Chapter 6
Nicky, Stella and Emily were back at the counselor’s office again. Nicky
didn't care if he had to spend his holidays going back and forward to a
counselor’s office. He just wanted Emily to get better and start talking.
Nothing much really.
None of the lads were actually very aware of this because he wanted to keep
it as a low profile thing so that Emily wouldn't feel too exposed. She was
already behaving okay with Nicky getting involved in this and he figured out
that she didn't need more people to swamp her with.
Emily got up and entered the room, leaving Nicky with Stella waiting
outside. Stella never wanted to leave Emily by herself since, well, since
something really bad nearly happened the other day.
Nicky could still picture it before his eyes. Emily was meant to wait for
Stella and Nicky to pick her up from the counselor and it was getting kind
of dark. When they got there, fifteen minutes late, they couldn't find Emily
and the counselor had already gone home. They kept looking around and Stella
started to panic, blaming herself for being late. Suddenly there was a noise
from somewhere around the corner. They ran to find who it was and there was
Emily, lying in the middle of the road so helplessly and vulnerable. Stella
ran to hold her and Nicky spotted a few guys running away as they were
looking back.
He didn't think anymore, all he wanted to know was what were they doing to
Emily so he ran and ran and ran to catch them. He was tired, he always
seemed tired these days, so he didn't know where did he get the energy from.
He felt his body was lighter so he could run faster than he ever did in a
long time. He turned into a corner but lost the guys. He turned around to
try and spot them again but couldn’t.
He quickly ran back to where Stella and Emily were and helped Stella to lift
Emily to the car. He drove like a madman and ran every red light they passed
so that they would get to the hospital quicker.
Finally they did and Emily went through several checkups just to make sure
that she was alright. Luckily she was alright, only a few light bruises, but
after that the damage Emily was in became more visible, too visible for her
own sake. Well, at least according to Nicky. Her eye gazes became stronger
and she completely isolated herself. Even though Nicky was almost always
around in the house, she’s spend her time in her own bedroom, just sitting
on her bed, looking at nothing most of the time. Nicky had spotted her a few
times and so had Stella.
There was another thing that was getting to him too. Last night, when he was
staying over at Emily’s and the house was in silence, he heard long sobs
that kept him awake. He really wanted to know whose it was but fell asleep
when he was still thinking about it. He promised himself, next time it
happened, he would not fall asleep and he’d check.
‘Nicky? A penny for your thoughts?’
Nicky snapped back into reality and smiled at Stella who was holding an old
magazine in her hand. ‘Nah, nothing much. Just work, that’s all.’ ‘Oh, okay.’
Stella replied then started flipping another magazine.
Nicky had to lie because, somehow, he spotted a pair of familiar exhausted
looking eyes but this time it wasn’t his’ or the lads’, it was Stella’s.
And, somehow too, he realised that today Stella was actually wearing make
up. She didn’t wear make-ups unless she had to go somewhere that was
important, maybe just a bit of vaseline on her lips.
‘Now, penny for your thoughts?’
Stella looked up from the magazine she was looking and Nicky saw a pair of
eyes so full of sadness. ‘Hey, what’s wrong?’ ‘Nothing, nothing.’
‘No use lying to me. I’ve seen more in this holiday about Emily and you than
I’ve ever known before. Pull the next one.’ Stella smiled weakly.
‘Wanna go for a tea?’
‘No, I can’t. I can’t leave Em. I have to stay here. You can though if you
want to. I’ll stay here and wait for her session to finish.’
Nicky knew she’d say that so he stood up and pulled her hand.
‘No, Nicky, please. I can’t leave her. You know I can’t!’
‘Stella Connor, get on your feet now. You need a break too okay? Em’s not
gonna be finished for another forty-five minutes and there’s a nice café
just around the corner and we’ll stay there for a short time and come back
before the time’s up.’
Stella sighed, as if digesting what Nicky was saying to her.
‘Come on, you know you need to.’
‘Okay, okay. Let’s go. But promise we’ll be back before Em’s time’s up okay?’
‘Cross my heart.’ With that she stood up and left.