Nick woke up the next morning by Lucy's bed in the hospital. He had insisted that he spend the night with Lucy and asked for the rest of them to go home. Lucy had been in the Operating Room for about four hours, but even so, the next 24 hours for her were critical. She had suffered from some internal injuries and had a cracked sternum. She had also cracked her fibula and was under intensive care. The doctor said that she was lucky that the car managed to slow down a little before crashing into her or death might have been immediate. She was still unconscious and the doctor said that she should be awake within the day.
Peggy and Tyra came in that afternoon with Kevin and A.J. They told Nick that Brian and Howie were at home, taking care of things and would be there for the evening and that he should go home and get some rest first. But he refused, saying that he wanted to be there when Lucy woke up. Finally though, they managed to get Kevin and A.J to pull him along with them for lunch at the hospital cafetaria.
As they sat beside Lucy, holding her hands, they started talking to her, telling her about funny happenings, and then about Nick, how he regretted everything. There was no sign of a movement so they slowly, but surely, quietened down and just sat by her side, listening to the beeping of the cardio-pulmanory machine.
Suddenly, Lucy started to stir and her eyes flickered open. She swallowed the lump in her throat with great effort and looked into the surprised faces of Peggy and Tyra. She tried to smile, but her dry lips cracked and blood was slowly oozing out from her lips. Peggy immediately took out a piece of tissue to wipe her lips while Tyra ran out of the room screaming for the doctor. The doctor came in and the nurse tended to her bleeding lips. He took a look at the clipboard at the end of her hospital bed and wrote down a few comments. He then told the girls that she would be well enough to be discharged in a week's time, but to let her rest well in the meantime and not get her too excited.
After the doctor left, all of them started to cry with joy and relief. Lucy started to ask about her sister, whether she was okay in the Home. Then about themselves and then finally about Nick. Peggy immediately told her that Nick was guilty and asked her to forgive him, it turned out that Claire also felt extremely guilty about the whole thing and that she will personally announce what happened, together with Nick, to everyone at the party. It was the first time that Claire was going against Joanne so everyone will definitely sit up and listen. Lucy was pleased to hear this bit of news, but she was not ready yet to forgive Nick. She told them that she didn't want to see him ever again.
"But Luce, Nick IS feeling bad about the whole thing." Tyra tried to speak up for Nick.
"But he should have trusted me enough to stand up for me in the first place." She said quietly. "A relationship is based on trust, even in a friendship. If you don't have that as a foundation, then it can never be built up." She looked at Tyra, "Do you understand?" Then Peggy said, "I think Nick knew that you were innocent, but he was too caught in th moment to say anything to defend you. Come on Lucy, you can't say that you don't even love him, right?"
"That's not the point!" Lucy snapped back at them. Even though she was weak, she was driven by the little anger still left in her.
"Then what is, Luce?"Both of them asked gently, they didn't want to aggravate her anymore but they had to bring Nick and her back together. They realised that Lucy was the happiest around Nick, but now, they had to convince her that everything was going to be fine. Just then, the guys returned and when they saw Lucy awake, they immediately went up to give her a gentle hug, being careful not to hurt her. All but Nick, he stayed back, hesitant. Lucy pretended that she didn't even see him and just closed her eyes.
"Luce..." Nick started. There was no reply. He looked at Kevin and A.J and they nodded their heads. "Lucy, I'm sorry, will you forgive me?" Lucy didn't open her eyes, all she said was, "Nickolas Gene Carter, I never want to see you again." Peggy and Tyra looked up at him, feeling sorry and he saw it in their eyes. He shook his head and stepped out of the hospital room and the other four followed. As soon as they left the room, Lucy started crying. It hurt her chest to cry as her cracked sternum made it painful, but the worst pain of all came from her heart. It wasn't just cracked, it was broken.
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