Chapter 19

 

Nick’s eyes opened slowly. The first thing that he was consciously aware of was the excruciating pain in his head. He brought his hand up to his forehead, in an attempt to ease the pain when his hand came in contact with a sticky substance. Nick let out a soft moan once realizing it was blood. He searched his mind. What had happened? It all came back to him like a punch in the stomach. The car accident, Rob, he would do anything to end their lives. Shutting his eyes, he began to think about his friends. His eyes darted open and he turned slowly to his side.

 

Brian’s head rested against the busted window. Nick’s breath caught as he took in the sight of blood. His hands trembling, he ran his fingers along Brian’s neck, in desperate search for a pulse. He heaved a sigh of relief as he felt a weak one.

 

“Bri…can you hear me,” he said softly, his voice nothing more then a hoarse whisper.

 

Nick frowned. Brian wasn’t responding. He then remembered that Howie was right next to him. He gingerly turned to face his friend. He was breathing, his breaths were coming in short gasps, but he was alive and that’s all that mattered to Nick. He rested his head back onto his seat. What were they going to do? What had happened to AJ and Kevin? Were they okay?

 

“AJ…Kevin? Please…” Neither of them responded either. “Please…wake up,” Nick pleaded, his eyes welling up with tears. He then gave up, succumbing to unconsciousness, hoping that when he woke up, this disastrous nightmare would be over…

           

Howie’s eyes darted open. His mind raced with unanswered questions. Where was he?

 

“Hello Mr. Dorough, how are we feeling,” the middle aged, red haired nurse asked.

 

“Wh-what happened…”

 

“You and your friends were in a car accident.”

 

Howie struggled to recall the wreck. He then remembered everything with frightening clarity. “It was no accident,” Howie murmured, shutting his eyes as he recalled the wreck. “We…got run off the road. It had to have been Rob.”

 

“Who’s Rob,” the nurse asked curiously. “Is he that guy that they’re tryin’ to catch.”

 

“Yes…it was him, I know it.” Then reality struck. “Oh…my God…what happened…to-my friends!?”

 

“They are alright Mr. Dorough. It wasn’t too bad of an accident. You’ve all got some pretty nasty cuts, bruises and concussions. But, other than that, I’d say you guys were pretty lucky.”

 

“So they—they are okay? Can I see them?”

           

“Nope. Not yet, we still haven’t even moved all of ya back into your own rooms. You’re all bein’ put in ICU as a precaution.”

 

“Oh…okay.”

 

“You just get some rest, and when you wake up we’ll see about visiting your friends. I’ll go see about getting the police and detectives in here. If you really think it was that guy, we better let ‘em know.”

 

“Ok thanks.”

 

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AJ slowly took in his surroundings. Where was he? A hospital, he had figured that much out. But why was he in a hospital? He shut his brown eyes in an attempt to recount everything he could remember. The last thing that he remembered was visiting Brian.

 

AJ glanced around the room he had just been placed in. Where were his friends?

 

“Hello, Mr. Mclean,” the nurse greeted.

 

“Uh…hi. Wh-what happened to me?”

 

“Oh, but don’t you remember?”

 

AJ bit his lip in confusion. He tried his hardest to come with some sort of explanation as to why he was in a hospital. He remembered being in Brian’s room. Then…then they had gone out. But what happened after that? AJ’s eyes widened, and he stared up at the nurse.

 

“The car accident!”

 

“Now, now Alex, calm down.”

 

“Oh my God, I remember it all now. The car it hit us and then…then w-we went in—into a ditch. What about my friends? Please tell me that they are all right!”

 

“Mr. Mclean, calm down. Your blood pressure is sky rocketing. You need to relax. I don’t want to give you a sedative.”

 

AJ took in a deep breath. “Ok, ok. Just tell me, please what happened to me friends?”

 

“Your friends will be fine. In fact, I know of at least two of your friends that have regained consciousness.”

 

“Really?” AJ said, sighing in relief.

           

“Yes, Mr. Dorough woke up along with Mr. Carter.”

 

“Well that’s good. What about Kevin and Brian, are they okay?”

 

“Yes, as far as I know they’ll be fine.”

 

“Ok,” AJ replied, sighing in relief. “I’m gonna get some sleep. Tell me if anything happens.”

 

An hour later, Nick awoke to the sterile scent of a hospital.

 

“Brian?”

 

“Hey Nick. How are ya?”

 

“I’m fine. How are you? You looked terrible in the car. You were cut and I was so scared…” Nick said, his voice trailing off.

 

“I’m okay. I’m not allowed to be in here for long. I had to beg them to let me see you.”

 

Nick nodded his head. He glanced back up at Brian, his bright blue eyes appearing dull and scared.

           

“Bri…what’re we going to do?”

 

Brian sighed and turned his head away from Nick’s blue eyes. “I don’t know Nick. I don’t know…”