It was starting to feel as if Nick lived at the hospital but if you asked him, wherever Jake was, Nick would be.
One morning after Royala had left the room following another examination of Jake, a nurse named Jade, who Mac and Nick had gotten well acquainted with during their time there, came in.
"Hi, Jade," Mac said, giving her a warm smile which Jade returned.
"Hi, Mackenzie. Nick. Nick, three people are waiting in the hall for you. They say they're your parents and sister?"
Mac glanced at her fiancé, biting her lip, as she watched Nick's nostrils flare in anger.
"Thank you, Jade. I'll deal with them," Nick said to Mac when he noticed her start to follow him out the door.
Nick nodded at his fiancée and walked out the door, facing his parents and Sarah with a deep breath.
"Mom. Dad. Sarah. Glad to see you're still alive," Nick directed the last remark to his sister, his frosty tone cutting in.
"Well, I appreciate the effort for me," his sister replied, in the same icy voice. Nick smirked at her. "What are you doing here?" he asked the group.
"What? We can't care about Jake?" His mom asked with concern in her eyes. Nick saw through it, though.
"Oh please, Mom. Cut the crap. You never liked Jake the moment you met him. Yeah, you treated him like he was your other son but that was because you knew I was gonna leave," Nick spat, relating his comment to the lies his parents kept from him.
"Nick, I already told you. It wasn't their fault. I asked them not to tell you," Sarah said, defending her parents.
"Yeah, but they had a choice, Sar. And they didn't choose the right one," Nick said, glaring at his parents. "Don't come back here. Jake wouldn't want you here. And I don't either."
Nick gave them all one final stare and then walked back to the room, stopping when he noticed Sarah was following him.
"In here. Now," she said. Nick rolled his eyes and followed Sarah into a waiting room as he closed the door behind them.
"You need to get it through your incredibly thick head that withholding this information was not an attack against you, Nick. It was for my own good," Sarah said. "You despised me when all I did was love you!"
"Worrying me to the brink of physical and mental terror is not love, Sarah!
"You hurt me when all I was doing was try to care for you. And I don't want to fight with you anymore, Nick. I really don't. You can fight with Mom and Dad till you're on the floor dead. But this sister? She just wants her brother back, Nick. And I just want to know why you won't forgive me."
And for one of the first times in his life, Nick Zami didn't have a comeback line.
"Did you ever even stop to consider why I started using? Or why I told Mom and Dad first and not you? Or what about how I felt when you walked out on me when I needed you the most, Nick? When I needed a big brother. When I needed... you. And I have wanted to forgive you ever since I almost took my life. I tried to when you locked me in the psych ward. But you didn't listen. I'm just done fighting you, Nick. Because I know, like you, I don't understand you right now. I just want you to know... Holding onto anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die. It doesn't work out for you in the end. It only kills you even more. And trust me... I learned it the hard way, Nick."
Sarah fiddled with her hospital visitors bracelet and stared at Nick before she got up and opened the door.
"I felt paralyzed," Nick said, suddenly.
YOU ARE READING
Catching Faith
General Fiction**SEQUEL to "The Gift of a Coach: A Novel of Baseball and Friendship** Jake Wolff has been Brennan's saving grace. He took a team that meant nothing into a team that is feared by every competitor they come up against. Everyone at the school cannot t...
