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Author's Chapter Notes:
Thank you for those that are still sticking with Anita and Nick. Thanks for the kind reviews too.

The next morning Nick opened his eyes and was startled to find Anita curled up beside him. Then he remembered what had happened last night. He didn’t know what had come over him, he didn’t regret it in the least bit. But he felt bad, that he’d made Anita uncomfortable.

 

Putting the bad thoughts to the side, he let out a sigh and took in the fact that she was there, right beside him. 

 

It had been a long while, since he had been so close to her. His finger tips traced her cheek, her eyes and over her lips. There was a small ache in his heart, because he knew that his feelings for her hadn’t changed a bit. That had been made clear last night. “Why can’t I stop loving you?” He questioned himself out loud.

 

AJ knocked on the door, he was anxious to know what had happened between the twosome. Anita wasn’t in her room. Which could only mean that she was with Nick. Nick grumbled and headed for the persistent knocking. “Dude what?” He muttered swinging the door open.

 

“Is she here?”

 

“What do you care man?” Nick retorted, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “We were talking last night and she must have fallen asleep.”

 

AJ was grinning ear to ear. The twosome were making progress he thought. If they could only get past their differences. “Alright then. Well can you tell Anita I can’t go with her today to see her mother. Something came up.”

 

Nick nodded his head a bit confused. She hadn’t mentioned anything about seeing her family last night. Maybe she was to embarrassed to let him know. “Cool I’ll let her know.”


 

Later that afternoon Anita slowly got dressed, although she hadn’t seen her family in a couple of months. Something about returning to that horrible place, made her nervous. The thought of her mother and sister still selling their bodies for money really made her uneasy. She tied her shoes, put her hair into a loose ponytail, grabbed her key card and began for the door. 

 

She let out a yelp, when she crashed into Nick at the door. Her hand flew to her chest and gasped, “Oh my God you scared me. Hey. Is everything ok?” she looked at him confused and slightly embarrassed about the night before. They hadn’t spoken since then, he’d been gone when she woke up in his bed.

 

“Yeah. I just thought…” Nick scratched the back of his head. “Since AJ can’t go with you…maybe you wouldn’t want to go alone. I’d come with you.” He shrugged his shoulder, thinking she’d probably say ‘no’.

 

She smiled wide and shook her head, “That would be great. God knows I need the support.”

 

Twenty minutes later, the Lincoln was pulling into a dirt road. Trailers were lined up on both sides of the road. Some looked like they needed to be demolished and others looked too new and fancy to be where they were. The one they had stopped in front of was a mess. It had light blue chipping paint, no screens on the windows, towels were used as curtains and the screen door was falling off it’s hinges. 

 

Anita felt a warmth of embarrassment creep up her neck and cheeks. She couldn’t’ believe that she was bringing Nick to such a disaster zone. He already thought the worst of her, this wouldn’t help any. Especially if there was something raunchy going on inside.  

 

“How about you wait for me here. I just want to make sure that…”

 

He placed a hand on her shoulder, “Are you sure you want to do this? We can go back to the hotel right now?” 

 

Nick felt bad, he could see the embarrassment and concern in her eyes. Her cheeks were red and she was biting her lip. Her hands crossed over her chest, hands clamped on her upper arms. “I have to see them. Make sure that they are ok.”

 

He gave her a nod and she began for the door slowly. Her stomach was flipping about, her mouth had gone dry and her hands were sweating. She didn’t know what to expect when she opened the door. The bad memories were all coming back. The days of walking in on her mother with someone. Having to fight off strangers who wanted to hurt them. 

 

She turned to look at Nick one last time and then placed her hand on the door knob. Swallowing the knot of nerves in her throat, she turned it and pushed the door open. The scent of stale food, alcohol, cigarette and fornication blew into her face as the door swung open. “Hello?” Anita hollered, not seeing anyone in the small and cramped living room or the tiny kitchen. 

 

The floor was littered with candy wrappers, pizza boxes, beer cans. The counter had at least a weeks worth of dirty dishes, and rotten food, roaches scattered as she made way towards the hallway. “MOM! Alva!” she walked into the small room. The one she used to share with her sister. The room was just as messy as the rest of the trailer. She couldn’t believe that humans were in living in such a place. Clothes decorated the floor, along with other things that she wouldn’t bother to identify and the sheets on the bed were bunched up at the end of the bed. 

 

A part of her was happy to know there wasn’t a soul in the house. She was hoping that they had left and found something better. That there was no way that either one of her loved ones, were living in such chaos. Leaning her back against the wall, she wiped away the tears that were flooding her eyes. Then she saw it. There was a trail of bloody handprints along the wall and it stopped at the bathroom door. She felt her heart stop beating and her stomach shrink inside of her. 

 

“NICK!” she shouted, unable to move a muscle. Afraid to find out what was behind the door. 

 

Nick sprint to the door, hopped up the three stairs and stumbled through the door. Instantly wrinkling his nose, as the stench hit him full force. He looked around startled at the state of the place, where the woman he loved once lived. His eyes met with hers at the end of the tiny hall, she was bent over gasping for air. “Anita what happened?” 

 

“Blood…there is blood on the walls. Please open the door to the bathroom. I don’t have the guts to do it…” She bent over again, trying to control the spinning around her. 

 

Nick sucked in a breath and pushed the door open. “Holy shit!” He whispered and walked into the bathroom. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Without thinking he placed his hands on the woman’s neck and let out a sigh.

 

“What is it?” she asked, inching slowly towards the bathroom door. ‘Holy shit’ could indicate many things. The place was still spinning and she could hear the beating of her heart like it was in her ears. She took hold of the door frame and let out a shriek when she saw her sister in the tub. Her body turning blue, eyes closed, sitting in pool of blood and water. “Alva…” 

 

A couple of hours later Anita found herself sitting in a white bland room, watching the monitor screens…making sure the lines kept moving up and down. The beeping of the machines were driving her nuts, but they indicated that her sister was still breathing, that she was still alive. 

 

“I shouldn’t have left them alone. I was supposed to be here to take care of them.” Anita kept mumbling, running her hands over her face, tears running down her cheeks. There was so much guilt inside of her, nothing like this had happened when she had been there.

 

Nick placed a hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze. He knelt down to her level, and wiped away her tears with the side of his hand. “You can’t blame yourself for their choices Anita. Somehow I’m pretty sure, this would have happened whether you were there or not.”

 

Alva stirred on the bed, she looked around disoriented. Anita sprung out of the chair and approached her sister. The woman was looking like death. She was pale, her lips still tinted blue, black circles around her eyes. Her lips were chapped, she was much thinner then when Anita had left and she had a bunch of small punctures on her arms. 

 

“Alva…”  Her sister furrowed her brows and looked at her like she was a stranger. “Who are you?” She asked. “I don’t know you. Where am I?” The beeping started to increase, as Alva’s eyes settled on Nick. “Who is he…he’s gonna hurt me.” she started yelling. Flailing her arms, the IV ripping out of her hand and falling to the floor. She was kicking and screaming, while Anita and Nick tried to subdue her. “Get him away…he’s gonna rape me.” 

“Alva it’s me…your sister and he’s not going to hurt you. He’s my friend.” No matter what Anita said or did, Alva was in a thrashing rage.

 

The doctor and nurses sprinted into the room, pushing the twosome to the side. All four nurses held down her arms and legs, while the doctor poked her with a needle. Immediately she stopped and her eyes closed once again. 

 

“What the hell is her problem? Why doesn’t she know me? That’s temporary right…it’s the drugs or the medication you’ve been giving her. Please tell me---” Anita broke into a sob, as she got a sympathetic look from the doctor.

 

He nodded his head, pushing his hands into his white coat pockets. “I’m sorry…but your sister is in some kind of state. We have to do more tests on her to give you an exact diagnosis. Probably a psychological evaluation. By the punctures in her arms, and the state she came in…and the results of her blood tests. She’s been doing a very large amount of drugs. We’ll have to keep her for observation. I’d suggest that you get some rest and come back tomorrow.”

 

Anita reluctantly nodded, taking one last glimpse of her sister. The drive back to the hotel was quiet. Nick was still trying to take in the day’s events. He couldn’t imagine having to live with things like that happening day in and day out. His eyes fell upon her, she was leaned away from him, her head on the window and her hands came up to her face, to wipe away the stray tears. 

 

He reached out and placed his arm around her neck. She turned when she felt the warmth of his arm. Their eyes held for a long moment and without saying anything she buried her face into his chest, her warms wrapping around his stomach. He tightened his arms around her. “I’m sorry.” Nick whispered. It was all that he could bring himself to say at the moment.