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Chapter 19 - More Than Deserved

Nicola could only smile as Rosa-Lynn and Hollie persisted in dragging her about the large mall. Her friend and sister had finally persuaded her into getting out of the house to relax. Both had seen that the stress was taking a toll upon Nicola’s usually sunny personality. Nicola had hesitated leaving Lucy at first, but Danny insisted on spending the night with his niece. Lucy didn’t seem to mind Nicola leaving for a few hours while Danny entertained her, providing that her mother brought her back a present. Nicola was extremely thankful at that moment to have such a caring family.

“Thank you for making me go out,” Nicola enthused for the hundredth time. The girls were currently occupied in their favorite store, glancing at various items of clothing. Nicola adjusted her sling with a grimace, and then continued to admire the sleek, silky garments.

“We wanted to take you out so your Mom didn’t worry,” Hollie declared, holding up a sizzling pink skirt to Nicola’s slim waist. Hollie cocked her head to the side, thinking about the style, and quickly pursed her lips with distaste. She returned the garment to the rack and began to search again. “With that strawberry blonde hair of yours – pink is definitely not your color, child.”

“Thank you, General-Fashion-Expert-Hollie!” Nicola declared with a mocking salute.

“Bite me, smartass,” Hollie quipped, knowing that Nicola detested the color pink.

“I still can’t believe you lie to Mom about your arm,” Rosa-Lynn finally interjected, unable to bite her tongue any longer. She carefully picked up a pair of jeans and folded them over her arm. She then offered a repugnant glance to her older sister. “To think she believed that you broke your arm in five places because you tripped over a set of weights and fell on your arm! I mean, damn, Nic, that’s just not right.”

“Rosie, no matter how brain-smart your sister is, she’s always been a true blonde and your mother knows that,” Hollie teased.

Nicola groaned, pushing Hollie lightly on the arm. She then glared at her sister, knowing what Rosa-Lynn was getting to. “Rosa, don’t you dare squeal to Momma. There’s no reason to freak her out. I’m stuck with him as a patient, no matter what, so I don’t want an hour lecture of quitting my job because I’m endangering Lucy and myself. I told you and Danny the truth in total confidence that you’d keep quiet. I know Danny will, because we’ve always covered for each other, but you on the other hand… You’re a Gossip Queen.”

Rosa-Lynn snorted in disagreement. “I’m not going to snitch, but think about it, Nic. You know you want to punch the bastard for breaking a TV on your arm! Or you could at least sue him – then you’d have the money to open up your own clinic! I mean, I can’t believe I actually thought he was kind of cute. Then I find out that he beats on my sister. Under the circumstances, I should hate him and burn all his CDs in the fireplace, along with the posters and other tokens… He’s just lucky that Nick Carter is his friend and that he’s on all the posters and sings in the CDs. Because, I couldn’t burn Nick Carter, I mean, the man is a God–”

“Damn, Nic, she hasn’t changed a bit,” Hollie declared with exasperation, listening to Rosa-Lynn ramble about the wonders of her favorite singer. Nicola nodded, playfully rolling her eyes. But something alerted Hollie as she studied her friend’s facial features for a moment. “Are you sure you’re okay with what happened?”

Nicola groaned, turning away from her friend. She picked up a tank top that was her size, but it looked as if Lucy could wear it. Nicola clicked her tongue, quickly placing the item of clothing back. She offered Hollie a tired smile. “No, I’m not okay with what happened, Holl. He had no right to hurt me, even if it wasn’t intentional. I do understand, however, his violent outburst. It’s obvious that he fears the future and how this accident will affect him. His career, he feels, has ended without his consent and he’s bitter. But, the hardest is the desertion he feels when his friends abandoned him. They have caused so much trouble for me it’s unbelievable! To think that these men who were supposed to be his brothers would be so callous and…complete jackasses! If I could ever get a hold on them… Oh, you have no idea… I would lay them straight in a heartbeat! Those pompus–”

Before Nicola could continue, she received a sharp blow to her side. Hollie gasped in complete horror. Various items of clothing flew into the air as Nicola crashed to the ground with heavy weight bearing on top of her. Nicola grunted in surprise as a woman’s voice shrieked in terror. Nicola listened to her heart slam against her ribcage when she noticed she was among a pile of body parts and clothing. The weight began to shift wildly, causing Nicola to yelp. Several voices invaded her thoughts as she reached to clutch her injured arm in pain. Someone had bumped into her too hard.

“I AM SO SORRY!” the woman heaved as she tried to disentangle herself. “I had no idea that you were – Oh! I’m so sorry! My friend…”

“It’s okay,” Nicola stated wearily as Hollie and Rosa-Lynn quickly pulled her up from the floor. Nicola ignored the dozens of questions as she glanced at the woman. The mysterious woman was shorter than Nicola by several inches. She was thin and petite. Her soft brown curls were pulled into a bun at the base of her head, although some curls had fallen loose from the jolt. Her dark brown eyes were wide with worry as another woman came to her aid.

“Jezz, Jamila! I didn’t think that Nick would take me seriously! The guys are coming, but damn, I am so sorry!” the other woman blurted with a playful laughter in her soft voice. The other woman was about Nicola’s height with a trim body and softly defined curves. Her dark blonde locks were twirled into a braid at the base of her neck extended to below her shoulders. Her nails were done with a professional French-tip manicure, alerting Nicola that she cared deeply about her appearance. Her dark indigo eyes sparkled with amusement as she wrapped her arms lovingly around the other woman. She looked like a model right off a fashion magazine.

“I ran into this woman!” Jamila, the assaulter, exclaimed in horror as she gestured to Nicola.

“JAMILA! BABY!” a raspy voice exploded before Nicola could begin speaking. She watched a blur of a man quickly ascend on the group and scoop Jamila into his arms. He feverously kissed her forehead, causing her to giggle. “Raegan was such an ditz for telling Nick to pretend you were a football. And Nick was an ass for actually chasing you! Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Jamila laughed, winking at the other woman named Raegan. Nicola focused her eyes on the couple as Hollie and Rosa-Lynn continued to examine her for bruises. Nicola could have sworn she knew the man that stood before her. He looked so familiar and his appearance was not one that Nicola could easily forget. His arms that wrapped about Jamila were covered with various images of ink. His body was adorned with various glittering gold jewelry. His eyes were shielded behind an expensive pair of sunglasses, despite the darkness of the mall. Nicola ran her hand through her silky curls as three other men rushed forward, each looking familiar also.

“Rae! Don’t dare Nick to do anything like that!” a shorter man with sandy blonde curls scolded, pulling the other woman into his arms. He offered a friendly kiss to her cheek, causing Raegan to pull in for a deeper kiss. His eyes were the lightest shade of cerulean that Nicola had ever seen. His dimpled cheeks and radiant smile caused Raegan to giggle as she kissed him again. “You are just too wild sometimes, Rae!”

“You know you love me, Bri-Bear!” Raegan taunted.

“That’s true,” Brian sighed sadly, causing Raegan to shriek. He kissed her again.

“You guys are truly insane at times,” another man exclaimed. He was taller than the other two with raven dark locks that brushed against his thick shoulders. His eyes were a light color of green, reminding Nicola of exotic oceans. He quickly pushed on another man, causing him to bark.

“Jezz, Kevin! Sorry, Jam, I didn’t think you’d freak like that!” the tallest man exclaimed once he regained his composure. He looked to be the youngest of the group. His light blonde locks were spiked with some sort of hair product. His eyes were a dark blue and filled with impish natures. He shoved his hands deep into his back pockets, glancing at the floor. “I am sorry, Jammy.”

“You’re such an idiot sometimes, Nicky!” Jamila scorned.

Everything seemed to fall into place as Rosa-Lynn tugged sharply on Nicola’s injured arm. Nicola yelped in agony, but Rosa-Lynn ignored her. Nicola noticed her sister’s eyes grow large in awe and wonder. It was as if a bolt of lightening had frozen Rosa-Lynn in place. Hollie frowned in confusion as Rosa-Lynn pointed sharply at the four men. Her mouth hung slightly ajar as she squealed softly, “Nic! Nic! It’s them!”

“It’s who?” Nicola whispered.

“THE BACKSTREET BOYS!” Rosa-Lynn hissed loudly.

“Are you serious?” Nicola answered softly.

Hollie studied the men for a moment. She quickly nodded in agreement. “Rosa’s finally right about something, Nic.”

Nicola allowed nothing further to be said. She quickly stepped away from the girls and toward the boys. AJ pulled away from Jamila in surprise, finally noticing that Jamila had knocked into someone. Nicola’s eyes burned with a deep hatred. These men had caused her so much grief and aggravation over the months. All her hard work had been smothered and burned by their lack of sensitivity. Howie refused to get better because they had betrayed him and broken his spirit.

“You! I just can’t believe it! God must have been looking out for me, today,” Nicola muttered, glancing at all the boys. Each man’s face was quickly placed with a name in Nicola’s mind. Howie had always spoken of them in the earlier days before he became overly bitter.

“We know! No one can ever believe when they run into us. But, yep, we’re the Backstreet Boys. And we know that you obviously love us,” Nick interrupted with a haughty smile. He crossed his arms over his broad chest, winking at Nicola.

“We’d be happy to give you an autograph to apologize for Jamila running into you. Nick was just fooling around and she didn’t mean to run into you,” AJ agreed quickly, reaching for his girlfriend’s hand.

“No, that’s not it! I need to speak to you about Howie—”

“Oh, how kind of you. We love to know we have caring fans out there,” Brian enthused, bringing Raegan close to his side.

“Sweetheart, he’s doing fine. I was just with him today. We were sitting in living room writing some more songs for our new album. He’s doing fantastic. Always has a big smile on his face. He’s eager to see his fans again. He says he’ll be walking any day now,” AJ lied with a devilish smile.

“BULLSHIT!” Nicola exploded, unable to contain herself any longer. She was tired of the lies. Her eyes turned dark with hatred and disgust. “Howie’s body is still recuperating! There’s no way he’ll be walking again. Even though the swelling is slowly diminishing in his back, there’s still nerve damage. And the nerves in his legs were so traumatized that he has no feeling. No way in Hell will he be walking any day now!”

“Excuse me?” Kevin choked.

“Don’t play dumb. You guys have seen me before,” Nicola hissed.

“We’ve never met you,” Nick mumbled, growing pale. Raegan and Jamila glared at their boyfriends, not liking the tone that Nicola was using. The girls could tell that something was wrong with the situation.

“You’ve seen me on the magazines, though, haven’t you?” Nicola retorted crisply.

AJ studied her for a moment. He cocked his head to the side, releasing Jamila’s hand. Suddenly, his body tensed. “You’re D’s physical therapist, aren’t you?”

“Damn right I am!” Nicola burst with indignation. She balled her good hand into a fist, bringing it to her side. “I spend almost all my time over at his house! I take the time and effort to make sure that if there ever was a surgery to correct his damaged nerves that he’d have a full recovery to walk. Yet, you don’t care! None of you! You don’t know what pain he goes through every day to make sure that his muscles don’t shrink and become hard. You don’t know the anguish he toils over, knowing that he will never dance again. Yet, you stand there with smartass smirks on your faces like you can fool the world! Well, you can’t. Not once have I seen you in his home. And don’t try to deny it or me. My face is plastered everywhere next to Howie’s name. So, I do know what I’m talking about. Not once have you seen him since his release from the hospital. And, because of your foolish and blatant behavior, I’m suffering!”

All four men hesitated as Jamila and Raegan slowly digested the information. Their eyes immediately shifted to the men in disgust. Raegan reached for Brian’s upper arm as if to stop him from turning. Brian winced and glanced at the floor in shame. “How could you?” Raegan whispered.

“Is she for real?” Jamila asked, glaring at AJ. Her dark eyes lit with betrayal. She placed her small hands angrily upon her curved hips. Several curls fell against her cheeks as she tapped her foot impatiently.

“Baby, please,” AJ faltered.

“All those weeks you told me you were visiting him? You lied to me!” Jamila accused.

“We were just doing what Kevin told us,” Brian answered for AJ, looking back and forth between Raegan and Jamila.

“Don’t you dare place all the blame on Kevin! You’re just as guilty!” Raegan growled.

“Sweetheart!” Brian protested.

“I need to finish,” Nicola announced before either woman could yell further. Raegan and Jamila gave Nicola approving nods and shot glares toward their cowering boyfriends. Nicola made sure that she held all of their attentions. “Howie feels betrayed, because of your ignorance toward his needs. You all have changed his identity and personality for the worst. He is bitter and resentful. He won’t trust me to any degree because he believes that if he invests time in me that I will run out on him like his friends. He refuses to get well because you all abandoned him. He sees no future because you took away the most precious item of his – his friendships. You have failed him for your own comforts and public gains. Damn you for hurting him—”

“What happened to your arm?” Brian whispered, unable to keep his eyes off the plaster.

“Howie pitched a TV toward the door as he saw you using him for your own fortunes. Needless to say, I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, but I refuse to blame him. I blame you. You’re hurting him with your prideful ignorance and need for fame. I hope you all rot in Hell for what you’ve done to that man,” Nicola announced darkly.

The men grew silent as Nicola quickly regained her composure. She took a deep breath and brushed away her fallen strawberry-blonde curls. She turned toward Hollie and Rosa-Lynn, nodding to them. The girls seemed deadpanned in Nicola’s decision to leave the men standing. They gasped at the astounded looks upon the boys’ faces. Nicola walked past Hollie and Rosa-Lynn, calling to them, “C’mon, I refuse to waste any more time on these jerks.”

“What do you want us to do?” AJ blurted finally as he watched Nicola walk away without regret.

“What do you think?” Nicola replied, without looking back, which was more than they deserved.