“Nick, what are you doing?”
“Well, I was trying to sleep, but now I am awake.”
Stephanie started to pace again and mumbled, “sorry,” before sitting down on the side of her bed, “I need to talk to you, about, well, can you just come over?”
Nick sat up in his bed and looked at the clock, it was almost noon, “Why, is something wrong?”
Stephanie sighed, “No, I mean, Yes, well, I dunno,” it was all to complicated. Out of nowhere the tears came, “Nevermind.”
Nick rubbed his head, “I’ll be right over.”
Stephanie sniffed, “Thank you.”
**
Nick got out of his truck and walked up the sidewalk to the front door that was wide open, fear seemed to creep into the back of his mind, “Missy!” he yelled as he entered the house.
“Don’t yell,” Stephanie answered from where she sat in the corner, knees drawn up to her chest.
Nick jumped clear out of his skin, “Jeez, don’t do that!” He closed the door and walked over to the corner. He leaned against the wall and shoved his hands into his jeans pockets, “What’s wrong?”
She shook her head, “It’s unraveling, and I’m scared.”
Nick sunk down next to her, “What are you scared of?”
She looked at him, and blinked several times. He could tell she had been crying from the wet trails they had left down her face, “I’m scared that if it goes wrong, I’ll just be gone.”
Nick understood to an extent, as much as anyone could comprehend in a weird situation like this one. He put his arm around her and pulled her over closer to him, “It’ll all be ok, Miss, I promise.”
She sniffed and nodded, “HEY! I NEED TO TALK!”
Nick almost jumped as Stephanie yelled, “What are you doing women?”
“What do you want?” came a deep booming voice.
Nick almost turned white, “You guys are gonna give me a freakin heart attack!”
“What happens if I tell them?”
“That is undecided.”
“I need you to stop beating around this! Tell me what is going to happen!”
“If you will just look around, decide what is important, you will know what to do.”
Stephanie wanted to scream, “I know what’s important! My friends are important, my life is important!”
“Then you have decided.”
“What?” she waited for an answer, but none came. “What do you mean?” she asked louder. She felt Nick’s arm slipping away, she was dizzy, and her world was tumbling. She started breathing hard, she heard noise, but she didn’t know what it was. Her world was black, and then as if she had hit bottom, her body ached all over. Her eyes slowly opened, she saw blurred images hovering over her, and then she fell into a deep sleep.
The doctor walked outside Stephanie’s hospital room where her group of friends awaited, “Her heart stopped, but its pumping again. I don’t know how much her organs are still bleeding, so, she may not be with us long. She is asleep now, but if she wakes up I encourage you all to say your good byes.”
Brian held Megan, who was crying and Brandi leaned on Howie. Nick seemed to just stare into space. A.J. leaned against the wall, “She’ll be fine. She’s always fine.”
(note: if you guys didn't understand...the story has gone back to when Stephanie 'died' in Larger Than Life)
