Mindi sat in the middle of the maelstrom that was Nick Carter's telekinetic fit for what seemed like hours. She could easily have walked away, talked to Howie, gone for a coffee, chatted with a bodyguard... but she felt responsible. Not necessarily to Nick - between Suzanne monitoring him directly, Jacob and Terry keeping the sheild up, and Lina fueling the sheild from afar, he was safe as houses for the time being. It was A.J. she was beginning to look at as some sort of protégé.
Considering everything that had been thrown at him over the past day or so, Alex was dealing remarkably well. He had accepted Nick's secret with barely a murmur of objection, although it was obvious he still had plenty of questions. And, having accepted it, he was taking the leadership position, trying to ensure that the whole group pulled together. On top of his behaviour, Mindi couldn't help feeling some kinship with him because he was so easy to 'path. It didn't seem to take much effort on the part of either one of them to make a connection. She wasn't sure why exactly - she had never been good at connecting to non-psychics, but any contact with Alex left her with only a mild buzzing in her ears, instead of the raging headaches she was used to.
Finally (in reality only ten minutes after Howie had left), she picked up a sense of confusion from him, just outside the ICU doors. They couldn't get in without being buzzed in by the nursing staff, who didn't really need to know what was going on at the present moment.
"I gotcha," she murmured, and telekinetically pushed open the door for them.
A.J. was a little startled when his dilemma about sneaking in solved itself almost before he'd thought enough to grab Brian's hand away from the intercom button. He caught the opening door cautiously, waiting for someone to emerge and discover them. When no one came out, he whispered/thought, "Mins?"
"Send Brian and Kevin in," she replied. "Howie's in his room. I think he needs a friend."
"What'd she say?" Brian whispered, peering into the quiet hall.
"You two go on in. I'm gonna talk to D."
"Why don't I talk to..." Kevin began.
"Because you need to be in there." A.J. jabbed a finger in the direction of Nick's alcove. "And Howie needs to talk to someone who's thinking rationally. For once in our careers, that's me."
Kevin's jaw dropped at this audacious statement. Before he could bring himself to reply properly, Brian had dragged him inside the ICU. The door swung shut with a clinical click. He felt trapped.
"This way, cuz." Brian whispered. With a resigned sigh, Kevin turned and followed his cousin through the worst part of any hospital. Eventually they arrived at Nick's bed.
From a distance, Nick appeared to be sleeping peacefully, if one ignored the various tubes, machines and restraints clustered around his body. He also seemed to be alone. The two men exchanged a puzzled glance. Where was the emergency? Where was Mindi?
Out of nowhere, her familiar voice cut into the silence. "Take three steps straight forward... slowly."
Brian tugged at Kevin's wrist once again, feeling him hesitate. "Now, Kev."
Midway through the second step, they both felt a curious tingle, as if walking through a mild electric current. At the third, Brian gasped. The scene had changed from one of sterile peace to absolute chaos. Several of Nick's restraints were open, clanking loudly as his bed shook. Strong winds whipped though his hair. Mindi's curls bobbed alarmingly around her face where she sat next to the bed, stroking Nick's left hand as if to soothe him, whatever good it was doing.
"Well Brian," she greeted them calmly, "it's time to make a decision."