Mandy stood over him and smiled sweetly. "It was unlocked, silly. I walked right in."

Nick got off of the couch slowly and kept a distance between them. "What do you want Mandy? I really don't want you in my house." He wondered silently what she was doing out of jail and then realized that someone must have paid bail for her.

"I heard you were getting married. You didn't mention it, so I wanted to hear it from you, to see if it was true or not." She smiled again and moved closer to Nick.

"Yes, it's true. Elisha and I are getting married in a month."

Mandy pouted. "Why didn't you tell me, honey?"

"Goddamn it Mandy, we are through! What do I have to do to get it through your head?" He tried to keep his voice down. "First, you abused me at every opportunity, then, I find you sleeping with another man in our bed and finally, you try and kill me and my fiancee! What makes you think I still carry even the smallest thought for you?" He turned his back to her. "Please get out of our house. I'll forget about calling the cops if you just leave, okay?"

Mandy walked over to Nick and put her arms around him. "Nicky, just tell me one thing, okay?"

He pushed her arms away from him. "What is it?"

"Are you happy with her, does she make you scream like I did? If she did, bet she doesn't now." Mandy snickered. "How long has it been Nicky? She can't please you anymore, not like I can. Let me screw you Nicky, I'll make you forget all about her."

Nick's features twisted into a disgusted grimace. "Get out of here now! I never want to see your face again as long as I live!" He turned away from her again, walking over to the stereo.

Mandy stared at him hatefully. "You know what Nick, maybe this will be the LAST time you see me for as long as you live!"

She ran at him, screaming. Nick felt her pound on his back and a violent pain seized his body.

"What did you do?" he gasped out, grabbing the entertainment centre, trying to hold himself upright.

"If I can't have you, she can't either!"

Mandy ran out of the room just as Nick collapsed to the floor.

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

Elisha was humming along to the Foo Fighters CD that Nick had left in the Walkman. She glanced at her watch, 45 minutes. She really should work for another 15, but she was getting tired.

"Well no wonder, after swimming this morning with Nick, and the session with Kathy, and this!" she said to herself. "That's enough for today!"

Elisha grabbed her towel and buzzed Nick's cell phone to let him know that she was finished.

"C'mon Nick, get your butt in here!" She waited a few more minutes. "I bet he fell asleep again, let's see if I can get out of this on my own."

After about 20 minutes of struggling and balancing she managed to get herself out of the treadmill and into the wheelchair.

"Okay, Mr. Carter, you are gonna get it!" She laughed as she wheeled herself into the music room. "Nick, you are so dead!"

She stopped short when she saw Nick lying on the floor.

"Nicky? What are you doing?"

As she wheeled closer she could see the handle of the knife that Mandy had stabbed him with sticking out of his back.

"Oh my God!"

Elisha slid out of the chair and lay on the floor next to Nick's prone form. There was very little blood, she assumed that the knife was stopping the flow. With a shaky hand she dialed 911 for help. She felt for his pulse and was relieved to find one, although it was very weak.

"Oh Nick, what did she do to you?"

She held his hand and ran her fingers through his hair.

"Don't you dare leave me, Nick. I need you, we're gonna get married. Stay with me."

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

Elisha sat quietly in the waiting room with Nick's family. BJ and Leslie had just taken Aaron and Angel to the cafeteria, to help keep them busy. They had been getting a little antsy waiting for news on their brother. A doctor entered the room and asked Bob and Jane to go with him. After a few moments by herself, Kevin, Howie, Brian and AJ filed into the small room.

"How is he?" they asked as one.

"I don't know, I haven't heard anything." Her face crumpled and tears began falling down her face. Kevin gave her a long hug.

"He'll be fine, honey. He's a strong boy. He'll pull through. Are you alright?"

Elisha wiped her tears and smiled gratefully. "I'm scared, Kev. Someone was in our house, and did this to him and I didn't know anything about it. I'm just scared out of my mind."

Kevin kept his arm around her and rubbed her shoulder. "Everything will be alright."

"You didn't see anything?" AJ asked.

Elisha shook her head. "No, my first instinct was that Mandy did it, but she's still in jail. Maybe Nick saw who did it."

The doctor re-entered the room.

"How is he?" Elisha asked quickly.

"He's resting comfortably. He was very lucky, the knife just missed hitting vital arteries.

"Is he going to be okay?" Brian asked.

"Oh yes, he needed minor surgery to close the wound, but there were no major internal injuries. He should be able to go home very soon."

Elisha smiled happily, "May I go see him?"

"We would prefer just family right at the moment. He's still recovering from the surgery."

"She's his fiancee!" Howie protested.

"Oh fine then, come with me, please."

"Hey baby." Elisha picked up Nick's hand and held it tight.

"'Lisha, hi honey!"

She laughed at his goofy smile, his speech was slurred and he was fighting to keep his eyes open.

"How are you feeling honey?"

Nick giggled. "I can't feel anything!"

She kissed his forehead. "Get some sleep, okay sweetie? I'll be right here when you wake up."

Nick squeezed her hand and let his eyes close. "Don't leave me 'Lisha. Don't leave me alone."