"You know that you're doing this against doctor's advisement," Dr. Knapp stated as Brian continued to get dressed.

"Yeah, I know and I already signed the papers, okay? I honestly don't have time to lie around in a hospital bed. It was just fluky that I fainted in the hall, but trust me, I don't intend on fainting again, okay? I appreciate all you've done for me, but I'm needed with my friend now," Brian replied.

"Mister Littrell, you're suffering from exhaustion and you need to rest," Dr. Knapp pressed.

Brian waived the doctor off. "I'm sorry, but I honestly don't have time to be exhausted. Nick needs me. Thank you for your help," Brian half apologized as he walked out of the room, leaving the doctor standing in the center, holding Brian's chart.

Once outside in the hall, Brian fell against the wall as a wave of dizziness hit him. He glanced right and left before he straightened up and started walking down the hall towards the elevators that would take him up to ICU.

“Lizz, please, you need to calm down. What’s wrong? Lizz!” Caroline cried in frustration.

I couldn’t even think straight. I was so scared. More than I ever have been in my life. Over and over I just murmured, “God, please help Nick. Help him.” I didn’t know why this was happening; I only knew that it was somehow connected to Nick.

I didn’t even notice the other people that had rushed into my room. I didn’t notice one of them put something into my IV. Everything stared to grow hazy and I fought it. I felt like, whatever this was, I had to hold onto it. Keep praying. That option was taken out of my hands as the medicine started to take effect and I lost consciousness.

Relieved that no one had seen him hit the wall, Brian continued carefully towards Nick’s room. He knew that Kyung was also frustrated that he had decided not to let the doctors keep him in bed and even run more tests if necessary. It didn’t matter though. He was needed by Nick and that was where he planned on being.

Once in the elevator another wave hit him and he leaned heavily against the wall. He felt empty inside. Like someone had drained him completely of all energy. His eyes were heavy, yet he knew that he wouldn’t sleep. He had barely eaten anything since this had started and had gotten even less sleep. He probably hadn’t even had fifteen hours in the past 5 days. And even those hours were disturbed and even nightmare filled. When he reached for the button for his floor he noticed that he was shaking slightly so he shoved his hands into his pockets.

He decided to stop in the restroom to splash some cold water on his face. That seemd to help. When he came out, he saw Kyung step out of one of the elevators. She looked concerned.

“Kyung?” He called.

She stopped and walked over to him. “I just got a page from this floor and it has Lizz’s code in it. I’m sure everything is okay, she is probably feeling sort of crappy from the dialysis.”

“I was on my way to see Nick.” Brian stated as he shifted his face away from her. He had a feeling she was going to say something. He was right.

“Brian, you look horrible. You need to rest!” She admonished.

He repeated what he had told Dr. Knapp. “I don’t have time to rest. I need to be there for Nick.”

Kyung groaned. “Honestly, you are acting like Lizz and Nick do. You are supposed to be more level-headed than that. What good are you going to be to him if you get sick because that is the direction that you are headed?” She pointed out.

He gave her a wan smile. “I’m fine.” Then another wave of dizziness hit him and he started to sway.

“Fine, right!” Kyung exclaimed, rolling her eyes. She steadied him and led him to a bench. “Stay there and I will be right back. You aren’t moving until you eat something.”

With that she went to the small kitchen to find something for him, trusting he would stay there. She didn’t even know if he would be able to even stand up.

Caroline, Lizz’s dialysis nurse, was visibly shaken by what she had read. Lizz’s other nurse had made a note in her chart that Lizz had just had a panic attack. Like Lizz had requested, Caroline checked on Nick. His chart read that he had just experienced a panic attack also. How could that have happened? It must be some sort of mistake, she thought. She recognized the initials underneath as Allison’s and called her over.

“What is it?” Allison asked.

“Patient in 13 just had a panic attack?” Caroline asked carefully.

Allison hesitated. “Yes, why do you ask?”

Caroline merely pointed to the two charts laying side by side.

“Patient in 15 just did also?” Allison’s voice was skeptical.

Caroline nodded. “She had to be sedated. Al, look at this. That is Nick Carter. This girl is the one who drank whatever she did in order to stop him from trying to kill himself. Explain this to me.” She said as she pointed in turn to each chart. “They both had them at the same time. How is that possible? How is that a coincidence?” She demanded.

“I, uh, don’t know.” Allison said uneasily. “That is really weird.”

“It gets weirder. When she started to panic, her focus was on Nick. She kept saying that something was wrong. It came totally out of the blue. She hasn’t talked to him or anything.”

The two women continued to talk about it, not realizing that someone was listening to every word of their conversation. Terri vowed that later she would make photo copies of the part in their charts that mentioned that happening. She was dumbfounded by it, but it excited her because she figured that would bring in even more money. For now she would try to get a few pictures of this other girl. She was a little hesitant at first because of what had happened to Nick, but this other chick was out cold so she could get away with it.

She pushed her cart down the hall and tried to act nonchalant as she went inside. The room was dark with the blinds drawn and no lights on. Only what shone in through the curtain. All the machines beeped steadily now, unlike Nick’s had. The girl looked peaceful and it seemed odd that she would after what she just went through according to the nurses. Terri decided she would like some of whatever was given to the girl.

She whipped out her camera and began snapping away. When the button wouldn’t push she realized that the roll was full and she needed to get more film. Satisfied that she hadn’t been discovered, she emptied the camera and dropped the roll into her pocket. She had a delivery to make.