Part 172
The phone rang at 8:30 the next morning and Nick rolled stiffly to his back, searching for the portable he'd tossed aside the night before. Finally retrieving it from the floor by the bed, he answered groggily.
"H'lo?"
"Kaos! You sound like shit," Howie said cheerfully, "did I wake you up?"
Nick rubbed his eyes with his free hand. "Nah, man I WISH."
"I was wondering if you could come give me a hand later this morning. I need to get Jesse's room painted so we can finish decorating, and I thought if we did it together it'd be done a lot faster."
"Umm, sure, I guess," Nick said yawning.
"Nick? Are you all right?"
"Me? Yeah, I'm fine." He rolled over to check on Becca, still sound asleep beside him, her hair a tangled mess.
"What's wrong? I know Sarah was worried about Becca after you left last night." Howie frowned, putting his arm around Sarah who had come to stand next to him.
"What's wrong, D?" she whispered anxiously.
Howie waved her into silence as he listened.
"Hang on, let me go to the next room. Bec's still sleeping." Carefully, so as not to disturb her, he took the phone to the nursery, collapsing into the rocking chair.
Howie heard him sigh and tried again. "What's going on, Nick?"
"Last night, after everything that happened, Bec just fell apart."
"What do you mean, 'fell apart'?"
"She cried, D. For hours. Nothing I could do or say helped, and then she got …. I dunno, 'sick' isn't the right word, but she scared the shit out of me."
"Did you call the doctor?"
Sarah turned pale. She knew exactly what was happening and so did Howie.
"Yeah, finally. I told her it was that or I was hauling her butt to the ER"
Howie smiled. "Go Nick! What happened?"
"Seems Bec's been having problems with her blood pressure and didn't bother to tell me."
"Nick, I'm sure she just didn't want you to worry."
Sarah rolled her eyes and sighed. Getting Howie's attention she whispered, "Did she tell him?"
"Nick, did Becca tell you all of this, or the doctor?"
"Nah, Bec told me all of this before I called the doctor."
"Bec told him," Howie whispered, covering the receiver with his hand.
"Oh thank God." Sarah sank onto the sofa to listen as Howie talked with Nick.
"We checked her pressure, and I've never seen it that high. D, what if something happens to her?" His voice broke and his eyes were wet. "I can't lose her," he whispered.
"Calm down, Nick, you're not going to lose her." Howie sat by Sarah and she leaned against him, worried about her best friend. "What did the doctor say?"
"I have to get some pills today, something to help keep her blood pressure down."
"Is that safe?"
"I guess, she said it's the one thing they can give her. If it doesn't help then she has to stay here when the tour starts up again."
"Nick, I'm sure she'll be fine. Why not bring her along when you come? Maybe Sarah can talk to her and help her calm down."
"Sure, sounds good to me. Let me shower and run to the drug store, then we'll be over around lunch time."
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Howie leaned back wearily.
"D, is she okay?"
"Not sure, Angel. Nick said she was pretty sick last night, and I can tell from the sound of his voice that he's scared to death."
"She told him?"
"Apparently he gave her no choice." Howie smiled. "Threatened to take her to the emergency room."
"My god, kid Kaos has grown a backbone." Sarah laughed.
"He said he's afraid he's going to lose her, Sarah."
"Poor Nick, he must feel awful. Are they coming over?"
"Lunchtime, after Nick picks up Becca's prescription."
"God, D, it must be bad if they're risking drugs to control it."
"That's what I thought, too, but he's already worried enough without me making it worse."
"Look, you go get the room ready. Jesse can help me pick up something to make for lunch. Maybe we can distract Becca enough to help her relax a little."
"I'll send her out, I think she's rearranging her new toys for the tenth time this morning." Kissing her lightly, he grinned and set off looking for his daughter.