"How...how could you let them kill him?" Nicole screamed as Ashley and Jacob lifted her off of Aaron's now motionless body.
"Nicole, Aaron wouldn't want to have machines breathing for him," Ashley said quietly hoping to calm his sister down.
Meanwhile, Jacob held her sobbing body, softly rubbing her back repeating the phrase, "Lean on me...I'll help you deal with what happened."
Back in the waiting room, Rachel and the rest of the O-Town crew were waiting to see Ashley and Jacob to see how the Neville's reacted to seeing Nicole. "Guys, I hate to do this to ya, but y'all really need to get going so you aren't late for rehearsals," Rachel said, knowing that they all still needed to shower and change. "I'll call and let Ty and M.G. know that Ashley and Jacob won't be there today. Paul, I realize that I can't really make you go, but I would appreciate it if you took the rest of them back.
"Yeah, I will...I need to get back to the house and pack anyway. Could someone give me a call later, and let me know what's going on, with Nikki...I really think she's a great girl...and it's a shame that something like this happened to her," Paul said as he got ready to take the guys back to the house they were all sharing.
"Yeah...I'll call you later. Actually, I better call my answering service...and see when Nikki's mom is coming in...I totally forgot about that until now," Rachel said as she took the cell phone that Mark was offering her. "Thanks, Mark," she said as she punched the code for remote pick up of messages on her answering machine and found that Mrs. Angel would be arriving at Orlando International Airport in just over an hour. "Dang...I've got to go pick up Mrs. Angel. Can you let MG and Ty know that I excused Jacob and Ashley from rehearsals today, please? I'll deal with the problems that causes later," Rachel said as she made a mad dash for her car hoping that she made it to the airport before Nicole's mother's flight landed.
At 9:00, Bryan, Mike, Trevor, and Erik walked into the vocal rehearsal room that they had been assigned for their vocal lessons with MG. "You boys are getting into your bad habits again," Mark Goff, joked. "And I see we're still missing a couple of our members," he added seeing that Jacob and Ashley hadn't walked in the room with the rest of the guys.
"Hey, MG, a message from Rachel," Mark said poking his head in the room. "She excused Ashley and Jacob from rehearsals today. There was an accident last night...and Nicole is in the hospital," he explained when MG looked astonished that Rachel would actually do something like that.
"How is she doing?" MG asked, forgetting about the vocal lessons he was supposed to be having.
"She's gonna be alright...her ex-boyfriend didn't make it though," Mark replied.
"Well...I guess the rest of us should get some work accomplished today," MG replied, remembering the task at hand.
Rachel arrived at the airport just as Mrs. Angel's flight was being announced as arriving, so she hurriedly ran towards the gate where Nicole and Ashley's mother would be coming off the plane. Rachel immediately recognized the twin's mother as she walked out of the ramp, and quickly introduced herself. "Mrs. Angel...I'm so glad to meet you," Rachel said as she introduced herself. "Where is your husband? I thought for sure he'd be here to see how Nicole was doing," Rachel continued as the two women walked towards the baggage claim area.
"Rachel, have you and either Nicole or Ashley really talked about their step-father?" Mrs. Angel asked.
"Not really, why?"
"Their step-father doesn't approve of Ashley doing this...and because Nicole is so supportive of him...and now dating Jacob Underwood, well, he doesn't want anything to do with them since he sees them as 'disrespecting him and his wishes," Mrs. Angel explained. "I know my husband though, he will come around...ever since I married him, he's been tough on the twins, but he's done it because he doesn't want them to think that because their real father passed away early in their lives, they can get by with just anything," she continued as she picked up the suitcase she had brought with her and waited for Rachel to lead the way to her car.
"I guess, I never totally understood what they were talking about when they mentioned him," Rachel said, ashamed that she didn't know much about the relationship that Nicole and Ashley had with their step-father. "Would you like to drop your things off at my house first...or go straight to the hospital to see your children?" Rachel asked once they were in the car on the way out of the parking lot at the airport.
"I'd rather see my baby girl...just to make sure she's alright," Mrs. Angel said as Rachel took the fastest route from the airport to the hospital. After parking her car, Rachel led Mrs. Angel to the room that Nicole had been assigned only to find it empty.
"Where is she?" Mrs. Angel asked frantically, worried that something had happened to her baby girl.
"Maybe she's down in the waiting room with Mr. and Mrs. Neville," Rachel suggested leading the way towards the room where Aaron had been kept alive until his parents could arrive.
"MOM!!!!" Ashley yelled as he ran to greet his mother, after he saw her walking down the hall with Rachel. "I'm glad you're here. Maybe you can convince Nicole that she isn't to blame for this accident," he added after hugging his mom.
"I'll try...but, you know your sister. If she gets something in her head, it stays there until she lets it out," Mrs. Angel said walking further down the hall. "Where is Nicole, anyway, Ashley?"
"Jacob took her to the chapel...to light a candle for Aaron. Mom, she didn't take this news well at all...and as much as she cares for Jacob...I'm worried that she's gonna convince herself that she can't ever fall in love...because of what happened with Aaron," Ashley confided before they got to the room where the Nevilles were sitting, dealing with their grief.