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Chapter 20

Howie felt the hand gently shaking his shoulder and opened his eyes. He was drenched in his own sweat and his heartbeat felt as if he was racing against Michael Schumacher. It was just a dream. Howie thought. No, a nightmare, he corrected himself.

Of course he would find himself in the hospital room instead of in the woods. They were rescued, Howie remembered. He had even woken up several times to find his family by his side or the other time when he woke up in the middle of the night, breaking from the nightmare again. The nightmare. It had been haunting him ever since they were rescued.

The hand had belonged to Kevin. Howie felt himself smile at the realization. They had been in the hospital for three days and every time he was awake, Kevin was still sleeping. He was beginning to miss his brother.

"You're awake!" Howie cried, as he got up into a sitting position.

"Thanks for the wake up call." Kevin replied casually.

"What?" Howie asked, not understanding what he meant.

"You were screaming your head off in your sleep bro." Kevin explained.

"Oh, that? Nightmare." Howie said, feeling himself blushing.

"About Brian, I assumed." Kevin said.

"Oh God, did I just said it all out loud?"

"Yeah. Something about it's all your fault. Should have a plan...and stuff." Kevin said.

"Brian...how is he? Have you seen AJ or Nick?" Howie asked.

"I have been sleeping in and out for three days now." Kevin replied. "This is the first time I got this far out from my bed."

"Oh yeah...I remember. I woke up at night the first day we were brought in. I called for a nurse and asked her about the others but she wouldn't tell me anything. Then I slept again and woke up late afternoon the next day. Saw my family."

"Oh yeah? That's great. I haven't seen any of mine." Kevin said, a little sad.

"I saw Kristin. And your family." Howie replied.

"How is she?" Kevin asked, suddenly jealous that Howie got to see his wife first.

"What do you think? Her husband is unconscious for three days! But I managed to tell her that you're okay. You're the luckiest of the lot." Howie explained.

"Thanks bro." Kevin said. "How are you feeling? Why are you having those nightmares?"

"I'm okay Kev. It's just that, when Brian fell into that pit...I just keep blaming myself you know...even AJ asked me if I had a plan before we started running like mad to get to your side. I told them I had no time for a plan, just run. And...and he..."

"It's not your fault Howie. No one could ever think of a plan in a situation like that. Besides, Brian's alive, everything's fine." Kevin assured him.

"How would we know that? They didn't tell us anything about the others. Why are they keeping this from us? Did something happen?" Howie asked.

"If you're wondering if any of them died, don't. They're alive." Kevin said.

"How can you be so sure?" Howie asked.

"Because, they can't die. It's just insane." Kevin said, knowing deep inside that he was in denial. Who was he to know if the others made it or not. He was asleep himself for three days and he was the one with the least injuries.

"I hope you're right Kev." Howie said.

"Of course I am. Now go to sleep, we'll go see them tomorrow morning and no one's gonna stop us from doing that."

ררררר

Day Four and nothing changed.

I woke up with a massive headache but like I've said, I'm getting used to it. It's like a part of me or something. Anyway, I don't care. I've handled it back in the woods and I'm sure gonna handle it now.

I sat up on my bed, allowing myself a few minutes to gather myself for what I was about to do next. Got out of bed, got on my feet and balanced myself by holding on to the pole where a bag of God-knows-what solution was hung, drip by drip feeding the colorless liquid into my veins.

I pulled out the wires they had strapped on my chest, quickly switched off the monitor before it started beeping warning siren when it couldn't detect my heartbeat. All that done, I started my first steps towards AJ's bed.

AJ shocked me.

He was pale and very still. I held his hand and was surprised that he was still having the fever. Four days in the hospital and they can't even get rid of it. His breathing was normal but still weak. Did I mention that I hate hospitals?

No matter how many times I've visited this place when I was a young boy, I still couldn't get over the fear of being there. I've met with numerous doctors while growing up; everyone said the same old thing about my heart. It's something I have to live up with. I thought after the operation I was gonna be okay. But obviously, all those strenuous schedules got it started again. The last operation was just as sick. Maybe even worse. Cause this time around, I have someone waiting for me to pull through. And I feared that I might not.

If AJ were waiting for the best time to wake up, this would be it. I really needed someone to talk to right now. I needed to know that he was all right.

I didn't realize it but I had my head rested on his hand while I took the seat next to his bed. My head was getting heavy again and I felt the tears coming. I couldn't help it, I felt so lost. I know Kevin and Howie weren't that seriously injured, so why haven't they come to visit us? And what happened to Nick?

ררררר

Kevin felt a pang of sadness overwhelm him as he wheeled Howie into the room. Brian was crying next to AJ's bed and he wasn't looking too good himself. AJ wasn't supposed to look like that. He's the morale booster. The one who makes everything light in times when it seemed loomed in heaviness? Without his cocky lines and stupid jokes, how could they all survive?

"Brian?" Howie called out. Kevin woke up from his trance and started to wheel him nearer to their brothers.

Brian's head immediately arched back and smiled when he saw them. He had been crying, Kevin saw that.

"God, Rok, you shouldn't be out of bed. You could get your head bleeding again!" Kevin didn't mean to sound all authoritarian but he couldn't help it.

"I miss you too." Brian replied.

"He's just being Kevin." Howie smiled.

"I'm not like that." Kevin protested.

"Are too." Howie said.

"Am not." Kevin said firmly.

"I'm getting the headache again. Please, just leave that to AJ and Nick okay?" Brian joked.

"How is he doing anyway?" Kevin asked, his eyes locked on the figure lying on the bed.

"Been like this for four days. That's what Leighanne said anyway. I just got up yesterday." Brian replied.

"We did too. I guess we were just tired." Howie said.

"That's what’s happening to AJ right? It's all a long sleep. He'll wake up soon right?" Brian said to no one in particular.

"That's just it B. Nothing to worry about." Kevin whispered.