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Ana allowed the music to blare in her Hummer as she cruised the streets in search of Melicia. She had been out hours in her Hummer, just cruising to the places that Ana had run to at different times in her life. Yet, Melicia had yet to appear. Ana sighed heavily, tapping her fingers to the beat of her music, trying to keep her body under a state of calm. In a last attempt, Ana turned toward downtown, knowing that it was a slim chance.

"C'mon, Clicky... where are you?" Ana muttered to herself as she scanned the streets.
Ana was about to turn back toward her house, when she caught a glimpse of silver flashing beneath a street lamp. She slammed heavily on her brake, pulling over to the side of the street. She leaned over her passenger's side, her eyes growing wide when she realized it was a body. Ana immediately threw her Hummer into park, stumbling out of the massive car. She forgot all about her own pains as she ran down the alley, bending down over Melicia's tattered body. Ana felt her heart jump to her throat as she noticed the dark pool of blood seeping through Melicia's shirt near her shoulder. "Melicia?! Melicia Renee Dorough?! Can you hear me?" Ana called loudly, reverting back to her EMT training, trying to rouse Melicia.

Melicia groaned in response as her eyes fluttered open. She gasped as she saw Ana in front of her. "A-Ana? Wh-why are you here?"

"Thank God," Ana breathed, immediately reaching toward the hem of her tank top. Without hesitation, she ripped a large strip from the bottom of her tank top. She carefully leaned over Melicia, nudging her casted arm underneath Melicia's unaffected arm. "Listen, I need you to sit up for me. I need to tie off this wound so you don't bleed to death and I need to see if the bullet came out of your shoulder. Okay?"

Melicia nodded, carefully sitting up. She yelped as pain flared in her ribs, causing her breath to shorten. "H-he broke my ribs... the bastard."

"Just stay as still as you can," Ana ordered, carefully peering at the back of Melicia's shoulder. Thankfully, blood had also tainted the back of Melicia's shirt, alerting Ana that the bullet had passed in and out of her body. With skilled grace, Ana tied the strip of fabric tight against the wound as Melicia hissed in pain. Ana gently allowed her to lean back on the wall. "Looks like you lost a bit of blood. I'm going to need to get you to a hospital...but the downtown hospital sucks ass. I'm going to need to get you into the Hummer and I'll drive you myself to our hospital. Okay?"

Melicia nodded, biting her lip against the pain. "I'm so cold, Ana... everything hurts."

"You're probably going into shock. I need you to stay awake and concentrate on me, okay? We're going to get you help as soon as possible, but I need you to stand. You have to brace yourself against me..." Ana enthused, gently easing her arms around Melicia.

Melicia grabbed onto Ana's shoulders with one hand and braced herself against the wall as they stood up. Everything seemed to spin as she clutched onto the younger girl. "Whoa... make it stop spinning."

"I can't do that till we get to the hospital," Ana stated, assuming Melicia had a concussion. She carefully guided Melicia toward the Hummer, taking great ease to help her into the passenger seat. Once Melicia was secured, Ana quickly ran around, and hopped into the driver's side. She quickly peeled out, reversing her car toward the nearest hospital.

Melicia's eyes began to droop as the cool air whipped through the car. All she wanted to do was rest.

"Ana... please let me go to sleep. I'm so tired."

"No way. You're not sleeping on me. You've got to stay awake," Ana contradicted loudly, watching Melicia's eyes pop open for a few moments. "Melicia, c'mon, stay awake!" Ana pleaded with fear, knowing it was dangerous for Melicia to fall asleep, because she might never wake up. Unable to battle the fears of losing Melicia, Ana blurted the first thing she could think of, "Do you want to know about me? You know how you were always prodding about my life, but I didn't want to talk? If we talked about that... Would that keep you awake?"

"Y-Yeah. Tell me..." Melicia replied, trying to keep awake. "I want to understand more about you."

"What do you want to know first?" Ana challenged, keeping her voice loud to jar Melicia away from sleep.

"What about your mom?"

"Momma?" Ana trailed, biting on her lip. "She was born in North Carolina and she went to Duke for a medical degree. She met my Dad when he was fighting a case for one of Momma's friends. Needless to say, they hit it off. She came back to Florida for my Dad to keep his practice and she went to work at a nearby hospital. She always wanted a little girl, but she ended up getting this wild tomboy. She didn't care though. She had this essense around her. I couldn't do a thing wrong in her eyes. I loved her so much. She did everything for me. She made that surfboard for me when I was sixteen and she even drew all the fairies on it. The one in the center with the moon was based on me... She did everything she possibly could to keep me happy and I honestly think that's what killed her..." Ana trailed, feeling tears trickling down her tan cheeks.

"Dad always refused to come to the concerts, because singing wouldn't help my career as a doctor... But Momma loved to hear me sing. She had a medical conference to attend during September Eleventh, which was when I was doing my first solo for Senior Year Choir. I begged her to come home, so she hopped the nearest flight in hopes to get home... I was waiting at home, getting changed when she called... She screamed she loved me and that she just wanted to be there. I could hear the men in the background screaming for her to shut off the phone. It was all so surreal. I didn't even realize what it meant till Pierce came in and turned on the TV. I saw my mother's plane crash as she screamed in my ear..."

Tears streamed down Melicia's cheeks as she fought against the drowsiness in her body. "Oh my God. I'm so sorry, Ana. Your mom sounds like an amazing woman. I wish I could have met her..." she bit her lip, remembering the words she had screamed at Ana. Now she was saving her life, and Melicia felt guilty.

"Ana, about what I said earlier. I didn't mean it--"

"Don't worry about it," Ana stated quickly.

"But I never want that to happen to you. You're my best friend and I need you around. If it wasn't for you, I would have been dead within an hour in that alley. Who knows what could have happened to me--"

"You're going to be fine. It was my fault you freaked in the first place. I blurred the lines. I'm sorry. And I'm not going to see your uncle anymore. Just concentrate on staying awake, okay? All's forgotten in that department."

"I'm trying to stay awake, I really am. But I'm so tired..." her eyes drooped shut.

"Hey! Ask me another question!" Ana fired loudly.

Melicia jumped awake, yelping as pain swept through her body. "What made you love my uncle?"

"I didn't say I loved him," Ana countered in surprise.

"Ana, you're looking at the niece of the Latin Lover in the Backstreet Boys. I know people are in love when I see it, and I saw that in you two."

"He made me feel special, Melicia. He made me feel like I actually had some kind of importance in this world since Momma died. My father isn't much of anything, but Howie knew how to make me feel better. He made me feel safe and wanted... Something that I really needed. I mean, my guys were great, but Howie had so much more... I'm sorry that it ever happened though and it's not going to continue."

"Why are you sorry? Ana, when you two were together, my uncle was the happiest that he has been in YEARS. All of his other girlfriends just used him for his money and continuously cheated on him. I don't want you to stop seeing him, just like how you don't want me to stop seeing Alex," Melicia yawned, blinking her eyes to keep them open. She could feel the blood seep through her shoulder and onto her shirt.

"I'm not worried about that at this moment, Melicia. After the way we all reacted, I'm not ready for that kind of relationship. I'm more worried about making sure you're safe. Why don't you ask me one more question, because the hospital is about ten minutes away."

Melicia relented in persuing that subject, trying to think of another question, but her mind was getting fuzzy. "I... I can't think of anything. Ana, I don't know how long I can stay awake."

"Just a couple more minutes, Melicia. You can't think of anything else?"

"Do-does your dad really hurt you?" Melicia whispered, still fighting the sleepiness.

"Hurt me?" she countered.

"All of your injuries... he did them to you, didn't he?"

"Yeah, he did..." Ana trailed, finally coming to terms with her father's abuse. She took a deep breath, feeling more tears slide down her cheeks. "He's a good guy...well... He wasn't as bad when Momma was around. She took most of the force... Then when she died... He snapped... He came down harder on me and he expects perfection... When I step out of line, I get punished, but it's just because he wants the best for me."

"Ana, one of these days he really IS going to kill you if you don't get out of that house!" Melicia blurted, ignoring the pain in her chest. "Parents don't break their kid's arms because they made a mistake!"

"I can't leave the house till I graduate. I've done just fine so far and I'm not worried about it. Okay? You need to concentrate on yourself anyway. I've lived with it since I was little."

"But what if he goes too far? I won't be able to live with myself if that happened, Ana."

"He never goes too far. It's just like grounding a kid, Melicia. It's not that bad."

"But if something does... everyone will blame me because of what I said and they would be right to--" she yawned again, eyes drooping.

"HEY!" Ana called loudly, pulling into the hospital. Melicia didn't jump awake, slumping in the seat as she passed out.

"Son of a freaking bitch!" Ana yelped, jumping out of her side of the Hummer. She hurried over toward the other side, yanking the door open. She jumped upward, slapping Melicia's cheeks. "C'mon, Melicia! We're here! You have to help me walk in!"

"Mama, don't make me go to school today... I'm too tired," Melicia mumbled as her eyes fluttered open, the once bright blue now dull and filled with disorientation.

"That's fine, let's go," Ana sighed with relief, easing Melicia out of the car.

*~*~*

Ana thankfully slumped into one of the empty plastic chairs as she watched Melicia being wheeled toward the OR. Ana had practically carried the older girl into the Emergency Room and rattled off all the information that she could possibly emit. The doctors recognized her immediately from her mother working there and praised her for her smart actions. Ana didn't really care about their praise, just thankful that Melicia would be okay. Ana winced when she pulled her cell phone out from pressing on her hip. The pain from her previous injuries started to come back with a vengance as she glanced at the clock. It was five in the morning. Knowing it was important, she dialed AJ's cell.

"Thank God you're alright!" AJ answered. "Did you find Mella? Is she okay? What happened?"

"Okay, take a deep breath, AJ," Ana commented, somewhat disoriented from his barage of questions.
AJ did as she told him, calming down a little. "Did you find her?"

"Yeah, I found her. She's going to be okay, too. I had to take her to Orlando Memorial Hospital, though. She was attacked, but I found her. She was awake and alert. The doctors assured me that she'll recover completely."

"She was ATTACKED? Oh God... where did you say y'all were?"

"You need to calm down first. I don't want you driving while your skitzing. I told you, AJ. She's going to be okay," Ana stressed once more, deciding not to explain how the doctors had praised Ana for her quick actions, because without her knowledge, Melicia might have been dead.

"I'm plenty calm, and we're all carpooling anyways," AJ paused for a moment, trying to hold back his tears.

"Thank you for finding her, Ana. I mean it."

"She's at Orlando Memorial Hospital," Ana answered, directly avoiding AJ's last comment.

"We'll be there as soon as we can."

Ana managed some type of reply as she clicked off her phone. She sighed heavily, knowing that the morning hours were creeping up quickly. She reached for her phone yet again, dialing Pierce's cell. She wanted Pierce to calm her frazzled nerves, but he just heightened the effect when he realized it was Ana.

"Shit, Surf! You're dad just called. He's going to be home at six. The guys all piled out of here and I have the house spotless. I told him you were grabbing a shower so I could take you out to breakfast for a special surprise. He said he'll see us at six..."

"Damnit," Ana cursed her luck. "I'm not going to be able to make it back by six... What are the chances that you can pull the whole marriage thing? Saying that you had me run out so that you could ask him for my hand and the whole nine yards?"

"Your dad likes me, Ana, but not that much let you marry me at our age," Pierce replied. "Where are you?"

"I can't really say..." she hesitated, knowing that she would just have to face her father's wrath.

"What do you mean? I thought you could tell me anything, Sweetheart."

"I had to take Melicia to the hospital because she got hurt, but I have to wait till her family gets here to leave... Although i really don't want to face them. I just want to slip out, but I don't like the idea of Melicia being in surgery without anyone waiting... So, there's no way that I'm going to make it home."

"Do you think your dad would understand if I told him that?" Pierce asked hopefully.

"No, he wants me home. And if he found out that I was singing at the concert... I already stepped out of the boundries too much this month... Just... I'm just going to have to face him," Ana stated with defeat.

"What do you mean face him, Babe?"

"Nothing, Pierce. Don't worry about it. Thanks for cleaning up the house and stuff. You can head home. I'll give you a call later tonight, okay?"

"Alright. Be careful on the way home, okay?"

"Pierce, I'm just driving home. There's nothing to be careful about," Ana chided, knowing that Pierce could be too overprotective at times.

"I know, but still..." Pierce sighed. "Talk to you later, Surf."

"I love you, Pierce," she cooed.

"Love you too, Ana," he chuckled before hanging up.