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"Measure Of A Man"
Written by Sara(goneplatinum@live.com)
Two Thousand and Eight


---5---
Nick threw his gaze to the police officers who were now about to beat down his front door. His eyes wide as saucers, he unsteadily walked over to the foyer and opened the door.

“Is this the home of a Nickolas Gene Carter?” the officer read off the yellow three-hole punched report. Nick gulped and managed a nod in his direction. “And I presume that you are Mr. Carter?” Nick nodded once again, his mind reeling with what this all could be about. “Well sir, I’m sorry to have to be the bearer of bad news, but earlier this evening Miss Jillian Walsh was involved in a traffic accident. A bad accident, at that.”

“Fuck.” Nick whispered, wiping the beads of sweat off his face. “Well, that’s it. Right?” He looked at the officer knowingly, then back at AJ.

“I beg your pardon, sir?” the officer questioned, obviously confused.

Nick let out a snicker. “That means she’s dead, right?”

AJ smacked him upside the head. “Dumbass, he didn’t say that.”

“Y-you didn’t? He didn’t.” Nick’s mind was so full of emotion and lingering booze, he was having a hard time comprehending much of anything. “So s-she’s no--”

“No sir, although she is in critical condition. And being as you are named as her next of kin, I’ll need you to come with me.” He motioned towards the police cruiser.

Nick took a step back and held his hands up. “Look, I’m in no shape to--”

“I’ll take him, officer.” AJ interjected. Nick threw him a confused look, to which he simply nodded and took the piece of paper from the officer’s outstretched hand. “Where are we going, exactly?”

“Uh, UCLA Medical Center. The emergency room, I believe,” the officer said with a nod. “I’m very sorry for your misfortune.”

“Huh? Oh… thanks.” was all Nick could muster.

“You owe me for this. Big time,” AJ said after he had shut the door.

“Aje, what if Jilly’s not alright? I mean… the last thing I said to her was ‘get out’. I can’t have that shit on my conscience for the rest of my life.” Nick slumped against the wall and slid down to the floor. He ran a hand through his hair and let out a deep sigh, “I-I don’t know if I can handle this. I-it’s too much…”

“Dude. This is not some whack therapy session, and I ain’t Dr. Phil.” AJ replied. “Now, what you are going to do is first, get some clothes on. Make yourself somewhat presentable.”

“The hell? Man, this isn’t some red carpet event, you know.” Nick snarled. He cradled his head as it began to throb once more, “Fuck, I need some Tylenol or something.”

“Wait a damn minute, you told Jill to get out? What the fuck for?”

“’Cause she accused me of being unfaithful.” Nick mumbled as his eyelids drooped down. All he wanted to do was sleep for a very, very long time.

However, AJ was not having any of it. He clenched his hands into tight fists, resisting the urge to punch Nick into next month, and tried to control his thoughts. Jill had been one of his comrades for a long time, and for him to even think about her being hurt in any way, shape or form, made every inch of his body twinge with anger.

“Were you?” he calmly asked, sitting down on the brown leather sofa.

“Huh?” Nick blinked at his friend, his head fuzzy.

“Were you unfaithful. Did you cheat on Jilly?”

“What? Fuck no, I didn’t cheat on her. It was totally thrown out of proportion.”

“Proportion. Big words from a man who downed a half of bottle of Jack.” AJ picked up the bottle. The alcohol sloshed back and forth as he shook it in front of Nick’s face, “Sure you don’t want to finish this off? Really, I can wait. Not sure if your injured girlfriend can, but me, I’ve got the time.”

“Christ, AJ, what’s your problem?” Nick said, his face red as he stood up to face his friend. “I don’t need this shit from you, man.”

“I just want to know what in hell was going through your mind when you decided that this would be a good idea.” He motioned to the bottle, setting it down on the side table.

“I don’t know.” was all Nick could think of to say.

“Pitiful excuse, but I’ll take it for now.”

“For now?” Nick questioned. He gripped the back of the chair to keep his balance as his legs threatened to give out on him once again. “You mean this… this isn’t my punishment?”

AJ shook his head, then sighed. “Afraid not.” He held up the police report, “Your punishment awaits.”

After finding a clean shirt, Nick shuffled into the adjoining master bathroom and turned on the hot water tap. He took a washcloth off the towel rack and ran it under the water before bringing it up to his face.

Then stop acting like an asshole… asshole… her voice burned into his thoughts.

He inhaled the warmth of the cloth as it filled his sinuses, attempting to clear his still somewhat foggy mind.

“Yo Nick, we gotta get on the road.” AJ pounded on the bathroom door, jarring him back into the present.

“Uh, yeah. I’m coming,” He replied, flicking off the light switch.

The side streets of Los Angeles were desolate as the two drove down towards the hospital. Nick cracked his knuckles loudly and let out a nervous sigh. He wanted nothing more than to not be here, wanted nothing more than to take back the last three hours and have everything be the same as it had that morning, wanted…

“Asshole.” he muttered, slouching down further in the seat.

AJ quickly averted his eyes from the road, “What?”

“Nothing.”

“You okay, Nicky?”

Nick threw him an evil glance, “I can’t even believe you’d ask me that.” he snorted, “Sure Aje, it’s all just pink clouds and purple hearts in my world. What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“Sorry dude, I-I didn’t even… “

“No AJ, I’m not fine. Nothing about this is fucking fine.” Nick spat out, turning back to the darkly tinted window as the world went by. He continued to mumble random obscenities as AJ pulled into a large parking ramp.