Museum Discoveries

Chapter 7

The smell of French toast slipped under the crack in the door and up my nose. I sat up and rubbed my eyes then stretched. It was just as I was starting to get out of bed that Nicky came into the room, carrying a plate of French toast and bacon. 

When he saw what I was doing, he frowned and set the plate on the nightstand. "What are you doing?" 

"I was getting out of bed," I told him. 

Nicky shook his head. "Nope. You get to stay in bed today. You've been on your leg too much. It's not going to heal if you keep walking on it," He held the covers up while I got back underneath them. He grabbed a chair and handed me the plate of food. "Does your leg hurt?" 

I shrugged. "A little." 

Nicky got up and left the room. He came back with a pill in his hand, and a glass of milk. "Here, swallow this." 

"Oh, Nicky, don't make me take-" I started to complain.

He only smiled. "Take it. It'll help and you know it." 

Muttering under my breath the entire time, I glared at Nicky and took the stupid pill. Larry entered the room then. "Everything okay in here?" 

"Yes," Nicky said at the exact same time I said, "No." 

Larry looked at me. "What's wrong, Crystal?" 

"Nicky's making me take another stupid pill for my leg," I muttered.

"I would too, if your leg hurt," Larry left the room.

"Really?" I called out after him. "You too?" 

I heard Larry's laughter just before he said, "See you later." 

My eyes found Nicky's and a frown was on my face. "Where's he going?" 

"The museum." 

"I wanna go!" I told Nicky.

"We'll go tonight if your leg stops hurting." 

"Aw, Nicky-" 

He shook his head. "Please, Crystal. I want you to get better. You should just focus on healing. We both know you absolutely hate that cast." 

Knowing Nicky wasn't going to give in, I nodded. "Okay, I guess that's fair." 

Nicky went to take a shower, and while he did I ate my breakfast. I was still kind of tired, cause my leg started throbbing earlier, so I put the plate back on the nightstand and laid down. I felt my eyes droop closed and my breathing evened out. I'm not sure, but I think about ten minutes later, Nicky came in to sit for a while with me, but when he saw I was sleeping, he kissed my forehead and then left the room. 

"Call me when you wake up," I heard Nicky's voice say in my ear. 

It was dark outside. Looking out my window, I noticed that the stars were brightly shining and the moon had a halo around it. I sat up and stretched. "Nicky?" I called out. I looked at the clock to see the numbers 2:15 etched in red. My hand slammed over my mouth as I realized I shouldn't have called out to him. It was super early in the morning. 

There was a muffled thudding and then a soft "Ow!" that came from the living room. Suddenly nervous, I stared at the door hoping that it would stay closed. But when it creaked open and Nicky appeared in the doorway, I breathed out a sigh of relief. 

"What is it, Crystal?" Nicky's tired voice murmured. His words were slightly slurred, making him sound drunk, but I knew he was just tired. 

"Go back to bed," I told him. "I just woke up, but I didn't realize what time it was until after I called you." 

Nicky shuffled into the room and sat on the edge of the bed. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," I spoke just above a whisper, not wanting to be so loud. Just because I was up, didn't mean that everybody else in the apartment complex had to be up. Sure, it was just Nicky and I in the house, but still. That didn't mean anything. 

"Why are you whispering?" Nicky asked me.

"I don't know," I shrugged, even though he couldn't see it in the darkness of the room. "Go back to bed." 

I felt him take my hand and intertwine our fingers. "How's your leg?" 

"I'm fine, Nicky. Seriously. Go back to sleep. I didn't mean to wake you up." 

But Nicky stayed where he was. I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my eye. "Ow!" I cried out. Throwing a hand over my eye, I sucked in a breath. The bedroom light flicked on, and I hissed as I covered my eyes from the sudden brightness. 

"Are you okay?" Nicky asked me. 

But I didn't answer. Instead I ignored him, trying to open my eye. But due to the pain, it made it a harder task for me. Every time I tried to open it, it burned and I was forced to close it again. 

Nicky walked towards me, and took my hand. "Crystal?" 

I shoved him away. "Just go, Nicky!" Rolling over, I buried my face in the pillow. 

"Crystal, I swear I didn't mean to," Nicky apologized. "I tried to just touch your face, but I guess I was off a little bit." 

"A little bit?" I snapped at him. "I can't open my eye, Nicky!" 

"Here, let me see," Nicky tried to remove my hand, but I pushed him away. 

"You've done enough," Throwing the covers off me, I stood up and slipped on a shoe. I could only wear one because of the boot cast that I had on my other leg. Grabbing a jacket from the back of the door, I slipped it on. 

"Where are you going?" Nicky questioned me. "You need to stay off your leg." 

"To the museum," I stated flatly. "Are you going to follow me? Or are you going to screw that up, too?" 

Nicky was suddenly furious. "I said it was an accident, Crystal. What more do you want?" 

"What I want is to open my eye, but I can't exactly do that," I fired back. "All thanks to you," I headed for the door, opening it. 

"Fine, go to the museum. Make your leg sore, I don't care. But don't expect me to come rescue you when Kahmunrah finds you and tries to attack you again." 

His remark stung. I knew he was mad, but I didn't think he was that mad. Without another word, I slipped out the door and began my long, painful walk to the museum.