Brian looked on patiently for Nick to answer the question directed by Dr. Scott.
“Nick?” Dr. Scott asked him again.
Nick sobbed in response.
Brian, who knew that this was certainly not a time to interview Nick; approached Dr. Scott and whispered something in his ear, making sure that Nick wouldn’t hear what he was saying.
“I’ll leave it off for now.” Dr. Scott smiled at Nick, knowing he was not in a good state to be questioned.
“Meanwhile, just have a lot of rest.”.
“It’s been good having you, doctor.” Brian smiled appreciatively at him as Dr. Scott turned to leave.
“Thank you.” Dr. Scott responded, looking at him before he closed the door silently.
Brian touched Nick’s hand encouragingly, knowing that Nick was going through something difficult.
“I just can’t describe it, Brian.” Nick told him in between sobs.
Brian suddenly felt guilty. He had said those very words to Leighanne a few days ago, but Brian could not fall down on his knees now. He knew that he had to help his little brother get up and stand on his feet.
A great silence shadowed them which was occasionally disturbed by Nick’s sobbing.
“It’s okay, Nick.” Brian told him quietly as he patted his back comfortingly, “Everything’s going to be alright.”.
Brian could see his vision blur as his eyes filled with tears.
“It seems aimless to encourage someone who has the same discouraging thoughts as yours.” Brian thought to himself as he grabbed desperately for a tissue box.
Brian found himself nine hours later lying on their comfy king-sized bed in their house.
He turned his back to his shining lamp and faced Leighanne who was sleeping beside him.
He touched her cheek affectionately as he observed her silently.
“Sleeping like an angel… like a peaceful angel.” he thought as he went back to the book he was reading subconsciously for the past 4 hours.
Brian checked his alarm clock to view the time. 1:30am. He groaned inwardly. He couldn’t seem to be getting enough sleep for the past few days despite his exhaustion. He had been thinking too much about the dreams he had been having and about Nick’s problems. He had been too nervous to sleep, fearing that he would face the continuation to his seemingly endless nightmares.
“Well, I just have to find out how this whole nightmare ends.” Brian thought helplessly as he put the book he was reading back on top of his side table and closed his lamp, leaving the room in total darkness except for the night light shining beside the window.
Brian struggled to fight his insomnia until exhaustion finally overtook him. He found himself in a blissful world of slumber awhile later.
Brian checked his reflection again in the bathroom mirror.
His slightly unkempt hair looked good on him. It looked like those hair styles the hairdresser would practically struggle to give him on a really bad hair day. Somehow, Brian had a good hair day the moment he woke up that morning.
“Maybe a little gel would do.” Brian thought as he grabbed a bottle of men’s hair gel from the counter.
He squeezed a small amount of gel on his palm and applied them smoothly to his hair using his fingers.
Perfect.
Brian smiled satisfactorily at his own reflection.
The deep blue color in his eyes complemented the weather outside. It was sunny and the sky was clear except for a few obscuring clouds.
Brian cautiously opened the door to the bedroom making sure not to wake up Leighanne. It was 7am and the recording session was still at 9, but Brian was leaving early to visit Nick.
Brian grabbed his jacket, though he was 70% sure he wouldn’t be needing it. He had to make sure he didn’t get caught in a sudden downpour. The weather could be unpredictable sometimes.
“Mmm… Brian, where are you going?” Leighanne asked him rolling from her side.
“I’ve got to visit Nick.” Brian responded briefly as he gripped the door knob uncertainly, and finally opened the door.
“See you later.”
“Wait,” Leighanne called out, now wide awake from her sleep.
“Isn’t it too early to visit Nick?” she asked him questioningly.
“I’ve got a recording session with Dan Muckala at 9am. I wouldn’t want to miss it.”
“Okay, see you later.” Leighanne told him before going back to sleep.
Brian closed the door silently behind him.
He decided to visit Baylee before leaving.
Baylee was still asleep and he was clutching his favorite teddy bear.
Brian kissed Baylee’s cheek affectionately before he left the room.
Brian listened intently as Dr. Scott spoke somberly to him.
“Nick had a temperature of 98.6 °F last night and his temperature rose by 11 degrees.”
“11 degrees?” Brian exclaimed in disbelief.
“His temperature now is 110 °F and there’s a possibility it would increase before the day ends.”.
“Is it influenza?” Brian asked thoughtfully.
“We thought it was influenza before but… “ Dr. Scott replied, then looked directly at Brian’s eyes.
Brian felt a cold chill run down his spine as he saw the doctor’s wary gaze.
“Doctor?”
“I’m scheduling an x-ray for Nick tomorrow.” Dr. Scott responded as he clipped his papers to his clipboard and approached the door to leave.
“What does he have?” Brian asked incredulously.
Dr. Scott stared at him for awhile, then finally answered, “I suspect he has tuberculosis.”.
“Tuberculosis? How can it…” but before Brian could finish what he was saying, he was caught in mid- sentence by the slam of the door.
Author's Chapter Notes:
As I promised...
