“I think it’s stupid,” Arthur blurted out which makes his sister and his mother turned to him.
“What?” Alice asked her son. They were having their lunch in their mother’s home when Victoria announced that she will stop seeing Nick.
Arthur looked at his sister who doesn’t even feel like eating. He hasn’t seen Victoria much since she lives in her own house. But she’s usually there in her parents’ home during weekends and Arthur is thankful that she’s here now after what happened to her boyfriend. He wanted to see if she’s doing fine after the incident with Nick. Victoria seems to be having a hard time now after she mentioned about turning away, in fear for Nick’s safety.
“It’s stupid that they had to do that to Nick just to keep the secret. Nick is a nice guy and he will never tell anything. I trusted him.” Arthur told his mother. “He didn’t deserve that.” He only met Nick two times and he found him nice and he’s making his sister happy. That’s the important part.
“But I need to be away from him and his friends now because they will not be safe when I’m around. I don’t want to repeat what happened. Brian and Kevin already have a family, AJ has his mom and Howie had his family. It’s just best to sacrifice this and no one will be harmed.” Victoria drinks her glass of juice.
“How is Nick now?” Alice asked her daughter.
“From the last time I saw his condition, the vital signs are improving although he’s not yet awake. I already gave my goodbye letter to the guys and to Nick. Kevin will give the letter to him when he woke up.” Victoria said. Alice can see that she’s just trying to put on a strong face. “I don’t know why this is happening to me. It seems like I don’t deserve to be happy. Everywhere I go, I just bring bad luck. This must be my curse. Charles got rid of me because it’d be unfortunate to have twin heir to the throne. And now Nick was harmed because of me.”
“Vicky, don’t say that.” Alice sets down her table napkin and stood up to go over her daughter.
“I’m alright, Mom.” Victoria sniffed and wiped her tears. “I just really felt unwanted.” She felt her mother’s arms closing in around her.
~~~
Nick drew a deep breath as he slowly opened his eyes. He heard a noise going on around him. When he can finally see things, he saw his friends, his brother and sisters and the management in the room. “Is there a party?”
It was BJ who first hugged him and soon followed by the others. He heard AJ shouting at the window the words ‘he woke up!’ and he heard screams outside. “Oh my God. Is that our fans? Are they as large as those in Brazil?” He chuckled then stopped himself because there’s an odd feeling in his stomach.
“It can be,” AJ replied as he videotaped the view from Nick’s hospital suite. “I’m taking a shot. Say hi to Nick!” He told the fans. The people in the room laughed at AJ’s excitement.
“There were so many people outside that a team of police was deployed for crowd control. Don’t worry about the other patients. The fans were very considerate not to make any noise these past few weeks. This is the only time they made a noise like that.” Denise told him and turned to her son to stop him from exciting the fans.
“You’re here for seven days now, Nick.” Aaron said. “I miss you, bro.” Their sisters said the same thing as well.
“Mom went here. She and Dad met but for your sake, they didn’t fight. That’s a good thing.” Leslie kissed her older brother on the cheeks.
“Thanks,” Nick turned to Kevin, Brian and Howie. AJ is still busy documenting what is happening outside. “Thank you for your support.” His eyes blurred with tears. They take turns in hugging him, as well as their management who was there. “You must have predicted that I’m waking up today. Almost everyone is in complete attendance.” He saw Clark standing at the end of the bed with his wife. He looked around.
“Everyone takes turns in looking after you, Nick.” Brian said with a smile. “We’re just about to change shifts when you woke up.” Nick still looked around. Kevin noticed that and glanced to the other guys. He pulled the envelope from his pocket. AJ was already showing Nick the video of the fans outside but he merely acknowledged it.
“Where’s Victoria?” Nick finally asked.
Kevin stepped forward and gave him Victoria’s letter.
