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Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Nick walked slowly up to Andrea’s bed, apprehension and uncertainty writhing inside him. She appeared to be sleeping at first glance, but as he got closer to her, her eyes fluttered open. Those gorgeous green eyes…. that do not remember me, he reflected despondently. She watched him like a hawk as he pulled a chair to the edge of her bed and sat down.

He leaned closer and closer to her, scooting the chair along with him until he was almost on top of her. He gaped into her eyes with as much conviction and power as he could muster; optimism and encouragement rallying under the surface but getting phased out by skepticism and hopelessness. She’s looking right into my eyes and she still has no idea who I am. I knew this was not going to work. Although he had convinced himself of this and admitted defeat, he continued to stare at her with his immaculately sapphire eyes for reasons he did not know.

“You have really beautiful eyes,” she said to him as she looked into them peacefully. “It’s almost like looking into the ocean.” She smiled at him, still having no idea who he was. She sighed and broke the line of vision they had with each other, a big yawn following. “Excuse me,” she said as she took her hand away from her mouth. “I guess I am tired.” She looked into his eyes once more, then closed her own and was asleep within seconds.

Nick grabbed her hand, careful not to bump the area where the IV needle was inserted, and entwined his fingers in hers as he had done so many times within the short expanse of their relationship. “Please remember,” he whispered softly into her ear. “Please come back to me.” He sat there for a few more minutes, then without making a sound he put the chair back and exited the room, pulling the door shut behind him.

He walked over the couch where Annie and Alex were sitting and plopped down between them. Before they could ask how it went he shook his head from side to side. “Nothing,” he simply said. As they sat there in silence waiting for a miracle to happen, Annie did something that she had not done in quite some time…she prayed.


“Annie, do you think those are his real eyes or contacts?”
“I’m not sure, but if I had to guess I would say they are contacts. I mean, how can someone naturally have eyes like that?”
“Well I guess we will just have to get close enough at the concert to find out, won’t we?”
“What are we going to do, tell the security guards that we have to meet Nick so we can find out if his eyes are real or not? I doubt that will work.”
“Just flash some boob at him, he’ll let us closer!”
“I am not flashing boob so you can see into Nick Carter’s eyes!”


A smiled formed across Andrea’s lips even though she was in a deep, pharmaceutically enhanced slumber. The flashback to her conversation with her cousin the night before their first Backstreet Boys concert seemed so real, as if it were happening all over again, right in front of her.

“Okay, let’s just walk down there and ask the security guard.”
“Andi, no way! This is so embarrassing!”
“If you wanted to know something about AJ, I would do whatever I could to find out for you.”
“I know you would… fine, let’s go…but I’ll do the talking. There is no way I am going to let you say something to get us in trouble like you always do!”

The girls walked down to the front of the stage and up to the security guard. There was hardly anybody there yet, seeing as how the concert was not going to start for another hour and a half.

“Excuse me, um sir, do you personally know Nickolas Gene Carter from the Backstreet Boys?”
“Yes, I do… why?”
“My cousin here would like to know if his eyes are really that blue or if they are contacts.”

The security guard pulled out his walkie-talkie and began to speak into it.

“There are two girls at the left front of the stage that have a question about Nick’s eyes. Okay, okay, mmmhmm, thank you, over. You girls wait right here.”
“Why, what did we do? It’s just a harmless question…”
“Hey girls, you have a question about my eyes?”
“No way! Oh my God! Andi, Andi, ask him! He’s right here…ask him!”
“Are your eyes really that blue or do you wear contacts?”


She had stammered throughout her very short and easy question. He had smiled at her and bent over so that his eyes had been directly level with hers.

“Well, look closely and you can tell me.”

She had looked so hard into his eyes, searching for the outline of contacts around his irises, but she saw none.

“Definitely real. Looking into your eyes is like looking into the ocean.”


Andrea’s eyes popped open and her heart began to race. Every piece of information she had tucked away and momentarily forgotten about came rushing over her.

The last thing she remembered before falling asleep were the beautiful eyes the stranger in her room had, and now she knew he was no longer a stranger. More importantly, she remembered the confrontation that had taken place between her and her cousin, and she knew the unpleasant incident had to be dealt with.

Andrea stretched her arm to reach the call button on the intercom for the nurses’ station. She grabbed it and pressed it down, waiting for a nurse to respond to her. Within a few seconds, she heard Stacie’s voice on the other end.

“What do you need, hon?”

“I need to talk to my cousin. Please send her in.”

Andrea was anxious to see Annie, but not due to fear or ill feelings. She was anxious because she knew Annie felt horrible about what happened, and Andrea was not looking forward to the awkwardness that would come about when Annie came into her room. Andrea heard the door to her room open and she saw Annie walking gingerly in. As soon as Andrea saw her, all the apprehension and anxiety that she was feeling retreated and Andrea knew exactly what she was going to say and how she was going to make it okay.

 

 

Nick and AJ sat puzzled on the couch as Annie got up and walked into her cousin’s hospital room.

“What do you think is going on?” Nick asked. He wanted so badly to go in there and see Andrea. “Not like it matters though, she doesn’t know who I am.” He looked down at his hands, trying to stifle the emotion he was feeling.

“She’ll remember,” AJ said trying to reassure his friend. “I know she will. She is a strong woman, look at what’s she’s been through already. She’ll remember.”

“I hope you are right. But if you’re right, just know that I am prepared to start over with her and make her fall in love with me again. Maybe it would be better that way anyway, like a fresh start.” He sat back and thought to himself about this, wondering if maybe her losing her memory is really a blessing in disguise.

“Nick, I really don’t think so,” AJ said, trying to get Nick to snap out of the unrealistic zone he was entering. “I don’t think her not remembering is the way to go.”

Nick reflected some more, making an imaginary list of pros and cons in his head. After a minute had passed, he looked at AJ and smiled. “You’re right,” he admitted to his friend. “It would be the best thing if she remembered. I was just trying to make myself feel better and convince myself that she and I would still work if I had to start over.”

“I know buddy, but don’t give up. I bet that before long, she will remember every little bonehead thing about you, whether you want her to or not!” Nick started laughing and grabbed AJ around the head and gave him a noogie.

Once Nick released him and they had finished laughing, AJ got a serious look on his face and turned to Nick. “Don’t take this the wrong way, because I really like the idea of you and Andrea together, but are you sure you’re not jumping ahead of yourself with everything? I know that Annie and I have gone through our share of craziness and have moved really fast over the past few days, but that’s who I am. I’m not sure this is who you are.”

“What are you talking about?” Nick asked, questioning where AJ was going with this.

“I am just asking that you make sure deep down that she is what you want. I don’t want you to get hurt the way you have in the past, thinking that you love someone and they turn around and stomp on you. Andrea has a lot of emotional baggage and I just want you to be prepared for that. Also…” he began, not sure how to say what he wanted without sounding like an asshole, “She looks nothing like a girl everyone would expect you to date. Look at all the girls you’ve dated before, and look at Andrea. She is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen, don’t get me wrong, I would snatch her up in a second if you weren’t so into her, but she is going to take a lot of criticism from the fans, the critics, and everyone in the business. You know that don’t you?” He paused, allowing Nick to process everything he’d just said.

Nick’s heart sank; he had never thought about that before. He really loved her, he knew he did, but were his feelings for her enough to get them through all the barricades that would surely come? He was determined to be with her, they were meant to be together, that much he knew. His decision was unwavering in his mind. “I am prepared for everything you’ve just said. I think I have already proven I can handle her past and the issues we will have because of that. I also think that her not looking like anyone I’ve ever dated before is a great thing. Obviously those other relationships didn’t work, so trying something different is to my advantage, don’t you think?”

“I absolutely think,” AJ said as he smiled at Nick. “I hope you know I was just playing Devil’s advocate and trying to get you to look at the big picture. I want you to be happy and I know you want to get married and have a family, so I’m just trying to help you out.”

“Dude, I know, and I appreciate it. I’ve got your back too,” he laughed. It was his turn to get serious now. “Do you see yourself with Annie?” he asked.

“Honestly, at this point I don’t know,” he answered candidly. “There are so many things about her I love, and we get along so well, but I really don’t know.” He looked down at his hands. “At this point, if she is willing to give us a try, so am I. We could be so happy together, but she has to want that and allow it to happen.”

“I guess we both have our work cutout for us, don’t we?” Nick commented as he looked at his watch. “What are they doing in there? It’s been almost twenty minutes. I hope everything’s okay.”

“Well, there’s only one way to find out,” said AJ with a smirk on his face. He got up off the couch and Nick followed suit. “Let’s go in there and see.” The two men walked over the door, opened, and stepped inside the hospital room. Smiles came across both their faces when they entered the room.


“Andrea?” Annie asked tentatively as she walked into Andrea’s hospital room. “The nurse said you wanted to see me?” Annie watched her cousin very carefully, not knowing if she remembered what happened or if she even knew who she was.

“Yeah, I did,” Andrea responded smiling. She pointed to the chair against the wall. “Pull it up, take a seat.” Annie did as Andrea instructed, still very uneasy about what Andrea was going to say to her.

“Do you remember?” was all Annie could say.

“Yeah, I do.” She smiled at her cousin again, tears burning her eyes. She held out her hand and Annie grabbed it, squeezing it tight. “Do you remember Christmas of 1993 when we were opening presents at Grandma and Grandpa’s house?” Annie smiled, knowing exactly what instance her cousin was talking about. “Aunt Dot gave me that beautiful porcelain horse figurine, even though I didn’t really like horses and you asked if you could have it because you loved horses. I said no, that it was mine and you grabbed it from me. I yelled at you to give it back, and you wouldn’t and I pushed you, remember?”

“Yeah, I remember,” Annie said as tears started rolling down her cheeks.

“You and the porcelain horse went flying….”

“Yeah, and both of us didn’t do too well on the landing either,” Annie laughed, recalling the incident like it was yesterday.

“You landed right on the horse and when it shattered a piece poked you in the butt….”

“And I had to get five stitches! I still have that scar you know!”

“I remember I was so afraid to talk to you after that, afraid that I had hurt you, afraid that you wouldn’t want to be my friend anymore.” Andrea loved her cousin so much. She knew that if they were ever separated from each other a part of herself would be missing.

“You know I can never stay mad at you. I forgave you; it was only my butt after all. I was scared that you would never talk to me again because I broke your horse.”

“And I forgave you; I didn’t even like the horse!” They smiled at each other, knowing exactly where this conversation was going. “And I forgive you again.”

Annie jumped out of her chair and gently wrapped her arms around her best friend as best she could. “I love you. You are the best person I’ve ever known. And….you were right, by the way. Everything you said to me in the hallway was true. I am so sorry for what I said and the way I acted.”

“It doesn’t even matter who was right. I just hope you’ve figured out what you are going to do and where you’re going. Because I sure as hell know where I’m going, and that’s in whatever direction that sexy blond guy in the hallway is going!”

“Oh my God, Andrea, they still think you don’t remember who they are!” Annie shrieked, at that moment realizing herself that Andrea’s amnesia was gone. Annie let go of Andrea as she came to this epiphany and stood up. “Should I go get them?” she asked her cousin.

“In a minute,” she said, giggling at her cousin’s astounded expression. “I want one more hug from you while I can get it,” she snickered. “Unless I’m almost dead or you need something, hugs from you are few and far between!” Annie bent down and hugged her cousin again, both woman laughing. They were still embracing when they heard the door open as two people entered the room.