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After the cast was set, the pain pills handed over and the instructions given about crutches, it was time to go.  Nick insisted on driving Grace home.  He wondered if she had family who could take care of her.

“Is there someone I could call?” he asked.

”No, there’s no one,” replied Grace, and then she realized how pathetic that sounded, given their earlier conversation.  “I mean, I can take care of myself.”  She squared her shoulders defiantly. 

“I’m sure you can,” said Nick, with a grin.  “I’ll go get the car.  I’ll meet you at the emergency room entrance.”

Nurse Pinero pushed Grace slowly up the hall in a wheelchair.  Grace's insistence that she could make it on the crutches was waved aside.  Hospital policy.  No one was going to fall on Agnes’ watch and then sue the hospital. 

When they reached the reception area, Grace could see that word had spread that Nick Carter was on the premises.  A small group of nurses was huddled by the reception desk trying to look nonchalant.  Nick looked at Grace sheepishly when he came back in to get her. 

“Go on,” she told him.  “They took good care of me.  Make their day.”

Nick went over to the reception desk and signed autographs for them all.  Nurse Pinero watched it all with a smile.  She had sons older than this young man.  When Nick came over to the door, she handed him a pen and paper. 

He signed his name and then said, “I’m sorry, Agnes, but an autograph just won’t do for you.”  Then he wrapped his long arms around the short, heavy-set woman and hugged her with all his might.  “Thanks so much,” he said and kissed her on the cheek.

Nick helped Grace stand up from the wheelchair.  She leaned into him and whispered, “You’re a beautiful man, Nick Carter.  That was a lovely thing you did.”

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

When they pulled up in front of Grace’s place, Nick turned off the car and said, “Wow!  I drove by here earlier and wondered what these were like.”

“Why don’t you come up and see my lofty spaces sometime?” replied Grace, in a very bad Mae West imitation.  “Okay, that was awful,” she added.

“Yeah, it was pretty bad.  Wait there!”  Nick got out of the car and went around to the other side.  He got Grace’s crutches out of the back seat and then opened the front door for her.

“Easy now,” he said.

Grace swiveled her body on the seat, carefully moving out, first her right leg and then the left.  She took the crutches from Nick and put them under her arms.

“Careful now,” said Nick.  “Watch the curb.”

Grace wanted to laugh at this concern.  He must think I’m the clumsiest person in the world, she thought.  Then she considered that events so far today gave him every right to feel that way.

“I’m okay,” she said, taking a cautious step forward.

Once he was assured that Grace was not going to fall flat on her face, Nick moved on to other concerns.  “Can I leave the car here?” he asked, looking around the area.

“Yeah, I’ll just tell Gary on the way in.  He’s the security guy.”

“Oh, you have security at these buildings.  I was wondering…”

“Yeah, there’s a guy on the desk 24 hrs a day…It adds a bit to the cost, but we all agreed it was worth it.”

“So these are like condos?  You own your place?”

“Yes…well, me and the bank,” laughed Grace.

They reached the door.   Nick held it open, and Grace awkwardly made her way in.  She sighed in frustration.

“You’ll get used to it, don’t worry,” said Nick.

The security guard rushed around the desk.  He was wearing a blue shirt and navy slacks – a uniform but not an obvious one.  “Grace!  I mean, Ms. Barrett.  What happened?” 

“Oh, I had a little mishap.  Gary, this is Nick.  Can he leave his car there for a minute?”

“Yeah, sure Ms. Barrett.  I’ll keep an eye on it for him.”  Gary turned to Nick.  “Just pull it into that parking space marked ‘Manager’.  It’s never used at night.”

“I’ll be right back,” said Nick.

“Bring my purse,” Grace said, “I left it in the car again.”

They watched Nick exit the building.  Gary got her attention again. “Um…you…um…have a visitor.”

“Matt?”

“Yes, he said he wanted to get a few things and leave you your keys.  He told me what happened…I mean, that you guys…I’m really sorry, Gra…Ms. Barrett.”

“That’s very sweet of you, Gary.  But I’m okay.  Really.  It was coming for awhile.”

Gary opened his mouth to say more when Nick came back in.  Gary shot a look in his direction.  He wondered if this was part of her recovery process.  Grace hobbled toward the elevator, Nick following behind, carrying her purse. 

The building had five floors, and Grace was on the 4th.  She explained that each floor had four units.  They were meant to be combined studio and living space for artists and musician types, so they were well sound-proofed.  The only sound that could be heard came from the street.  Besides, the only musician who lived there was a classical violinist, and he lived on the second floor.  Grace certainly had no complaints about his noise.  Mostly, there were artists – painters, sculptors – and a couple of stockbroker/lawyer types who liked the idea of living around artists. 

And of course, there was Grace. 

The elevator stopped with a bump that made her wince. 

“It’s been a long, tough day for you,” said Nick, sympathetically.

“It’s about to get a little tougher and then a lot easier,” said Grace, stopping in front of a door marked 4B.  She turned the handle, and it opened. 

Nick was surprised.   Didn’t she even lock her door?

Grace stepped into the loft.  “Hi, Matt,” she said dully.  “What are you doing here?”

Nick looked around, taking in the apartment at a glance.  It was a large open area with pillars interspersed throughout – holding the whole thing up, he guessed.  Standing at one end near a kitchen area was a tall, slim man with dark hair and well, dark everything, Nick thought. 

The man was dressed completely in black, shirt, shoes, pants, jacket, even his tie was black.  His eyes were dark as well, and he had a thin black moustache.  He reminded Nick of Zorro.

“Hi, Baby.  What happened to you?”

“I fell down.  What are you doing here?”

“I came to get my things like you told me.”  Matt held up a small satchel.  “And to see if I could talk to you.”

“Okay, you got your things.  Give me your keys and goodbye.” 

The finality in her voice was chilling.  Nick felt very out of place standing there with her purse in his hands.

Matt blushed.  He was embarrassed at being treated this way in front of a stranger.  The guy looked vaguely familiar, but Matt couldn’t place him.  One of her computer geek friends giving her moral support probably.  He set the keys on the counter and looked at Grace’s left hand.

“Where’s the ring?” he asked.

“In the ocean,” replied Grace.

Matt took a step toward her.  “That was a family heirloom.  You really are crazy, you know that.”

Nick stepped up behind Grace and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.  His eyes bore into Matt’s. 

Don’t come any closer, they said.

“I’ll give you a couple of days to calm down and…” Matt looked Nick up and down.  “…maybe get even.  Then we’ll straighten this out.”

He walked past them and out the door.  Nick turned and locked it behind him.  When he turned back, he saw that Grace had moved to one of the stools at the kitchen counter and was trying to lean her crutches against it.

“Here, let me help,”  said Nick.

Nick realized he was still holding the purse.  He set it down on the counter and took the crutches from Grace.  He leaned them against the wall.  Then he took Grace’s hands and looked into her eyes. 

“Are you okay?  I mean, really?”  Nick didn’t know what he would do if she broke down.  Hold her, he guessed, and let her cry.

Grace didn’t cry, though.  She laughed.  “I’m fine, really.  This was just the last straw.  I’m relieved that it’s finally over.”

“Did you really throw the ring in the ocean?” asked Nick.  The word ‘crazy’ flitted through his mind.

“No, it’s in my purse,” said Grace, with a grin.  “But I guess I needed a tiny bit of revenge.  I’ll send it back to him in a week or so.”

There was an awkward silence.  Nick looked at his watch, and they both started talking at once.

“I guess you have to go…” From her.

“What do you want for dinner?” From him.

“You’ve done enough.  I can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve done for me today.  I certainly can’t ask you to cook for me.”

“That’s right, you can’t.”  Nick laughed.  “I don’t know how to cook.  But I give good phone.  Want pizza?  I’m starving.”

“That would be great.  The number’s on the fridge.  Antonio’s.  It’s a local place – really good pizza!”

“What do you want?” asked Nick, taking out his cell phone.

“Anything but olives.  But I’m not that hungry.  You get what you like.”

“Okay.  What’s the address here again?”

Grace reached into her purse and fished out a business card.  “It’s on there.”

Nick punched in the number and looked down at the card – Style and Grace Web Designs.  As he was ordering the pizza, he could see that Grace was fading.  He ended the call and said, “Come on, let’s get you more comfortable.” 

Nick picked her up in his arms and said, “Where’s your bedroom?” 

Grace pointed to a doorway at the back end of the apartment.  Nick carried her through and placed her gently on the bed.   “I’ll be right back with the crutches.”

“That would be great,” said Grace.  “I’ll get into my PJs, and you can serve me dinner in bed.”  She laughed.  “And maybe I’ll have a couple of those pain pills for dessert.  There’s beer in the fridge, if you’d like.”

Nick grinned at her.  “Thanks,” he said. 

He left the room and came back immediately with the crutches.  Grace had pulled herself up to a sitting position with her legs over the side of the bed. 

“Call me if you need help,” said Nick and he left the room, closing the door quietly behind him.

Grace dragged herself to her feet and hobbled to the closet.  She was exhausted.  She leaned the crutches on the wall and balanced on her good foot.  She quickly removed her t-shirt and bra and pulled on a long nightshirt that said, “Computer geeks do it with a hard drive”.  She reached under it and undid her skirt.  It dropped to the floor.  She started removing her underwear.  She had them halfway off when she realized that she needed the crutches before she could lift her good leg.  She reached for them and missed and they clattered to the floor noisily.

“Are you okay?” Nick called out.  “Do you need me to come in?”

“No!” Grace called back in alarm.  “No, it’s okay.  One of the crutches fell.  That’s all.” 

Grace already had a vision of Nick regaling his friends with this story.  She didn’t want him to be able to add a description of her in her stupid nightie with her underwear dangling from one leg.  She grabbed the crutches and finished undressing.  She limped back to the bed and sat down.  She removed her remaining shoe, and that was it…she was done…totally exhausted…she could do nothing more…

There was a tentative knock.  “Pizza’s here.  Grace, are you decent?”

“No, I’m crazy,” she said under her breath.  “Come on in,” she said out loud.

Nick pushed open the door and came in, carrying a pizza box with plates and napkins on top.  He took one look at her and set the whole thing on the floor.  He didn’t take time to look for a table, just put everything down at his feet and moved to her.

“Oh, boy, you’re just done in, aren’t you?” 

Grace looked up at him and smiled weakly.  Nick pulled her to her feet and held her while he reached down and yanked back the covers.  He sat her back down and arranged the pillows in a stack.  Then he lifted her up into the bed and tucked the blankets around her.  He disappeared from the room and came back, carrying a glass of water.

“Take these,” said Nick, handing her two white tablets.  Grace swallowed them, and Nick took the glass.  “You shouldn’t have beer,” he said.

“No, water’s good for me.”

Nick left and came back with a bottle of water and a beer.  He served out the pizza and sat in an armchair by the side of the bed.  He was really hungry and dove right in.  Grace was right about Antonio’s.  They did make good pizza.

“Oh, and Petey says, ‘hi’.”  Nick grinned.  “You must eat a lot of pizza.” 

“Yeah, I do.  When I’m working on a project and I’m concentrating, I don’t want to stop and cook.  So I order a large pizza, and I just fire another piece into the microwave whenever my stomach growls.”  Having eaten the pizza gave her a second wind.  Grace laughed.  “If I had ordered it, I would just have said, ‘It’s Grace.’  They would have known what to do.”

“The security guy must have told him what happened.  He seemed very concerned.  I thought he was going to insist on seeing you.”  Nick grinned.  Petey had been half his size, but he kept trying to look around Nick to find Grace.

“This building is like a little community.  Everyone looks after everyone else.   And Antonio’s is part of the community.  It’s not just a take-out pizza place.  It’s a really good Italian restaurant.  Whenever one of us has any kind of celebration – show opening, family in town, that kind of thing – we always have it there.  No thanks, I’m good…”   Grace shook her head at his offer of another slice.  “Nick, I can’t begin to thank you…”

“No, it’s okay.  I enjoyed it.  I mean…I didn’t enjoy you getting hurt, but I liked taking care of you.  I’ve never done that before.  It’s always the other way around.  People take care of me.  Okay… that’s it for you.” 

Grace’s second wind had been short-lived, and her eyelids were drifting shut.  Nick took her plate away.  He put his arm around her and pulled her forward, rearranging the pillows so that she could lay flat.

“You smell good,“ she said to his chest.

Nick smiled, wondering if she said that every time she was about to pass out.  He laid her gently back on the pillows.  “I’ll see myself out and don’t worry.  I’ll lock the door behind me.” 

When he stepped back, he could see that Grace wasn’t listening.  She was asleep.  Nick leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. 

“Goodnight, Grace Barrett,” he whispered.