Everything hurt. Even the simple act of opening her eyes hurt. She could hear herself crying and was shocked by the sound of pain and sorrow she managed to convey with her tears. She couldn't see clearly through the tears either. Blinking to clear them away, Taylor became aware of someone else in the room. She realized she wasn't the one crying, and it wasn't her voice saying "I'm sorry, so sorry" over and over again. Carefully, she turned her head towards the voice, and blinked harder to clear her vision. It worked, although the pain the action caused made her think it hadn't been worth it.

The blond head she saw was still bent down staring at their clasped hands, so that whoever this was didn't know she was awake and alert yet. She looked at the figure for a little while, trying to discern who was sitting next to her. Taylor didn't have any blond friends, and the only blond male she really knew of was. . .

"Nick?" his name came out in a weak croak. He appeared not to hear her at first, then he looked up from their hands to her face. They stared at each other for a moment, Taylor disbelieving of the tear-stained face in front of her, and Nick surprised at being caught crying over her bedside. Taylor tried to break the silence again, "Nick?"

He shook his head, and said, "Shhh. Don't try to talk, it doesn't sound like it would work well anyways."

Never having listened to him yet, she tried again, "Where. . . what. . .?"

He smiled weakly, "Still stubborn I see. Don't talk and I'll tell you what's going on, okay?" She nodded slightly.

"You're in the hospital, at St. Anthony's. You were brought in yesterday afternoon, after the police found you in your house." Nick choked up a little as he spoke, "Do you remember anything before that?"

She tried, but only random images floated through her mind. "Not. . . much."

"That's okay," Nick said as he leaned down to softly kiss her hand, "maybe it's better that way."

Her words were soft and slow as she questioned him. "How did. . . you get. . . here?"

"Kevin and I flew in this morning. Jamie has been here since last night. We all got here as soon as we could."

"For me?" Taylor seemed genuinely astonished by this, and Nick felt the control over his emotions that he had regained in the long moments staring at her slipping away again.

"Yes, Taylor, for you. We told you we would help." He looked away from her. "Not that you could call me helpful. It's all my fault you're in here, and I am so very sorry. More sorry than I can ever tell you."

A puzzled look crossed Taylor's face, "Why?"

"Why?" Nick was surprised by the question. "Why what?"

"Why. . . your fault?"

The answer was so obvious to him that he didn't understand why Taylor wasn't blaming him for what happened. "It's my fault you got beat up Taylor, because I called you yesterday."

"You call. . ." her words were exasperated, "every day."

"Yeah, I do, but Mike never answered the phone before yesterday. If I hadn't called, this wouldn't have happened and you wouldn't be here. This is my fault and I'm so sorry, Taylor."

"Stop. . . saying. . . that." Her voice was weak, but the annoyed tone came through clearly. He smiled in spite of himself.

"Okay. But I am."

"Fine." She took a deep breath, and winced at the pain in her side. "See. . .Jamie?"

"You want to see Jamie? Okay, I'll go get her, but I'll be right back." She nodded again, and he carefully let go of her hand. He walked over, opened the door slightly and spoke softly. He turned and came back to his perch by the bed, not noticing that he had effectively closed the door in Jamie and Kevin's faces. The door opened again, and they walked in. Jamie had a slight scowl on her face directed at Nick, but seeing Taylor awake and watching her caused Jamie to lose the scowl and smile instead. Kevin hadn't been in to see Taylor before this, and his facial expressions toward the damage Mike inflicted caused Taylor's eyes to widen slightly.

She turned to Nick, "How bad?" Nick just shook his head, and said "I'm sorry." She looked over his shoulder at Jamie.

"I won't lie," said Jamie, "he did a really good job on you. You're practically one giant bruise."

"Feels like it," Taylor said, her voice strengthening the longer she was awake. "Thanks for coming here. . . for me."

"Wild horses wouldn't have kept me away Taylor. You know I would do anything to make sure you were going to be okay," said Jamie.

Taylor nodded again, and said quietly, "I know. Would do. . . the same. I was thanking. . . Kevin and Nick. . .more than you."

"Who do you think told me where you were?" asked Jamie. "They were the ones who called the police to check on you."

Kevin had regained his composure enough by this time to look at Taylor and said, "We wanted to make sure you were all right too. We care about what happens to you just as much as Jamie does. You're like family now and there isn't any reason to thank us for doing this. You couldn't have kept us away."

Taylor sighed as her eyes thanked Kevin and the others for being there for her. She made an attempt to stretch and cringed horribly as pain shot through her body from head to toe.

Jamie spoke up, noticing her discomfort. "I'm going to go get the nurse and tell her you're awake. And I'm sure Dr. Leyland will want to see you as well." She smiled at Taylor reassuringly as she and Kevin left the room.

"Can I do anything for you?" Nick asked, pleading with her to let him help.

"I'm. . .thirsty."

Nick looked at the nightstand and saw a glass of ice. "Here, we've got some ice chips," he said reaching for the glass, "how's that?"

Taylor only nodded as Nick reached into the glass and pulled out a big piece of ice. He ran the ice gently over her lips before she parted them and the ice slipped into her mouth. A look of comfort swept over her face as she suckled the ice and let the cool liquid slide down her throat. "Thank you. . .Nick. . .for everything."

Nick just leaned down and carefully brushed his lips across hers.

Jamie and Kevin returned soon thereafter, along with Dr. Leyland. The doctor asked the other three to leave so that he could examine Taylor and they went to the cafeteria to get some coffee.

"So, how do you feel Taylor?"

It was still difficult to speak through all the pain, but she managed to be her usual sarcastic self, "I've been. . .better. Anything. . .really bad?" she asked.

He looked down at her worried expression. "Well, you were really lucky, it could've been much worse considering the circumstances." He paused and she picked up on the hesitation.

"But . . .?"

"There's no easy way to tell you this or ask you for that matter. Umm, did you know you were pregnant?"

Taylor's eyes closed and she grimaced as the full effect of his phrasing hit her hard. She shook her head no and brought her good hand up to cover her eyes as the tears started to fall. Dr. Leyland brushed the hair away from her face and looked down at the fragile woman before him. "Taylor, listen to me." She wiped her eyes and moved her hand unconsciously down to her stomach, rubbing it lightly. Her eyes cleared and she looked at the doctor to let him know she was listening. "Physically, you are going to be just fine. A few weeks of rest and maybe a little therapy, you'll be good as new." She nodded that she understood and he continued.

"Now, psychologically, that's up to you. I know this won't be easy for you to come to grips with, but you have plenty of support, okay?" Again she nodded. "I'm not going to push you into anything right now, I want you to tell me when you're ready and what you need." He smiled at her and kissed her forehead. "But for now, I want you to rest so I'm gonna get out of your hair."

As Dr. Leyland started to walk away from the bed, Taylor reached out and took his hand to get his attention. He turned back and looked at her as she spoke. "I need. . .Nick." He nodded with a small smile and left the room.

Nick returned to Taylor's room after Dr. Leyland had found him in the cafeteria and said Taylor wanted to see him. He opened the door slowly and found Taylor propped up slightly in her bed staring out the window. As he walked towards her she turned to look at him, tears falling silently down her face. Her sobs made it even more difficult for her to talk as she tried to tell Nick what happened. "I. . .was. . .baby. . ."

He delicately gathered her in his arms and rocked her gently. "I know honey, I know. But it'll be alright, I promise." Her sobs overtook her and she cried herself to sleep in his arms.

Jamie and Kevin returned to Taylor's room a couple of hours later. They had remained in the cafeteria long enough to allow Nick and Taylor to be alone for a while, and to catch a moment for themselves as well. Jamie looked as if she would burst into tears at any moment, but never actually did. Kevin sensed Jamie's fears and reassuringly wrapped his arms around her. Jamie sighed contentedly, knowing Kevin was there for her. Composing herself, Jamie quietly opened the door to Taylor's room and Kevin followed her inside. By this time Nick was half lying on the bed and half lying in the chair, the pair sleeping peacefully in each others arms.

Kevin whispered to Jamie, "Should we wake them up?"

"Let's try to get Nick up first," she whispered back as she approached the bed and gently shook Nick's shoulder. He stirred a little and then opened his eyes to see Jamie hovering over him. He yawned and carefully pulled himself away from Taylor, stretching his neck and shoulders as he stood up from the chair.

"What time is it?" he asked with a sleepy voice.

"It's after seven," Jamie replied. "How is she? Did she say anything else?"

"Not really," Nick said as he motioned for them to go into the corridor to talk. "She's just really emotional, upset and scared I guess. The nurse gave her a sedative and said she'd probably sleep through the night."

"Probably for the best," Kevin said. "Why don't we go get a hotel room, leave her be for the night and come back early in the morning?"

"That's a good idea," Jamie agreed. "I think we could all use some rest right now."

Nick was quick to speak up. "I'm not leaving her." Kevin and Jamie both looked at Nick, neither really surprised at his statement but wanted to make an attempt to change his mind nonetheless.

"Are you sure, Nick? She's probably going to sleep through the night anyway," Jamie pleaded weakly.

"Yeah, but if she does wake up I wanna be there."

Kevin looked at Jamie, his eyes conveying the futility of arguing further with Nick. "Nick, we'll be back early in the morning, okay?" Nick nodded and hugged Jamie before she and Kevin turned and left.

The nurse was kind enough to bring Nick a blanket and a pillow. He settled himself in the chair and leaned on Taylor's bed. He took her hand gently in his, if only to let her know he was still there. He whispered silently to himself more than anyone, "I'll be here for you Taylor, as long as you'll let me."