Disclaimer: see first chapter
After a stop to the nearest all night pharmacy, where Nick and Sara spent twenty quiet minutes waiting in the dingy plastic chairs next to the counter, Nick finally pulled into the nearest parking space outside of Sara's apartment complex.
"Thank you Nick," she whispered quietly, "I think I'm just gonna go to bed."
Nick reached for the bag from the pharmacy he had thrown on the back seat. "Alright, we'll go upstairs and get settled…I should have asked if you were hungry, maybe we should have stopped and picked something up…"
Sara sighed. "I'm not hungry, and you can just drop me off."
Nick turned towards her, an incredulous look on his face. "You don't seriously think I'm leaving you alone tonight?"
"Nick, you don't have to stay…if I need something, I can call Greg or someone…" She turned her head towards the passenger window.
Nick tried really hard, but he couldn't help but feel like he'd been punched in the gut. He took a deep, shaky breath, using the time to convince himself that this wasn't about how he felt, but how comfortable Sara needed to feel. And if she needed Greg, then he would call Greg.
"If you'd feel better with Greg here, I'll call him, but I'm going to stay with you until he shows up." Nick winced as he realized he could have said that in a better way. Sara unbuckled her seat belt, but made no move to open her door. Instead, she sat completely still in the passenger seat, staring out the windshield up at her apartment building.
"We said…after…we're not supposed to worry you," she offered quietly, still staring straight ahead. Nick let out a deep breath and reached over to slowly grasp her hand. Now he understood what had been going on. Part of Sara keeping him in the dark had to do with preserving her own privacy, but another part of it had been her trying to protect him. He felt a little choked up as he realized that she had even been able to think about that.
"Sweetheart, like it or not, I'm gonna worry about you no matter what."
"I'll be okay," she protested. Nick wasn't sure whether or not Sara even believed that, because he sure as hell didn't; at least not for the night.
Nick realized that using guilt probably wasn't the best idea, but he didn't think either of them had the strength to argue about this, so he went for it. "I'll worry a lot more if I don't know what's going on with you."
A tear trickled down her face as she nodded. Nick grabbed her bags and made his way around the car to open her door. With a little help, Sara was able to make it to her door, and she waited as Nick fumbled with her keys to unlock the door.
When Nick finally got the door opened, Sara hobbled back towards her bedroom. Nick made a mental note to grab a pair of crutches from his house the next day; there was no way that Sara was going to stay off of that ankle as long as she should.
Nick was in the kitchen, searching through the contents of Sara's cupboards, when he heard the shower start to run. He found a can of tomato soup hiding between boxes of spaghetti noodles and decided that was better than nothing. Rummaging around in another cupboard, he found a saucepan and poured the soup in, putting the stove on low. Another burner contained Sara's tea kettle, and Nick refilled it with fresh water before lining up the various prescription bottles on the counter.
He finally sunk down onto the couch in the living room, trying to gather all of his thoughts and strength. Up until this point, he had been able to operate on autopilot; there had been so much to do, that he had been able to act without thinking too far ahead, but all he had to do now was sit and wait. Wait for her to fall apart, to fall asleep, wait for what he wasn't exactly sure was going to happen, and that worried him. Waiting at the hospital had been different, he had procedures to follow, had to get her home. He wasn't naïve enough to believe that Sara would be able to just go to bed after the night she had been through, and he wasn't sure what to do once she got out of the shower. With a sigh, he finally realized he would try to get her to eat, and go from there.
The sound of the tea kettle whistling brought Nick out of his thoughts. He jumped up from the couch and into the kitchen, turning the burners off. He poured the soup into two mugs, something his mom used to do when he was little, and pulled out two more mugs for tea. Rummaging around in another cabinet, he found half a box of saltine crackers and tucked them under his arm as he carried to the mugs of soup out to the coffee table.
Fifteen minutes went by, and Sara still had not emerged from the bathroom. The water was still running, and after another ten minutes the soup had gotten cold and Nick was seriously considering going to check on her. What if she had gone into shock, or she had slipped on her bad ankle? Thoughts of Sara slipping and hitting her head assaulted his mind, and he was about to stand up, when the water finally stopped. Five minutes later, she emerged from the bathroom, clad in a tank top and pajama bottoms, toweling her hair. Nick couldn't help but notice the angry, red color of the skin that he could see, and leaned his head back against the couch and sighed as he realized she had probably scrubbed herself nearly raw.
When he felt her sink onto the couch, he opened his eyes, seeing that she had grabbed a sweatshirt, hiding most of her skin from his view.
"I made some soup, but it's a little cold now. I'll go warm it up."
"I'm not hungry," she answered quietly, but Nick was insistent.
"You should eat something. Just a little bit. Besides, it says those painkillers shouldn't be taken on an empty stomach."
Nick microwaved the tea, and then the soup before bringing it back out to Sara. They sat in silence while Sara finished about half of the soup, and two crackers. Nick quickly drained his cup and watched as she placed hers back on the table. He figured it was enough for now, and quickly cleared the cups away. When he returned, she had drawn her knees to her chest and was cradling the cup of tea in her hands. She gave him a curious look as he held out a handful of pills.
"What are you giving me?" she asked suspiciously.
"Just what the doctor prescribed. There's some ibuprofen, and something to help you sleep."
A look of fear flashed through her eyes. "I don't want the sedative," she protested.
Nick knew she wasn't going to sleep without it, but he wasn't going to force pills down her throat either. "Fine. I'll set it here if you want it," he compromised, setting the pill on the table in front of her. If the ibuprofen isn't strong enough, there's some Vicodin too, but try these first. You want to lie down, and elevate that ankle for awhile? I'll get some ice."
Sara nodded. "Yeah, but I think I want to lie down in my room."
Nick grabbed a towel from her hall closet and then headed to the kitchen to fill a plastic zip bag with ice from her freezer. He was pleased to pass by the coffee table and notice that the pill was no longer resting there. By the time he stood in the doorway of her bedroom, Sara had hobbled to her room and was settled somewhat awkwardly with her ankle propped up on a pillow.
Nick adjusted the pillow under her ankle so that it was a little more even, and then perched tentatively on the edge of her bed. He placed the ice pack on her ankle, surprised when Sara flinched.
"I'm sorry, did I hurt you?" he asked in concern, his drawl thickening.
"No, it's just a little cold. But it's fine, really Nick."
Sara sighed and directed her gaze towards the ceiling, watching the fan steadily spin. Nick wasn't exactly sure what to do, so he watched her staring off until her eyelids started to droop as the sedative kicked in. When he thought she was finally asleep, he pulled a blanket over her form, removing the ice pack from her ankle first. He leaned over, brushing a brief kiss against her forehead, and tucked the blanket in around her.
"Nick…don't go," she murmured, still half asleep as he rose from the bed. Her eyes opened, and Nick could see the fear hiding behind drowsiness.
"I won't go anywhere," Nick promised softly, moving up the bed to lean against the headboard. He kicked off his shoes and stretched his legs out in front of him, before reaching his arm around Sara's shoulder. When she flinched again, but tried to get comfortable with his arm around her, he thought better of it, and reached for her hand instead.
As she slowly drifted back to sleep, Nick couldn't help but wonder what the hell had happened to her.
A/N: It might be a few days before the next chapter. I need a bit of a break from the angst, so I'm going to go back to the challenge that Julie issued a couple weeks ago. And thank you so much to everyone who is reviewing this story! You guys rock :)
