"Hello? What?! Oh my God!" Tyra put the phone down and tears started to stream down her face.
"What's the matter, Tyra?" Kevin asked, concerned.
"Lu-Lucy's met with an accident! She's been knocked down by a car and is in the operating room now!" Tyra burst into huge sobs and everyone else in the room sat up in shock. Peggy immediately got up and ran to get both their coats. Brian shouted from the couch, "But where's Nick?!" Peggy angrily yelled back, "That bastard must have done something or said something! Lucy is never this careless! And he probably doesn't even know that she's injured! Come on Tyra, let's go!"
"Wait, we'll all come with you!" A.J said, he felt partly responsible and angry at Nick. Where WAS he? It wasn't like him to do this.
In the club, many people had already left the party after the incident. Nick had volunteered to stay behind and help clean up the place. Joanne was more than delighted to have his company and had drowned herself in so much drink that she couldn't see straight.
"So, Nick!" She said loudly, good-naturedly. "Good party huh?" She gave a hiccupy laugh. Nick shook his head but didn't answer her. She continued laughing and said, "Good thing we got rid of that Lucy girl. Does she think that she can fight me for you? Ha!" She took out another can of beer and gulped it down.
"Wait a minute. Fight you for-. That thing was a set-up, wasn't it?" Nick asked, his ears reddening.
"Huh? What thing?" Joanne hicced up, oblivious to the fact that she was giving out too much information.
"The theft! It was something you made up, wasn't it?" Nick looked at her angrily, waiting for a reply. But all she did was take another gulp of beer and wipe the foam off on her sleeve. Suddenly a sobbing sound could be heard from the doorway. Nick turned around and saw Claire crying, and wiping her tears from her eyes.
"What is it Claire?" He asked firmly, but gently.
"It was a set-up, you were right. But I didn't mean it, I swear it. It's just that Joanne is my best friend and I had to help her. But I feel guilty now, Nick. I'm really sorry about Lucy." She started crying again. Nick's expression changed to a panicked one.
"Oh no! What have I done?" he asked himself. "I thought that it was a set-up, Oh why didn't I help Lucy then? Why?!" He grabbed his jacket from the coat-stand and ran out of the club, leaving Joanne drunk and Claire crying.
As soon as he reached the house, he tried the door, it was open. He pushed it wide open and stepped into the house. Every single light in the living room was on. "Hello?" He called out. No one answered and he was confused. Where did everyone go? He wondered. Just then, the phone rang and he picked it up.
"Nick! Where the hell were you? We've been trying to contact you for hours!" Howie's voice rang into the receiver.
"I'm sorry man. I was at the party. Where are you, man? And where is everyone else?" Nick asked in a surprised tone. Howie sounded angry and upset and he could hear voices of the other guys in the background.
"We are in the hospital, God damn it! Nick, Lucy has been hit by a car and she's in the operating room now! Where the hell were you?!" Howie's voice got more and more agitated but Nick was no longer listening. Hit by a car? Nick yelled into the receiver, "I'll be right over!" and slammed it back into place. He ran out of the house into the cold wintry night, the snow was coming down rather strongly now and Nick had to pull his jacket around him tightly. It seemed like ages to him before a taxi finally stopped for him.
As soon as he reached the hospital, Howie was at the entrance waiting for him. He shook his head when he saw him and just walked into the hospital with Nick following closely behind. When Nick reached outside of the operating room, Everyone else was huddled there. Tyra's head was buried in Kevin's chest and A.J. had placed his arm around Peggy. It was prominent that the two girls had been crying and everyone was obviously displeased with him. Tyra and Peggy refused to speak to him and only Brian went up to him and asked what happened. After the whole story was told, Peggy spoke up.
"Nick, did anyone tell you never to believe in rumours? You are in the public eye yourself!" Nick looked surprised to learn that Peggy knew about them being in a pop group. "Yes Nick, A.J told me about the pop group, but hell Nick! Lucy had reasons to keep secrets to herself. But since everything has been blown up now, I'm sure she won't mind me telling you all about it.." She squared her shoulders and sat up straight before continuing, "Lucy was previously from Toronto. She was born there and was from a poor family. Her parents found it difficult to make ends meet. She has a little sister who is only thirteen this year. In Toronto, they were raised up in the worst part of the city, it was dangerous everywhere and she had to learn to defend herself and not let herself be influenced by the other people." Fresh tears sprung to her eyes again, but she wiped them off and bravely continued, "When she went into High School, everyone knew where she lived and because she was Asian, there was discrimination against her and people kept a distance from her. Soon, rumours were spreading around like wild fire. Her younger sister was pretty turned off by these people who held no respect for other races and started to go the wrong way. She took drugs and drank at the tender age of nine just to try to prove a point. Soon, however, the police caught up with her and placed her in a Girls' Home. The whole of Lucy's High School knew about the matter and Lucy was taunted and even abused physically. Her parents got to know about it even though Lucy tried to hide what was happening in school from them. The scars soon showed too often for it to be just a bump or an accidental scratch. Unfortunately, there was nothing her parents could do. So they took whatever money they had and moved over here to Calgary where the neighbourhood had less people and less fuss. They also asked for Lucy's younger sister to be shifted to the Girls' Home here, in Calgary, that's why Lucy keeps visiting it. She made us promise to keep this a secret, not because she was embarrassed by her sister, but because she was afraid for her family. So Nick, she did not lie to you in any way, she just kept a few facts from you, like I'm sure you've kept some from her." Peggy turned away, disappointed in Nick.
Nick immediately looked forlorn. and shook his head. "What an idiot I am!" He said outloud. "I've been a fool and I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" He started to cry and begged for forgiveness. Tyra and Peggy looked at each other and then at him, their expressions softened. "Nick," Tyra said, "It's not us that you have to ask forgiveness from, it's someone else, and I'm sure you know who it is. I just hope that it's not too late to ask for it." Brian went up to Nick and gave him a little hug before pulling him on the seat next to him. Nick stared at the operating room's door and prayed with his heart that the doors would open and Lucy would come out brand new, and beautiful, just like the first time he had seen her.
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