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Chapter 28

Claire woke up the next morning feeling like she’d hardly slept at all. She’d lain awake for what seemed like forever the night before, tossing and turning, her mind bombarded with thoughts from all directions. On top of the stress of moving, which she’d been battling all week, Nick was in the hospital, and even though she had done her best to hide it around him, she couldn’t help but worry. The infection seemed minor compared to everything else he’d been through in the time she’d known him, but she knew only too well that little problems could easily escalate into big ones, serious ones. She had tried to reassure herself with the knowledge that at least he was in the hospital, where he would be taken care of and treated, and eventually, she’d drifted off into a restless slumber.

Now awake, yet still bleary-eyed, Claire sat sleepily at the edge of her bed and tried to find the motivation to stand up. You’re supposed to meet Di and Jamie in an hour, she reminded herself, knowing she would hardly have enough time to shower and get ready by then. She’d probably be late for their breakfast. Oh well; it wouldn’t be the first time. Knowing this about her, Jamie had purposely arranged for them to meet early, giving him plenty of time before he had to be at the airport to catch his flight home to Iowa.

Still, she didn’t want to be too late, so she finally forced herself to her feet and staggered into the tiny bathroom across the hall. Last shower in the apartment, she thought as she quickly removed her clothes and pulled back the plastic shower curtain, turning on the water in the shower. Then she laughed at herself – why was she being nostalgic about the stupid shower, with its walls that always seemed to get streaked with soap-scum, despite her best efforts to keep it clean, and its slow drain that was forever clogging up on her? She was trading this tiny old apartment for a huge house filled with luxuries, and even so, she knew she’d be doing this all day – last meal in the apartment… last time washing dishes in the kitchen sink… last night sleeping in my own bed… She was looking forward to living with Nick, but it was going to be kind of hard to leave this place behind – it wasn’t much, but it was her first apartment, and in the three years she’d lived there, she’d grown to love it.

She took too long of a shower, savoring the feel of the hot water pounding against her tired body, the softness of her hair when it was lathered thick with shampoo suds, and the silkiness of it as she rinsed it free of sweet-smelling conditioner. By the time she reluctantly climbed out, wrapping a large towel around her dripping form, she was running very late. She dried quickly and threw on the first articles of clothing she could find in her near-empty closet, then went back into the bathroom to try to make herself look presentable. She dragged a comb through her wet hair and, deciding she would not have enough time to blow dry it, opted to slick it back into a short ponytail in the back of her head. She slid a couple of bobby pins in on each side of her head to keep the shorter locks of hair from falling loose as they dried, and then haphazardly slapped on some makeup – a light coat of powder foundation to even out her complexion, a dusting of blush along her cheekbones, and a touch of mascara to darken her eyelashes. She brushed her teeth, smoothed on some lip gloss, and darted out of the bathroom to find that she would have just enough time to make it to the restaurant on time.

She made it with a minute to spare and found Jamie already there, sitting by himself at a table set for three. She nearly groaned; of course Dianna was late – it had always been she who was the least punctual of the three. Claire was used to it, but she couldn’t help being annoyed that morning – couldn’t Dianna have hurried just a little, to spare Claire the awkwardness of having to sit there alone with Jamie? After what had happened on Wednesday night, she was almost nervous around him, but of course she tried not to let it show, pasting a smile on her face as she said hello and slid into a seat directly across the table from him.

“Morning,” Jamie greeted her with a quick smile. “Sleep well?”

“Eh,” she muttered vaguely, not wanting to get into why she hadn’t slept well. She had already decided not to tell him what was going on with Nick; after what his jackass of a friend had called Nick, she didn’t feel like mentioning him or anything that had to do with his amputated leg.

Jamie snickered at her response. “You never have been much of a morning person.”

“Yeah, well, who is?” Claire retorted flatly.

A minute later, Dianna appeared. She was dressed cutely in a pair of loose-fitting white capris that showed off her deep tan and a low-cut top in a bright shade of aqua. Her dark hair was dried, curled, and spritzed into place with hairspray – styled to perfection, as always. Her makeup was equally perfect, and as usual, Claire felt very plain sitting next to her. As usual, Claire did not really care.

“Morning, y’all,” Dianna chirped, setting her purse (which coordinated with her outfit, of course – the girl had as many purses as there were days in the year, or so it seemed) down on the floor beside her seat. “Sorry I’m a couple minutes late.”

Jamie glanced at his watch and then smirked up at Dianna. “More like five – but hey, that’s not bad at all for you, Dianna.”

“Shut up, James,” Dianna snapped sweetly and picked up her menu. “Do you two know what you want yet? I’m starving.”

“I don’t,” Claire replied, realizing she hadn’t even looked at the menu yet. She picked it up and tilted it toward her, flipping it open to read.

As she started to scan the menu items, Jamie blurted, “Hey, lemme see your hand.”

Her chin lifting sharply as she looked over the top of the menu at him, Claire realized he was talking about her right hand, which sported a lovely rainbow of black, blue, purple, and green around her slightly-swollen knuckles. Following Jamie’s gaze, Dianna gasped aloud. “Claire! What did you do to your hand??”

Claire smirked across the table at Jamie, and he smirked back, each wondering who would be the one to tell their friend that story. “I punched his friend’s face in at a bar the other night,” Claire answered Dianna matter-of-factly, before Jamie had the chance.

Dianna’s jaw dropped. “Are you serious??”

“Uh-huh.”

“Wow…” Dianna grinned, looking momentarily proud before turning serious again. “Why??”

“Cause he was an ass,” Claire replied simply.

“He kinda dissed her boyfriend,” Jamie clarified. “Not on purpose though – he didn’t mean it in a bad way.” This last part was directed to Claire, who just shook her head.

“Right,” she muttered sarcastically and left it at that, hoping Jamie would drop the issue as well. She didn’t want to rehash everything that had gone on Wednesday night.

Meanwhile, Dianna kept glancing between the two of them, her eyes wide, and finally she said, “Oookay then… forget I asked.” She offered Claire a small smile and a look that said, You can tell me later, when he’s gone. Claire nodded shortly, offering her friend a tight smile back before she returned her attention to the menu in front of her.

With Dianna there, the tension between Claire and Jamie took a backseat, and once they’d ordered their breakfast, the three of them had talked and laughed the way they always had. Jamie was himself again, not the stranger she’d seen in the bar, the rude show-off who would do or say anything to get a laugh from his friends. And when it came time for him to leave, she was sad to see him go.

Standing next to his rental car in the parking lot, she hugged him and felt his arms envelop her tightly, the smell of his cologne tickling her nose as he pulled her up against his firm chest. She pulled away after a few moments and took a step back as he released her, looking up at him with a weak smile. “Have a safe flight home,” she said.

“Yeah… hope your move goes well,” he replied.

“Thanks.”

They smiled awkwardly at each other, and after a moment of silence, Jamie said, “Well, ladies… I better get going.”

Dianna and Claire both nodded, stepping away from the car to let him get in. He did so, putting down his window once he was inside.

“Take care of yourself, Jamie,” Dianna told him through the open window.

Jamie nodded, smiling slightly. “You too,” he replied, and then his eyes shifted to Claire, giving her a meaningful look. “Both of you.” Claire smiled a little and said nothing. “Well… see ya around,” said Jamie, and the engine of the car sprung to life as the automatic window went up. Claire shook her head as he put the car into gear and backed out of his parking space, giving them a single wave through the windshield before pulling away. That was Jamie for you – he hated saying goodbye, so he just didn’t say it. It was always something like “see ya around,” then a quick escape, before things had a chance to get emotional.

She and Dianna stood in silence for a moment before Dianna finally turned to her. “So,” she said, “care to give me any more details on what happened Wednesday night?”

Claire shrugged. “It really wasn’t anything. His friends were jerks, one of them called Nick a rude name, and I kinda flipped out and hit the guy before leaving. That’s all.”

“Good for you,” Dianna said with an appreciative smile. “Think his face looks anything like the back of your hand?”

Claire grinned. “I hope so.”

Dianna laughed, then asked, “So, speaking of Nick, how will you two be spending your Friday night? Just getting everything ready for tomorrow, or do you have plans?”

Sobering, Claire quickly filled Dianna in on what had happened to Nick and how he’d probably be stuck in the hospital for most of the weekend.

“Oh man, that sucks,” Dianna said sympathetically. “Well, if you need anything, girl, give me a call. We can do something Saturday night if he’s not gonna be home and you don’t feel like staying in that big house all by yourself.” She winked, and Claire smiled sheepishly, knowing exactly what she was thinking of.

Claire had been seventeen at the time, and her parents were out of town for the weekend. Jamie had come over to hang out for the evening, and they’d rented the movie Scream, which had just come out on video. Claire had never seen it before, and after Jamie left that night, she’d freaked herself out, imagining masked killers lurking the in the dark outside, watching her through windows she could not see out of, plotting to break into her house. Every noise made her jump, and her blood ran cold every time the phone rang. She’d nearly been in tears by the time she had called Dianna and demanded that her friend drive over to pick her up. Dianna had faithfully come over to calm her down and bring her back to her house to spend the night, but she’d never let her live it down. It had been a joke between the two ever since.

“Thanks, Di, but I’ll be fine,” Claire asserted. “I’m a big girl now.”

“Okay,” Dianna smiled. “Well, I better let you get going; I know you’ve got plenty of stuff to do. Give Nick my best.”

“I will,” said Claire, returning the smile. “Well, I’ll see ya whenever. You should definitely plan on coming over to the house sometime next week or something.”

“Oh yeah, for sure! I can’t wait to see the place,” Dianna replied enthusiastically. “Good luck getting all moved in tomorrow.”

“Thanks. I’ll call you if I get bored tomorrow night, but chances are, I’ll be too tired to do anything.”

“Understandable,” said Dianna. “Well, catch ya later.”

With that, the two women parted, walking across the parking lot in opposite directions to their cars.

When Claire had climbed into her Toyota and started the engine, her eyes slid over to the digital clock. It was going on 9:30. Nick had told her Howie wasn’t expecting to get into town until early afternoon, so Claire decided to head straight to the hospital. She could spend a few hours with Nick, then head home to finish up the last of the packing and give Howie and Nick a chance to visit.

Pulling out of the parking lot, she turned in the direction Tampa General.

***

Within his private room at Tampa General, Nick sat up in bed, picking at his breakfast. It surely wouldn’t compare to the breakfast Claire was eating with her friends, but then again, even if he had a heaping pile of homemade pancakes, slathered with butter and drowning in maple syrup, sitting on the tray in front of him, he wasn’t sure he would have been able to eat much of it. Somehow, this place just seemed to ruin his appetite.

Still, he had to admit, he was feeling a little better that morning than he had the day before. The fever he’d been running had broken, a sign that the antibiotics were doing their job. The infection, however, was painful. The nurses had kept the ulcer on his leg covered by a sterile dressing, but beneath the large bandage, the whole end of his limb burned and throbbed uncomfortably. It had bothered him the day before, and he’d finally complained about it after Claire had left in the evening. The pain meds they had given him helped, but they’d also made him groggy – which was great when he’d been trying to sleep, but he didn’t want to be in some drug-induced haze when Howie got there later that day, so he’d turned down the pain medication that morning.

He was just beginning to regret that, when a familiar voice called, “Gooood morning!”

He looked up to find Claire leaning into the doorway and smiled, the pain in his leg instantly fading from his mind. “Morning, sunshine,” he replied, as she walked into the room, dropping her purse and bending over to kiss him, just as she had done the day before.

“Not a good morning?” she asked.

He shrugged. “Not especially. Better now that you’re here though.”

“Aww, you’re sweet.”

“How was breakfast?”

“Fine. And yours?”

“Eh.”

She looked at his tray. “I see.”

He pushed the tray aside and scooted over a little to his left, patting the empty space on the right side of bed for her. She sat down and reached out to pat his good thigh beneath the thin blanket that covered it. “So,” she said, “did you sleep okay last night?”

“Surprisingly, yeah,” he answered. “They gave me some drugs that helped.”

“Ahh… drugs are good.”

“Yep.”

They talked for awhile longer, in between interruptions by the orderly who came by to pick up his hardly-touched breakfast and the nurse who breezed in shortly after. “Hi, I’m Karyn,” the nurse introduced herself. “How are you doing this morning, Mr. Carter?”

“Fine, thanks,” Nick answered mechanically.

“Good. How would you like to get up and take a little stroll around the floor?”

Nick snorted to himself, amused by the way she phrased the question. How would you like to? As if he had a choice. Ha. He’d been in the hospital enough recently to know that was not the case – these people forced your ass out of bed and got you walking around whether you wanted to or not. Something about blood clots forming if you laid around for too long and didn’t move.

He nodded reluctantly. “Yeah, okay,” he agreed dully.

“Great. Hang on one minute, and I’ll be right back.”

Karyn left the room, and Nick immediately looked over at Claire. “I hate this,” he told her.

Claire offered him a sympathetic smile. “I know,” she replied.

The nurse returned a few moments later, carrying – Nick nearly died when he saw it – a walker.

“Ohhh no,” he resisted immediately, “I don’t need that thing. I’ve got a pair of crutches over there.” He pointed to the far corner, where the crutches he’d come on were leaning.

Karyn shook her head. “I wouldn’t recommend trying to walk on crutches when you’ve got an IV,” she said. “The walker will be easier to maneuver with and will give you more stability as well.”

Nick sighed. Yeah, she was probably right, but he didn’t want to admit it, nor did he want to be seen shuffling down the hall with a walker like an old man.

Karyn didn’t give him much of a choice though. She made him scoot to the edge of the bed and gave him a thin robe to put on over the hospital gown he was wearing before setting the walker in front of him and helping him stand up. Reluctantly gripping the sides of the walker, Nick turned his head to look back at Claire. “No jokes,” he warned her.

Claire let her mouth fall open, pretending to be shocked by his insinuation. “Aw, Stumpy, I’d never make fun of you,” she said with a playful smile. He couldn’t help but smile back, sticking his tongue out her afterward, while the nurse glanced between the two of them, looking slightly appalled.

“Okay, let’s just get this over with,” Nick said with a sigh. “Hey Ren, you comin’ with?”

“Sure,” replied Claire, sliding off the other side of the bed and coming around.

“You can wheel his IV pole along next to him if you’d like to help out, Ren,” Karyn said kindly to Claire. Nick inhaled a snort. She thought Claire’s name was really ‘Ren.’ Classic.

“Okay,” Claire said, winking at Nick as she moved over to the metal IV stand.

“Are you ready, Mr. Carter?” Karyn asked. “We’ll take this as slow as you want to.”

“Actually, I’m fine,” said Nick, thinking how much of a breeze this was going to be compared to the last two times he’d been in the hospital and had been forced to get up and walk around. “We don’t need to go slow.”

“All right. Well, you set the pace then.”

‘The pace’ proved to be slower than Nick would have liked. It was annoyingly time-consuming to move the walker ahead of him and then haul his body forward to meet it, while Claire pushed his IV pole along beside him. Still, it felt good to be out of bed, up and moving around again, so he tried not to complain as they slowly made their way up the hall.

At one point, he looked over at Claire and teased, “Think this is a snapshot of how it’s gonna be when we’re old and falling apart?” She just laughed, small creases appearing at the corners of her eyes. He wondered if those creases would turn into permanent wrinkles as she aged and surprised himself with the thought. He’d never considered how she would look later on in life, but now he found himself trying to picture her as an old woman. How long would it take for her red hair to fade and turn to silver? Would her naturally slender body pack on pounds as the decades passed, or would she simply shrink and shrivel into one of those stooped, frail little old ladies?

The thoughts were strange ones to be having as he plodded methodically along the hallway, but he found them interesting nevertheless. And perhaps most interesting of all was the realization that he wouldn’t mind seeing her grow old, watching as her youthful prettiness faded with the passing years. And the reflection that maybe he wouldn’t mind growing old right along with her.

“Doing all right?” Karyn asked from behind him, jarring him from his thoughts.

“Yup, doing fine,” Nick murmured distractedly, as he moved the walker forward and took another step.

***

Later in the day, Nick was back in his room and alone again, as Claire had headed home after lunch to finish up all the last-minute things she had to do before tomorrow. He was just flipping through the afternoon soaps on TV when he heard a familiar voice out in the hall, growing louder as it approached his room. Sitting up straighter in his bed, Nick quickly changed the channel to ESPN and looked up just in time to see his doorknob turn. He smiled as Howie’s familiar face peeked around the door and called, “Yo, D!”

“Well hello there, Forrest,” was Howie’s greeting as he walked into the room.

Nick cocked his head to the side as he stared at his friend. “Forrest?” he repeated.

“Yeah, Forrest. Forrest Gu-ump,” Howie said in a horrible Tom Hanks/Forrest Gump impression. “You know… ‘That boy sho’ is a runnin’ fool’.” He winked.

“Oh…” Nick got it now. “’Run, Forrest, run!” he added in a high-pitched, thick Southern accent and smiled impishly. Funny, he felt more like Lieutenant Dan.

Howie laughed and came up to Nick’s bed, leaning over to give him a big hug. “It’s good to see ya, Nicky.”

“You too, Howie,” Nick returned the sentiments, patting Howie’s back. “Did you just get into town?”

“Yeah, about an hour ago,” replied Howie, sinking down into a chair off to the side of the bed. “I got checked into my hotel room, dropped my stuff off, grabbed a bite to eat, and here I am.” He smiled briefly, the smile fading as his eyes left Nick’s face and looked over the rest of him, from the IV line taped against his arm to the bulge of his injured stump beneath the covers. “So… you told me what happened on the phone, but…” He trailed off, shrugging, then asked, “How are you?”

“Okay,” Nick said. “Better. The antibiotics seem to be helping, so hopefully I’ll be able to blow this joint sometime over the weekend.” Oh yeah, that was the other thing that had happened while Claire had been there – the new doctor he’d been assigned to after moving to his new room, Dr. Robson, had stopped by for a wound check. In all honestly, Nick hadn’t thought the infected ulcer looked any better, but the doctor had seemed optimistic, especially after finding that his temperature was almost back to normal. Nick hoped the new antibiotics really were doing their job because he wanted to go home as soon as possible.

“That’s great,” Howie replied, smiling again. “So do you have any idea how long it will take for it to fully heal? The ulcer, I mean.”

“I don’t know…” Nick said slowly, wishing he did know. He made a mental note to ask Dr. Robson next time he saw him. “I hope it goes away soon, cause I can’t really wear my leg with it there.”

“Yeah, that’s what I figured. It probably hurts, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah, it ain’t too comfortable, that’s for sure,” Nick admitted.

Howie’s large brown eyes were filled with sympathy. “I’m sorry. I know this has gotta be really hard for you.” Nick just shrugged and nodded. “So, stop me if I’m bugging you with all the questions, but I didn’t get a chance to ask you on the phone… how did the running go?”

“Oh,” Nick said, almost caught off-guard – sometimes he forgot that’s what had caused all of this in the first place; that hour in the backyard seemed like it had taken place years ago, rather than days. “Well, actually, it went okay. I mean, other than causing this mess.” He motioned vaguely down the left side of his body. “You won’t believe it, D, but I was really doing it. I was really out there running.”

Howie shook his head in amazement. “That’s incredible, Nicky! How did it feel?”

“Good… really good,” Nick answered honestly, smiling at the memory of how proud he’d felt in that moment when he’d realized he was actually running, for the first time in over a year. “Like, it was so weird at first… cause I really had to think about it, you know. Think about how to run. It’s such a second-nature thing; you just do it, right? But it’s not that simple for me anymore. But even so, once I got going, it wasn’t really that hard. I mean, it was… it took a lot more energy than I thought. But it was just… cool.”

Howie, who had been listening with interest the whole time, nodded slowly. “That is cool. Really cool.” Grinning, he reached out and playfully punched Nick’s shoulder. “I’m proud of ya, bud,” he said. “Have you told any of the other guys yet?” Nick shook his head no. “Me neither; haven’t talked to anybody since you called yesterday. But you should give them a call; they’d be thrilled. Brian especially – he probably can’t wait to get back on the court and play some real basketball with you.”

Nick chuckled. “Well, I dunno about that happening anytime soon, but we’ll see. I guess I should call them though. The Old Man’ll probably freak out on me when he finds out I’ve been in the hospital for two days without him knowing.”

“True,” Howie laughed. “Maybe it’d be better to wait till you get out, or he’ll want to fly all the way out here to lecture you in person.” Now they both laughed at Kevin’s expense. It felt so good to have Howie there, and as they talked about the others, Nick found himself missing them too, especially Brian and Kevin, who he’d not seen in at least two months. They had all promised not to let too much time go by without getting together, but with five men living different lives with different, busy schedules in different parts of the country, that was sometimes easier said than done.

“So, what’s been up with you, dude?” Nick asked next, and the conversation turned to all the recent happenings in Howie’s life, from what he was doing with the Dorough Lupus Foundation, to the women he’d been dating, and everything in between.

“Speaking of women,” Howie said finally, “Claire won’t be back up here anytime soon, will she?”

“Nah, I don’t think so,” replied Nick. “She was here this morning, but I think she was headed back to her place to finish tying up all the loose ends there.”

“Good,” Howie said and winked. Smiling, Nick pulled himself up even straighter and twisted to the side a little to face Howie. They still had lots to talk about.

***