[Hey all! Thank you so much for all the reviews. I know y’all hear it all the time, but it’s really what keeps me going. Muah!]

“Ellie! Shhh. Calm down. Ellie!”

“Please no. Please, god no.” I cried out. A strong pair or arms wrapped around me and held me tight. I fought them uselessly.

“Ellie, wake up! Geez!”

My eyes flew open and I gasped. Where was I? Nick was sitting in front of me, his hands gripping my shoulders tightly. I looked around the room and to my shock, it was my apartment. “Brian?” I choked out.

Nick looked at me funny. “He’s fine. Kevin just called my cell. He woke up about 15 minutes ago.” He paused. “A nightmare?”

I shuddered. That didn’t quite cover what had just happened. I was prone to nightmares, but this was one of the worst ones I have ever had. I was still all shook up.

“God El, you were crying and thrashing all around. I don’t think I have ever seen anyone react to a dream like that before. What happened?” He asked softly.

I shook my head vigorously. Nick didn’t need to hear the gory details of that one. “I get nightmares all the time. Not a big deal.” I tried to sound reassuring.

He didn’t look satisfied with my answer, but he left it at that. “You want to go wash your face and then we can go back to the hospital?” He asked me.

I rubbed underneath my eyes and then looked at my fingers. Sure enough the mascara that I had put on earlier was now all under my eyes. I groaned. I must have looked really scary. “Yeah, be right back.”

In my bathroom I took a good look at myself. My face was deathly pale and I had black rings around my eyes. If I wasn’t still all shaky, then I would have laughed at my reflection. No wonder Nick had looked at me with such concern. After washing my face and fixing my eyes, I looked a lot better and even felt somewhat better.

“Ready?” I asked him as I headed for the door.

He nodded.

“When did they call?” I asked as we peered cautiously around the corner of my apartment.

“Right before you woke up. Okay, coast is clear.” But when we walked around the corner to his car, we were greeted with bright flashes and clicks of cameras.

“Shit.” Mumbled Nick. “Keep your head low and don’t talk to any of them.” He hissed.

I nodded to acknowledge what he had said and we made a mad dash for the car. Once again, questions were being fired at us from all directions. I refused to look at any of them and tried to shut my ears to their intruding inquiries. Once in the car Nick threw it into reverse and peeled out of the parking lot.

“You did much better this time.” He informed me with a lopsided grin.

“Thanks.” I laughed. “So what did Kevin say?”

“Just that Bri’s awake and somewhat alert. He won’t be able to talk because he has a tube down his throat, but he knows what’s going on.” Nick explained. “I turn left here right?”

“Right. No! I mean left. I meant you were right, turn left.” I hastily explained as he gave me a look as he started to switch lanes. I laughed and then he did too.

“So everything is going to be okay.” I said with relief.

“Yup, seems that way.”

“It’s going to be awhile before everything goes back to normal though huh?” I asked.

“Probably, but it’ll all work out. Don’t worry about it.” He grinned at me.

“Don’t worry, riiiiiiight.” I mumbled as I caught sight of the scene in front of the hospital. The massive crowd had grown. “Um, tiny question: How are we going to get in there unnoticed?”

He was staring wide-eyed at the crowd also. “You tell me.”

“We could go in a side entrance.” I suggested. “Go around that way.” I pointed in the direction of another entrance I thought we could use.

“Who’s bright idea was it not to take some body guards?” Nick frowned as the side entrance came into view. There was a small army of people there too.

“This seems better than the front and once we get inside we’ll be fine right? They won’t let all those people in.” I said.

“Yeah, it’s just getting in that is the problem.” He replied.

I thought a minute. An idea was coming but it was sort of crazy. If it didn’t work then it could cause more problems than if we just announced ourselves to the world. “Park right over there.” I told him. The parking spot was really close so that was perfect. “I have an idea. When I go up there and you see me give you a signal, run like hell through the door okay?”

He narrowed his eyes. “Go up there?” He repeated, gesturing to the mob of people hovering near the doorway. “What sort of idea?”

“Just trust me.” I leveled a gaze at him.

He gave me a skeptical look, but nodded.

I opened the door and casually strolled towards the mob. I pulled Brian’s hat lower without even thinking. I was a tad nervous, but I had to play it cool. When I reached the crowd I hovered near the back and watched the parking lot. I knew this was a long shot, but I didn’t know what else to do. After about five minutes of watching people coming and going to their cars, I saw someone that would have to do. The guy had blond hair, but he was at least a foot shorter than Nick. He resembled Nick more closely than anyone else had that had passed by. I turned to the girl in front of me She didn’t look that much younger than I was.

“Oh my gosh! That looks like Nick Carter!” I said in a hushed voice. The girl’s head whipped around and she looked in the direction I was pointing. The guy really didn’t, but this girl and everyone else here wanted to see one of the guys so bad that they were open to suggestion.

“Ahhh! It’s Nick!!” She screamed. That got everyone’s attention and they started running towards the poor guy. Cameras started flashing and people were yelling out things. I tried to subtly wave at Nick. The expression on his face was priceless as he hopped out of the car and raced towards the door I was holding open.

The other guy looked up to see a mob running towards him. His face, showing an expression of shock and mild horror, was clearly visible now. Almost in unison the mob whirled around to where I was standing. Nick had almost reached the door.

One girl pointed to him and screeched. “That’s Nick!!! There he is!!!”

“That girl lied to me!!” I heard another voice and saw another finger point in my direction. I gulped.

Like a tornado, they suddenly shifted directions and started running towards Nick.

“Hurry!” I yelled. He threw a look over his shoulder and doubled his pace. We made it inside just in time. We both raced around the corner and ducked into a room. Both of us were panting and laughing between breaths.

“Are you insane?” He gasped as he ran his hand across his forehead.

I nodded, trying to fan myself. I peeked out the door in time to see a security guard escort some of our pursuers back out the door. “I can’t believe we pulled that off.”

He shook his head. “Do you always do crazy stuff like that?”

“Keeps life interesting. Now let’s go see Brian.” I smirked as we headed for the elevators.

Our first stop was the waiting room. Right before we got to the door, my stomach knotted up. Everything in the dream came back to me and I had to steady myself against the wall.

“Ellie, what’s wrong?” Nick was looking at me with concern.

“Nothing.” I started to push the buttons on the lock. I hate the effect nightmares have on me.

When I opened the door I prepared myself for the worst. Instead, I saw Kevin and AJ just sort of relaxing in the room. Kevin was reading and AJ was flipping channels. He looked up when he saw us.

“What’s up guys?” He grinned.

I breathed a sigh of relief. Everything was okay.

“Guys, Ellie is insane. It has just been confirmed. She needs to be admitted.” Nick stated.

I punched him in the arm. “Shut up! I got you in here didn’t I?”

Kevin shook his head. “I don’t even want to know what happened.” AJ was just staring at us with an amused look on his face. I knew he’d appreciate what we just did. I’d have to tell him about it later if I remembered.

“So, how is he?” Nick asked.

“Still sort of drifting in and out. Dr. Johanson said that that was to expected for awhile. Howie is with him right now.” Kevin replied.

“Can I see him?” Nick asked softly.

“Of course.” Kevin stood and then turned around to look at me. “Do you want to come?”

I did, but I didn’t want to intrude. Kevin saw my hesitation and gave me the look that he had given me earlier. I nodded silently.

In just a few short minutes we stood outside Brian’s room. “You go ahead.” I said to Nick. I wanted to let him have some time alone in there. “I’ll be in in a minute.”

He nodded and went inside. Kevin looked at me. “How are you holding up?” He asked me quietly.

I had to smile at his concern. “I’m doing alright.”

He nodded. “I am going to go back to the waiting room then. Go on in okay?” He gestured to the doorway.

“I will.”

He left and I waited for a few minutes before knocking.

“Yup?”

I let myself in and took in my surroundings. The room was dim like it was before, but the atmosphere wasn’t as heavy. Nick was smiling and I saw that Brian was trying his best to look alert.

I walked over to the side of the bed and looked at Brian carefully. He looked tired, but his eyes had a peaceful look to them. He had the breathing tube down his throat so he couldn’t talk. “How ya doin?” I whispered.

He blinked at me and I grinned. “I’ll take that to mean ‘good’ then.”

Blink.

“I was just telling him about our little adventure in here.” He told me. He looked back down at Brian. “B, I swear she is a lunatic.”

I thought I saw a tiny smile and then he blinked. “Hey!” I exclaimed. “Was that supposed to mean you are agreeing with him?!”

Blink.

“I see how you are.” I mumbled. Nick just laughed.

We stayed in there for awhile longer, just talking and joking. After awhile we noticed that Brian’s eyes started to grow heavy. We stayed quiet for a little bit until he fell asleep. Then we headed back towards the waiting room.

~*~*~*~*~

The rest of that day had been pretty uneventful. Brian still drifted in and out of sleep, staying awake longer each time. We took turns staying with him during the night. This time, fortunately there were no nightmares. I slept better that night too. Probably not as much as I should, but at least it was an improvement over the night before.

I glanced at the clock on the wall. Kevin and Howie had just left to go to the hotel to get some things and AJ had left to get breakfast for everyone. Brian’s parents had also gone to their hotel and would be back in a few hours. That left Nick and I. He was in with Brian and I was getting ready to go down there.

They were watching the Price Is Right when I let myself in. My favorite game, Plinko, was just getting ready to start. Bob Barker was explaining the rules to the girl that look like she might burst from excitement.

“Mornin, El.” Nick greeted.

“Shhh. It’s Plinko!” I told him as I stared at the TV. But then I turned around to see his eyes grow wide and shift a glance at Brian. Brian smiled and lifted his hand to make a thumbs up sign.

I laughed and returned the sign. Nick shook his head and rolled his eyes. “You guys are really pathetic, you know that?”

After Plinko (the girl did make out pretty good) ended, a commercial came on. At that moment Dr. Johanson knocked and then came in. “Good morning Brian. Morning guys.” He greeted cheerfully.

Nick and I nodded and Brian gave a small wave.

Dr. Johanson flipped through the chart. “Looks like you had a good night, Brian.” He said smiling.

Brian nodded.

“Okay, let me just check you over.” He did that and seemed satisfied. “How would you like to get that tube out of your throat?”

Brian’s eyes lit up and he nodded.

“Hey, that’s awesome. I bet you are ready for that.” Nick grinned.

I smiled too. I couldn’t imagine how uncomfortable that thing probably was. “Should I wait outside?” I looked at Dr. Johanson and then at Brian. Brian shrugged and then shook his head.

Dr. Johanson came over and stood next to Brian. “Okay this is what we are going to do. I am going to count to three and start pulling it out. You are going to feel like you are gagging and what I need you to do is make like you are blowing out birthday candles. I’m going to help you sit up and put my hand on your back. Okay? When I count to three.”

Brian nodded and Nick squeezed his hand.

Dr. Johanson helped him up and held tightly to the tube. “Okay, one...two...three.” He started pulling and as expected, Brian began to cough and gag. It was out in seconds. It took a few seconds for him to stop coughing.

“Whoa.” He whispered softly.

Dr. Johanson fixed the oxygen on Brian and turned up the flow. “Your throat is going to feel a little sore. I’ll be right back with some ice to suck on. It’ll soothe your throat. We can also get you a spray to numb it if it really bothers you.” Dr. Johanson told him.

“Is that better?” Nick asked Brian.

“Yeah. At least I can respond to more than yes or no questions.” His voice came out as a barely audible whisper. His smile dropped and he frowned. “Something’s wrong.”

“What?” My voice came out more worried than I intended.

“My voice. I can’t talk.” It was that same harsh whisper.

“Bri, you just had a tube down your throat. Maybe it is just sore. You probably just need to let it heal up a little before it can work again.” Nick pointed out sensibly.

But Brian shook his head. “Last time I could at least make my voice work somewhat. Now it won’t at all. It’s like all it can do is whisper.” He tried to clear his throat. “My voice isn’t there.” He started to get agitated.

“Come on Brian, Nick is probably right. Just give yourself a little time. Let’s ask your doctor when he comes back in. Don’t get all worked up about it yet.” I reasoned.

He nodded, but didn’t look convinced.

After a moment Dr. Johanson returned with a cup in his hand. I was relieved. I knew that he would just say that it was normal for this to happen and Brian would relax.

“I can’t talk. My voice isn’t there. It will only do this.” Brian whispered as he gestured at how it came out.

“You can’t talk at all?” Dr. Johanson frowned.

“No, I have tried to make myself, but all that comes out is a whisper. What’s wrong?!” Brian was upset.

“Could it be that he just needs to let it rest or let his throat heal up?” Nick asked hopefully.

“I don’t know. That is odd. He should be able to at least get some sound out.” The doctor said truthfully. “Let’s not worry too much yet though. I’m going to have them take a few x-rays and see what we come up with.” He patted Brian’s leg. “Don’t get all worked up yet.” He made a few notes in the chart and told us that Radiology would be here soon to take Brian down. Then he left.

I turned my attention to Brian. He looked like he wanted to cry.

“What if there is something seriously wrong with my voice?” He whispered. I could see the fear in his eyes. I exchanged glances with Nick.

“Bri, I’m sure that this is a temporary thing. It’ll be okay.” I know he didn’t believe me and I wasn’t sure if I even believed my own words.