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Author's Chapter Notes:
Sorry for the delay, the site had been down for a while but I'm back!! Enjoy this update!
Chapter 12

Amanda sat in the hospital room watching Nick's chest rise and fall with his heartbeat. Silent tears fell down her pale face as she looked at the man in front of her....her best friend...her lover....her world. He was laying there helpless, fighting for his life, and there was nothing she could do but watch. After a while, she left the room to go walk down the hallway for a bit, wiping her eyes so nobody would see her. Amanda didn't want anyone to see her like this. Her cell phone rang just as she stepped out of Nick's room.

"Amanda? Where is Nick?" an angry man asked on the other end.

"Oh hello, Howie." she replied, embarrassed that she had not called him. Looking at her watch, she realized that it was three in the afternoon and Nick had missed his appointments for the day.

"Nick has not made it to any of the interviews he had scheduled this morning, and he is not answering his phone." Howie scolded her. Amanda felt herself wanting to cry again, but took a breath and calmed down.

"His phone was destroyed in the car accident, Howie. Nick won't be coming to his appointments as he is in a coma." she said, her voice strained.

"Coma? What happened?" Howie asked, concerned. He was Nick's manager but was more caring than the last one had been.

"Nick was in a horrible accident, his car flipped three times and hit a telephone pole. They had to cut him out of the car, the paramedics thought he was dead when they pulled him out. He had internal bleeding and two cracked ribs, a broken arm and leg, and a bruised neck." Amanda explained slowly. It was hitting her again, the pain in her chest as she thought of Nick laying in the car after the accident, his head lolling to the side like a rag doll....blood streaming from a wound in his forehead. The hot tears fell again as she sniffed and wiped her eyes.

"Oh, sweetheart. I'm so sorry....but he will be all right. I will take care of everything, no worries. You just concentrate on helping him wake up." Howie said kindly before they hung up. Amanda walked back to the room and just before she went inside she met AJ in the hallway. He was standing there with his hands stuffed in the pockets of his jeans, his head tilted down towards his feet.

"AJ....who's watching the kids?" Amanda asked.

"Oh. Brian came by to give me a break, he said I could take a few hours...so I decided to come here. How you holding up?" AJ asked.

"As good as can be expected under the circumstances, Jay. Nick hasn't woken up yet." Amanda told him, her eyes watering again. The two of them went into the room and stood near the bed. Amanda took Nick's hand and kissed it to let him know she was there. AJ stood near the end of the bed, unsure about going any closer. Nick still looked bad even a day later, he looked like he wasn't alive.

"Hey...Kaos," he finally muttered, walking up next to the bed. He put his hand on Nick's head and then removed it.

"Jay?" Amanda asked when he had grown silent. She moved closer and saw tears falling under the rim of his sunglasses, and it broke her heart to see AJ cry. She put an arm around him and they embraced for a moment, the both of them crying.

"He didn't deserve this, Amanda. Nick should not be in this bed." AJ stated after a few moments.

"I know, AJ. The lady who hit him died on impact. Brian said Nick should be dead too, but by some miracle he was still breathing when they pulled him out." Amanda explained, sniffling.

"Kind of puts things into perspective, how one decision you make can be the difference between life and death..." AJ whispered, looking at Nick. He removed his sunglasses and wiped his brown eyes again. Amanda had never seen him without the sunglasses before, and thought he had very nice eyes. AJ was handsome when he cleaned up.

"What do you mean?" Amanda asked as she watched him pace the room.

"Nick switched cars before the accident. He was going to pick Aaron up, that's why he was in the SUV." AJ told her. Amanda gasped, it had been the SUV that saved his life....Brian told her that had Nick been in the Ferrari he would be dead.
"If he had gotten Aaron, he would have been in the car...oh my god." Amanda said, sitting down.

"Nick never picks up Aaron in the Ferrari. That's what saved his life, a last minute decision to pick up his brother from school because I was running late." AJ explained shakily. Amanda was floored as she looked again to Nick, who lay motionless nearby.

"That's why he switched cars...oh my god, Jay. Nick switched cars because you couldn't pick up Aaron!" she said softly. So much information played into the accident and it all made sense now. Every choice Nick had made the day of the car accident was a factor in his survival.

"That SUV saved his life. I passed by that accident....it was awful. Glass and blood everywhere." AJ replied as his voice broke again.

"Jay....its gonna be ok...we have to stay positive for him. He can hear us, you know." Amanda said, hugging him. After AJ left, she was alone in the room with Nick, the sound of his heart monitor to keep him company. Amanda fell asleep in the chair next to Nick's bed, her hand resting on top of his. She slept half the night this way, until about four in the morning she felt something move under her hand. Amanda opened her eyes groggily, staring up at his face. She was stunned to see his eyes open....a pair of crystal blue eyes staring back at her. Amanda let a gasp of shock escape her, she fully awake now...not blinking in case it was a dream. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze, and she knew he would be okay.