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'Where am I?' Nick wonders. He continues to walk around but it is pitch black. He can't feel anything but has an eerie feeling that something is horribly wrong. 'Is this death? Did I die?' Soon, he begins to feel a warming sensation begin to warm his body as the blackness begins to fade, giving way to a bright light. Soon, Nick can't feel anything but the heat that is intensifying, closing his eyes to further accept its encompassing comfort.
"I think he's coming around!" a male voice shouts.
"Hurry and close the wound. We can't afford to have him come to and thrash around with his last wound still open. Hurry!" another voice urges.
Nick can hear people rushing around, conversing with one another about what to do to someone. 'Who is that poor creature they are torturing?'
"Okay, it's done! Nurse, cut this and we'll move him back onto the gurney to be put into a room."
Soon, Nick begins to feel motion happening. He realizes that he is being moved but he has no clue as to where or what is happening. The light starts to get brighter and brighter as the voices get more frantic and louder. 'Where am I? Did I fall asleep at practice again and the guys are just playing with me?'
Slowly, Nick opens his eyes and shuts them immediately as bright lights begin passing him quickly. 'What is going on?'
He is rolled into a private room and is immediately hooked up to machines to track his life signs. Nick feels the uncomfortable pressure of a breathing tube being stuck in his nose and needles placed in his arms. After a few more minutes, there is nothing but silence.
"Nicholas?" a feminine voice asks.
'Why does that voice sound so familiar but not?' he wonders as he opens his eyes and focuses on a girl in a white uniform. He opens his mouth to try to speak but shuts it as he finds that he cannot speak for his throat is too dry.
"Don't try to talk. I just had to make sure it was you. You don't know who I am, do you?" All Nick could do is stare at her. "I guess that is for the best. You're going to be just fine. I'm going to make sure of it." The girl gives him a beautiful smile and comes closer to the bed. She places her hands on his body and closes his eyes as he feels a warm feeling wash over him. After a few minutes, he feels her move away from him. "I have to go now. Hold on to that warm feeling."
Before Nick could say anything further, she is gone. When he is about to call out after her, his little brother pops into the room. "Nick! I got here as fast as I could! What happened out there?"
"Drew, did you recognize that girl that just came out of my room?" Nick barely squeaks out.
"No. She was your nurse, right?"
Nick nods his head.
"I definitely haven't seen her before. Should I have?"
"She seemed oddly familiar to me."
"Enough about a silly chick! What happened to you?"
Nick takes in a deep breath. "All I can remember is driving down the freeway at a rather fast speed and then blackness. I don't think I dozed off but anything is possible at this point."
Drew hands Nick a glass of water. "I knew I should have driven you home. That was irresponsible of me not to have taken you home. Jeff and Justin are waiting in the waiting room. The nurses won't let them in since they aren't technically blood family. Are you sure you are okay now?"
"As far as I can tell I am. I am in some definite pain but nothing too bad. Did you talk to the doctor?"
"No, not yet. Do you want me to see if I can find him?"
"Yeah. I need to know what's going on with me."
Nick's brother gets up. "I'll go seek him out then. You stay put. Actually, I guess you won't be vanishing on me this time! Just relax."
'Easy for you to say. You don't have freaky dreams.' Nick thinks as he watches Drew leave the room. 'I suppose there won't be any harm in resting my eyes for a bit…'
"Where are you going?" Nicholas pleads the same black haired girl.
"I have to leave you right now. It's for the best," she replies.
"What do you mean? I thought you loved me!"
She places her hand on his cheek and stares into his eyes. "I will always love you, no matter what happens. My love for you will last an eternity, I promise. However, I do have to go. There are things I need to take care of."
"Then I'll go with you! I don't want to let you out of my sight!" Nicholas exclaims, grabbing onto her hand as she pulls away.
"You can't come with me. This is a personal matter I must deal with myself. I can't allow you to follow and get hurt."
"Well I'm not going to let you go without me knowing there is danger involved! We live or die together!"
She smiles. "I want you to know Nicholas, nothing will ever, ever, ever ruin what we share. Neither time nor anything else will ever be able to destroy or erase it. I will be back for you, one way or another," she says as she pulls away and kisses him softly on the lips. "Be brave my love."
With that, Nicholas has no choice but to see his beloved walk out the doors, into the night. Suddenly, he gets an overwhelming sense of being sleepy so he, realizing he can't do anything more, lays down on the sofa. When he opens his eyes, the sun is pouring through the window of his living room. As he rubs his eyes, he looks around and freezes. There on the floor is her jacket with a piece of paper that reads:
My dearest Nicholas,
Something has happened and I cannot return to you. Please know that you will forever be in my heart. Be safe my love. I will always be with you.
Nicholas lets out a groan of despair just as he feels a cold blade being held against his throat. He hears a deep voice say, "How lovely she left you a note this time. Too bad she left in vain. Say your prayers."
Nick wakes up screaming, resulting in a nurse running into the room. "What's wrong?" she asks, feeling his forehead. "Are you okay? Are you in pain?"
As Nick catches his breath, he manages to say, "I'm fine. Just a bad dream."
"Okay. Hit the button over there if you need anything, okay?"
Nick nods his understanding and she leaves. 'Sleep is definitely not a good place for you man. You're not even safe in a hospital. I swear that girl in my dreams looks so familiar…'
"Nick! You okay? I heard you screaming down the hall when I was talking to the doctor," Drew says as he runs into the room with the doctor behind him.
"He probably had a bad dream or something. Those medicines he is on can give him hallucinations. How are you feeling Nick?" the doctor inquires.
"I could be much better. What is the prognosis Doc?"
"Well, considering the wreck you were pulled out of, you are pretty lucky. You were unconscious for a while and lost a lot of blood. You busted some ribs, suffered from internal bleeding, and had a lot of head trauma. You also fractured your right leg so I doubt you will be dancing any time soon. I'm sorry son. We want to keep you here for at least a couple of more nights to monitor your progress though. With head wounds, they can cause a lot of damage so we want to make sure you will recover nicely. Don't worry; we'll take good care of you. I'm just glad to see you awake. I was afraid we would lose you for good or to a coma but I am very glad we didn't. Get some rest will you?"
"Doc, I can't."
"Too much pain? Well I'll just slip some medicine into your IV that will make sleep much easier on you."
"No, that's not it."
"I'm sure it is," the doctor replies, already putting a syringe full of a clear liquid into the IV stream. "This should do wonders for you Mr. Lachey."
"Drew! I can't go to sleep."
"I know big bro. This should do the trick."
"No! That's not what I mean! I meant…" Nick tries to say as his eyelids are forced to close and blackness claims him once again. 'Please, not again.'