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Chapter 18


Kevin sat stiffly, his hands drawn up over his ungroomed face, trying his hardest to take
everything in with those tired green eyes. It had been two days and AJ was still lying here,
his name the only thing proving it was really him. The man lying in that sterilized room on
the crisp white bed was definitely not the lovable rebel that Kevin had known as his
brother for the past 14 years. This man was cold. And still. Quiet. Calm. Small, compared to
the mass amount of machines that were surrounding him from every end. And the nurses
called him Alexander.

AJ would’ve never let that happen. Why him, Kevin’s mind begin to race again. Where were
the others? What did those physcos want? He feared the answer.

“Do you want any coffee?” Howie’s brown eyes were swollen with lack of sleep as he sliced
Kevin’s wall of confusion that was beginning to build.

The tall man shook his head quietly and bit down on his bottom lip, reaching out to touch AJ’
s hand for the 3rd time in 20 minutes. Still no response.

“Lori?”

The woman sat in a chair farthest away from the bed. She had been hospitalized after
passing out, fearing stress on the baby. Now, she didn’t want to be near her ailing husband.
It was that she didn’t love him. It wasn’t that she didn’t care. It was simply that she cared
too much. And it hurt.

"Lori?" Howie said again, trying to get her attention. He was really worried about her health.

Lori's head snapped in Howie's direction, "Oh, um, what was that?" She hadn't been paying
attention.

Howie sat down on the arm of the chair and placed a hand comfortably on her shoulder.
"I'm going to grab some coffee, and I was wondering if you wanted anything."

Lori let out a sigh, "I don't think so."

"I'll tell ya what, I'm going to grab you some apple juice and a bagel. The doctor said that if
you didn't eat today, he would have you re-admitted." Howie said giving Lori a stern look.

"Fine, just get me whatever." Lori replied as she unconciously placed a hand on her belly.
Her stomach had a slight swell to it, her pregnancy beginning to show.

She didn't see Howie leave the room as she let her mind wonder. When she did this she
didn't see her husband in that bed. Instead, she could feel his arms around her, his breath
on her neck, his lips upon hers...

She never felt the tears begin to fall down her face as these thoughts crossed her mind,
but the sobs that followed snapped her back to reality.

The sound of Lori's sobs broke Kevin out of his trance. He let go of AJ's hand and made his
way over to Lori. The sight of her breaking down like this tore at his heart.

He quickly gathered the woman into his arms, and held her tight. "Shhh..." He whispered
soothingly into her ear.

"No...don’t tell me to shh!" Lori let out as she continued to break down. "That's MY husband
over there! My husband..." With those last words she had quieted down and let her gaze
fall onto AJ.

Kevin released her as she began to pull away. She stood up on wobbly legs and began to
make her way to the side of the bed. He watched as she sat down in the chair he had been
sitting in. She hesitantly reached out and polaced his hand in hers.

"Hey baby..." Lori began trying her best not to cry anymore.

Kevin suddenly felt like the room was getting smaller, he couldn't breath. He had to get out
of there, NOW.

He fumbled with the door handle then burst out into the hallway. It still didn't calm him any,
the white walls and the sterile smell was driving him crazy. Looking around he saw a flight
of stairs and headed for them.

He took the stairs two at a time, never looking back. He couldn't deal with this anymore.

Kevin Richardson was breaking down.

***
Howie felt drained, his feet dragging with each step he took. Life had definatly thrown a
curve ball at them, and he was unsure of the outcome.

He waved to a few of the nurses as he passed by the nurses station. They had been so nice
to all of them, and Howie couldn't have been more greatful.

As he got on the elevator he let out a sigh. He wasn't sure how much more of this he could
take. He began to remember some of the stories Jenn and Brian had told about those
months of capture. He couldn't imagine them being able to make it though this time.

The doors opened on the second floor where the cafeteria was. As Howie neared the
cafeteria doors he felt his pants for his wallet. He came to a stop in front of the doors when
he realized he left his wallet up in the room.
He decided it would be faster to go out to the car and get the money from his stash. When
he got back to the elevator he saw that it was all the way up on the 11th floor. He quickly
decided that it's be faster to just take the stairs.

As he opened the door to the stairwell he was shocked to see Kevin rushing down the final
few stairs.

"Kevin!!" Howie called out.

Kevin almost didn't stop at the sound of his name, but something caused him to stop. He
really didnt want Howie to see him so broken down, so lost. He stayed facing the door for a
few moments.

"Are you ok man?" Howie asked as he placed his foot hesitantly on the first step.

Kevin took in a deep breath as he began to slowly turn towards his friend. "I, um..."

Kevin never got through his sentence as he gasped at the sight before him.

Kevin didn't ever get the chance to warn Howie of the man leering behind him. He
shockingly watched as the man shoved Howie down the flight of stairs. Watching Howie
body crumble down the stairs was heart shattering, but the "crack" that resounded off the
walls sent shivers down Kevin's spine.

As Howie's unconscious, broken body came to a rest at Kevin's feet, he fell to his knees. As
he looked Howie over for injuries, he paid no heed to the man that had done this to his
friend. Kevin made a hissing sound as his eyes came across Howie's right leg, it was
definitely broken.

Then Kevin noticed movement to his left, and as the barrel of the man's gun came in
contact with the side of his head he had a feeling he would be seeing his missing friends
soon.


A/N: hope ur enjoying it so far...we have around 6 chapters already written...just working on getting them back on the computer due to a computer crash we had to go thru old notebooks and such...but we will be sure to have more chapters up soon...PLEASE REVIEW! thanks much!

Jenn and Sara