“You’re sure you don’t know where she is?” Brian asked into the phone. “Ok. Thanks anyways,”

He slammed the phone down on the cradle and sighed in frustration.

“Nothing?” Kevin asked as he set a cup of hot coffee down in front of Brian.

”No. Nobody’s seen her... or so they say. And he’s not getting any better, Kev…”

“I know. Have you tried her parents house?”

“Several times. It’s almost three… I’d better get down to the hospital. AJ’s going to be leaving soon,”

It’d been three days since Nick was admitted to the hospital. He hadn’t gotten better, but he also hadn’t gotten worse. The guys now took shifts at the hospital, not wanting to leave him alone.

“Alright. I’m going to stay home and try to get a hold of some more people.”

“See ya later. Bye Kris,” He said as he went through the living room where she was trying to get Jerald to lay down for a nap. He slid on his windbreaker and went outside to his car. He started it, then backed out of the driveway and drove down the street. Within a few minutes, he had arrived at the hospital. He parked in the parking garage.

“Hey,” A familiar voice said, coming from behind him as he was walking across the sidewalk to the hospital. He turned around to see Kari running towards him.

“Hi…going to work?”

“Nah… just getting my paycheck. I’m sorry I haven’t been up to see Nick yet…it’s been a hectic week.”

“It’s ok,” Brian said, offering her a smile.

“How’s he doing anyways?”

”The same… no better, no worse.”

“That sucks,” She replied. “Have you found his wife yet?”

“Nope. Maybe she’ll hear about it in the news or something… because word is starting to get out.”

“Hopefully,”

“Well, I have to go this way. Um… my afternoon is free, so I can come up after I get my paycheck.”

“Then maybe we can get a bite to eat later?” Brian asked, sounding a little too anxious.

”Sure,” She said as she walked away.

”Yes!” Brian whispered happily as he entered the elevator. As he walked onto Nick’s floor, he saw AJ heading towards him.

”Hey B… why so smiley?”

”No reason.”

“A girl?”

“No,” Brian replied, turning a shade of pink. “How’s Nick?”

“The doctor said the same… but I think he’s getting worse.”

Brian’s smile turned into a frown as he nodded.

“I got to get going… call me if you get a hold of Meg. See you tomorrow,”

“Bye J,” He said, garbing up to go into Nick’s room. Once he finished, he opened the door to Nick’s room and entered. Nick was up in a half-sitting position playing his Game Boy.

Nick paused his game and looked up at Brian with hope in his eyes.

“Sorry, Nick.”

“It’s ok… not your fault,” Nick mumbled, going back to his game. After a short while, Kari came up to visit with Nick.

”I’ll be right back,” Brian said, pulling a vibrating beeper off his jeans from under the scrubs. “It’s Kevin,”

Brian left in a hurry and quickly made his way down to the pay phone.

“Hello?” A voice asked over the phone.

“Kev? You paged me?”

“I think I found her.”

”Where?”

“I called her aunt’s house… the one that lives about a half hour away… and while she was talking I swear to god I heard Meg’s voice in the background. You want the number?”

“No. I want the address. Can you come down to the hospital for awhile and stay with Nick?”

“Sure. I’ll be there in a few, with the address.” A little more cheered than earlier, Brian returned to the room.

“We might’ve found her,” He told Nick.

“Really?” He asked, his eyes lighting up.

“Yeah. Kev’s going to come up here and I’m going to her aunt’s house.”

”I owe you guys big time.”

”You owe us nothing. Just get better.” Brian replied. “Hey Kari… about that bite to eat…”

“You go on and find Meggie. We can do that later,”

“Thanks. I’m going to go wait in the hall for Kevin.”

“Good luck,” Kari called after him. Brian smiled as he left, pulling off the scrubs. He stared through the window into Nick’s room. AJ was right. Nick did look worse. His skin was paler, he had dark circles around his eyes, and he had lost weight. A lot of weight.

Hearing change jingle in a pocket, he turned around to see Kevin walking towards him holding a piece of paper.

“Here’s the address,” He said, giving Brian the slip of paper.

“Thanks. Wish me luck.”

Now energized, Brian walked briskly to the elevator, then outside to his car. He turned the radio on quite loudly as he drove the half-hour drive to the house. As he pulled into the driveway, he saw Meggie’s car parked near the garage.

“Thank you, God,” He said, the pressure lifting off his shoulders. He lay the paper down in the passenger seat and got out. He walked up the stairs to the porch, and rang the doorbell. After a few seconds, the door opened and a black-haired woman appeared.

“May I help you?”

“Can I please speak with Meggie?”

“She’s not here.”

“Yes she is. Her car is in your driveway. Look, I’ve been trying to get a hold of her for the past three days. I NEED to talk to her,”

“She doesn’t want to see anyone.”

“If you don’t let me see her now, you and her both are going to regret it for the rest of your lives.”

“Aunt Joyce… who’s there?” Meggie’s voice asked from behind.

“Some young man asking for you. He won’t take no for an answer,”

Meggie’s face appeared beside her aunt’s. “Nick sent you after me? He couldn’t find me himself?”

“Can we talk? Please? Just for a few minutes at least?”

“Fine,” She said. She walked out and closed the door behind her. “Did he make you do this?”

“No. He asked me to. Nick’s been in the hospital for a few days, and he asked me to find you.”

“Why’s he in the hospital?” She asked, suddenly worried.

“When you left, he got depressed. He pretty much slept for a week, not eating anything. They admitted him to the hospital and were re-hydrating him when he got an infection. Because of his immune system, the infection isn’t being fought off and the antibiotic isn’t helping.”

“Is he bad?”

”The doctor said no change… but we all can see he’s getting worse. Meg, he’s sorry for what he said. He didn’t realize what you were also going through. He’s been living in h*ll the past few days… sick in the hospital and has no idea where his wife and son are.”

Meggie bit her lip to hold back tears. “I didn’t mean to make him sick… he just made me so mad… and I needed to get away from all the stress that’s been building up since she died.”

Brian pulled her into a hug, and then they let go.

“I’m going to go get my keys and stuff and Austin… and then I’ll follow you.”

“Why don’t I just drive you? We’ll come back and get the car later.”

“Ok,” She replied, opening the door. She ushered Brian in and ran upstairs while he looked around in the living room. He heard a giggle, and then saw Meggie’s aunt carrying Austin into the room.

“Hey Buddy,” Brian said, taking the child from her arms. Meggie appeared a few minutes later holding her duffel bag and Austin’s baby bag.

“Ready?” He asked. She nodded and followed him out to the car. Brian got the car seat from Meggie’s car and buckled it into the back of his, and then Meggie put Austin into it.

The drive back to the hospital was rather quiet. Austin fell asleep within the first five minutes of the drive, and Meggie stared out the window at the passing scenery.

“Meg… we’re here,” Brian said quietly as he parked the car. She nodded and unbuckled herself. Once she got out, she unbuckled Austin and shut the door. Brian eagerly took Austin from Meggie and they walked side-by-side into the hospital and onto the elevator. They reached the floor and walked out. “He’s in an isolation room… so you have to put scrubs on before you go in.”

Meggie peered through the window at Nick. He was sitting up and talking to Kevin. Hot tears rolled down her cheeks when she saw her husband’s face. He was so pale… and so frail looking.

“I…um… give me a few minutes, ok?” Meggie said, sitting down in a chair.

“Sure. I’m going to take this little guy in to see his daddy,” He said, putting scrubs on himself. When he finished, he got an adult scrub shirt and put it over Austin’s head. He got a child-size mask and placed it on Austin’s face. Brian chuckled as it covered most of his tiny face.

“Ready to go see Daddy?”

“Dada.” Austin giggled. Brian smiled as he opened the door to Nick’s room. Nick turned his head to see who was coming in and saw his son. His eyes lit up and for the first time in three days, he smiled a real smile. Brian set Austin down on the bed beside Nick, and put the guardrail up so he wouldn’t fall.

“Is she here?” Nick asked, taking his eyes away from his son.

“Yeah. She’ll be in soon.”

“I’m going to get going to make some room for Meg in here. I’ll see you later Nick.”

“Bye Kev… thanks for everything.”

“No problem.”

Kevin let himself out and Brian could see him talking to Meggie outside the window. Kevin left and Meggie began to put on the scrubs. As she walked in, Brian stood up.

“What do you say we go get some food, Austin?” Brian asked. Austin only looked up at him with his large brown eyes. Brian smiled and picked him up. “We’ll be down in the cafeteria.”

As the door shut, they both began talking.

“Meggie... I...”

“I’m so…”

They stopped and Nick waved for her to come over and sit down. She sat on the edge of the bed as he pulled her into a hug.

“I missed you so much,” He said, tears stinging his eyes.

“I’m so sorry. I never meant to hurt you like that. I was just so stressed and everything… I had no idea what to do with myself.”

“When you left… it felt like you ripped my heart out as you walked out that door. I… I didn’t realize that we BOTH were having a hard time with Maddie’s death. I didn’t mean to yell… or to make you leave. I just..” Nick was cut off as Meggie placed her finger on Nick’s lip.

“Shhh… it’s ok. Let’s just forget about everything that’s happened in the past week and half… and focus on getting you better.”

“Does that mean you’ll come home?”

She nodded and smiled. “Forever,”

Nick pulled her towards him and kissed her softly on the lips. As they released, Meggie took Nick’s hand into hers.

“There’s something… you need to know. This may not be the best time to tell you…but...”

Nick sensed something was wrong, and gripped her hand.

“Meg… what is it?”

”Nicky… I'm...”

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