Chapter Eleven

Gretchen awoke the next morning and rolled out of her uncomfortable guest bed. She leaned backwards stretching her arms over her head until she heard her back crack.

“Ah...much better.” She said as she grabbed a towel and headed for the bathroom. She heard Nick singing in the shower before she reached the door. Rolling her eyes she leaned against the wall. The water stopped and minutes later the bathroom door flew open and Nick strolled out in a towel. “Finally.” Gretchen muttered. Nick jumped and spun around in surprise.

“You scared the shit out of me!” He said quickly moving his hands to the top of the towel where it had begun to come undone. Gretchen gave him a dirty look before walking into the bathroom and slamming the door. Nick stared at the closed door in disappointment. He had forgotten about the disagreement the two of them had had the night before...obviously she hadn’t. He headed back into his room and got dressed quickly before going downstairs to start breakfast.

Gretchen took her sweet time getting ready that morning. She wanted to waste as much of the day as possible. The less time she had to spend with Nick the better. “Dick.” She said under her breath as she towel dried her hair. Her thoughts were, as usual, on Nick, with only one difference this time. He was a jerk. She had finally admitted that she felt something for the guy and then he turns around and does this to her. Sure, her and Nick had had their share of fights...all friends do, but this hurt more for some reason. Maybe it was because she wanted, so much, for him to feel something, anything for her. Life sucked. A half an hour later Gretchen made her way slowly into the kitchen, following the smell of pancakes.

“Well, don’t you look bee-utiful today.” Nick said playing with his words.

“Shut up.” Gretchen said sitting down at the table to a plate piled with food.

“Hey,” Nick said pulling a chair out next to her, and sitting down in it. “I want to apologize.”

“Oh really?” Gretchen asked raising her eyebrow sarcastically.

“Yeah, about last night. I’m sorry I acted like that.”

“I know you are...but my one question for you is, why did you act like that?” Gretchen asked for the umpteenth time in the last few weeks.

“I...I..”

“Don’t know?” Gretchen filled in for him. He looked up at her helplessly. “Thought so. Nick, when are you going to stop this? Let me tell you something. You are my best friend. I care about you, and I want to help you. Brian called last night and he and I had a talk about you. From what he says, you’re confused and going through a lot lately. Why won’t you let me help you? Nick, that’s what I’m here for. It hurts that you don’t trust me enough to let me in.” Gretchen finished looking down at her plate.

“Gretchen, I do trust you...that has nothing to do with this.”

“Then-”

“Wait, let me finish.” Nick said placing a hand on her arm. She looked down at it momentarily before looking back at him. “I care about you too, Gretchen...” Nick started. He took a deep breath, preparing himself to let it all out. “I...um, I...” He looked into her eyes. Could he take the risk. Jump over the edge? “I don’t know what’s happening to me.” He whispered. He sighed. He didn’t have the guts. He stood up and went back over to the stove to flip the pancakes that were already charring lightly.

“Course you don’t. If you did, we wouldn’t be in this mess.” Gretchen muttered. She rolled her eyes, hearing herself. She couldn’t even talk in a normal tone. This trip was beginning to look like a disaster.

“I’m sorry Brown Eyes. That’s the only thing that I can offer you right now.” Nick said looking down at her with his big blue eyes as he set a plate of food in front of her. She analyzed the crusty pancakes to avoid making eye contact with him. “You can’t even look at me can you?” he whispered, falling into a chair next to her. Gretchen watched him drop his head into his hands.

“Nick...” she began, placing a hand lightly on his shoulder. He let out a deep breath. “Nick sit up and look at me.” He did. “I don’t want this to happen to us. We can’t just stop communicating. Okay?”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“Alright, this is what we’ll do. You are going to rack your brain, and figure out what the hell is wrong with you. And I am going to sit here patiently, beside you , and wait until you are ready to tell me what’s going on.”

“Really?” Nick asked innocently.

“Yeah. Look, we’re friends, we have this...bond, right? We can’t just..give up because we’re frustrated.”

“Yeah. Thanks.” Nick sighed. He had bought himself some more time. He wrapped Gretchen in a tight hug before he slid the syrup across the table to her. She smiled as she took it and drizzled it over her pancakes.

“Mmmmmm.” Gretchen managed as she took the first bite of her food. She had trouble disguising the cringe on her face though.

“That bad?” Nick asked laughing.

“No, no...um..I just..they’re...what the hell did you do to them?”

“I’m not a chef! I usually call out for food.” Nick shrugged. “This was to get you to forgive me.” he laughed.

“You weenie.” Gretchen said stabbing a piece of sausage. “Is this safe to eat?”

“Oh yeah, I make the best sausage in the state.” he commented. Gretchen took a bite and looked at him surprised.

“Wow, this is good. What did you do?”

“Defrost. My mom made them for me the last time she visited and froze them for whenever I need em!” Nick said laughing again.

“Pathetic. Your mother lives across the country and she still cooks for you.”

“Yup, gotta love her.” Nick said as the phone rang. He stood up to answer it. “Hello? Hey Mom, we were just talking about you.” Nick said smiling. Gretchen angled herself so she could watch Nick talk. The smile left his face immediately. “Is she okay? You’re kidding. How bad?” The questions shot out quickly as Nick stood rigid. “This can’t be happening.” he whispered.

“Nick?” Gretchen asked worriedly.

“Gretchen..yeah. I’ll call the airport right now. We’ll be there as soon as we can get a flight.” Nick said hanging the phone up quickly. He spun to face Gretchen, his face pale, his eyes dark.

“What?”

“Beej.” Nick said bluntly.

“What happened to her? Is she okay?” Gretchen asked pushing her chair back as she went to him.

“Her and..um..her boyfriend were..are...”

“What? What?”

“They were in an accident.”

“Are they okay?”

“They’re not sure...both of them were still alive when they were brought into the hospital..but no one knows how...serious they are.” Nick stuttered.

“Call the airport, I’m going to repack my bags.”

“Gretchen, you don’t have to come with me, I..I..”

“Nick, I’m coming with you. Call.” she said pointing to the phone. Nick nodded slightly, in a daze. Gretchen ran upstairs and shoved all her clothes into the gym bag she brought with her. She double checked the room, making sure she had everything. She didn’t know how long she would be in California with the Carters. After she finished her room, she headed into the master bedroom and found another bag for Nick’s clothes. Opening drawers, she tossed clothes in the bag: boxers, socks, shorts, shirts. She raced into the bathroom and found Nick’s travel bag still filled with razors and deodorant. She rolled her eyes. Tour had been over for months and he still hadn’t unpacked that. Saved her time though. She chucked that into the bag as well and headed back down stairs as Nick was going up.

“Hurry, the plane leaves in 30 minutes, I need to pack.”

“Nope, already done.” She said holding up the packed bag. Nick smiled gratefully at her.

“Truck.” He said making a U-turn on the stairs. He stopped at the door to shove his feet into his Nike’s and grab his key. The two were on the road in record time and at the airport with five minutes to make it to the flight. Nick stopped at the ticket counter on the way in and got the tickets as Gretchen waited to check their bags. Their things were loaded and the two of them raced towards the loading gate.

“Welcome to American Airlines.” the flight attendant said, smiling.

“Thanks.” Gretchen mumbled quickly as Nick and her were led to their seats in first class. The two situated themselves for the flight . “Are you okay?” She asked Nick as soon as they were in the air.

“I’m not sure.” he said quietly. He was worried about his sister. Next to Gretchen and the guys, BJ was one of the most important people in Nick’s life. As kids, they shared a unique bond that most siblings didn’t. Sure, they had their fights, but...they were each other’s best friends when they moved from New York to Florida...when they moved to different houses in Florida. They were lonely, and they had been there for each other. Now there was a chance BJ could be taken from Nick. It scared him.

“She’s going to be fine.” Gretchen said linking her arm with Nick’s. He reached for her hand and squeezed it tightly. He calmed a little.

“What if..”

“Nick, don’t think like that. BJ will be fine. Okay?”

“I hope so.”

“She will. Why don’t you lay back and see if you can sleep. It will help pass the time.”

“Okay.” Nick said weakly. He laid his chair back and made himself comfortable, still grasping Gretchen’s hand.

“Just relax, we’ll be there in a few hours, and you’ll know BJ is okay.” Gretchen whispered as Nick dozed off. She looked upwards and said a silent prayer that BJ would be alright.

Nick awoke with a start, panicking. He has just had the worst dream. He had lost Gretchen in a car accident. It was horrible. Nick closed his eyes momentarily praying that his sister was alright. Her accident had sparked the dream, he knew that. He looked beside him at a sleeping Gretchen and breathed a sigh of relief. She was beautiful, sleeping peacefully clutching Nick’s arm protectively. She shifted in her sleep and clung to him tighter. Sighing deeply, she fell back to sleep. Nick ran his free hand through his hair nervously. The motioned a flight attendant near by.

“Yes Mr. Carter?” she asked.

“Can you tell me how much longer the flight will be?”

“Sure, about another half an hour and we’ll be landing in LA.”

“Thanks.” Nick said turning back to Gretchen. He decided to let her sleep a little longer, she looked tired. He felt tired, but knew he couldn’t go back to sleep even if he wanted to. The dream was too awful. Nick didn’t want to risk going back to that place. He sighed deeply and squeezed Gretchen’s hand tightly, almost reassuring himself that , yes she was still there, and yes she was still okay. She mumbled something incomprehensible and slowly opened her eyes.

“Are we there?” she whispered. Nick glanced down at her quickly, not realizing that she was awake.

“Almost, another twenty minutes or so.”

“How do I look, like shit?” Gretchen asked sitting up straight. She reached for her purse and rummaged through it, retrieving her compact.

“You look like you’ve been sleeping on a plane.” Nick said simply. She looked nothing like shit in Nick’s opinion. Even when she was half asleep with her hair falling out of her scrunchie and her clothes all wrinkled she looked beautiful. A breath of fresh air.

“I look awful! My God? Look at my hair, I never knew it could fall that way.” she said shaking her head as she patted the bumps in her hair down repeatedly, only to have them pop back up. Nick chuckled a little, thankful that she was there with him to lighten the mood. “What will your mother think?!”

“My mom knows you already, your hair sticking out like that won’t make her think anything.”

“It’s sticking out!? I thought it was just a little bumpy!” Gretchen exclaimed horrified. She reopened her compact to analyze her head again.

“Brown Eyes, it looks fine. We have a pretty good excuse for you to be less than perfect today. Alright? Besides, I’m sure mine looks bad too.”

“Actually,” Gretchen said looking him over, “You look perfect as always. How do you do that?” she complained.

“Talent. Hey we’re landing. This is it.” Nick said gripping Gretchen’s hand again. The plane touched down and the two of them grabbed their bags. They made their way into the huge, busy LAX airport. “Let’s just hail a cab and get there.”

“Fine by me, hold my hand, I don’t want you to lose me.” she said squeezing his hand even tighter as he led her through the throngs of passengers and their family members to the exit. They hailed a cab and settled in for the ride to the hospital. Nick sat silently in the back seat next to Gretchen, chewing on his bottom lip. “Nick, she’s okay.”

“I’m just a little shaken up right now. I wanna get there soon.” he said tapping his foot impatiently. They pulled up out front of the hospital minutes later. Nick bolted out of the car as Gretchen grabbed her bag and politely paid the driver. She made her way to the swinging door that Nick had already entered. The two of them were directed to the Intensive Care Unit where Nick located his parents, sitting in the hallway.

“Mom! Dad!” Nick said hurrying down the hall. He dropped his bags at their feet and embraced them.

“Oh, Nick. They don’t know yet...she had to go to surgery...”

“How’s Mark?” Nick asked as Gretchen caught up to him and dropped her bag on the floor, exhausted.

“We don’t know that either...no one has told us anything.” Mr. Carter said sighing in frustration. Mrs. Carter placed a hand affectionately on Nick’s upper arm and finally noticed Gretchen hanging back.

“Gretchen? Oh, Gretchen.” she said in a motherly tone as she wrapped Gretchen in a hug. “I’m sorry that your trip was ruined.”

“Mrs. Carter, it’s okay. I hope BJ is okay.”

“We all do.” Mr. Carter said giving Gretchen a small squeeze. The four moved to the waiting room down the hall to wait for a doctor. Nick and Gretchen made themselves as comfortable as possible in the small, dark room. The chairs were old and tacky and the sound of ‘The Price is Right’ echoed through the room from a small television bolted to the ceiling.

“I am beginning to really despise hospitals.” Nick muttered taking Gretchen’s hand again. The rested their intertwined fingers on the arm of Gretchen’s chair.

“I think that is the general consensus around here...” Gretchen pointed out, looking at the sad, worried faces off the rest of the people in the room. “Hey....we should call Brian. We were supposed to go visit this afternoon.” Gretchen mentioned.

“Yeah...” Nick said pulling out his cell phone. “Will you call him...I don’t really feel like explaining all this to him.” Nick asked.

“Sure.” Gretchen said taking the phone from Nick. She dialed Brian’s number quickly and waited for him to answer.

“Lo?”

“Brian.” Gretchen greeted.

“Gret! Where are you guys? I called Nick’s house not twenty minutes ago!”

“California.”

“California?! Why the hell are you across the country?”

“BJ was in a car accident, Bri. Nick’s mother called early this morning and we took the earliest flight out here.” Gretchen explained, looking down at her and Nick’s hands clasped tightly together.

“Is-is she alright?”

“We don’t know a thing yet. Mark was with her...no word on him yet either.”

“Wow, tell Nick I’m really sorry. Man, this has to be hard on him.” Brian said sadly.

“Yeah...it is. Uh, I should be going though. I just wanted to call and apologize for standing you and Maddy up today. I’ll make it back over there as soon as I can.”

“No worries. Send Nick and his parents my love. I’ll be thinking about yall. Take care of him Gretchen. He really needs you now.” Brian said softly. Gretchen smiled.

“Don’t you worry, Bri. I’m here with him.”

“I know. Call me with any news you get. Okay?”

“Will do.” Gretchen said telling Brian good-bye. She handed the phone back to Nick. “He sends his love.”

“Thanks.” Nick said running a hand through his hair. “Why does this take so long? It’s been what? Five hours?”

“Nick, calm down, when they know how she is we’ll be the first ones to find out.” That statement leaving her mouth, the doctor entered the waiting room.

Chapter Twelve
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