Dr. Minnick was sweating as he prepped Nick's IV line. They were in a tiny sterile room. Nurse Barbara McKean, the doctor's assistant could detect his obvious nervousness and apprehension as he worked on the patient.

"Where the hell is the Neuroban? I need it now, dammit!"

Nurse McKean slapped the syringe into the doctor's gloved palm. Her eyes met with his icy blue glare. She knew he had messed up with this patient. She was waiting for the right time to confront him.

Picking up Nick's chart, the doctor wrote down orders. "I want this patient back to ICU with 24 hours total surveillance."

"Yes doctor," a nurse replied to his order.

Dr. Minnick slapped the door open and took a deep breath of air once he left the room, he felt that the patient's prognosis was off his shoulders, he was done with the Carter case, as far as he was concerned. A hand on his arm stopped the doctor in mid-stride.

"You are planning on talking to this boy's family, aren't you?" Nurse McKean spat.

The doctor pulled his arm from the nurse's grip. "What for? There's nothing to tell."

"Nothing to tell? My god Peter, you messed up this time and you know it. Because of your error, he has had a stroke. God only knows if the damage can be repaired. He could possibly wake up not being able to move or to speak," the nurse spoke harshly, barely above a whisper.

"There's no way you can prove that and besides if you think you're going to the board with your suspicions, think again. Remember the Baby Boy Johnson case? You were at fault in that one by your own mistakes, so you see, Nurse McKean,I am not going down alone, I will take anyone I can with me."

Stunned, Barbara McKean stood staring at the doctor for a moment, she started to turn and walk away when he grabbed her by the arm.

"Let's go talk to the family then, you're coming with me."

The nurse reluctantly followed the doctor to the ICU waiting room. As she stood in the doorway, she noticed the patient's parents and a young man in his early twenties sitting in a chair holding his head in his hands. When the doctor entered the room he looked up at them, his eyes were a piercing blue.

"Hi, Doctor Minnick. I just was finishing pushing the meds that should be bringing Nick around out of his sedation. Everything looks good so far."

"Did they figure out what's caused the seizures yet?" Brian asked.

"He never had anymore since he went under the sedation, so we are hoping that the meds he is on now will be the ones that hold them off. Unfortunately, he will need to be on the anti-seizure meds for the rest of his life, but if it prevents the seizures, it's good."

The doctor quickly shook their hands and left the room.

I think I could safely say that these past three days were some of the worst in my life. Today was the day that Nick was supposed to be coming out of his coma. I was a wreck. In more ways than one actually. Ever since Kyung had stormed out of my room three days ago, things had seemed to go downhill. She wasn’t mad at me anymore of course, but the battle I was fighting with myself was growing. I was supposed to stay quiet, but that day I made things worse for myself again.

……..The knocking persisted. “Yeah?” I called out softly. I figured it was Kyung again so I was surprised it wasn’t her that gazed at me from the doorway.

A woman that appeared to be in her mid thirties gave me a confident smile. “Hi. My name is Pamela Strait. I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions.”

“Who are you?” I asked shortly. I knew I was rude, but I wasn’t in the mood for visitors.

“I’m a reporter from Channel 8.”

My jaw dropped. "How did you get in here?!" I demanded.

"Oh, I have my ways." She informed me smugly.

"I'm not telling you anything so you might as well leave." I said coldly.

. "Could you just cooperate with a few questions? How do you know Nick Carter? Is it true that you both tried to kill yourselves with some sort of suicide pact? Are there any permanent results?" She started firing the questions at me.

"Get out before I call security." I glared at her.

"Just answer a few questions, then I will leave. There isn't a phone in here to call with anyway." She made her voice sound sickeningly sweet.

"Then I will yell at the top of my lungs." I snapped.

"Right." She sneered.

This wasn’t right. There was no way that this person was from Channel 8. "Fine, I'll strike a deal with you. You tell me who you really are and how you got in here. Then I will tell you something." I spoke slowly.

"Okay. I don't work at Channel 8. I am with the National Enquirer. And I was let in by one of the nurses here." She stated.

"Why would one of the nurses let you in?" I demanded.

"Because she is the one who called and told us everything. And I am their best reporter and I am used to getting what I want. So now you can tell me what I want to know." She said haughtily.

I shook my head in disbelief. "Bitch. Get out of here right now." I exploded. The adrenaline was pumping now.

"I don't think so sweetie. Answer my questions." Her tone went to straight nasty.

“Get out.” I repeated.

She only stared at me.

I reached over to my bedside table and grabbed the nearest thing. That happened to be a small pitcher of water. I held it up. “Get out of here right now before I soak your ass.” I threatened.

She took a step toward me and I threw the water on her, drenching her suit.

She gasped. “You little...”

I didn’t know what she was going to do next so I threw the empty pitcher at the wall as hard as I could. It made a loud clatter.

“Alright kid, have it your way, but it doesn’t change what is being printed in next week’s paper. I’ll make sure to send you a copy. You both will be all over the front page.” With that she turned around and flounced out of the room.

I shuddered at the memory of that. As soon as she had left I lost my energy and collapsed against my pillows, shaking like a leaf. The monitors above my head started beeping and I felt like I couldn’t catch my breath. Within seconds, my nurse was in my room trying to calm me down. When Kyung had returned, she was pretty mad.

Kyung was working now so she was on another floor. They were going to start my first dialysis treatment today and I had to admit I was nervous. Kyung tried to switch her shift around so she could be with me, but was unable. I didn’t want to be alone. My doctor explained to me that they had actually done the procedure when I was in my first surgery. So technically this was the second one, but since I wasn’t awake for that one, I counted this as my first.

I wasn’t due for another hour so I decided I was going to go see Nick. I was watched like a hawk for the past three days so I couldn’t go see him, but now everything seemed quiet so I could get away with it. Besides I wanted to be there when he woke up. The hard part was getting there. I knew that my chances of staying were better if I got caught when I was already in his room.

The wheelchair was still in my room and I snickered at that. With my history, you’d think they would be smart enough to keep it out of reach. Getting to the chair was going to be a task though. I don’t know what was wrong with me because I didn’t seem to be feeling much better. I wasn’t regaining my strength like I figured I would. I knew I was stubborn enough to make it to the chair though. I turned off my IV machine and clamped the line. It was too much of a hassle to maneuver that and the wheelchair and I knew that they would hook me back up to it as soon as I was discovered anyway. Next came the leeds that I was attached to. I flipped the switch on silent just like I had done before and then pulled them off. I was a little more hesitant to take off my oxygen, but it was a sacrifice I had to make. Finally, very carefully I slid into the wheelchair. My legs felt like rubber and I didn’t want to use them more than I had to. I didn’t need another fall.

Time was running short before I was discovered so I wheeled myself to the doorway. I was already feeling lightheaded and short of breath, but I was getting used to that. I wasn’t going to let whatever was wrong with me get in my way. The hall was empty so I headed toward Nick’s room.

The door was slightly ajar so I pushed it open a little more. The door swung open, but now I hesitated. Several pairs of eyes turned in my direction.