Chapter 9
*Three weeks and a half later*
Alicia was exhausted when she finally arrived at the hotel and knocked on the door of the room # 315. It was 11h45 pm and she had travelled all day.She knocked again, hoping he was there. She was about to knock again whenthe door opened suddenly, revealing an amazingly cute Brian with his hairundone and in boxers. He had obviously been sleeping for awhile but it tookhim only seconds to realize that she was really in front of him and that hewasn’t dreaming. He said very slowly, looking at her in the eyes, “I am sohappy to see you Alicia. I missed you. You look good!”
It was true that her little pink dress looked good on her and revealed her nice legs and her thin waist. Her hair was falling on her shoulders and she had a silver chain on her neck, a gift from her mother. But her face looked tired and she was very pale. She hadn’t feel well since a couple of days and she had thrown up in the plane. Bad case of motion sickness.She smiled at this little white lie and holded him very thight for several minutes. She had to pull away when she felt her stomach’s anger and she ranto the bathroom just in time.
Brian took care of her all night, applying wet towels on her forehead and watching her sleep. She was awfully hot and he called the front desk to send someone over with a thermometer. Her temperature wasn’t high enough to takeher to the hospital but it was close. She was slightly shaking and when she opened her eyes, the sun was rising and Brian had fallen asleep on a chair next to her bed, holding her hand. She felt a lot better and she was ready to start a new day.
“But Alicia, you can’t go out like that, you’ve been sick all night!”
“I feel fine Brian and I don’t come to Costa Rica every day! Do you have an extra ticket for your concert tonight?”
“Alicia, you really should go see the doctor. Just in case, just to be sure.”
“To be sure of what Brian? I’m telling you I’m fine. I want to go shopping and to the beach. What about that ticket?”
He shook his head. There would be no way to convince her. “I can get you aticket because you are insisting but I’ll be worried about you. Why don’tyou take Sabrina with you? She’s been following Frack for a month, she’llprobably enjoy to do something fun.” He took her hands in his and said inher ear, “I would really reassure me Ali. Please.”
She sighed. “I’ll bring Sabrina. I missed her. It’s not the same when she’snot around.” He nodded and kissed her.
She went over to Sabrina and Nick’s room and knocked on the door. Sabrina opened the door in a white tank top and matching baby blue boxers. She was so surprised to see Alicia that it took her awhile before reacting to the presence of her best friend but she finally gave her a big hug. “Come on Saby, let’s get dress and go shopping! Do you think your boyfriend would like to come?”
Nick was still sleeping in the big bed. Alicia went to the curtains and opened them. The sun illuminated Nick’s face. He slowly got up and sat inthe bed. He grinned, “Hi Alicia. What are you doing here so early? Can’t you let the new fiancees alone for awhile?”
“Nick!”, Sabrina said with an angry look on her face. She had wanted to wait for the perfect occasion to tell Alicia but now it was too late. Nick had ruined the surprise. The thruth was that she was again apprending Alicia’s reaction. She didn’t want to go through the same thing as a couple of months ago when she hadn’t told Alicia about her relationship with Nick.
Alicia couldn’t say anything. She was just very surprised and mad at herself for not seeing it coming. She had never suspected to hear news like that this morning. Sabrina was getting married with Nick. How could she not have talked about it with her? I guess it doesn’t concern me, she thought. Sabrina had turned seventeen the 17th of April. She was still so young but Alicia knew Nick had been in her dreams since years. She felt their look on her, waiting for her reaction, and she knew she had to say something. Tears started shining in her eyes and she took Sabrina in her arms, holding her very tight, and murmured, “I am so happy for you Sabrina. I hope that you will be very happy and I’ll always be there for you.” Without letting her go, she said to Nick, “You better take good care of her!”
He smiled and said, “I will. And that’s a promise!”
Alicia left them alone, feeling happy for Sabrina but also a little sad because she felt it would be different between them from now on. Putting her thoughts aside, she took a taxi and asked to be taken in downtown San Jose,the capital of Costa Rica. She started to walk in the streets without knowing where she was going, admiring the old buildings and stopping fromtime to time at souvenir stands or in nice little shops. She found a big shopping place called “La Casona”, exclusively for souvenirs. It was very crowded, extreamly hot, and there were so many stands everywhere, she could barely walk. After an hour of shopping, she desperatly needed some air and she was heading toward the door when her head started spinning and everything went black around her. She tried to stay standing but her legs wouldn’t support her weight anymore and she fell on the floor.
People around started panicking until a man in his late thirties took everything under control and ordered everyone to calm down and told a young woman to call an ambulance, which arrived within minutes. They took Alicia to the nearest hospital and a doctor immediately examined her.
Four hours and a half later, Alicia woke up in a small and uncomfortable hospital bed. She felt weak and scared because she didn’t knew where she was until a nurse came in her room.
“Como esta Senorita? El doctor va a venir en un minuto. Puedo llamar alguien para venir buscarte?”
Alicia had no idea what the woman had just said. “Sorry, I don’t speakSpanish.” The nurse looked at her without understanding. Alicia repeated, “Idon’t speak Spanish. Do you speak English?” The woman shook her head. She didn’t speak English. Alicia started to panick. She looked around her andsaw a phone on the night table. She grabbed it and called Sabrina at thehotel, praying she would still be there. She was relieved when her bestfriend answered the phone.
“Hello?”
“Saby, it’s me. Are you doing something right now?” Her voice was slightly shaking.
“No. The boys are gone to a photo shoot. Is something wrong Ali?”
“I’m at the hospital. I don’t know what happened. I can’t remember anything. Nobody speaks English here and I want to go home but they won’t let me out!”
“The hospital? Oh Ali, Brian told me you had been sick all night and to keep an eye on you but I didn’t thought it was that bad! I feel so bad now. At which hospital are you?”
Alicia looked at her hospital bracelet. “San Juan De Dios. Don’t worry Sab, I’m fine now.”
“I’ll be there in 10 minutes.”
Sabrina arrived 9 minutes later and rushed to Alicia’s room, who was already up and ready to go. Sabrina was astonished when she saw Alicia. Her face was deadly pale. She had trouble standing up and seemed very weak. Her eyes seemed so tired and her hair was undone. If she hadn’t known Ali that well, she would of thought she had been drinking or taking drugs. At that moment the doctor came in and started to talk to Sabrina in Spanish, who was very fluent in that language. Her expression changed from concerned to surprise and finally to happy.
“Would you please explain what’s wrong with me?” Alicia said impatiently.
“Sit down.” Sabrina told her friend with a smile. Alicia did has she was told. “Alicia, I have some great news for you. You’re going to have a baby. You almost lost it today and the doctor said you’ll have to take it easy for the next few months.”
Alicia looked in shock. “What?”
“You’re pregnant Alicia. Congratulations!” Sabrina tried to hug her friend but she pushed her away. She started to walk toward the door and she was already at the front door of the hospital when Sabrina reacted and startedto run behind her.
“Alicia! Alicia, wait for me!” Alicia was sitting in ataxi when Sabrina caught up to her.
Alicia looked at Sabrina and said in a terribly sure tone of voice, “It can’t be. They made a mistake.” She stared at Sabrina who was very puzzled. “Are you coming in or not?”
Sabrina slipped in the car, closed the door and gave the address to the driver. She couldn’t understand what was wrong with Alicia. She knew it was probably a big shock but why wasn’t she happy? She decided to leave her alone for now and they rode in silent.
When they arrived at the hotel, Alicia went up to her room. Before closing her room door behing her, she said to Sabrina, “Please Sab, don’t tell anyone about what happened today. And thanks.” She closed the door.
Sabrina was standing in front of Alicia’s door, crying. She wanted to help her but she didn’t understood what was going on. She sat on floor and cried in her hands when Nick, Brian and Howie saw her. Nick rushed to her side and sat beside her. He put his arms around her and waited. The other two didn’t know what to do and they were just standing there, looking at her. Nick finally asked her, “What’s wrong Sabrina?” She started to cry harder. He tried again, “What happened?”
She finally managed to murmur an answer, “It’s Ali. She’s not well and she’s going to do something drastic, I know it.” Nick as well as Howie looked up at Brian, who just looked at Sabrina.
“You better go check it out man.” Howie said.
Brian nodded and he was putting his key in the door when it suddenly opened. Alicia rushed out with her bag and suitcase, stopped and looked at all of them for a brief moment, and then started to walk away. They were all staring at her when Howie pushed Brian forward. That was all it took him to react. He ran after Alicia and he made it just in time before the elevator door closed. They were alone. She was facing the door, totally ignoring him. He went in front of her, “Alicia, where are you going?”
“Home.”
“To Orlando? Why?”
“I have to take care of some things. I can’t do it here.”
“Can I ask you what is happening?”
“You can ask but I probably won’t answer.” They were at the ground floor and she got off of the elevator, followed by Brian. She put her bags down and turned around. “I can’t explain anything now Brian. Maybe I’ll never be able to give you any explanation at all. I just know that at this point, I can’t stay here and I need some space.”
“Space from who? From me? Did I do something?” He took a deep breath. “Are we breaking up here?”
She hesitated. “I don’t know. I’m not sure of anything. I just need time to think some things over.”
Brian was overwhelmed by the situation. It had been so sudden and unexpected. “How much time?” His voice was shaking.
She answered with sadness because she realized her whole world was falling apart. “I don’t know. A couple of weeks, a couple of months maybe. I know I’m asking too much and I don’t expect you to wait for me. But I will call youwhen I’ll be ready to talk.”
He was now openly crying. “I’ll wait for you. I love you Ali.”
She nodded slowly, took her bags and walked away.
Chapter 8
Chapter 10
Chapters Index
Main Page
Page Centrale