Mindi left to make some preparations, so A.J. led Brian along the hall to where Kevin was talking quietly to Kristin. With nothing else to do, his mind wandered. After a few moments of staring at Brian, only half-hearing Kevin's low tones, A.J. realised the only sound he could hear was Kevin's voice. The hospital was virtually silent, at rest. It was almost hard to believe people were fighting for their lives. He looked at Brian, staring off into space, listening to some inner voice, maybe Nick's. What was Nick telling him? Did he know how soon the fight for his life would begin? Would they be able to win? A draft of air woke him from his reverie; Mindi stood waiting.
"Gotta say good night babe. We're gonna check on Nick one last time." Kevin said into the phone, clicked it off and handed it to A.J. "Time?"
Mindi nodded, "Now or never."
In an almost ceremonial silence they followed her back to Howie's room. He was propped up into a full sitting position, looking a little grey. A chair was set up next to his bed and an empty cot stood at the foot of what had been Kevin's bed.
"Let's do this," he announced quietly.
"Kevin, Alex, bed." Mindi instructed, closing the door behind them. "Suzanne?"
"Ready and waiting," the older woman replied, appearing next to Kevin. She helped him manage his cast as he got onto the bed.
"Verbalising from here on in," Mindi announced. The guys noticed a bit of echo in her tone as if she was speaking through a microphone. "Howie just... try and ignore things for now." He nodded weakly.
"Brian... Brian wake up!" Brian struggled, then managed to focus on her. "Tell Nick you need to go away for a while, but you'll be back. I need *you* here right now."
"I'll try."
"Suzanne do you think Lina..." but she was cut off by a firm shake of Suzanne's head. "Never mind. Brian try hard." He shook himself, took a deep breath and nodded. "Good. I'm going to seal the door. Suzanne will tell you what to do next."
Howie bit his lip as the fear began to rise again. He recognised it as a symptom of his psychic allergy and fought against it. "This is really happening," he told himself. "Face up to it, dammit!" Instead of ignoring what was going on around him, he began to watch closely.
While Mindi busied herself running her hands over the door, he paid closer attention to Brian and Suzanne. They were standing next to Kevin's bed. Brian reached for his cousin's hand while Suzanne put a hand on Kevin's forehead. He went out like a light, snoring lightly to Howie's great amusement. Then they moved on to A.J.. Bone raised his head and winked at Howie.
"Hang in there D. See ya soon!"
He waved a little as Brian and Suzanne repeated the procedure.
"Ok, now I'm going to send you down to Jacob and Nick in the ICU," Suzanne told Brian. "Jacob will keep an eye on you there, I'll watch these two and Mindi will take care of Howie."
"What about Nick?"
"If anything happens Nick will be dealt with before we're even aware there is anything wrong," she replied cryptically. "When you get down there, just sit down and send yourself down those stairs Mindi told you about. Wait for the others before you go to Nick."
"And then?"
"Help him fight his way out. He has to help too. When you need to come back, look at Howie. He'll take you out."
"That's it?"
She shrugged, "You know better than I do what you're going to see. Just remember that forcing yourself into Nick's prison, or forcing him out, isn't going to work. He has to help himself."
"I'll remember." And Brian was gone. Suzanne pulled a chair close to both of her charges, closed her eyes and became still as a statue.
"Ok kiddo." Mindi sat down in front of him. "Just you and me left. Nervous?"
"Uh huh."
"I'd say take deep breaths but I don't think your ribs would thank me."
He managed a grin.
"Before I take you in, one thing you need to know. You're going to be the last one in and the first one out. Don't try to do too much. If you see something that looks like a way out, a door or a big window or something, it's your job to keep it open. You're the anchor."
"Why me?"
"Because you're actually going to be semi-conscious for all of this; your allergies won't let you in completely and they'll make it easy for you to come out. Your job is to make sure you lead everyone out with you."
"Ooookay."
"Ready?"
"As I'll ever be."
"Focus on my eyes. Just keep looking right down deep into my pupils... that's it. Keep staring... relax..... good.. relax... if you start seeing pictures in there, just go with it."
Mindi's pupils seemed to dilate.. growing wider and wider. Three tiny forms grew and resolved into the shapes of his bandmates, two dimensional, but quite real. They were all looking at him expectantly.
"D? You with us?" A.J.'s voice was a little faint, but clear.
"Sort of."
"You're fuzzy." Brian observed.
"You're on a TV screen," he returned. "Mindi told me I can't come in completely. Guess this is as good as it gets."
"All righty then," Brian shrugged. "Let's get going."