The next two days seemed like 2 years to AJ. For those 2 days, the guys and Trelyn were at the hospital for hours on end. AJ wanted to be around when I woke up so he slept in the room with me, occasionally sleeping in the chair. But he got little sleep that way. He would sit up on certain nights and watch me, hoping I would open my eyes. Some nights he sung songs to me...songs he knew I loved to sing myself. On the second day, he even snuck in a radio so I could listen to classical music and to anything else. He would sit and talk to me, even though I was out of it. He would tell me about the days happenings. On the second day, AJ sat in the chair asleep, holding my hand. A nurse came in and opened my curtains a slight bit to get some sunshine in the room. She glanced over and saw the radio and smiled. She wasn't about to take it or awake AJ. She looked at her watch. 8:59am. She knew that soon the "gang" would arrive. She walked out of the room, gentlely shutting the door.
I began to hear this soft, beautiful tune playing in the room. I also felt a hand holding mine. I hoped it was Howie by my bedside. My eyes were shut and I slowly opened them. After my eyes adjusted, I saw AJ. My right eye opened but felt sore but i still could make out Aj passed out in the chair. I smiled some. "AJ," I whispered. He was still asleep. "AJ," I said a little louder. He still wasn't waking up. I looked down at his hand and began to squeeze at it. He began to move around and finally woke up. He looked down at my hand then over at me. "AJ, I need my hand please." I saw the tears swell up in his eyes. He reached over and hugged me. "Sis, you had me scared to death! You okay? Want anything? How you feel?" "AJ..I just woke up. I am hungry and thirsty. Plus I am sleepy." AJ grinned. "Sleepy? You were asleep for 3 days! I will have to get you drunk just so you can sleep!" I grinned. "I'll be right back." AJ ran out and told the nurses I was up just as Trelyn and the guys were getting off the elevator. "Guys! Autumn is awake!" AJ was screaming and Trelyn had to calm him down because he was so happy. Everyone wanted to see me, but the nurse said I had to be examined before they went in to see me. She paged the doctor as AJ went back in. "So..are they bringing me something to eat?" "No..they are going to check you out before you eat and have visitors." "Okay. Visitors? Oh! I need a hairbrush! I bet I look awful! AJ, get me a mirror please?" AJ found a mirror and brought it to me. is saw myself: my eye looked somewhat better but was still a little black, blue, and purple and I had a few cuts on my face. A nurse came in, followed by the doctor. They asked AJ if he could step out while they examined me. He left and they gave me the regular test: they checked my blood pressure, checked my heart, asked me if I could get up and walk, etc. "Well Autumn, you are doing extremely well." I smiled. "So does this mean I will be able to leave tonight?" The nurse smiled at me when I asked that. The doctor looked at me, lowering his glasses. "Well, I will let you know something by 6pm tonight." I told him that sounded great and then I almost begged the nurse for some food. She told me she would get me some breakfast and left the room. She turned to everyone in the hallway. "Okay, you all can go in and see her. But, her eyes is still bruised and she still has marks of cuts on her face. AJ thanked the nurse and opened the door as everyone followed him. "Autumn!" Trelyn said and came over and hugged me. I laughed. "Hey girl. Whatcha been up to? Partying hard without me?" Trelyn laughed. "Hardly. I have been out there with the other four guys worrying about you." I looked to my left and saw Kevin and Brian. Both of them smiled at me. "What are you two smiling at? Do I have something on my face other than cutes? Did they put a clown nose on me?" The two laughed. "No. We are just glad to see you up. Ain't that right Brian?" "Sure is," Brian replied. At the foot of my bed was Nick and Howie. I was actually ashamed that Howie had to see me with my hair messed up and everything. "So," Nick asked smiling, "what is the nurse bringing us to eat?" I grinned. "Not a thing. I don't even know what she is bringing me." About that time the nurse came in, carrying a tray. She placed my tray down and removed the top exposing the gravy, buscuits, sausage, orange juice, and fruit for me. "okay. Lady and gentlemen, we need to let her eat. After she finishes, you can come back in." Everyone went out and decided to go to the gift shop and get me something until I finished eating.
About thirty minutes later, the guys and Trelyn came back up and were about to come back in. As Aj slightly opened the door, they could hear me singing "Open Arms" by Journey. Nick stopped them and held the door open, listening to me sing along with Steve Perry. After I finished, they all came in carrying bears and flowers for me. I smiled. "Oh you guys didn't have to get me these things." "Yes we did AJ," Nick said. I looked at Trelyn, AJ, Brian, Kevin, Nick, and Howie and could tell they had been lacking sleep because of me. I didn't like that since they were on a break from the studio and road, so really they had no reason to lack sleep. "Hey, why don't all of you go and get some sleep? I mean, I am up and alert now and you have nothing to worry about. You guys were here non-stop. Please guys go get some sleep, about six to ten hours. Please?" I used AJs technique of giving the puppy dog look to seal the deal. "She has a point," Aj said. Maybe we should get some sleep. I mean, we know she is up and I need sleep. So guys, Tre it is agreed upon?" Everyone agreed. "So, we all meeting back here at...5?" Brain asked. "Hey, why don't we just all stay at AJ's? It is closer and we can all leave out together?" Kevin suggested. Trelyn looked at AJ. "That is a good idea." Everyone got up and began to leave the room. "If you need me , call. Okay?" "Yeah AJ. I can if I need you." AJ went out of the room and I got up out of the bed to exercise my legs. I began to check the room for some paper and a pen and to turn the radio up a slight bit. I found no paper or pen. I went back to my bed and pressed the button for a nurse. Within seconds, a nurse was in my room. "Yes?" I looked at her and smiled. "Yeah, can I get some Sprite and a pen and some paper to write with?" The nurse left and came back again with the things I asked for. I began to write my "parents" back in North Carolina. I wrote them a really long letter, telling them everything they would want to know. I took a break when my lunch came in and to watch my two favorite ABC soaps, "All My Children" and "One Life To Live." I lucked out in knowing what I missed because the woman who brought me my lunch told me she taped them and watched when she got home. At 2, I turned the television off and laid in the bed, listening to the classical music. "And that was Debussy. Now, we have selections from "Romeo and Juliet" by Tchaikovsky. I got up and pulled my chair by the radio, and as the music played I suddenly had this feeling come over me. I walked over and got the paper and pen and began to write as I thought back to the few nights before when I had been with Howie.
If you were mine:
If only I could have you now,
With your loving charms
I would not ever want to leave.
The comfort of your arms,
I would not worry over wealth
Or anything of fame,
But I would thank you for the joy,
Of whispering your name.
The joy of gazing in your eyes,
And walking at your side,
With never any doubt to solve,
Or any tear to hide,
I would be happy just to hear,
The music of your voice,
And I would always tell myself,
I made the wiser choice.
If I could have you now,
to love and call my own,
I could not want for any more
Or ever feel alone.
I sat and looked at the poem and smiled because it summed up everthing I had felt. I began to write on another poem but stopped when I heard a knock at the door. Nick peeked his head in. "Hey. It okay for me to come in?" "Yeah. I was getting bored," I said. I look around for the rest of the posse and Nick saw me. "Oh, I came alone. The rest of the guys were alseep." "Okay. I think they will figure out were you went to though Nick." "Yeah. You are looking alot better Au..AJ." I laughed because it was still hard for the guys to call me AJ. "Nick, you look well resterd now. Everyone was looking like zombies," I said laughing. Then I caught a really good look of Nick's eye. "Oh my..Nick what happened to your eye!?" He reached for his eye and grinned. "Oh, your brother did it. But it's okay because I connected on his lip." "Okay, what did you say that set him off that bad?" "Well, I told him what you told me right before the accident when you called." "WHAT! Nick, I said those things in anger. I did not mean them. But then again, all you guys are like brothers to me and Trelyn is like a sister to me. I really didn't mean it." Nick sat down. "Yeah, I figured you didn't mean it." It got silent, silent enough to hear Bach's Brandenburg Concerto. "Autumn, I want to ask you something." "Oh, okay." Okay, now I was wondering what Nick was about to say. I looked at his face and, somehow, knew what he was about to say. "Autumn, would you ever consider a relationship with me? There is something about you that I find; well words can't describe it." I closed my eyes. Well, it was close to what I was expecting. "Nick.oh Nick. That is really sweet and all. I like you too but not like that." Nick looked down. "Nick, please don't hate me for that. You are the greatest friend I have out of the guys. I mean, I feel I can tell you anything. Besides," I was about to actually confess to someone, "I like Howie." Nick looked up and smiled. "I kinda thought that because everytime you saw him, you got this look on your face. But I thought that since you and I were always hanging out you liked me. But yeah, it is cool we be friends." Nick reached over and hugged me. "Besides, if things don't go the way you want with Howie, I have a chance." I laughed at that. "I'll consider that Nicky." "So, you plan on telling Howie this soon?" I sighed. "I am waiting for the perfect time. And you know how that is.... I never know when that will be." Nick and I sat and talked for about fifteen minutes until my doctor came in, folllowed by AJ, Trelyn, Howie, Kevin, and Brian. "Autumn, you ready?" Trelyn asked. "Ready for what? More testing?" AJ smiled. "No. You ready to go home?" I looked at the doctor. "Is he serious?" "Yes he is. Here are your discharge papers. We see no reason to keep you now. You have no serious injuries, no broken bones, no nothing. You are 110% healthy." "Well, yeah I am ready. I just need some clothes first because; well I am NOT wearing this gown out." Trelyn laughed. "They called before we left, so I grabbed you something. Plus, your makeup. It is okay for her to wear makeup, right?" The doctor nodded and placed my papers on the bed. He wished me luck and left. Then I asked the gang to leave the room so I could change and put my make-up on. It was as if Trelyn knew I wanted to look presentable. I viewed myself and thought I looked good enough. I walked out with my things and smiled. "I am ready." I didn't want to ride in the wheelchair, but was told it was procedure. I thanked the nurses and so did AJ and we made our way down to the lobby and outside. When we left, I was smiling.
I was dropped off as the gang went out, saying they had to do their own things. So I was home alone. I went up and looked for a swimsuit and found my black bikini. After I changed and got my make-up off, I went down to the pool. I jumped in and just relaxed and let myself drift away to a fantasy world. After about an hour, I got out and dried off really good because I didn't want to track the floor up because I knew that Trelyn would have a fit. As always, I went to the kitchen to get something to drink. I didn't put the towel around me because I thought I was still alone. I walked into the kitchen and then all eyes were on me. "AH!" I said before hiding behind the wall. I peeked my head around the corner. AJ laughed. "Sis, we are all adults here. And we have seen you in a swimsuit before." He was halfway right on that: last time I had a towel around my waist. I walked to the fridge. "So what are they doing Tre?" "Considering what to do tonight." "What are the options?" I asked. "Either go out to eat or have a cookout here." "I say we stay here. We can have more fun and less fans bugging us and asking Autumn about the accident," Brian said. "I second that," Nick said. "We all want to have fun yet if we go out, we will get bothered and I think that Autumn shouldn't have to put up with that tonight." "Good points," AJ said. " I'll go throw some things on the grill." "Whoa! You don't care about what I, Kevin, Howie, and even Autumn want to do," Trelyn said. "Okay. What do you guys want?" Nick asked. "Well, I say we go out and do this party in style. Autumn shouldn't be cooped up in here. She was in the hospital for a while and will soon get cabin fever. Let's go out. That is way better." AJ looked over at Kevin. "I agree with Tre on this one. Autumn shouldn't be stuck inside." I stood listening to all of it, amused that everyone was arguing about what I wanted. I looked over and Trelyn and saw the determination in her face to get out and do something instead of staying in. I had to look down when she looked at me because I didn't want to laugh while she was watching. "Howie, voice your opinion on this," Trelyn said. Howie was looking over at me laughing at all the nonsense and while he was looking at my face, his eyes began to scan downwards on my body. He didn't get too far. "D, hello?" Nick said. "Oh, sorry. I was considering the options." "Okay and what do you think?" AJ asked him. Howie looked over at me. "I think we should take her out for a good time. She needs to have some fun and, well nothing personal AJ; this place can get boring after a while. I mean..Autumn, what do you want to do?" I looked up from the floor. "Honestly? I want to go out. We can find an isolated little place and go there for some fun." "Well, I guess we are going out. We were out voted and Autumn really wants to go out. But where can we go?" Everyone began to think. "Hey, I know. Remember that place we went to about a year ago? That place that made whatever you wanted? It was down by Cocoa Beach," Kevin said. "I remember that place," AJ said. "Yeah we could all go there." "Well, let me go get some clothes on," I said. Nick looked over at me. "No, you can't!" "Why the hell not?" Aj came over and led me to the table. "Sis, sit down first." I sat down. AJ sat down and looked me in the eyes. "You can't go until you open thses presents." I laughed because I suddenly had four presents in front of me. "Okay, who wants me to open theirs first?" Nick grabbed his gift and threw it to me. "Here, open mine first." I opened it and found 3 CDs: Godsmack, Kiss, and Marvin Gaye. "Thanks Nicky," I said smiling. Next, Trelyn gave me her gift. "I hope you like it," she said. I opened a box and found a Limp Bizkit shirt and opened another wrapped gift and saw a Fred Durst poster. "AHH! Tre! How did you know?" Trelyn laughed. "Well, everytime you see him or hear him, you go on and on. So I got you that to hang on the door in your room." I looked at the next gift. "Brian and I chipped in together and got yours." I opened it and found every Ernest Hemingway book possible. "AJ told us you liked him," Brian said. "Yes! You guys didn't have to get me every book!" They smiled. "Howie, where is your gift to Autumn?" Nick asked. "Oh, well see I have to give it to her later. It is kinda a two in one deal." AJ laughed. "Two in one? I don't want to know, or do I?" "Maybe you do. You can wait." Okay, that made me think the worse, and I was afraid at what he was going to do. "Well sis, mine is the last one." AJ placed a small box in front of me. I stared at it. "Autumn it isn't to stare at," AJ joked. "Open it." I did and found a key. I looked at AJ, somewhat confused. "Okay, maybe it would work better if you looked out the window." I got up and went over to the window. I saw a light blue Lexus in the driveway. "AJ...please tell me that is NOT a new car of yours?" "Nope. It is your car." I screamed and hugged AJ. "THANK YOU!" I let go of AJ and saw how happy he was I liked it. "You do like it right? If not I can take it back..." "NO! I love it! If you take it back, I will seriously hurt you Alex!" Everyone laughed at that. "Now," I turned and looked at AJ, "can I go get dressed?" "Yes, go on. You take forever anyways." Trelyn laughed. "Wonder who she gets that from?" "I have no idea," AJ said. "Well, anyone have to go get ready? She will be a while because she will have to shower, get her makeup on, and take forever to decide what to wear." "Well, I know I want to change," Nick said. "Yeah me too," Kevin said. "Okay, why don't me all just meet up at the resturant then?" Brian said. They all agreed on it.
Well, AJ had it right. It took about an hour for me to get ready. I decided on wearing a White top that was sleeveless and had buttons down the front, a leather skirt, and a pair of black sandals. My hair was pulled back in a gittery hairclip. I stepped out of my room and saw Tre. She looked like she was dressed to kill or turn AJ on, whichever came first. She was wearing a black vest, black miniskirt, and pair of black platform sandals. "Autumn, you look great!" "So do you. How much longer is AJ gonna be?" About then, he opened the door and came out wearing a shirt that Tre loved.... It was a sleeveless tight shirt. He was also wearing baggy jeans, a light faded blue du rag, and his famous trademark sunglasses. "Alright, we are gonna meet the guys there. Sis, you follow us." "I was gonna do that anyway AJ. Like I wouldn't drive my new car." We left and drove for a good while. I had in my Godsmack CD jamming while I drove. When we got to that restaurant, to my surprise everyone was already there. I caught a look at Kevin, Brain, and Nick but didn't bother to look at what they were wearing. But Howie...I mean I paid attention to everything. He was wearing knee length black shorts and a white shirt and he actually had his hair pulled back. I guess he saw me looking at him because he looked at me and smiled. I quickly turned away. We all sat and ate and ordered. Brian and Kevin ordered a southern plate woth Coca0-Cola, Nick ordered a steak and baked potato with a daiquiri, as did AJ but with a beer. Trelyn ordered lobster and a baked potato, with tons of butter for both. Howie ordered lasagna with wine and I ordered fettichi alfredo with wine, plus a salad. We all sat and ate and talked about things in life and some things we had done in the past together. Almost all of us were dressed in black. It got quiet and I heard one of the waiters talking Italian to another waiter. They looked over at us and began speaking Italian, so we would not know what they were saying. "Ah, essere giovane e piace ancora la vita all'il più pieno," the older guy said. "Ci. Quei bambini sono giovani e ha un grande futuro davanti a loro," the other guys said. The two guys stopped talking because I was looking at them. "L'Uh, oh. Il giovane giallo haired guarda ci." "Rilassare, sa che non diciamo." I looked down to the ground and smiled because I knew what they were saying. "I grandi comò nonostante. Lei penserebbe che siano nel mafia, l'especailly le ragazze," the younger looking guy said. When he said that, I giggled. "What is so funny Autumn?" Trelyn asked. "Well, I heard what those guys were saying." AJ looked at me. "So? What were they saying? Tell us!" I laughed. "Okay, this was what they said. As I told, I pointed at each guy that said it. 'Ah, to be young again and enjoy life to the fullest.' 'Those kids are young and have a great future ahead of them.' 'Uh, oh. The young yellow haired girl is looking at us.' relax, she knows not what we are saying.' 'Great dressers though. You would think they are in the mafia, especially the girls.' " Everyone laughed. "See, I told you that we looked like a mafia group," AJ said. Howie looked at me, somewhat amazed. "Autumn, I didn't know you were bilingual?" "I'm not Howie. I am quad lingual. I speak Russian, Spanish, Italian, French, and German." The guys were now more impressed.
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