Two hours had passed since Nick had left. Melissa remained unconscious, causing her friends to fear the worse. Dr. Newman came in to check over her vitals.
“Dr. Newman, why hasn’t she woken up?” Jonathon questioned as the doctor looked over Melissa’s chart.
“After what your friend went through, her body needs to recover and that means resting. Once her body is strong enough, she’ll wake up.”
“And if she doesn’t, what does that mean?” Julie asked, causing Dr. Newman to look at her.
“It could mean the drug could have done more damages than I thought. She could have some kind of brain damage or she could remain in a coma state for a long time.”
“Her whole life?”
“It is a possibility.” He stated checking her IV. “But we are jumping the gun; it is too early to make such judgments.” Julie nodded and looked over at her best friend.
“I see you got Mr. Carter to leave.”
“Yeah, he wasn’t willingly at first, but Jules convinced him.” Jonathon stated with a smile.
“Hey, I just said I know Mel would be pissed at him for not taking care of himself. It’s the truth!”
“Alright, her condition is the same. I’ll be back later to check on her. Don’t give up hope; she’ll wake up in time.” Dr. Newman exited the room, leaving them with his message.
As Jonathon sat there, watching Melissa rest, a memory of the night he was attacked came back to him. He could remember as he was going in and out of consciousness that someone standing next to him was talking to someone else. More came to him; the person wasn’t talking to someone else there, but on a phone. He couldn’t see the person’s face, but he could recall what he said.
“It’s done boss. No, no one saw me. I’m sure. Okay, boss, I’m on my way.”
He wished he could remember more, but he couldn’t. He was surprised he remembered that much.
“Are you okay honey?” Julie asked him. “You look like you are lost in thought.”
“Yeah, I’m okay. I was just thinking about something, it’s not important. All that is important right now is Mel.” He stated looking over at his sleeping friend.
Another hour passed with no change. Julie stood up and stretched her body. “I’m going to get some coffee, do you want some?”
“Yeah, thanks honey.” Jonathon stated before Julie left looking for a coffee pot. Jonathon moved over to Julie’s seat and leaned back, resting his head on his hand. He didn’t sleep much last night and it was hitting now. He couldn’t keep his eyes open. I’ll just close my eyes for a little bit. He thought to himself, closing his eyes.
With a deep breath, she slowly opened her eyes. She didn’t recognize where she was, so steadily she sat herself up. “Ohh, my head.” She softly stated touching the side of her head with her hand. She glanced around room till she spotted something she recognized, her best friend.
“Jonathon.” Jonathon opened his eyes and couldn’t believe what he saw.
“Mel?” He asked unsure if he was dreaming.
“Who else would it be? Are you okay?” Realizing he wasn’t dreaming, Jonathon quickly enclosed her in a hug.
“Thank God!” Melissa hugged him back unaware why he seemed so happy.
“I’m happy to see you too.”
“Oh my god, Mel you’re wake!” Julie announced once she appeared in the doorway. She quickly joined Jonathon and gave her a hug. As her two friends embraced her, Melissa realized she was in a hospital, but she didn’t know why.
“Okay, which one of you wants to tell me why I’m in a hospital?” She asked once they broke apart.
“You don’t remember?” Julie asked, wiping her tears away.
“No, I don’t. Jules, why are you crying?” Melissa grabbed her friend’s hand.
“Mel, there’s something you should know.” Jonathon stated grabbing Melissa’s other hand.
“Why do I get the feeling I’m not going to like what you have to say?”
“Well that’s because you won’t.” Jonathon told Melissa everything that happened from time she when upstairs till now. Hearing all the details, brought tears to her eyes.
“GHB?”
“Yeah, I’m sorry Mel.” Jonathon replied still holding her hand.
“I’m I going to be okay?”
“I’ll get Dr. Newman; he has been taking care of you.” Jonathon stated before he left.
Melissa dried her eyes and took a deep breath. Julie was sitting beside her in the bed. She pulled Melissa in for another hug. “You’re going to be okay. OH MY GOD! I have to call Nick, he spend the night here last night. Jonathon and I had to force him to go home to get some rest. He’ll be so happy to know you are awake.” Julie reached for her cell phone.
“Jules, wait. Don’t call Nick.”
“What? Why not?”
“I want to make sure I’m okay before I get his hopes up.”
“Mel, you need him.”
“Please Jules, I’ll call him the minute I know I’m okay, but not till then.”
“Fine, but I don’t like this.” Julie put her cell phone into her pocket when Dr. Newman came into the room.
“Ms. Barnes, I’m glad to see you are awake.”
“You’re not the only one!” Julie said with a smile. Melissa smiled at her two friends.
“Alright, I need to run some tests, so you two need to leave.”
“We’ll be in the waiting room Mel.” Melissa nodded and then watched them leave.
“Okay, Ms. Barnes how do you feel?”
“Tired and I have a pounding headache.”
“No shortness of breath or dizziness?” He asked removing his stethoscope from his neck.
“Nope.” He checked her lungs and her heart.
“Okay, good. I’m going to send a nurse in to draw some blood, so we can run some more tests.”
“Dr. Newman, can I ask you a question?”
“Of course.” He stopped writing in her chart and focused on her.
“My friends told me what happened. The amount of GHB I ingested was it lethal?”
“Ms. Barnes, is there a reason behind your question?”
“I know GHB can knock people out, make them lifeless. But the amount I was given wasn’t meant to knock me out cold, it was meant to kill me. Wasn’t it?”
“Ms. Barnes…”
“I need to know, please.”
“The amount that you took was a lethal dose, you were meant not to wake up.”
Melissa desperately tried to control her emotions. Adam almost succeeded in killing her. She thought she would be scared, sad, but instead all she could feel was angry. And it was all directed towards Adam. She was so lost in thought that she didn’t realized that the nurse came in and took some blood.
“Once I know the results, I’ll let you know. Till then take it easy, you’ll need all of your strength.” Dr. Newman left to run the blood down to the lab himself, but he stopped and told Julie and Jonathon that they could go back.
“Honey, aren’t you coming?” Jonathon asked when Julie didn’t follow him back to Melissa’s room.
“I need to call Nick first.” She stated getting her cell out of her pocket.
“Jules, I thought you said that Mel wanted to wait till she knew she was going to be okay.”
“She did, but I’m not going to make him wait. He loves her and she loves him. He should be here when she hear those results.” She dialed Nick’s cell before Jonathon could say anything else.
The minute Julie told him that Melissa was awake; he ran to his car and sped over to the hospital. He parked his car and ran into the hospital, not stopping when he accidentally ran into someone.
“Nick, over here!” Jonathon yelled once he saw him.
“What’s going on? Why aren’t you with Mel?”
“The doctor is with her.” Julie replied. “He has her test results and Mel asked us to leave.”
“Why? Why would she do that?”
“You know Mel; she doesn’t want to be a burden to anyone.”
“Screw this!” Nick stated and then went to her room. Dr. Newman exited before Nick could open the door.
“Mr. Carter, I was just going over Ms. Barnes’ test results.”
“And?”
“I’m sorry, I can’t. Doctor patient confidentiality.”
“Fine, I’ll ask Mel.” He entered her room and just stopped. For what he had waited for days to happen, finally happened. She was awake and looking at him.
“There’s the guy I wanted to see. Come here!” Nick quickly walked over to her and embraced her. Nick held her so tight, afraid she would disappear if he let go. Once he let go of her, he kissed her with everything in him.
“You must have missed me.” She stated only inches away from his face, trying to lighten the moment.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Mel, I saw Dr. Newman. He told me that he went over your test results with you. Are you really okay?”
“I’m really okay. The test results came back normal. Dr. Newman said I was very lucky. And to that I owe you my life. Jonathon told me that you were the one that found me. I told you that you were my guardian angel.” She said smiling.
“I was so scared that I would never see that smile again.” He replied caressing her cheek.
“No need to worry, you’re stuck with me Carter.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way!” He grinned before he captured her lips in a kiss.
“Knock, knock!” Jonathon said as he knocked on the door. “Sorry to interrupted, but there are some people here who want to see Mel!” He moved out of the way as Jeni, AJ, Howie, Julie, and Alyssa entered the room. They all gave Melissa a hug.
“Boss, I just got back from the hospital. Mel is going to be okay.”
“How did you find out?”
“I flirted with a nurse and she told me everything.” He sat down on the sofa. “It was touch and go for awhile, but her test results are good.”
“You are a lucky man. If your stupidity would have cost me Mel, it would also cost you your life.”
“I know boss, but she’s going to be okay.” He stood up facing Adam. “So when do we make our next move?”
“I would say give it some time, let them get comfortable, but I think we should attack once she is back from the hospital.” Adam walked over to him. “Nicky boy will be hiring more security, so it will be harder to get in the house.”
“Well, according to that nurse, Mel should be release by the end of the week.”
“Alright, then that is when we strike! In the meantime, we have some fun at their expense.” Adam stated with a mischievous grin.
“We are so glad that you are going to be okay.” Jeni stated sitting on AJ’s lap.
“Me too, I don’t think I can sleep in this bed again.” Nick grinned.
“You should have gone home and sleep in a bed, not here.”
“I didn’t want to leave you.” He stated giving her his famous Carter grin.
“That’s not fair; you know I can’t be mad at you when you smile at me.” Nick laughed at her.
Julie leaned up against the wall watching her best friend smile, like nothing had happened. She was happy that Melissa wasn’t let this get her down, but she was worried about what would happen next. She had this overwhelming feeling that Adam had something to do with Melissa getting drugged, but of course she couldn’t prove it. I’ll just have to watch over her carefully. She said to herself.
“Sorry I don’t mean to interrupt, but Ms. Barnes you received some flowers.” A nurse stated walking in with a vase full of white roses.
“Oh they are beautiful!” Melissa said as the nurse laid them on the table beside her bed.
“There’s a card.”
“Thank you.” The nurse smiled and left. “Okay which one of you sent me flowers?” Melissa asked looking at her friends.
“Wasn’t us.” Julie stated meaning her and Jonathon.
“Nick?” She asked him.
“No honey, I would love to take credit for it, but it wasn’t me.”
“Well who could it be?” She asked reaching for the card.
“It has to be someone who knew your favorite flowers are white roses.” Julie added.
Melissa opened the card and read the message. Once she saw his name at the bottom of the card, she could feel her heart drop.
“Who’s it from Angel?” Nick asked grabbing the card.
“Hey beautiful, sorry to hear you aren’t feeling well. You should be more careful, you never know what someone could slip into your drink. See you soon. Adam.” Nick read out loud. The room remained silent and all eyes we fixed on Nick and Melissa.
Nick could feel his anger rising, all that he held back when Melissa was unconscious. He knew that Adam drugged her, but at the time his main concern was Melissa. “The nerve of that bastard! We know he did this and then he has the gull to send you flowers, saying be more careful!”
“Nick, please.” Melissa said as she watched him get up from the bed.
“He tried to you kill you and he almost did. I had to watch the woman I love fight for her life.”
“Nick, he isn’t worth your anger. He didn’t succeed; I’m going to be fine.”
“Damn him! I was in the room when you flat lined, I had to watch the doctor shock your heart back into rhythm. I’ll never be able to get that image out of my head.”
Melissa never saw Nick so angry and it scared her. Not of Nick, but what he might do. “Nick please calm down.”
“I will kill him if he comes anywhere near you. That bastard will pay for what he did to you.” He stated as his eyes focused on the flowers. Nick grabbed the vase and threw it across the room. The vase hit the wall and shattered.
“Nick you have to calm down.” Howie stated.
“I can’t Howie. Adam is trying to hurt the woman I love and I can’t do anything to stop him.” Howie placed an arm around his shoulder. He felt so bad for his friend. If someone was after Alyssa, trying to hurt her, he wouldn’t know how to handle it.
“Can you guys give me and Nick a moment alone?” Melissa asked; she needed to talk to Nick.
“Sure, come on guys. “Let’s hit the gift store.” Jonathon replied as everyone left the room, leaving the two of them alone.
“Nick, please come here.” Nick sat down on the bed, facing her. She reached for his hands and kissed them. “I know how you feel. I was in your position not too long ago…with my dad. You feel helpless, angry, scared, but you can’t let that control you. Those feelings can consume you, eat you alive. Don’t let them, Nick.”
He took a deep breath. “I’m sorry for throwing the vase.”
“I don’t give a damn about the vase, I’m worried about you.” She said brushing his hair out of his eyes.
He took her hand and kissed her palm. “You are the one in the hospital and you’re worrying about me.”
“It’s because I love you. Now when was the last time you ate something?”
Nick laughed and then looked at her. “It’s been awhile.”
“Go and get something to eat.”
“I’m not leaving you Mel.”
“Baby, I’m okay besides I want you to bring me back something. I don’t eat hospital food!” She grinned causing Nick to smile.
“I’ll send someone.”
“Nickolas Carter.”
“Oh no she said my full name, I’m in trouble now!” They both started laughing.
“Go, it will do you some good to get out of this hospital. It’s an order!”
“Alright, I’ll go, since it’s an order!” He laughed and then kissed her goodbye.
Once Melissa was alone, a horrible feeling sunk in. Adam’s plan had failed, he would try again. And this time he wouldn’t fail.
