The day continued on in pretty much the same nightmarish fashion. I wanted to know who had called a few moments after we had reached Kevin’s room. There were two phone calls that had come in a row, but the first one seemed to really shake Kevin up. Not to mention he looked pissed. I had my suspicions, but I didn’t want to bring it up though until I was totally aware of how this plan was going to work. And I didn’t want to ask while Howie and AJ were still in the room since they didn’t know.
AJ had finally calmed down from his raging. He had finally lowered himself into a chair, defeated. He put his hands over his face and stayed that way for a long time. Howie had sort of stared off into space and he seemed to be in a state of shock. Kevin had spent most of the rest of the day on the phone and temporarily disappearing from the room.
Brian worried me the most. He looked so lost. Granted, he knew that his best friend hadn’t really died, but there were still a lot of unknowns and Nick wasn’t out of the woods yet. Nick’s sats had dropped and just having surgery where his oxygen levels were messed with already, was precarious. Not to mention, he was under strict orders to be kept totally quiet at the risk of his voice being permanently ruined. I was scared to death he was going to wake up alone and be scared to death. He wouldn’t be in a familiar room and there wouldn’t be any familiar faces to reassure him. Last, we were playing with fire anyway with this plan. One little slip and Marcus would strike. An innocent fan? One of us?
When Kevin had returned to the room once, he suggested that Howie, AJ and I go back to the hotel. They both argued and I flat refused. Obviously Kevin didn’t know me well enough yet to know that I wasn’t leaving Brian or Nick. Howie relented first, seeing that is was the best plan. AJ was a little slower to agree, but after much convincing, he did reluctantly. I still flat out refused and with a long sigh, Kevin gave up.
I glanced at the clock on the wall. 10:53. Normally I would be wide awake, but now I was exhausted. The pain in my ribs lessened to a dull throbbing, but my headache remained. Brian fared worse. His color never really returned and he had barely uttered two words since this afternoon. We were now waiting for Kevin to get back in here. He had gone to walk Howie and AJ to the elevators.
“Need anything?” I asked softly to Brian.
“Nick.” Came the soft reply.
“I know.” I said, hoping my voice didn’t betray the emotion I felt. “He’s going to be okay.”
Brian nodded and offered a smile more for my benefit.
“Lizz, I really wish you would have gone with them.” Kevin admonished as he strolled back into the room. “You need to take care of yourself.”
I shook my head. I was the least of my concerns right now. “Why haven’t we heard anything about how he is?”
“Haven’t you ever heard, ‘no news is good news’? Communication about that is incredibly risky. I’m sure they would have told us if something had gone wrong.” Kevin assured.
“Why didn’t you tell AJ and Howie the truth? That’s cruel.” I tried to keep the accusing tone out of my voice, but I couldn’t help it. If it were me on the other side, I would have freaked.
“I hate it as much as you do, but what choice do we have? AJ can’t keep a secret worth anything. If we told them the truth, their reaction might have ruined the plan. Nick and who knows who else’s lives are at stake. You want to risk that?” Kevin reasoned.
I hung my head. “I know, of course I don’t. I just...I mean, doesn’t this scare you? We are playing with fire!” I looked up, staring Kevin in the eyes.
“Hell yes it scares me, but what choice do we have?” Kevin threw his hands out.
“I know, I know. We don’t really. We have to do whatever it takes.” I sighed.
Brian didn’t say a word through the whole exchange. He was the one who came up with this brilliant plan, but I knew he was frustrated at not being able to do more. He was always there for Nick and now he couldn’t be. Not as much as he wanted to be.
The more I thought about Nick being alone up there, the more I decided that that wasn’t going to work. I couldn’t help but play out in my mind what could happen when he would wake up and no one familiar would be there. I made up my might, I wasn’t going to let that happen. If he had woken up already, we were screwed. What was important now was that he stayed calm to protect his voice.
It was another hour before Brian finally let himself fall asleep. Well, I don’t think he really let himself because he was fighting it, but his overtired body won out. Kevin feel asleep a little later with his book still in his hands. I made myself wait another half hour to make sure they were asleep. It passed agonizingly slow, but when it came, I was ready. I slipped out of the room and took the elevator to the first floor. Then I followed the signs to the ER. I knew it was usually hectic enough in there that I would be virtually unnoticed. I was right. No one gave me a second glance as I ducked into a supply room and grabbed a pair of blue scrubs. I grabbed a mask and surgical hat too. I shoved it all under my shirt, making me look slightly pregnant, and went across the hall into a bathroom. I changed quickly, ditching my jeans and teeshirt. I was wearing the green sweatshirt Nick had gotten for me for the press conference and I knew I couldn’t leave that behind so I tied it around my waist. The mirror revealed the dark bruise under my eye and the cheekbone underneath. The bandage covering the nice hole in my head that Marcus gave me when he clocked me with his gun was easily covered by the hat. Now I looked like a med student.
The only thing I knew was that Nick was on the seventh floor now. Getting to him might be tough. Again, no one gave me a second look as I nonchalantly headed to the elevators and to the seventh floor. This was sort of the overflow floor. Normally not used much, but during winter seasons when there was a lot more illness this floor tended to be a little more occupied. It was pretty slow now. I hesitated when I got closer to the rooms. This was top secret, how did I think I would get in? And how did I think I was going to find out where he was? I couldn’t just ask! I finally decided to wander and try to peak in the rooms. At least I looked legit. I went all down one hall with no luck. I made it to the end of the second hall the same way, starting to feel discouraged. When I started to push open one door, someone materialized at my side.
“Excuse me, can I help you?” The nurse looked at me critically. Her name tag read Georgia Shell.
“Ah, yeah I am looking for a patient.” I said, trying to sound confident.
“Name?”
“Uh...my name is uh-” I started to stammer.
“The patient’s name.” Georgia cut me off. She looked determined, but nervous.
I thought hard. Why was she nervous? Had I found Nick? “Actually I was a close friend of a patient that died today. I was very concerned about a friend of his who is also admitted here. I don’t really want him to be alone when he wakes up.” I said carefully.
Her eyes widened somewhat. “I-I recognize you. You’re...”
I nodded. “Shhh. Can you help me? My friend shouldn’t be alone.” I let the desperation sneak into my voice.
She nodded and motioned for me to follow her into the room that I had tried to go into. “Should I expect anyone else?” She whispered.
“No!” I whispered back, almost too harshly. “I’m sorry. No one else, though. And I wasn’t here either.”
She nodded. “He hasn’t woken up yet, but he’s been trying to. I am glad you are here, actually.” She gave me a small smile before disappearing again.
The room was dark and I walked slowly over to the bed. Nick lay there, oxygen canula on, shifting around slightly. I looked at all the monitors that were on and was relieved to see that all the levels were normal. I sank down into a chair and took his hand into mine. I let out a long shaky breath, relieved and scared at the same time. Relieved that I was here with him, scared by everything else. I desperately hoped he would be okay when he woke. Kevin was going to absolutely ream my ass when he found out about this. Yes, there was a risk, but being here for Nick overrided that. I started to formulate a plan. I knew it was going to be impossible to sneak back and forth. Way too risky. I had two options. One being I would have to keep my distance from Nick. There was no way that was going to happen though. That left one other option.
Go into hiding too.
I could get plane tickets and fly somewhere to make it look like I disappeared. Like I just had to get away. Then, come back under an alias and stay with Nick. I had some friends that had just moved to Florida that I was sure would be able to help. The plan started to take shape and I finally started to feel a little relief. Now I just had to live through Kevin’s wrath when I got caught doing this now.
My thoughts were interrupted when Nick stirred again. I squeezed his hand gently and was rewarded with a weak squeeze back. I gingerly sat on the edge of his bed and waited for his eyes to open. I didn’t have to wait long.