4 weeks later.

It had now been almost three months since Ali’s return, and things were starting to get back to normal both for her and Nick. Ali’s feelings towards Nick were constantly changing, and she was getting more confused as each day went by. He was still her best friend, but deep down, she knew her feelings for him went deeper than that. She just couldn’t define them. She also knew that he only looked at her as a friend, and that whatever she was feeling, wouldn’t be returned, so she kept it to herself. The few people that did know there was something there, had not said anything to anyone about it, so Ali felt certain that it would stay like that.

Even though life was getting back to normal, Ali still felt constantly tired and drained. She would feel light headed just by walking across the front yard, walking up the stairs, or swimming in the pool. She had lost her apatite and hardly ate more than once a day, she slept for at least 12 hours each day, sometimes several times a day. She kept telling herself that her body was still recovering from what she had been through, but she was also getting a little scared that it was more than just that. She tried hiding everything from Nick, but it was hard considering the fact that she was still living with him, and that they were closer as friends than they had ever been. She also didn’t want to admit to herself that her condition might be worse than what she had been thinking from the beginning. And it scared her to think about the fact that she had to tell Nick sooner or later. She knew he was still very worried about her, even though he had stopped making comments about it after their last visit at the hospital. Ali felt bad for acting like everything was fine, when deep down, she knew it wasn’t.

One night, they were sitting in front of the TV in Nick’s living room eating a large pizza. Ali had been quiet most of that evening, and Nick could sense that something was wrong. She had been particularly tired that day and earlier in the evening she had almost fainted twice in thirty minutes. As they were sitting there watching discovery channel, Nick could easily sense that something was wrong. She was acting distant, she didn’t say much and she seemed lost in her own world. Nick had a feeling what she was thinking about, but he was scared to ask because he didn’t want to create a situation like the one a few weeks earlier. He looked over at Ali from the corner of his eye. She was staring intensively at the TV, pretending to be really fascinated about some penguins moving around on the screen.

“Is everything alright Ali?” Nick asked, trying not to sound too worried.

Ali put her plate back on the coffee table in front of them, but didn’t say anything. In her mind, she was trying to figure out what to say, and how to say it.

“Ali?” Nick looked at her concerned.

She sighed, and looked up at him.

“Remember that time at the hospital when you suggested I’d see another doctor?”

Nick frowned and Ali continued. “I think it’s time for me to do that.”

Nick nodded in relief. He knew this was coming. “I think so too.”

Neither of them said anything for the remaining of the evening and night. Deep down, they were both scared of what might come.

Nick slept in Ali’s room that night.

***

The next day, they got up early to drive to a private clinic three hours away from Nick’s home. It was the same clinic that had performed Brian’s heart surgery some years before, and Nick knew it was the best one on the West Coast, possibly in the entire country. Nick had been in touch with them the night before after Ali had gone to bed, and explained the situation, so that they would be prepared when they arrived.

The drive to get to the clinic was mostly made in silence, besides from some small talk like, “The weather is nice today”, “Did you sleep well last night?” , and the occasionally “ohhh”s, and “awww”’s, as they drove past landmarks and buildings.

Both were lost in their own thoughts, and both knew that the other was too busy thinking, than wanting to talk. For the first time since Ali got back from Russia, she felt as though this was a situation not even Nick would make her feel better in. She felt that if it really was something wrong with her, she would be on her own, and as they got closer and closer to the clinic, she started panicking more and more inside.

To Nick, the situation seemed unreal. He had had a bad feeling about Ali’s condition from the beginning, and he was starting to realize that his suspicions might come true. Even though he couldn’t begin to imagine what was wrong with her, he knew that is was more than just the fact that she was drained from everything that had happened. He was just praying that it was something they could fix by giving her some prescriptions or something. It could be a virus that they could treat, or an infection somewhere in her body. He was nervous to find out.

They arrived at the clinic at noon that same afternoon. Because Nick had notified them that they were coming, they were directed into a private room to wait for the doctor that would run the tests as soon as they walked through the doors. As they sat there waiting, all of a sudden Ali burst out into tears. She slowly slid down from her chair down on the floor and buried her face in her hands. Nick rushed over to her, placing himself next to her.

“Hey…. What’s the matter? Shhhh…” He tried to calm her down, putting an arm around her shoulders, but she kept crying, rocking back and forth like a baby.

“You know, I’m scared too”, he continued while stroking her back gently, “but you know you need to do this. You can’t keep living like you do Ali. Just think about how much better you’re gonna feel once you get some answers from the doctor. And you know, maybe we’re just exaggerating this whole thing. Maybe it’s nothing to worry about, but if it is, at least we’ll know. And we’ll know what to do about it, and we’ll get through it together.”

Ali didn’t say anything, but her sobbing was getting weaker, and Nick knew that his words might have made her feel a little better, at least considering the circumstances.

A few minutes later, Nick helped Ali up from the floor and onto a hospital bed in the corner of the room.

“Why don’t you lie down for a little while? You look tired.”

“I feel exhausted…” She whispered, resting her head on the pillow and closing her eyes.

Nick sat next to her, stroking her hair gently while holding her hand as she fell into a restless sleep.

It was hard for Nick to imagine what Ali was feeling at that moment. He knew she was scared, as were he, but he couldn’t begin to wonder how much this situation affected her. As he sat there, watching his best friend sleep, he started thinking about everything they had been through together. Good and bad. He felt that together, they had experienced more in their lives than any normal person ever would. Between Nick’s career, and Ali’s kidnapping, he believed they had felt every possible emotion that you could ever feel, and more.     

Nick didn’t know how long they had been in waiting, when all of a sudden, the door to the room slowly opened, and a man in his late 40’s stepped inside. He reminded Nick a little bit of Brian’s father, who was one of the most caring men he’d ever met. The doctor walked over to the bed where Nick was sitting next to Ali, who was still asleep, and presented himself.

“Hi, I’m doctor Martins. You must be Mr. Carter?” He said while shaking Nick’s hand.

“Call me Nick.” Nick said and stood up.

“And I assume this is Alicia?” Doctor Martins asked, looking down at Ali.

Nick nodded. “Yea, she fell asleep a while ago. She usually sleeps for a few hours in the middle of the day. She gets tired really easily.”

“I see… You know… why don’t we let her sleep for a little while? I’ll have a talk with you first, and we’ll run the tests later. We’ll just sit down over there and you can tell me about her situation.” The doctor pointed towards a small table and two chairs at the other end of the room.

Nick nodded again and followed the doctor across the room after casting one last glance at Ali, making sure that she was ok.