minutes to the conversation that Leighanne and Laurel were holding, but eventually tuned it out. Their words held no point. They were simply trying to take their minds off of the situation at hand. He glanced at the clock that was hung on the wall. The hands seemed to tick by so slowly. Brian saw that Ashley’s eyes, too, were on the same clock, and with every second that ticked by she was closer to losing her brother. Brian picked up a magazine on the table next to him and opened it up before realizing that he had read it no less than two hours ago. It was almost six o’clock the next morning, but none of them had been able to sleep. They were the only ones remaining in the waiting room now. Mrs. Kelly came back in from the restroom and sat back down next to her husband. Neither of them had talked to their daughter in the seven hours that Brian had been sitting there. He didn’t understand how two people could be so cold. Brian took his focus off Mr. and Mrs. Kelly. He looked back over to Nick and their eyes met, communicating silently between them. They feared the same thing. The longer the minutes and the hours went by, the less chance Bradley had.
Suddenly, Ashley sat up and stood from the couch. Nick’s pacing stopped for the first time, and his attention, along with everyone else in the waiting room turned to her. At that moment the doctor walked in. Flecks of blood covered his green scrubs. Instinctively, Ashley knew that the blood belonged to her brother. The look on the surgeon’s face answered their questions before any words were spoken. The waiting room was totally silent. The doctor shook his head from side to side confirming their worst fears.
Ashley’s broken sob rang out in the silence of the room. She crumpled to the floor in a heap, her legs unable to hold her up anymore. Nick immediately dropped to her side and cradled her in his arms. Brian watched Mr. and Mrs. Kelly rise from their seats to follow the doctor, both of them numb from shock.
Ashley’s sobs filled the room. No one moved, no one could. They were too stunned to do anything, but stare at each other.
Ashley grabbed fistfuls of Nick’s shirt and pressed her face against his neck. Nick felt her tears trickle down his neck and under his shirt, slowly rolling down his chest. He rocked her back and forth in his arms, whispering words so softly into her ear that no one else could hear them. For once, Nick couldn’t take away the hurt that she was feeling, because he couldn’t even take away his own.
Ashley suddenly pushed Nick away, “I’m going to be sick.” Leighanne immediately went into action, grabbing the wastebasket that sat underneath one of tables in the waiting room. She held it in front of Ashley just as the juice that they had talked her into drinking earlier, came back up. When she was finished, Ashley allowed Leighanne to pull her back on her feet. Leighanne placed her arm around the younger girl’s shoulders as Laurel came up on Ashley’s other side.
“Let’s get you home, okay, sweetie?” Leighanne whispered, smoothing Ashley’s hair behind her ears.
“I can’t go home. I can’t go back there right now. He was on his way there, Leigh. He was trying to get to my house. I can’t drive by where it happened,” Ashley sobbed softly.
Nick remained on the floor, down on his knees. He couldn’t move, but he was able to find his voice, “We’ll take her to my house.”
“You don’t want to go home with your parents, honey?” Laurel asked gently. Ashley vigorously shook her head, “No. This is their fault. I don’t even want to see them,” her voice cracked, “I don’t ever want to see them again.” Nick forced himself to stand, “Then we’re leaving. We’re leaving right now. You don’t have to see them.” He placed a supportive arm around her waist and steered her out of the room, but turned around to speak to his friends, “Can you tell her parents that I took her home? I’ll call you all later.” Without waiting for their response, Nick turned back around and guided Ashley out into the hallway and finally out of the hospital. The sun hadn’t even risen yet as he helped her into the Durango and darkness still surrounded them as he opened the front door for her when they arrived back at his house. The look on Ashley’s face scared him. She looked frozen, as if someone else were in her body. The look in her eyes was unreadable and her motions calculated.
Nick walked her upstairs and into his bedroom, “I want you to sleep in my bed. It’s more comfortable. I’ll sleep in the guest room.”
Ashley didn’t respond to him, he hadn’t expected her to. He walked over to pull down the shades so that when the sun did come up it wouldn’t penetrate the darkness of the room. When he turned back around Nick saw Ashley’s jeans lying discarded on the floor and she was dressed only in his shirt that she had hastily pulled on hours before. She stood next to the bed, as if she didn’t know what to do. Nick walked over and pulled down the green plaid comforter. She sat down on the mattress and pulled her legs up underneath the covers, her head instantly falling against Nick’s pillow. Nick bent over and pressed his lips against her forehead, “Goodnight, Brown Eyes. Everything’s going to be okay.”
Ashley closed her eyes, as if trying to block everything out, and Nick took that as his cue to leave. He made his way over to the door and quietly slipped out, leaving the door cracked open an inch behind him. Making his way downstairs, Nick’s eye rested on the phone. He knew that he should call his family, but couldn’t bring himself to say the awful words to anyone about what had happened. Nick pulled open the cupboard that was above his stove and reached in for the bottle of scotch that he knew would be there. He wasn’t going to get drunk. He didn’t want to. Nick just needed something to help him rest.
He uncapped the bottle that had never been opened and poured some of the amber liquid into a cup. He swirled it around in the glass for a second and then brought the cup to his lips letting it slide down his throat all at once. The fiery liquid hit his empty stomach hard and for a moment, Nick thought he would throw it all back up. He picked up the bottle and carried it along with his glass into the living room. He sat down on the couch, feeling it sag beneath his weight. Nick filled his glass halfway again and tilted it down his throat. He put the glass down on the coffee table and swung his legs up on the couch. He felt the scotch begin to dull his senses and closed his eyes. Soon enough exhaustion and the alcohol lulled him into a deep sleep.
Nick felt as if he had been sleeping for a long time when a scream startled him awake. Jerking upright, Nick glanced at the clock on the VCR to see that it had only been an hour. He pulled himself off of the couch and ran up the stairs two at a time to push open the door to his bedroom. He found Ashley still asleep, but tears streaked down her face as she whimpered words that Nick couldn’t make out. He lowered himself to the mattress and raised her up gently in his arms.
Brushing her tears away, Nick spoke her name, trying to wake her up, “Ashley? Wake up, baby. It’s just a dream. Wake up for me.”
Slowly, her eyes opened and met his. Her voice broke in a sob, “Nicky?”
Nick pulled her limp body against him and tucked her hair behind her ears, “Shhh. You were just having a dream. Think you can go back to sleep?” Nick felt her shake her head no against his chest. He combed his fingers through her hair and placed his lips next to her ear to speak softly, “Do you want me to get you anything?”
“Will you just hold me?” Ashley’s voice was weak and desperate.
“Yeah,” Nick fell back against the mattress, laying on his side and cradling
her from behind, her back pressing against his chest and her head tucked
underneath his chin. Their legs intertwined and her feet were icy cold
against his. Nick played with the buttons on the shirt of his that Ashley
was wearing. He could still feel her body trembling against his. She felt
so small and vulnerable in his arms, but Nick didn’t know what to do to ease
her pain. He felt more lost than he ever had in his whole life.
Links to other sites on the Web
Get your own Free Home Page