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Nicola smiled with amusement as Lucy came running by the kitchen table with Nicola’s brother, Danny, trailing closely behind her. Lucy squealed with amusement as Danny purposely missed grabbing her and kept screaming her name. Nicola sighed, this was a typical Sunday afternoon. Nicola and Lucy had gone to her mother’s home after church to spend the day with the family. Nicola had almost decided to break family tradition and go home to study her patient, but her mother would hear none of that nonsense. Her family knew how important Nicola’s job was to her, so her brother promised to keep Lucy entertained while Nicola read over her new patient’s file.

For now, Nicola was merely glancing at the file while Rosa-Lynn, Nicola’s younger sister, chattered incessantly. Nicola had tuned in and out of Rosa-Lynn’s one-person conversation. Rosa-Lynn loved to talk about anything. She always wanted to be the center of attention, because she was the middle child of the family. Rosa-Lynn found herself in messy situations when she tried to grasp for the limelight of the family. Sometimes, her outrageous antics would call all the attention to her, but it was always negative attention. Nicola prayed several times a day that Rose-Lynn would learn the difference between when to want attention and when not to want attention.

Nicola sighed, placing her pen down on the table. She stared at her sister, seeing Rosa-Lynn’s mouth moving at a fast speed. Nicola couldn’t even understand the words coming from Rosa-Lynn’s mouth. Nicola could only vaguely remember that Rose-Lynn was chattering about college. Nicola’s mother, Marie, was starting lunch for the hungry group. Nicola watched as Lucy ran by her once again, shouting for her mother’s rescue, but Nicola had to stay put while Rosa-Lynn maintained a lengthy conversation. Nicola was slowly becoming frustrated, because she knew better than to go to her mother’s home when she needed to study for work. Nicola loved her family more than anything, but Nicola knew that her family wanted her full attention when she visited and that gave her no time left to work on the new file.

“Nicola Grace Tilley!” Rosa-Lynn growled with annoyance after Nicola had spaced out for several moments. Rosa-Lynn glared at her sister, folding her arms across her chest.

“What?” Nicola asked innocently.

“You didn’t hear a word that I said!” Rosa-Lynn complained.

“It was something about college, wasn’t it?” Nicola guessed with a smirk.

“MOM!” Rosa-Lynn shrieked.

“Rosa, please, your sister is working for a client,” their mother, Marie Tilley, chided. Rosa-Lynn grumbled in protest, slouching down in her seat. Marie shook her head, flashing her eldest child, Nicola, a bright smile. Danny and Lucy came tearing by again, causing Marie to whirl around from her spot at the kitchen counter. “Daniel Colton! Don’t attack my grandchild!”

Nicola laughed, slouching back in her own seat at the kitchen table. Nothing seemed to change with her family, no matter how long she stayed away. Rosa-Lynn was always complaining about the burdens of being a middle child and Danny was always chasing something of personal interest.

Nicola loved her family dearly and nothing could change that in her heart. She accepted the bad and good of her family, but had the hardest time accepting that she had no father figure to depend on. Her father had left shortly after Danny was born, but her mother always moved forward, giving Nicola great strength in her own endeavors. Her mother was thirty-nine and still beautiful. Nicola admired her mother in so many ways and was glad that her mother accepted Nicola’s early pregnancy with Lucy, because Marie had become pregnant with Nicola at seventeen. The women held a unique mother-daughter bond that could never be burned.

“So, who’s your patient?” Rosa-Lynn asked, brushing off their mother’s chiding as if it were a flake of dust. Nicola rolled her eyes with annoyance. Rosa-Lynn had always been nosy. She was nineteen years old and currently enrolled in the Florida State University for journalism. She was a little less than five feet, seven inches, with indigo eyes and straight blonde hair trimmed neatly at her shoulders. She was lean and athletic with a sharp attitude that always seemed to get her in trouble.

“Rosa, that’s personal information!” Nicola scolded immediately, glancing back at her folder. She could see Rosa-Lynn trying to peek at the information. Nicola smacked Rosa-Lynn on her shoulder, causing Rosa-Lynn to whine and fall back into her chair. Nicola snapped her folder closed, glaring at her sister. “I could get fired if I gave you that information!”

“Rosa, go upstairs and get Lucy a few toys,” Marie ordered when she saw Lucy and Danny stumble into the kitchen with weariness. Lucy collapsed into her mother’s lap, burying her face into her mother’s chest. Nicola smiled, kissing the top of her daughter’s head and running her fingers through Lucy’s thick locks. Rosa-Lynn gave her mother a sour glare, but finally trudged upstairs. “How is my baby?” Marie cooed at Lucy.

“Just fine, Grammy!” Lucy announced, beaming a happy smile at her grandmother.

“Good, Sweetheart!” Marie laughed, kissing Lucy’s flushed cheek. Lucy giggled, glancing up at her mother when Nicola finally opened the file again. Lucy studied her mother’s face as she poured over the information. Lucy sat back in Nicola’s lap, snuggling up to her in peace.

“Shh, Uncle Danny! Mommy’s working!” Lucy scolded when Danny tried to ask Nicola a question. Lucy wagged her finger at Danny, causing Marie to laugh.

“What a brat,” Danny huffed.

“No, no, no! Mommy’s angel!” Lucy disagreed. Danny groaned, grabbing his face with his hands. He glanced at his eldest sister, deciding to take his chances with the monster.

“Nicola, is that jerk making you work on a Sunday, again?” Danny blurted, grabbing Lucy and tickling her before she could protest. Danny was sixteen and a junior in high school. He was a thin boy with sandy blonde curls, which he made into spikes. He had beautiful hazel eyes and a lanky six-foot frame. He was extremely protective of the women in his family since he was the only man of the house.

“I picked up the file on Saturday,” Nicola explained, watching her mother frown with disapproval. Nicola’s family disapproved of Dr. Jacobs’ abuse against Nicola’s kindhearted nature. Marie also saw a different light in Dr. Jacobs’ eyes when he watched Nicola. “Momma, I’m the only one available to do this home therapy and the patient wants to start on Monday!”

“Can’t Dr. Jacobs do the therapy for one day while you gather your necessary information?” Danny growled, his hazel eyes dancing with anger.

Nicola groaned, with agitation, knowing that she had just traveled into dangerous territory with her family. Her family loathed Dr. Jacobs and Nicola felt as if she were pinned in the middle.

“Danny, I need to do this job for Lucy. There’s no way that anyone else can do it,” Nicola finally sighed.

“For me?” Lucy asked, not really understanding the conversation. Her large teal eyes glittered with surprise.

Nicola smiled, kissing her daughter. “Of course, I do everything for you, Sweetheart.”

“Dr. Jacobs is still a jerk,” Danny grumbled. “Why can’t you just open your own clinic?”

Nicola groaned. Her family always asked the same questions when she visited. Nicola was always apt to give the same answers, too. The past prevented her from moving on in her career. Her family knew her reasons, but still persisted in annoying her with the questions. Nicola took a deep breath,
gathering her nerves. “Danny, you know that I don’t have the type of funds to do such a thing.”

“But, Nicola””

Rosa-Lynn interrupted the heated conversation when she offered Lucy some My Little Ponies from upstairs. Nicola sighed with relief, glad to be out of the hot spot. Lucy clapped her hands and ran into the living room to play with the toys. Danny took a deep breath, sitting back in his seat. Rosa-Lynn sat by her sister, immediately wanting to change the subject. “What’s wrong with your patient this time?”

“Excuse me?” Nicola coughed, almost choking on her soda.

“Is he loaded?”

“Rosa-Lynn!” Marie scolded.

“Can we just kick her out?” Danny asked eagerly. Nicola held in a laugh. Rosa-Lynn still lived at home and commuted to college. Rosa-Lynn wasn’t ready to leave the nest like Nicola did at seventeen years of age. Rosa-Lynn planned to wait, which was fine with Marie.

“Mom, home therapy costs tons of money! The patient has to be rich to be able to pay for Nicola’s type of treatment!” Rosa-Lynn exclaimed, trying to defend herself.

“Rosa, just shut up!” Danny groaned.

“Kids!” Marie sighed.

“Guys! Chill! The man had an accident that
caused severe damage to his spinal cord. He also broke both of his femurs causing severe nerve damage. He’s paralyzed at his legs, but he can control his bladder and feel sensations at the hips. The doctor says he’ll never walk again,” Nicola explained quickly, ending the argument between her younger siblings.

“Oh my! That poor man!” Marie gasped.

“How’d he do that?” Danny asked. He stood up and went to help their mother with the salad. He glanced back at his older sister with interest. Danny liked to here of the injuries that were caused by sports. Nicola could always see Danny wanting to become a Paramedic.

“He was water-skiing and the line broke,” Nicola explained, shuffling through some papers.

Suddenly, Rosa-Lynn dropped her book that she had been glancing at and started shrieking. Lucy called from the living room to have Rosa-Lynn stop. Nicola cringed, cupping her hands over her ears. Rosa-Lynn grabbed Nicola’s arm, tugging her up from the seat and began to jump around. “I KNOW WHO YOUR PATIENT IS! NIC! I KNOW WHO YOUR PATIENT IS!”

“Rosa-Lynn, would you breathe!” Nicola yelped, trying to free her arm.

“Howie Dorough! Your patient is Howie Dorough!”

Nicola was dumbfounded when Rosa-Lynn called out the correct name. Her jaw hung slightly ajar as she stared at her sister. She closed her folder in shock. She took a deep breath, trying to gather her senses. Everyone became deathly quiet in the room, allowing Nicola to hear her heart thump against her ribcage. “H-How did you know that?”

“From Teen People! Duh!”

“What?”

Rosa-Lynn snorted, “Don’t you know who Howie Dorough is, Nic?”

“A man with an injury?” Nicola guessed.

“Not just any man! Howie Dorough is a singer from the Backstreet Boys! He’s gorgeous and extremely rich! The Backstreet Boys are famous around everywhere. Girls are walking around with his face plastered on their shirts! His story is all over the news. Don’t you ever pay attention to the media?” Rosa-Lynn complained.

“Rosa, I’m not a teenybopper!” Nicola answered gruffly, sitting back in her seat with amazement. She didn’t believe that she would be helping a celebrity gain back his life. Not that it really mattered to her. The man would receive the same treatment as any other patient, no matter what his status. He would not get special treatment just because he had extra zeros in his bank account.

“I’m not a teenybopper! I’m a mature fan!” Rosa-Lynn whined.

“Yeah, sure! You have all their faces plastered in your bedroom like a shrine,” Danny snorted.

“Do you think you could introduce me to Nick Carter, Nicola? He’s so freaking hot! He’s one of Howie’s best friends in the group! Please?” Rosa-Lynn immediately bubbled, forgetting that Nicola’s patient had a traumatic injury occur in his life.

“Rosa-Lynn!” Nicola groaned with disapproval. “I’m going to be helping a devastated man put his life back together and you’re worried about some bizarre love affair that you have? How shallow could you possibly be?”

“I’m sorry.” Rosa-Lynn grinned. “Figured I’d at least give it a shot.”