30 minutes later, the boys and I were in the hospital waiting room in downtown LA. I was pacing, back and forth, trying to figure out who would've done this. I sat down and buried my head in my hands. This made no sense. One second I was holding Anna, just after singing to her, and telling her how I felt. The next minute she was on the ground. The guys walked up to me. “Nick, what exactly happened?" "Man, I don't know. We were talking. She thought that I didn't love her, and that I loved Kaitlyn, and so she ran out, and I followed her, and explained. Then, I sang the song to her, and we were hugging. All of a sudden she's on the ground. I saw someone in a black mask holding something, but by the time I looked back up, the person was gone." Brian said, "Wow, who would've done such a thing?" "I don't know, it could've been anyone. Any jealous human being."Aj said. "That narrows it down to about THE WORLD." Howie added. I sighed. I was so confused. The love of my life was unconscious, in the ER room. Suddenly, a doctor came out and said "Nick Carter. Please come with us." I followed him into the room where Anna was. "Now, what exactly happened here?" "All I know is that someone in a black mask hit her in the head with something hard. She fell to the ground. Then, Brian called you guys." I looked at her. She was still unconscious. I hated seeing her like this. Not moving. It made me hurt. I looked at Dr. Logan. "We'll have to keep her over.." All of a sudden, I hear something. "Nick? Where am I?" It was Anna! "Anna, sweetie, I'm right here. Stay still. You'll be okay." She drifted back off to what seemed to be an endless sleep. I looked away. I couldn’t stand it. The doctor looked at the X Ray they had taken in the ambulance. "It looks like she has a concussion." he said. "We'll need to keep her overnight. Once she's conscious, it might take a few days to remember things, or her whole life. You may need to remind her." I wanted to know if I could stay here with her, so I asked, "Can I stay, too?" Dr. Logan looked at me. "Yes, you can, but you'll have to stay in the waiting room." "Okay, hold on. I'm going to go tell the guys whats up."
I rushed out the door back to the waiting room. The guys were anxiously waiting for the news. "Hey, man, how is she?" Howie asked. "She's fine, she has a concussion. They're going to keep her overnight. I'm stayin' too." " Nick, I am so sorry to hear this. Is there anything we can do?" Brian asked. "Not now. I'll stay overnight, and see you guys in the morning. I'll call my family and tell them what's happened, and you guys can stay if you want. I'm guessin' Leighanne will want to see Anna as soon as possible though, am I right, Brian?" "Yeah, she called as soon as she saw me leave. She said she's on her way." With that, Leighanne rushed in. "Hey, how is she?" Brian explained to her about the concussion and that Anna would be fine. I wandered off. I really did want to die right now. 'I know Anna is fine, so why do I feel like it's my fault? Why am I worried? Why do I want to kill myself..
Brian came up behind me. "Hey, man, you alright?"
"No, I'm not. It's all my fault. If I hadn't replaced her with Kaitlyn, Anna wouldn't have run outside. Then, she wouldn't have gotten hit. It's all my fault!" I fell to the ground, and leaned back against the wall. "It's my fault that she has a concussion. It's my fault that she has to stay overnight."
"No, it is not your fault, Nick! It is the person who hit her's fault! Not yours! Do not blame this whole thing on yourself! Please! Don't!" He started to raise his voice.
"She's okay! What is there to worry about? We'll find the person who hit her!" He went on.
"Okay, okay, so it's not my fault!" I exclaimed.
With that, the guys and Leighanne left, leaving me with only the hospital and the people surrounding me to keep me company.
That night, the dream I had haunted me. It was exactly what had happened that night. Over and over again. I woke up twice scared to death, and wanting to go in and check on Anna, but I knew I wasn't allowed too.
The next morning, the doctor woke me up. "Nick, Nick. You can see her now. She’s awake.” I jumped out of my seat and ran to the room. I couldn't wait to see her. I wonder how she is, I thought. Then, I stopped at the door. She might not remember anything. She might have forgotten my love for her. She might have forgotten that she loved me. She might have forgotten that we were even friends. I might have to start all over..
I slowly knocked on the door, sadly hoping that she was asleep again. "Come in," someone said in a faint voice. I opened the door, and walked in. "Hey, how are you feelin'?" I asked. I looked at her. She was very pale, and looked very, very tired. I couldn't imagine how she must feel right now, probably not knowing who she was talking to or where she was or what had happened. "I feel okay, Nick." She quietly said. Hey, she remembered me. That's a start. "Dr. Logan said I can go home in about an hour, and if you want, you can call the guys and Leighanne up and ask if they wanna come down." She continued. I thought about it, and decided that I actually needed to call my family still. I'm surprised they didn't call last night when I hadn't come home. “Hey, yeah, I'll call the guys up." I replied. "Do you need anything, Anna?" I asked. She said no, and I went back out to the waiting room and called Brian. "Hello?" It was Leighanne. "Hey, Leighanne." "Hey, are you still at the hospital?" She asked. "Yeah, I am. Anna is awake now, if you guys want to come down here, you can." "That's great. I'll have to bring Baylee, the babysitter is off today." "Okay, see you soon." I hung up. Now, I need to call B.J. No, I don't want to..She's probably fine. Ring. Ring. My phone started to ring. It was Leslie. "Hello?" I answered. "Hey, where are you?! We're all sick and worried! Get the hell home right now!" She started to yell. "Leslie, I'm fine. Something happened at the concert last night with Anna, and we had to rush her into the hospital downtown. We just found out she's okay, so I'll be home tonight. Don't worry." I calmly said. "What happened?? Leslie asked frantically. "Someone hit her in the head with something last night when we were backstage, outside. She fell to the ground, and Brian called 911, and we've been here since then." "Oh, can we come? I really wanna see her!" She asked. "Leslie, I don't know if it's such a good idea. You know how you guys are. How about just you and BJ come? You can ask her, and explain everything to her on the way." I explained. "I'm sure Angel and Aaron wanna see her, too though!" She argued. "Okay, okay, fine. Look, I don't have time for this. Just bring them." I gave in. "Okay, see you soon!" She hung up. I went back into Anna's room. "The guys, Leighanne, Bayley, and my brother and sisters' are on their way." "All of them?" She asked. "Yeah, this could be chaotic.." Suddenly, the door opened, and in came Leighanne, Baylee, and the guys. There were hugs all around, questions being asked, then being answered. Someone knocked on the door a few minutes later. I answered it. It was Aaron, Angel, B.J, and Leslie. Once again, there were hugs all around, questions being asked, and then being answered.
An hour later, it was time for Anna to leave. My family had left 15 minutes before, and Leighanne and Baylee had left just a few minutes before. The guys and I helped Anna into a wheelchair, and then wheeled her out of the room. We checked her out at the check-out desk, and went to the car. AJ and Howie helped her into the car, while I wheeled the wheelchair back into the hospital. Brian suddenly ran up to me, phone at his ear. He looked really scared. "Dude, something really bad has happened." He looked at me, he looked frozen all of a sudden. This didn’t look good..
Author's Chapter Notes:
Will Anna get better? Will the striker strike next? And to who? Find out!
