Her tears were killing him, he didn't speak, he knew there was nothing he could say right now that would comfort her.

"I'm sorry honey, I would never joke about something like this, let me get the doctor, okay, let him know you're awake?"

Elisha clung to him. "Don't leave me , Nick!"

He kissed her and reassured her that he needed to get the doctor. "I'll be right back, I swear. I'm not leaving you." Nick ran out of the room and returned quickly. "He'll be right in, sweetie." He grasped her hand to his chest and kissed her again.

"Hello!" boomed the doctor, entering the room. "My name is Dr. Scott. Let's give you a look over."

Nick stood and moved to the head of the bed. Elisha started to panic when he moved out of her line of vision.

"I'm right here, honey." He bent and kissed her forehead. "I'm not leaving you." he repeated.

The doctor was just finishing the check of her vital signs. "Now, let's check out these legs, okay?" He picked her right leg up and bent it. "Do you have any feeling there?"

Elisha shook her head.

"Try to move your toes." the doctor urged.

Elisha tried with all her might, but she knew by the look on Dr. Scott's face that her toes hadn't budged. Next, Dr. Scott pricked her with a small pin in various places on both legs.

Nothing.

Dr. Scott shook his head. "Until we run some more tests to determine how severe the spinal damage is, my original diagnosis still stands. You are paralyzed from the waist down."

Elisha doubled over with her head in her hands, sobbing loudly.

Nick looked striken. "She'll never walk again?"

"Well, with therapy and hard work, anything is possible. If the damage is not as severe as we think now..." The doctor let the thought hang in the air.

Elisha slammed her fist onto the bed. "I'll never dance again! Will I? I'll never be able to dance again!"

Dr. Scott looked at her sadly. "Not likely, no."

Elisha turned her face to the wall.

The doctor turned to Nick and quietly informed him that he would be in to check on Elisha in the morning.

"Elisha, honey..." Nick rubbed her shoulder gently.

"Nick would you mind leaving me alone for awhile?" she said emotionlessly. "I need some time to myself, time to think."

Nick looked like she had slapped him. "Um, sure, I...are you sure you don't want me to stay? I don't mind, really."

Elisha nodded slowly. "No, go get some rest, you look like hell." She cracked a small smile. "Get some rest and come back in the morning, okay?"

He tenderly kissed her and walked out of the room backwards. She had turned to stare at the wall again and didn't see him leave.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Very early the next morning, Nick walked in Elisha's room with a huge bouquet of roses. Elisha had barely slept the night before. Her eyes were red-rimmed from crying and lack of sleep. She was still staring at the wall, he was dismayed to notice.

"Hey pretty lady!" Nick smiled and gave her a hug, pushing the flowers into her arms.

Elisha turned and gave him a wan smile. Her tired look turned to one of surprise when Nick bent down on one knee beside the bed and picked up her left hand.

"What are you doing?"

Nick kissed her hand. "Well, you were supposed to give me your answer a couple days ago, but I thought I'd just ask again. Will you marry me?"

Elisha just stared at him. "Nick, the answer was so clear to me at the restaurant.."

"So what's different today?" Nick studied her face.

"What's different today?" Elisha laughed bitterly. "I'm a cripple, Nick. I'm never gonna walk again."

"So?"

"Nick," she said patiently, slowly, as if talking to a child. "I'm never gonna walk again."

"So?" Nick repeated. "I love you, not your walking ability." he grinned.

Elisha shook her head. "You're 20 years old Nick, you don't want to be saddled with a cripple for the rest of your life."

"How about you let me decide how I want to spend the rest of my life, okay?" Nick chucked her under the chin. "I happen to think my life would be pretty empty without you by my side."

Elisha sighed and looked out the window. "It's not fair to you. You've got your whole life to live. You don't want to have to take care of me all the time."

Nick laughed out loud. "As if you'd let me! You're so independent!"

"Well, I bet I'm pretty dependent now, not being able to walk and all."

"Stop it!" Nick chided. "Stop feeling sorry for yourself! It happened and it's horrible, but it's over. You can't change it. Now WE have to deal with it!"

Elisha looked at him with tears in her eyes. "How would you feel if this had happened to you?" she asked.

"I don't know." Nick mused. "But I would really hope that if it was me in that bed, you would be here encouraging me, supporting me and loving me."

Elisha covered her face with her hands and wept.

"Now how about it?" Nick lifted her head to look at him. "Will you marry me?"

"I do love you Nick." Elisha dried her eyes.

Nick smiled brightly and placed the ring back on her finger. "So, what's the answer?"

"Yes, Nick, yes! I'll marry you!"