"Nicole...hospital....Jake...what are we gonna do?"
"Rachel...take a deep breath....and then tell me exactly what they said," Jacob said, hoping to calm Rachel down enough for her to tell him what happened.
Rachel took two deep breaths before she started speaking, "Nicole was in an accident. She's at the hospital. Jake...we need to get Ash...and go to Nikki."
"Rach...give me your keys...you're in no shape to drive. We'll go pick Ashley up and go straight to the hospital. Come on. I"ll call and let Mark know when we get to the hospital," Jacob said taking the keys from Rachel's hands. Once he and Rachel arrived at the home the guys were all sharing, everyone looked at the two of them wondering where Nicole was at.
Finally, Bryan got up the courage to ask the question that everyone was thinking, "Where's Nicole?"
"Accident...hospital," Rachel choked out before running towards the room that Ashley was assigned to. "Ashley," she said poking her head in the door. "You need to get dressed and come with me, NOW!" she said as calmly as possible after she woke him up.
"What's wrong?" Ashley asked, rubbing his eyes to wake up.
"I'll explain on the way...just come on!" Rachel said, dragging him towards the hallway.
"Rach...slow down...let me get some pants on at least," Ashley said pulling away from her and grabbing a pair of his jogging pants and hurriedly pulling them on over his boxers.
"Back in the living room, Jacob was explaining to Paul and Erik what had happened. "We went to leave...and Nicole insisted on going with Aaron to put an end to their relationship...and by the time we got to Rachel's the phone was ringing asking her to come to the hospital," Jacob explained.
"We're coming with you guys. I don't think you're in any shape to drive," Paul said.
"Yeah, man, I don't know how you managed to make it over here without having an accident yourself," Erik added.
"Rach was totally freaking out...I had to stay calm for her," Jake said. "Deep down, I'm terrified that something horrible happened to Nic."
The group took the van to the hospital, leaving Rachel's car at their house since all of them couldn't fit into her small car. Once at the hospital, Rachel, Ashley, and Jacob all rushed into the Emergency Room. "Nicole Angel...where is she?"
"Ms. Bukator?"
"Yes...and this is her brother," Rachel said. "Now where is she?"
"The doctor is still examining her. Can you please fill this sheet out...and he'll be with you shortly," the receptionist said as the rest of the OTown group hurried into the waiting room to find out what had happened to Nicole.
"We don't know anything yet," Jacob said, when he saw the looks on all their faces.
Just then the doctor came in. "Ms. Bukator?"
"Yes," Rachel said standing up.
"Come with me and I'll explain what is going on with Ms. Angel."
"Well, why leave? All of these guys would be coming with us," Rachel said, motioning aroudn the waiting room to all eight of the finalists.
"Well, Ms. Angel suffered a concussion...and was unconscious when the paramedics reached her. She has since regained consciousness, but she is still at the point where she may drift in and out of consciousness occassionally. She was a mightly lucky lady, actually. She has a broken wrist...but other than that, nothing is seriously wrong with her. The driver of the car is another story, unfortunately," the doctor said. "Can you tell me who was driving the jeep she was riding in?"
"Ashley...what was her ex-boyfriend's name?" Rachel asked.
"Aaron Neville, why? Why was she riding with him?" Ashley answered and asked at the same time.
"Ash, we'll explain that later...let's just find out what is going on," Rachel said, knowing that Ashley would probably be upset that his sister had been riding with Aaron.
"Well, is Mr. Neville from around here?" the doctor continued questioning.
"No, he's from Redding, California. He came out here to see my sister," Ashley answered.
"Mr. Angel, do you have the number for Mr. Neville's family? We really need to contact them."
"What happened to him?" Ashley asked, thinking the worst.
"Well, his injuries were too serious for us to correct. He's not yet climically deceased, but there is not any noticible brain activity. We need to let his family know...and see what their decision is concerning organ and tissue donation," the doctor explained before Ashley gave them the number for Aaron's parents before breaking down at the loss of one of his friends.
"Doctor, can I see my sister?" Ashley asked.
"Right now, she is being admitted to the hospital for observation overnight. As soon as she's in her own room, a nurse will come and get you so you can see her," he explained before leaving to phone Aaron's parents.
"All right...now why was my sister with Aaron when I thought she was going home with you, Rachel?" Ashley asked after the doctor left.
"She insisted on finishing her conversation with Aaron...and finalizing things between the two of them," Jacob answered when Rachel didn't answer.
"Ashley...do you want to let your mom know, or should I call her?" Rachel finally asked when she realized that she had been the first person that the hospital had called.
"You call her. You're the one responsible for her," Ashley shot back. "I still can't believe you let her go with him."
"Ash...I tried stopping her...but she wouldn't listen to reason. She wanted to get things straighted out yet tonight," Rachel said, tears falling from her eyes.
"You obviously didn't try hard enough!" Ashley spat out as the nurse came in to take them up to Nicole's floor.
"She can only have two visitors right now. The rest of you will have to stay in the waiting room," the nurse, who introduced herself as Maggie, said when they got to the fourth floor where they had put Nicole.
"Rach, you go with Ash," Jacob said when they looked to determine who was going to go with Ashley.
"No, you go J. I do need to call her mom and let her know what's going on," Rachel protested as she went to find a pay phone.
"Rach, wait up, I'll go with you," Erik shouted knowing that she was going to need someone to support her.
After dialing the number that she had been given as the Angel's, she waited for someone to pick up the phone, with Erik standing behind her rubbing her back, trying to calm her down. As soon as she heard someone pick up the phone and say hello, Rachel quickly asked to speak to Mrs. Angel.
"This is. Isn't this Rachel Bukator?" Mrs. Angel asked.
"Yes, it is. I really hate calling to tell you this...but Nicole was in an accident earlier tonight...and she's in the hospital right now," Rachel said quickly, knowing it needed to be said but not trusting herself to not break down.
"How is she, Rachel?"
"She's got a concussion...and is slipping in and out of consciousness...but the doctor doesn't seem to concerned about that, and she has a broken wrist."
"Well, thank God she wasn't seriously hurt. I'll get out there tomorrow to take care of her. Can I stay at your house? I don't want to intrude, but I don't really know anything about Orlando."
"No problem, Mrs. Angel. I'll check my answering machine in a little bit, so you can call and leave me your flight information, and I'll make sure that someone is at the airport to pick you up."
"Thank you so much, Rachel. I look forward to meeting you tomorrow, I just wish it wasn't under these circumstances," Nicole's mother said before hanging up the phone.
"It's gonna be alright, sweetheart," Erik said after Rachel hung up the phone, pulling her close. "Now go ahead and let it all out," he said as he led her back to the waiting room, where she noticed that Mark had joined the group waiting.
"Jake, I'm so glad my sister wasn't hurt worse than what she was," Ashley confided to his friend while they sat in Nicole's hospital room.
"Me too," Jacob admitted. "I just feel bad for Aaron's family, finding out that he was in an accident...and didn't make it...over the phone."
"Yeah...I know what you mean. I feel bad about him too...we had been really good friends in elementary school, but we got involved in different things when we got to middle school and high school, so we haven't really talked much in the last few years. Honestly, when Nicole told me she had started dating him last year, I was shocked. Everyone in school knew he was in the drug and alcohol scene, and Nic hated that. I honestly think she thought she could get him to stop, which is why she was seeing him. It didn't work though, although, I think he did manage to hide it from her, and I couldn't bear to tell her he was still drinking," Ashley said.
"Wow, no wonder she insisted on talking to him," Jacob said as Nicole started stirring.
"Where am I?" Nicole asked somewhat confused because of the pain medications she had been given for her broken wrist.
"You're in the hospital," Ashley answered. "Do you remember anything?"
"I was talking to Aaron...and he showed me an empty whiskey bottle...and then there was a crash," Nicole answered. "Aaron...where is he? Is he alright?"
"Nikki, honey, Aaron was hurt really bad."
"But he's gonna be alright, right?"
"Nic...the doctor is callling his parents right now. Although his heart and lungs are still working...they don't think he's ever going to come out of the coma he's in right now," Ashley answered as Jacob hugged Nicole and allowed her to cry on his shoulder as Nurse Maggie came in the room.
"I'm sorry, but you're going to have to leave now, gentleman. Nicole needs her rest," Maggie said. "Nicole, you rest for a little while, and in about thirty minutes or so, I'll let someone come back down to sit with you," she added when she could see Nicole getting ready to argue.
"Nurse...can I see the guy that came in with me, please?" Nicole asked. "I need to say good-bye to him...if he's really as bad as what my brother said."
"I'll check with your doctor...and see what he says in the morning. But right now, you worry about getting yourself better," Maggie said as she walked out behind Ashley and Jacob.
"Nurse...could I see Aaron?" Ashley asked.
"I really don't think that's a good idea," she answered. "But, I'll check with his doctor," she added when she saw him getting ready to argue.
"Thank you...can you tell us what happened?" Ashley asked.
"Well...it looks like the jeep your friend was driving, ran a stop sign...and was hit on the driver's side by another car. That's why you sister escaped with such light injuries...the impact was all on the driver's side of the car."
"Thank you," Ashley said as he and Jacob joined the others waiting for their next chance to see Nicole.