I laid there helplessly as I felt Brian’s grip on my hand quickly lessen and then he slipped to the floor. I desperately wanted to cry out in despair knowing that I somehow caused this to happen to Brian, but could only watch the room start to turn grey.

Nick’s nurse, Bethany waived smelling salts under Brian’s nose causing him to quickly start to cough. His eyes fluttered open and he looked at the faces of the people that were bent over staring at him. He soon realized that he was laying on the floor next to Nick’s bed.

“Wha... what happened?” Brian asked quietly.

“You must have fainted,” Bethany said as she reached an arm out for Brian to take along with Bob Carter offering an arm as well.

“Brian, I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so,” Kyung reprimanded.

Brian frowned as he looked at Kyung. “What do you mean?”

“You know exactly what I mean. You have probably slept what, maybe a total of four hours and you haven’t eaten anything that I’ve seen yet. Brian you are making yourself sick, you have to slow down. I know I’m not the best person in a position to be a critic, but hell, at least I’m trying to eat something.

As he stood up, Brian noticed immediately how shaky his legs were. He tried to will them into stopping, but it didn’t work too well. Fortunately for him, the chair was right there and he collapsed into it.

A nurse named Monica brought in some ice water for Brian to sip on. As he took it into his hands, it accidentally slipped from his fingers and fell to the floor spilling the contents onto the floor.

Brian stared at the floor, looking at the ice and water lying in front of him.

“Sit tight, I’ll call housekeeping,” Kyung stated as she turned to leave the room.

“Son, you are not doing yourself on bit of good forcing yourself. Nick is going to get better, I’m sure of it, but nothing good will come out of this if you wind up in a hospital bed as well,” Bob Carter softly reprimanded Brian.

A girl dressed in flowered scrubs entered the room with a mop and a bucket. Brian glanced at her hospital ID badge. The girl’s name was Terri.

“I’m sorry about the mess,” Brian sheepishly apologized.

Terri smiled at Brian. “That’s okay, it’s my job to clean this up, don’t worry about it.”