Overhead, the clouds were growing darker and the wind had picked up considerably since she had dozed off. She watched as the wind tossed the treetops to and fro, and pressed the blades of grass down flat to the ground. Looks like we may be expecting that storm after all. she said to herself, pulling the blind down over the window.

She shivered and rubbed her arms vigorously in an attempt to warm herself. Why is it so cold in here? she asked herself, kicking her throw blanket aside. Her legs, like blocks of ice, buckled under her weight and she stumbled to regain her balance.

Grabbing on to a chair nearby for support, she quickly re-set the thermostat and drunkenly made her way back to the couch. Her body went limp as she sighed and gazed blankly around the room. The only source of light was that which was creeping from the openings between the blinds on the window.

Other than that, the room was cast in total darkness. A chill traveled down her spine as remnants of her nightmare flooded her mind, and she quickly turned a lamp on to rid of them. But the cries of the wailing child still remained.

She was startled when the phone suddenly sprang to life beside her, and she fumbled it in her hands before bringing it up to her ear.

"Hello? Oh, hi Mrs. C. Is everything alright...... Yes, everything is okay here....... oh, I'm sorry. I dozed off and didn't hear it....... uh-huh....... they're admitting her tonight? Oh God, is she going to be okay............... good, good........ I see.

"Well, she'd been complaining about that pain in her side all day....... me and Leslie heard her get sick a while after lunch, so that's when I got concerned...... But, everything's okay there?..... I was so upset, I'm surprised I actually was able to doze off like I did..... Yeah, the wind was what woke me up. I had fallen asleep with the window in here open and..... yes, I already have it closed.....

"Are you all planning to stay there until she comes out of surgery....... it'll be that late..... mmm-hmmm, I remember you saying he would be coming in today....... you still can't get a hold of him? Have you tried his cell phone..... oh...... no, you all stay there. I'll hold the fort down while you're all out. It's the least I can do, since I can't be there and all...... no, really, it's no trouble, Mrs. Carter...... Okay, I'll do that........ if anything comes up or if something happens, please call...... okay, I will...... okay..... alright. Bye."

Adrienne hung up the receiver and sat quietly, trying to let all that had happened that day soak in........ it was weird. The day before, everything had been just fine.

Her friend, BJ, had been completely okay. BJ finally had convinced Adrienne to put on that new two-piece they had picked up for her at the mall and go swimming with her and BJ's little siblings, Leslie, and the twins, Aaron and Angel.

It had been quite an interesting day. BJ and Leslie tried all that day to teach Adrienne how to swim, and finally worked her up to a mean dog paddle. Adrienne smiled, remembering also how Aaron had tried to show off his killer backflip on the diving board, and how five seconds later her and BJ were helping the poor guy cough the chlorinated-water out of his lungs when he had ended up doing a belly-flop.

It had been a fun day. Until later that night, when BJ started complaining about a twinge of pain she had in her side. Adrienne wasn't all that concerned, nor was anyone else. BJ just brushed it aside as a stitch in her side from their swimming endeavors earlier that day, but everyone was beginning to think otherwise when the pain was still there the next day. Mrs. Carter and Aaron had stepped out for the day, since Aaron was needed down at some studio for some work on his up-coming single. Mr. Carter and the rest of them, had stayed at home.

Things were actually okay until around lunchtime. The girls had been watching a video and scarfing down some pizza, when BJ started to complain about the pain in her side again. Adrienne had glanced over at her friend, who was starting to look a sickly green color and had asked if "she was okay." She had only nodded for reply. Adrienne knew better and pulled Angel aside a few moments later to go inform her father. While Angel had run off to do so, BJ excused herself and stepped into the bathroom. It wasn't long before they heard BJ inside, and it was then that they knew something was up.

Mr. Carter loaded all of them into their vehicle, leaving Adrienne behind to inform Mrs. Carter of the situation when her and Aaron arrived home. It was around 1:30 when Mr. Carter left. Around three, Mrs. Carter called back to their house to tell Adrienne that Mr. Carter had gotten a hold of her on her cell phone and that they were all down at the hospital, waiting for some test results on BJ. Mrs. Carter offered to come pick her up and take her down to the hospital to be with them all, but Adrienne had declined. "I hate hospitals." she said to herself as she continued to recap all that had happened.

So, Adrienne was left to housesit while the Carters were with BJ. Being the hypochondriac that she was, she had braced herself for the worst: cancer. AIDS. Bubonic plague, even. I still can't figure out how I was able to fall asleep. She shook her head. But, Mrs. Carter had just put her mind at rest. The results had come in. BJ had appendicitis, and would be going through an appendectomy later that night.

Adrienne shuddered. She hated surgeries. She hated doctors. Nine years ago, it had been the doctors to come tell her and her grandmother about the death of her mother. A month ago, it had been both that had taken her grandmother away. Adrienne exhaled deeply, trying to clear her mind of all her troubles. She closed her eyes, trying to get the pictures of her mother and grandmother to fade. But, they didn't. They remained etched permanently in her mind, a wicked reminder of how the painful reality of death could tear a family apart.

She bit her lower lip, trying to hold back the sobs that wanted so badly to escape. Unable to hold them back on her own, she rose quickly to get a glass of water from the kitchen in hopes it may help her in some way.

From his first-class seat, Nick peered through the plane window at the dark clouds that loomed around outside. He grimaced. "I hate flying." he muttered to himself, turning away from the window. "Especially in weather like this."

"Talkin' to ourselves, are we Frack?"

Nick turned to see Brian, a goofy grin on his face. He just rolled his eyes. "Well, what else am I supposed to do? You all have been asleep most of the flight."

A.J leaned forward in his seat and tossed a bag of peanuts at Nick's head. "I would have figured you'd be playing that new game you picked up for your Gameboy."

Nick dodged the bag of peanuts and shook his head. "Well, I would be, but my last set of batteries wore out about 2 hours ago, and I didn't think to bring any others as back-up." He popped open the back to his Gameboy and extracted the batteries out for the two boys to see.

Brian took them from his open palm and looked them over carefully. Passing them back to Nick, he asked, "Aren't those the batteries from your cell phone?"

"Yeah."

"Did you ever stop to think someone might want to try and get a hold of you before we get back to Orlando?"

"Kev, you ever stop to think that you could butt out of me and Rok's conversations from time to time?"

Kevin threw his hands up in mock defeat, while Nick rolled over and went back to staring glumly out the window just as the pilot announced, "Flight 115 Nonstop to Orlando will be landing in 10 minutes."

Nick let his head fall against the window with a dull thud. Thank God, he thought.

Chapter 2--And Then There Were Two