Page 50 of The Head Game

She shook her head, pointedly ignoring his comment. “Okay, well, you take it easy and try to relax as much as you can. After you’ve had breakfast, we’ll try to get you up for a little exercise but you’re not my only patient so it may not happen immediately. I will be back in two hours though for another neuro check.”

“Okay.”

He tried not to sigh too loudly. He’d do better once Skylar arrived.

Resigning himself to watching some terrible television until what he assumed would be an equally terrible breakfast arrived, he turned on the TV.

Leigh had just reached the door when Nico thought of something else he wanted to ask. “Leigh?”

“Yes?”

“I …” But the thought he’d had slipped away, leaving him floundering.

He blinked, the world swimming in front of him again. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to focus, his gut sinking as he realized this was what they’d warned him about.

“Nico?” she asked, concerned. Her voice sounded far away and fuzzy somehow.

“Something’s wrong,” he said, but the words slurred and his arms and legs went stiff.

Before he could try to call out again, everything whirled in his head and his vision went out.

“Nico, can you hear me?”

Dimly, somewhere in the distance, Nico heard the sound of running feet.

“Get me fifty milligrams of Dilantin!” someone called out before Nico slipped under again, everything going dark and silent once more.

* * *

August’s stomach was tight as he walked into the main entrance of Niagara Medical Center.

He glanced around cautiously, hoping he wouldn’t run into the VP Fowler had mentioned last night. Kate something or other.

But he didn’t see any familiar faces in the lobby as he approached the desk.

August greeted the woman there, then quietly said, “I’m here for Nicolaas Arents,”

She tapped away at her computer. “I’m sorry, we don’t have a patient with that name,” she said in a pleasant tone.

“Oh, could you try it again? It’s a Dutch spelling,” August explained.

“Sure.”

He spelled it out for her but she shook her head. “I’m sorry. Still nothing.”

“Oh.” He blinked, then realized they’d probably put Nico under some sort of security hold or assumed name or something. Nico had mentioned the one he used in hotels. What was that again? August wracked his brain. “Uhh. Wait, try Roger Hauer—that’s H-a-u—”

Her expression brightened. “Yes. I see it now. Your patient is in the neurological unit. You’ll need to speak to the nurse on the floor when you arrive.” She handed over a visitor’s badge.

Neurological unit. That didn’t sound good. And crap. This was a lot more complicated than August had expected it to be. Maybe he should just leave …

But a flash of Nico’s pale face and still body as they wheeled him off the ice went through August’s mind and his resolve strengthened. No, he needed to see with his own eyes that Nico was okay.

August wouldn’t feel right until he knew how Nico was doing.

“Yes, thank you,” he said.

Despite his better judgment, desperation urged him on as he followed the woman’s directions up to the neurological floor, then stopped at the desk, showing the woman in scrubs there his visitor’s badge, his heart pounding in his throat. “I’m here for Nico Arents. Uh, he’s listed under Roger Hauer downstairs for privacy reasons. I wasn’t sure if you needed that.”

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