The door opened and Nick walked in with Shayla and McKenzie’s mom. “Mom!” McKenzie said running to her mother’s arms and beginning to cry.

“Ok honey, shh, it’s ok,” her mother said soothing her. They walked over to Shayla. Brian stood up and hugged their mom. “Hello dear,” she said hugging him. He looked wiped out. “How is she doing? What have the doctor’s said?”

“She did real good through the surgery and they said she should be ok. It’s just going to be a long recovery. She’s got some broken ribs, a broken arm and some cuts and bruises but they fixed all the bleeding so she should be fine, thank god,” Brian said.

“Yes thank god,” her mother said. “Has she been awake yet?”

“Not yet. But they said it should be soon. They’ve got her on lots of pain medication so it’s taking a little longer for her to wake up cuz she’s so knocked out,” Brian explained.

“How are you two holding up? You both look worn out,” Shayla’s mom said.

“We’re doing ok. It’s just been a long day. What time is it?” Brian asked.

“It’s about 1:00am now. McKenzie honey, why don’t you get some sleep.”

“I don’t wanna leave,” McKenzie said.

“Come on Kenz, I’ll stay with you,” Nick offered.

“I don’t need you to stay with me. Don’t you have somewhere else to be anyway? Why are you even still here?” McKenzie snapped at him.

“Because I care about Shayla and Kevin. And I care about you too. I won’t stay with you if you don’t want me to. I can back and see Kev but you should get some rest,” Nick said.

“Fine I’ll go lay down, but you come get me the second she wakes up,” McKenzie said looking at her mom and Brian.

“We will,” Brian assured her.

McKenzie went to the little waiting room next to Shayla’s room and curled up on the small sofa.

“Do you want me to stay with you?” asked Nick standing in front of her.

“Do whatever you want, I don’t care,” she said. She was still angry and hurt at what Nick had done to her but right now she really wanted to be held in his arms. She began to cry from the worry and exhaustion.

“Come here,” Nick said taking her in his arms. He sat down next to her and held her as she sobbed into his shirt. She finally laid her head in his lap and went to sleep as he stroked her hair.

About an hour later Shayla began to wake up. “Brian,” she said trying to open her eyes and wincing at the pain.

“Hey honey, don’t try to move ok. You’ve got some broken ribs,” Brian said.

“Mom,” Shayla whispered seeing her mother there.

“Hi honey, how do you feel?”

“It hurts all over,” Shayla said.

“I’ll get the nurse,” her mom said. She left and also told McKenzie that Shayla was awake. Nick went to tell the others in Kevin’s room.

“Bri,” Shayla whispered reaching out for him.

“Yeah honey, I’m right here,” he said squeezing her hand and kissing her forehead.

“Am I gonna be ok? Is anything wrong with me?” Shayla asked nervously.

“You’re going to be fine baby. They had to do surgery cuz you were bleeding internally, but they fixed it and you’re gonna be ok. You’ve got some broken ribs and a broken arm and some cuts and bruises, but you’re gonna be ok,” Brian reassured her.

“God it hurts,” Shayla said starting to cry.

“The nurse will be here soon and give you something. It’s probably your ribs that hurt so bad. You need to try and not move, just lay still,” Brian said rubbing her leg.

“I love you,” Shayla whispered.

“I love you too. You really gave me a scare baby. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you. Don’t you ever do this to me again,” Brian said kissing her hand.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

“It’s ok, all I care about is you’re ok. Kev’s ok, Bobby’s ok, ya’ll are ok,” he told her with a smile.

“Oh my god, Kevin and Bobby. What about them?” Shayla wanted to know.

“Kev had to have surgery on his knee cuz it got banged up and other than some bruises he’s fine. Bobby is fine, just a couple scratches,” Brian said.

“Shay!” McKenzie said running into the room. “Oh I’m so glad you’re ok.”

“Hey Kenzie,” Shayla said wincing as her little sister hugged her.

“Oh I’m sorry,” McKenzie said. The nurse and her mom came back in.

“Look who finally woke up,” said the nurse.

“She’s really in a lot of pain,” Brian said concerned.

“Well, I can take care of that,” she said putting some medication into Shayla’s IV. “You’ll probably go back to sleep in a minute ok.”

“Thank you,” Shayla said feeling better already. The nurse told them to call if they needed anything and the doctor would be in soon.

“Brian,” Shayla whispered as her eyes got heavy.

“Yeah baby, just go back to sleep. I’ll stay right here,” Brian said.

“Bobby, I wanna see Bobby,” Shayla said before going to sleep. Brian kissed her cheek and sat back in the chair.

“Who’s Bobby?” Shayla’s mom asked.

“That’s Kevin’s bodyguard. He was in the car with them. Kevin said Bobby tried to get her out of the car but couldn’t cuz she was wedged in so he crawled through the window and laid there with her, talking to her because she was scared and crying,” Brian explained.

“Awww,” her mom said as a tear came to her eye. “That was sweet of him.”

“He’s a special guy. A big guy,” Brian chuckled. “I’m sure it wasn’t easy for him to fit through that window but Kev said he wouldn’t leave her until they had her out.”

“You boys have some wonderful people working for you. The girls always tell me how sweet they are and how they protect them,” her mom said.

“They’re like family,” Brian said. “I’m gonna run and check on Kevin real quick and I’ll be right back.”

“Ok dear. We’ll stay here. You tell him I hope he’s feeling better and I’ll try to come see him later,” Shayla’s mom said.

“Ok,” Brian said taking off so he could get back before Shayla woke up again.

*In Kevin’s Room*

Nick had just told Jen, Kevin and Howie that Shayla was awake. AJ had gone to pick up Kimmy and wasn’t back yet. Brian met Bobby in the hall outside Kevin’s room.

“Hey man, what are you doing? You were just in a car wreck, take some time off,” Brian said joking with the large man. He gave him a big bear hug.

“I just heard she’s awake. How’s she doing?” Bobby asked.

“She’s ok, she’s in pain so they knocked her back out, but she’ll be alright. She’s asking to see you so when she wakes up again you need to come down,” Brian said.

“I’ll be there,” Bobby said with a wink.

“Hey how’s little bit doing?” Kevin asked using his nickname for Shayla when Brian came in the room.

“She’s ok. She’s back asleep so I thought I’d check on you,” Brian said with a smile. He gave Kevin a big hug.

“I’m doing good,” Kevin said as Jen fed him some ice cream.

“He’s milking it for all it’s worth,” Jen laughed. “He has a banged up knee, not hands and he’s got me spoon feeding him.” Everyone laughed.

“Hey I get extra special attention from my baby, what could be better,” Kevin said squeezing her hand.

“When she wakes up we’ll come down and see her,” Howie said.

“Yeah, I’ll make them let me out of her so I can come see her too,” Kevin said.

“I’m sure she’d like that,” Brian said. He stayed a few minutes chatting then left to go back to Shayla’s room.

*Shayla’s Room*

Shayla woke up about 4 hours later. She saw Brian asleep in the chair next to her bed. She noticed he was holding her hand. She gave his hand a squeeze and he woke up.

“Hey, how ya feeling?” he asked smiling and giving her a kiss.

“Like I’ve been in a car wreck,” she said with a slight laugh. “Where’s mom and Kenzie?”

“They went to get something to eat. They should be back soon,” Brian said.

“So I guess my jeep is totaled huh?”

“Uh yeah, I’d say so,” Brian laughed. “You guys were lucky kiddo. It could’ve been a lot worse. No more SUV, we’re getting you a nice safe car.”

Shayla made a face at him. “I wanna see Bobby. Is he here?”

“Yeah, he wants to see you too. I’ll call up to Kevin’s room and get him down here.” Brian called Kevin’s room and told them Shayla was awake and to send Bobby down. He’ll be here in a minute. They’re gonna talk to the nurse and see if they can get a wheelchair and bring Kev down too.”

“Ok,” Shayla said. “Is he doing ok?”

“Yeah he’s just fine. They’re gonna release him in the afternoon. You’ll be here a few days though,” Brian told her.

“Oh I hate hospitals. I wanna go home soon,” Shayla whined.

Brian laughed at her. “I don’t think you have a choice in the matter baby,” he said kissing her hand. “I’m so glad you’re ok. I love you so much.”

“I love you too,” Shayla said smiling at him.

“Hey there, how’s my favorite girl?” Bobby asked peeking through the door.

“Bobby!” Shayla exclaimed her face lighting up. “Come here big guy.” She stretched out her good arm even though it hurt to move to hug him.

“Shay you’re not supposed to be moving,” Brian scolded her.

“I don’t care. It hurts but I don’t care. I wanna hug him. You got your hug,” she laughed.

Bobby gently hugged her and rubbed her head. “How ya feeling sweetheart?”

“I’ll be ok. Bobby thank you so much for everything. Thank you for staying with me and talking to me and everything. I was so scared and I don’t know what I would’ve done if you hadn’t been there to keep me calm,” Shayla said.

“You’re welcome. I wasn’t about to leave you. Kev was alright and he couldn’t get to ya so he asked me to, which I was more than happy to do. I wish I could’ve gotten ya out,” Bobby said.

“It’s probably best that you couldn’t considering her injuries,” Brian said.

“I’m sorry I wrecked, you could’ve been hurt too,” Shayla said to Bobby.

“Please, ya can’t touch this,” Bobby said beating on his chest making them laugh. “It’s ok honey, it was an accident.”

“Hey, hey, hey how’s my little bit doing?” Kevin shouted as Nick wheeled him in followed by Jen, AJ, Kimmy and Howie.

“Kev! Oh look at you. Are you ok? I’m so sorry,” Shayla said excited to see him.

“I’m fine, don’t worry about it. I’ll be up and moving around in no time. How are you?” Kevin said.

“Ok,” Shayla said. Kevin stood as much as he could and hugged her.

“Shayla stop moving and hugging people. Geez! You’ve got broken ribs,” Brian said sighing and shaking his head at her.

“Man, I can see you’re gonna be loads of fun taking care of me when I get home,” Shayla said teasing Brian.

Each one of them gave her a hug and kiss. They stayed and talked for a while, before Shayla was in too much pain and they put her back out. Brian and Jen stayed at the hospital with Shayla and Kevin while everyone else went home. McKenzie took her mom back to Shayla’s.

*Shayla’s House*

AJ would you take mom’s things to the other bedroom for her? Mom come on in the sitting room and have a seat,” McKenzie said. AJ and his mom and Kimmy had come home with them for a while to visit with Shayla and McKenzie’s mom. AJ took the bags to the bedroom and returned.

“Ya’ll want me to pick up something to eat,” he asked since it was early morning by now.

“Oh honey that would be great,” Denise said. As AJ opened the door to leave he bumped into Nick who was just about to knock on it.

“Hey buddy, what’s up?” AJ asked surprised to see him.

“I just wanted to see McKenzie, if she’ll see me that is,” Nick replied.

“Well go see for yourself I guess. I’ll be back, I’m going to pick up some food. Do you want something?” AJ asked.

“Nah, thanks man,” Nick said. He closed the door and followed the sound of voices to the other room.

“Hey Nick,” Kimmy said surprised to see him.

“Hi everybody,” Nick said nervously. “Kenz can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Yeah, I guess,” McKenzie said getting up and taking him to the living room. “So what do you want Nick? Why are you here?”

“Kenz will you please give me another chance. I miss you so much. This whole thing has made me realize just how much I love you and need you. It could’ve been you in that accident today and I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to you. I don’t want to lose you,” Nick confessed.

“I’m sorry Nick, but the answer is no. You didn’t give a damn about me a few weeks ago. You could’ve cared less what happened to me or you wouldn’t have said the things you did and you wouldn’t have cared more about Mandy than me,” McKenzie said. Her words were harsh and they stung and she was almost emotionless. Nick realized it was just as he had been to her and now he knew how she felt only she probably felt worse because his words were a lot harsher and he was mean about it.

“McKenzie I don’t care more about Mandy than I do you. There’s no way I ever could. She doesn’t compare to you. I was just doing what I feel is the best way to solve the problem. I wish you could understand. I wish you could see that I was only doing it for you and for Shayla to,” Nick said pleading with her.

“But we made it very clear that we didn’t want you to. So basically I feel that if you went ahead and did it, you did it for you, or to be with Mandy because you didn’t do it for me if I said no. There’s nothing you can say to change how I feel about it now. It’s too late. After what I saw the other night, God only knows what you’ve done with her. I think you should go no,” McKenzie said.

“I’m trying here Kenz. Can’t you try and meet me half way on this? If you truly loved me you would do everything in your power to try and work this out,” Nick begged.

“Why? You did everything in your power to hurt me and end our relationship and you did everything in your power to get near Mandy when I didn’t want you to. So don’t tell me it’s my fault that it can’t be worked out,” McKenzie said angrily.

“I know I made some mistakes. Big ones, but I’m asking you to forgive me and let me try and fix them………..” he was interrupted by his pager going off. He looked down at the number. “Damn, I gotta go,” he said.

“What?! What do you mean you have to go? Who could possibly be paging you that you would have to just take off? Obviously you don’t want to try to hard to work this out. I mean, who could that be? Everyone is either here or at the hospital and if it was one of the other guys or your family you’d just call to tell them you were involved in something more important. There’s only two people that could’ve been. Brent or Mandy and I’d bet my money on the later. Get out of here Nick. You make me sick,” McKenzie said and got up and left the room. Nick got up and left. He pulled out his cell phone as soon as he was in the car.

“What the hell do you want? This is really a bad time,” he yelled into the phone.

“What’s wrong with you? Why are you talking to me like that? I thought after what happened last night things were on better terms with us,” Mandy asked confused by his behavior.

Nick cringed. He didn’t even want to think about what he’d done last night. He wanted to forget about it forever. But it was too late to turn back now. “I’m sorry it’s been a tough day and I’ve been up all night.”

“Where have you been? I’ve been trying to reach you all day and night,” Mandy said.

“Kevin and Shayla were in an accident and they were hurt pretty bad. I’ve been at the hospital all night long,” Nick explained as he drove home.

“Oh my god! Are they ok? What happened?” Mandy asked shocked.

“Shayla was driving and took a turn to sharp and flipped her Cherokee. She’s hurt really bad but she’s going to be ok now. It took all day for her to get out of the woods and Kev is gonna be ok but banged up his knee pretty bad and had to have surgery and Bobby was fine. It’s just been a long day and night and I’m going home,” Nick explained.

“I’m so sorry Nick. Do you wanna come over?” Mandy asked.

“No, I need some sleep. I need to go home so I can go back to the hospital soon,” he said.

“Well I hope Kevin and Shayla are ok,” Mandy said trying to come up with something to get Nick to come over. “Ya know all this makes me think about my accident. I know what it’s like to be hurt and all.”

“Yeah I guess it would,” Nick said thinking she might want to talk about it. At the same time he was baiting her, she was baiting him. “It was really touch and go with Shayla for a while. It was pretty scary.”

“Well even though I don’t like or get along with Shayla, I hope she’s ok. I know how tough it can be to recover. Especially when it’s your fault someone else got hurt.”

“It’s not her fault Kev got hurt. It was an accident,” Nick said a little upset.

“I know, I didn’t mean that it was really her fault but that’s what she’ll think. That’s what I meant. Believe me I know,” Mandy said.

“Are you ok?” Nick asked hearing her start to cry.

“It just brings back painful memories,” she said.

“How bout if I come over and we can talk about it? Maybe you’ll feel better,” Nick suggested thinking maybe he’d finally get it out of her.

“Ok thanks Nick. You’re the best,” she said smiling big which he couldn’t see.

“I’ll be there in a few minutes,” Nick said. He hung up and turned the car around and headed for Mandy’s apartment.

To Chapter 39
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