Chapter 15
"Amanda, are you okay?" Aaron asked when she sat down at the table for breakfast the next morning.
"I'm fine." Amanda said stiffly, eating her cereal. She missed Nick making breakfast in the morning, Today was Thursday and he usually made french toast....it made her heart ache for him again. She could easily cook herself, but it was more special that Nick cooked for her. Amanda didn't want anyone to see her as weak as she had been the night before....she decided it was better to act as if nothing was wrong. Yes, denial was working for her.
"Are you going to see him today?" AJ asked, looking at her over the rim of his sunglasses. She seemed sad but hid it well.
"Yes, AJ. I promised him I would." Amanda replied. After breakfast, she drove over to the hospital where Nick lay awake in bed waiting for her. He smiled slightly as she came in. Nick's face was still a bit swollen and the bruising looked worse than last night when he had woken up.
"Hi baby." Nick said when he saw her. Amanda kissed his forehead and sat down next to him.
"How are you feeling?" she asked, looking him over. She could tell by the look in his eyes he was in pain, but he was trying to be strong for her.
"I'm okay..." he told her softly. He didn't want to tell her that every time he woke up he cried because the pain was so bad...he ached all over and his chest felt like he had swallowed knives.
"Nick, I have something to ask you. Aaron wanted to know what would happen to him if something took you away from us. Who would take guardianship of him?" Amanda asked, ignoring the fact that he had flat out lied to her. She wasn't mad that he had lied, but was worried about how he was dealing with the immense pain he was in. Nick was silent for a while, thinking.
"I had decided to leave Aaron in AJ's care." Nick replied. Amanda raised an eyebrow at this. AJ was good with kids, but she couldn't see him raising a teenage boy on his own. She thought back to how AJ had changed Nick after they met, and it scared her to think about what would happen to Aaron.
"AJ? Baby, are you sure about that?" Amanda asked, laughing.
"Yes, I'm sure. They get along like brothers. AJ knows Aaron better than me sometimes. I could never separate them." Nick explained, wincing at the rib poking into his chest again. The stitches pulled when he laughed and his eyes watered.
"Are you okay, sweetie?" Amanda asked again, noticing the unshed tears.
"No....my chest hurts." Nick said finally.
"I will have the nurse bring you some meds." Amanda said. After he had taken some pain medication, Nick seemed calmer.
"Thank you, baby." Nick said with a smile. Amanda worried that he was taking too many pain meds and would get addicted to them...she had read about this in magazines. If he was in this kind of pain every day, she didn't like the idea of drugging him up all the time. She stayed with Nick until he finally fell into a deep sleep, his lips curved into a small grin as she kissed him gently on the forehead and went home. Every day was becoming a challenge for her to deal with this accident, but she wanted to stick it out. She loved Nick so much that she didn't care how banged up or hurt he was, she wanted to support him still. Amanda went home and heard music coming from the back porch, when she looked out the kitchen window that faced the ocean she saw Aaron sitting there playing guitar. Amanda was taken back in time to when she first saw Nick singing on the porch swing, and Aaron almost looked like Nick did at 18. Although Aaron was only twelve, he was playing very well.
"Hi, Amanda." Aaron smiled when she walked over to him and sat down, listening to him play. It was a song Nick had on his first album, Help Me.
"You sound just like him," Amanda commented, grinning.
"I have been trying to play....I miss the music. Nick used to let me into his studio and play around......" Aaron replied, his eyes watering a bit.
"I know you miss him, You're not alone. I miss him....AJ does too even though he wouldn't admit that." Amanda chuckled, putting an arm around the boy as they watched some dolphins in the distance.
"I want to see him," Aaron said, setting the guitar down.
"Aar, I don't think its a good idea. Your brother is pretty banged up." Amanda replied.
"I don't care what he looks like, please let me go see him! I can handle it!" Aaron shouted in frustration. He hated being left in the dark and being the only one who had not visited his brother.
"Sweetheart, I am so sorry, but I don't think.." Amanda began, but Aaron had picked up the guitar and gone into the house, slamming the door. Amanda sighed, she hated doing this to him...keeping secrets and lying to the boy, but she knew he would not like what he saw if he visited Nick at the hospital right now. After sitting outside and thinking, Amanda finally went into the house.
"You okay?" AJ asked, looking up from his coffee at the table. She sat down and was silent for a few moments.
"AJ....Nick has left you in charge of Aaron."
"Me? Really?" he asked in surprise.
"Yeah. Do you think it is a good idea for Aaron to go see Nick?" Amanda said softly. AJ took a sip from the mug and set it down, then sat back in the chair.
"I think that if he says he is ready, Aaron is ready to see Nick." he replied. Amanda privately agreed, but she had not known the boy long enough to know how he would react once he saw Nick. That night after dinner, she heard him playing guitar again.
"Aaron?" Amanda asked, knocking on his bedroom door. He called for her to come in and stopped playing.
"Hey." he said, looking up . Amanda felt her eyes water at how much he sounded like Nick just then.
"Look, I'm sorry for making you mad earlier. I had a talk with AJ and he thinks that if you feel ready to see your brother, we will visit him tomorrow." she said as she sat down on the bed.
"Really?! Thank you!" Aaron shouted in excitement, pulling her into a hug. Amanda smiled, and hoped this would be a good visit.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Back with a new chapter! Please review!
