"What are you doing here?" Kevin asked, surprised.

"I think you know." Nick replied. "Aileen was terrified after what you did to her."

"After what I did to her?" Kevin yelled. "How about what you did to her!"

Nick looked down at the ground and then stared back at Kevin. "I didn't set out to hurt 'Leen like you did tonight." he said softly. "Kevin, all I wanted in the world was for you to forgive me for what I did to Aileen. I tried to kill myself, I felt so awful about it. I thought I was a chicken for giving in to their demands." Nick explained.

"Do you really think I can forgive you?" Kevin demanded.

"I hoped you could, but I think all that hope is gone." Nick said, shaking his head. He put his hand out to Aileen. "Grab some things and let's go."

"Where are you taking her, she's not going anywhere with you!" Kevin grabbed Nick by the shoulder and spun him around to face him.

"Let go of me Kevin, she's coming with me."

"I don't think so Nicky boy."

Kevin pulled back his arm and punched Nick in the mouth. Nick staggered and put his hand to his mouth. He wiped away a small amount of blood from his lips.

"If you think I'm leaving her with a monster like you, you're crazy!"

Nick threw a punch that smacked Kevins cheek. Aileen stood back, frozen in fear. Kevin and Nick were throwing punches back and forth, neither one getting the upper hand. Both men were getting bruised and bloody.

"You're going to kill each other!" Aileen screamed and ran over to separate the fighting men. Just as she was about to try and pull Nick away, a fist crunched into her stomach. A soft moan escaped her lips and she collapsed to the floor.

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

Nick paced in the waiting room while Kevin sat across the hall from him. Everytime a doctor went by Nick's head flew up to see if it was Aileen's doctor. The two men hadn't exchanged words since the fight. Kevin had thought about trying to apologize and had dropped the idea as useless. Nick wanted nothing to do with Kevin and tried to stay as far away from him as possible.

"Hello gentlemen." the doctor said, hurrying into the room.

"How is she?" Nick asked, urgently.

"She's sleeping right now. She lost a small amount of blood and the baby's heartbeat was irregular for a moment or two. It's hard to tell if there was any damage as of yet. We'll be keeping her to monitor the child."

Nick sat stunned. "Do you mean the baby could be hurt?"

"There's a possibility, yes. Any case where there is trauma such as this could be dangerous."

Nick looked up at Kevin who stood shocked. "How could you do this to her? Everything you've done to her, why? I thought you loved her?" Nick asked.

Tears were running down Kevins face. "I'm sorry Nick, I never meant to hit her. I would never hit her. You know that. I do love her. I'm so sorry."

Nick considered this and sat down beside Kevin. "What's come over you? Why have you been such an asshole to her?"

"I don't know." Kevin cried. "I'm losing her. You love her and she's carrying your baby, why would she stay with me?"

As truthful and painful as it was, Nick replied, "I can't make her love me. It would be my greatest wish because I've loved her almost from the moment you introduced me to her. But if she still loves you, nothing I do will change that."

"Why would she love me after all I've done to her?" Kevin asked.

"Why don't we leave it to her to decide?" Nick said.

Nick came out of Aileen's room. "She just woke up." he reported.

"Do you think she will see me?" Kevin asked.

"Go in, but if she asks you to leave, leave. The doctor doesn't want her upset at all." Nick sat in the chair and watched Kevin enter the room.

"Hey, baby." Kevin said softly.

"What do you want?" Aileen turned her head to the wall.

"I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry for everything I've done to you. Everything." Kevin stood beside the bed, unsure if he should sit with her.

Aileen kept her face turned away. "Kevin, you raped me tonight. How could you do that? How could anyone who loves someone do that to them?" Tears were coursing down her face. Kevin touched her hand and she pulled it away. "Can you leave please, I don't have anything to say to you right now."

Kevin turned toward the door, dejectedly. "Can you just tell me something?" he asked.

"What?"

"Are you gonna stay with Nick now?"

"I don't know!" She wiped the tears from her face. "I'm so mixed up right now. You two are tearing me apart! And now I have to worry about the baby. I might miscarry - did the doctor tell you that, Kev?" Fresh tears fell to her cheeks.

Kevin hung his head and nodded. "I don't know what to say, nothing is right. I'm sorry." He pulled the door open and left her to her confusion.