The plane finally arrived, and Nick hurried off together with Aj, who was on the same flight as him. They quickly collected their luggage, and headed outside to Aj’s car that was parked in a secured area of the airport. Nick kept on calling Cass in her cell phone, but there was no answer.

“Why isn’t she answering?” He said, sounding both frustrated and scared at the same time. “What if something happened to her, Aj…?”

“It’s probably nothing. Maybe he left, and she fell asleep or something.” Aj said as he unlocked the car, and they both got in. Nick wanted it so desperately to be true, but yet, he wasn’t convinced. He’d had a bad feeling ever since they got on the plane a few hours ago, and as they got closer to his home, he got more and more nervous. Aj started the car, and they drove off. Nick had begged Aj to drive him home and wait there until he was sure that everything was ok. He didn’t want to face whatever it was that had happened, alone.

Nick tried calling Cass again, but there was still no answer.

“DAMN IT!!!!” He yelled, banging his fist against the window, feeling the pain from the hit rush over him. “F uck!” He mumbled under his breath, shaking his hand to get rid of the pain.

“Relax man.” Aj said and placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Look, you can yell as much as you want, but it won’t get us there any faster, or undo what might have happened. We can only hope for the best.”

Nick sighed. He knew Aj was right, but at the same time, he just wanted to scream out loud.

The rest of the 45 minute ride was made in silence. Aj was driving as fast as he could, and Nick kept looking out the window and watching the landscape change until he could see the ocean ahead of him. They were only five minutes away from his home now, and his heart was razing so fast that it hurt. What if something had happened to her...? He couldn’t stand the thought of Cass having to go through more pain than she already had. She was doing so well on her road to complete recovery, and he was so proud of her for managing on her own while he had been away.

“You ok?” Aj finally spoke as they pulled into Nick’s street.

“I don’t know. I’m scared man…” His voice was shaking.

“It’ll be alright Nick. I’m sure she’s fine.”

“Don’t say that Aj… not until you know for sure.”

“I’m sorry man…”

Nick shook his head. “I just…” He looked up and felt his heart skip a beat as he spotted the scenario that took place in front of his house. “Shit!”

“Oh my…” Aj said shocked, and looked over at Nick who had suddenly gotten very pale. 

Aj drove the last 300 feet over to the house and parked the car. There were two police cars as well as several other cars parked outside. A large crowd had gathered around, and people were pointing and whispering to each other. Nick and Aj quickly got out of the car and ran over to the driveway. They were stopped mid-way by a police officer.

“I’m sorry you two. You can’t go there. This is a crime scene!” He stated, nodding towards several officers walking around.

Nick could no longer think straight. The worst possible thing that could have happened was there, right in front of him.

“I…I live here…” He said, feeling Aj’s hand on his shoulder.

The police officer looked down. “Oh… I’m sorry. You might want to sit down for this.” He proceeded to walk over to a bench a few feet away, but Nick didn’t move. He didn’t know what to say. He didn’t want to know what had happened. Seeing that Nick wasn’t able to speak, Aj decided to do it for him.

“Listen, just tell us what happened.” He said, trying to sound firm, although his voice was shaking.

The officer paused for a moment as if he was trying to come up with the right words to use.

“There was a shooting episode here a few hours ago.”

Nick held his breath as the officer continued.

“Two people got killed, and one was badly injured.”     

“No…” Nick shook his heard. Panic was starting to overcome him, and he felt like he was having a bad dream. “NO!” He yelled and took a step closer to the officer as if he was going to hit him. Aj grabbed his arm and held him back. Nick started looking frantically around.

“WHERE IS SHE?” He yelled again, tears erupting from his eyes.

“The girl,” Aj asked, still holding on to Nick “what happened to her?”

“She’s alive. Barely.” The officer replied, looking at Nick, who was sobbing uncontrollably.

“She was shot in the chest at a close range. I don’t know if she’s going to make it. She your girlfriend?” He asked, looking at Nick, who couldn’t utter a word.

“Fiancée.” Aj said, answering the question.  

“I’m really sorry. I’ll get someone to drive you to the hospital right away.” He said, and walked away.

Aj stood next to Nick, feeling helpless as he watched his friend cry. He took a step closer to him and pulled him into a hug.

“I’m really sorry Nick.” Aj said, letting Nick cry on his shoulder.

After a few minutes, they were shown to a car that would take them to the hospital. Aj could have driven there himself, but seeing that Nick really needed him, and the fact that he didn’t know if he himself would be able to drive, they accepted the ride from one of the officers.

They arrived at the hospital only fifteen minutes later, and rushed inside to get the information on Cass that they desperately wanted.

Nick had calmed down a little on their way there, but his eyes were still red and filled with tears. Aj too had cried. Cass was a good friend of his and his girlfriend’s best friend. He also felt extremely sorry for Nick.

Once they had spoken to a nurse at the front desk, they were taken to a waiting area and were told to wait there for the doctor. No one would tell them anything about Cass’ condition. Half an hour later, a doctor approached them.

Nick quickly stood up from the chair he was sitting on, and walked over to the doctor.

“How is she?” He asked, holding his breath.

“Her condition is critical. We removed the bullet, but she’s lost a lot of blood and she’s very weak right now.”

Nick looked down, tears welling up in his eyes again. “Oh god…” He whispered.

“Will she make it?” Aj asked, knowing that they both needed to know.

“I don’t know…” The doctor answered honestly. “It’s up to her. Let’s just hope she’s a fighter.”

“She is…” Nick whispered to himself, wiping away a few tears. “Can I see her?”

“Are you family?”

“I’m her fiancée. I’m the only family she’s got.”

The doctor nodded. “You can see her. But I’ll have to warn you; she doesn’t look very good. You have to be prepared for that.”

“She’ll always look beautiful to me.” Nick stated, and turned to Aj. “You’ll be waiting here, right?”

“Of course.” He answered, pulling Nick into a hug. “Good luck buddy.”

Nick gave him a weak smile and followed the doctor out of the room.