Liz’s point of view

I felt like I was floating somewhere, but not very sure where. I thought I heard Nick’s voice coming from far away but I wasn’t sure. Was I dead, alive, what? I didn’t know.
“Liz, please wake up.” I heard Nick’s pleading voice.
“Liz, come on, I know you can do it.” Was that Lana?
“Please, just open your eyes.” Kevin?
I wanted to wake up, I really did, but I didn’t know how. Was I just supposed to decide that I was gonna do it, or was it out of my hands?

Nick’s point of view

“Do you know anything yet?” I asked the doctor.
“No, not yet,” she replied sighing.
I sank back into the chair that I had been sitting in near Liz’s bed.
“Well when will you know?” asked Lana.
“I don’t know, it could be as little as a few hours, or as much as a few weeks,” she said shaking her head.
“WEEKS?” exclaimed Kevin. He had been silent until then.
“I’m sorry, I wish I could tell you something more concrete,” said the doctor sympathetically. She then left the room. A few minutes later Brian, AJ, and Howie burst in.
“How is she?” asked AJ immediately.
“We don’t know,” I replied. “The doctors don’t know either,” I added.
“What happened?” asked Brian. Kevin sighed and pulled the three guys over to tell them what had went on that day.
I looked at my watch; it was almost four in the morning. I had no intention of leaving and neither did anyone else. We were all gonna stay in the hospital until Liz woke up, however long that would take.

SIX DAYS LATER

“Nick, you gotta get some sleep,” said Brian pleadingly.
“No,” I said stubbornly.
“You haven’t slept in six days! You’re a wreck!” exclaimed Kevin.
“I don’t care,” I said without taking my eyes off of Liz.
“You know, it’s not gonna help if you collapse from exhaustion,” said Brian sternly.
“Well at least I won’t have to go far to the hospital,” I snapped.
“NICK!” yelled Kevin. He was mad; I knew he was.
“Look, guys, I’m not going to close my eyes until Liz opens hers,” I told them.
“But we don’t know how much longer she’ll be unconscious,” said Brian.
“It could be weeks,” pointed out Kevin. “You cannot go without sleep for weeks, I don’t care how stubborn you are,” he added.
“I’ll go for as long as I can,” I said. At that moment AJ and Howie walked into the room.
“How is she?” asked Howie worriedly looking at Liz.
“Same as yesterday, and all the days before that,” I said sighing. I turned to AJ. “Happy birthday,” I told him. The other guys did the same.
AJ gave us a wan smile. “Thanks,” he said. He then looked at Liz. “Come on, I gotta get a ‘happy birthday’ from you, wake up,” he begged. Nothing. AJ sighed and sat down in a chair near the wall. Then the doctor walked in to check Liz’s vitals.
“Is she doing better?” I asked anxiously.
“I’m sorry, but there’s still no change,” she said sadly. “I do have some other news for you though,” she said.
“What is it?” asked Brian.
“The guy, who was brought in with Liz,” began the doctor.
“The one who tried to kill himself and Liz,” inserted Kevin.
“Yeah, well, he succeeded, himself anyway,” said the doctor. “He died an hour ago.”
None of us felt any remorse.
“Does that mean Liz is going to die too?” asked Howie softly.
“I don’t know, the painkillers didn’t have a chance to take full effect on Brad, but on Liz, they did,” she replied.
“Are you trying to tell us that there’s a very high chance that she’ll die?” I asked, tears gathering in my eyes.
“Well, the odds are against her,” said the doctor sympathetically. “But Liz is stronger than Brad, I would be positive if I were you,” she added. We all nodded in understanding and the doctor left.

A FEW HOURS LATER

“Eat this,” ordered Kevin and practically shoved a sandwich into my hands.
I didn’t feel like arguing with him so I unwrapped the sandwich and began eating.
“How did you get him to eat?” asked Brian coming into the room.
“I didn’t ask if he wanted to eat,” replied Kevin.
“Good idea,” said Brian nodding. I just sighed and continued eating. I looked at Liz and nearly chocked.
“Nick! What’s the matter?” exclaimed AJ hitting me on the back while I coughed.
“She just moved!” I exclaimed while coughing and pointed at Liz. The other four guys turned their heads sharply towards Liz. In a few seconds, her hand moved again. We all rushed to her and waited, afraid to breathe. A few minutes later her eyelids fluttered and she opened her eyes. Liz’s eyes looked at everyone’s face before settling on AJ’s.
“Happy Birthday,” she said weakly. Tears gathered in all of our eyes, it was the most wonderful sound we’ve ever heard.
“Liz, thank God you’re okay!” I exclaimed and hugged her as best as I could. All the other guys hugged her too.
“I’m glad that I’m okay too, I am okay aren’t I?” she asked uncertainly.
“I’m sure you are,” assured Brian. He then stepped out into the hallway and called Liz’s doctor. “She’s awake!” he yelled.
“Liz, it’s very nice to see you up,” said the doctor smiling warmly as she came into the room.
“It’s nice to be up,” replied Liz. “Am I okay?” she asked.
“Well, let’s see,” said the doctor and began checking Liz over. We all waited anxiously for the results. “It looks like you’re going to be just fine,” said the doctor smiling. “You just need to get some more rest and you’ll be back to yourself in no time,” she added.
“Can I rest at home?” asked Liz. “I hate hospitals, too many bad experiences,” she added and I knew that she was remembering what had happened during the summer.
“I don’t see why not,” said the doctor shrugging. “I’m going to go sign you out and you can get dressed and then your friends can take you home,” she said and left the room. Liz smiled widely and began to get out of bed. I helped her since she was still slightly dizzy.
“You okay?” I asked.
Liz nodded. “I’m fine, but you, you look like a wreck!” she exclaimed.
“I was worried about you,” I said softly.
“Nick, I wasn’t going down without a fight,” said Liz sternly. “When was the last time you slept?” she asked.
“Um, I don’t remember,” I confessed.
“As soon as you get home, you’re going straight to sleep,” said Liz.
“Hey who’s the patient here?” I asked grinning.
“Don’t argue with me Carter,” warned Liz and grinned back. She then gathered her clothes and went into the bathroom to change. I sank into a chair and sighed with relief. It was then that the exhaustion from the previous six days overwhelmed me. I was still sitting five minutes later when Liz came out fully dressed.
“Ready?” I asked getting up.
“Yeah, I just forgot to ask you, what about the movie?” asked Liz.
“Oh that, well, we have the next three days off,” I said. “That’s the good news.”
“What’s the bad news?” asked Liz.
“The bad news is that we’ll be working weekends cause we’re totally behind on our scenes,” I said chuckling.
“Oh that’s okay, I don’t care, as long as I’m there and healthy,” said Liz shrugging. “Um, guys, what happened to Brad?” she asked looking at all of us.
“He’s dead,” said AJ bluntly.
Liz looked shocked, and I could see a slight flicker of sadness in her eyes. “Oh,” she said and her smile disappeared.
“Liz, don’t feel sorry for him,” said Kevin shaking his head. “Look what he tried to do to you,” he pointed out.
“I know you’re right, but still, dead,” said Liz in disbelief.
“Come on, let’s get you home,” I said putting my arm around her and leading her out of the hospital room. We stopped by McDonald’s on the way to Liz’s house because we were all starving.
“I’ll be right back,” said Liz after we got to her house. She took a McDonald’s bag with her and disappeared into the kitchen. We all shrugged and dug into our food.
“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you,” sang Liz. She came out of the kitchen holding a burger with a candle in it. We all started cracking up and AJ just looked shocked.
“Happy birthday dear AJ happy birthday to you,” we all sang as we joined in with Liz.
“Sorry, I had no cake, but since you love these things so much, I figured why not,” said Liz grinning.
“Thank you so much!” exclaimed AJ and went to hug Liz.
“Hold it! Make a wish and blow out the candle first,” she said laughing. AJ stopped and thought for a few seconds and then blew out the candle. He then hugged Liz and spun her around.
“Thank you for the best present ever,” he said smiling.
“But I didn’t give you a present,” said Liz.
“You woke up today, that’s the greatest present you could ever give,” replied AJ.
“Aww,” we all chorused.
“He’s right Liz, we weren’t sure if you were ever gonna wake up,” said Brian seriously.
“Well I did, I wasn’t gonna just leave and leave you all hanging,” said Liz sincerely.
“We’re all so glad that you came back,” I said and hugged her tightly.
“I’m glad too,” she said hugging me back. Our little party went on for a few more hours. Around ten o’clock, the guys all went back to my house because that was where they were staying while in New York. I stayed with Liz.
“Nick, we gotta talk,” said Liz pulling me down onto the couch next to her.
“Okay, what about?” I asked.
“Us,” replied Liz.
“Oh, that,” I said and sighed. “Okay, just hear me out,” I told her and Liz nodded. “When I realized that you were kidnapped, it was like my whole world just shattered. I realized how much you really meant to me and how big of a part you are of my life. Well actually, you’re practically my whole life. I love you more than anyone or anything and I’m not going to let you go again,” I said. I looked into her eyes. “Liz, I am so sorry for telling you that we needed more time, I was just afraid of all these things that I was feeling for you. I was afraid that you weren’t going to feel the same and we would just be over if I told you exactly how I felt. I’m not afraid anymore, I want to be with you for the rest of my life and never be apart from you again,” I finished and searched Liz’s eyes for some clue of how she felt.
Liz took a deep breath. “Nick, those words that you just said to me where the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard. I love you so much and I couldn’t believe when you told me that we needed more time. I am so afraid of losing you. You are my everything; my life would be empty without you. I also want to be with you for the rest of my life and never ever let you go. When I was locked up in that room, I could only think of how much I missed everyone, but most of all, how much I missed you and how afraid I was of never seeing you or being in your arms again. I was praying that I would get out alive so I could tell you all these things that I felt,” said Liz and tears gathered in her eyes.
I smiled and for the first time in so long, I felt truly happy. “Come here,” I said and pulled her closer. I then kissed her softly and my heart just soared. No doubt about it, I was beyond a doubt in love.
“Nick, where’s Lana?” asked Liz looking around the room.
“She had to go to California to see her grandparents, there was a family emergency,” I explained.
“I gotta call her!” exclaimed Liz and grabbed her phone. She quickly punched in the number and waited. “Lana!” she said excitedly.
“Oh my God, LIZ??” yelled Lana. “You’re okay??”
“Yeah, I’m fine, I just woke up today,” replied Liz.
“I am so glad, I was worried out of my mind!” exclaimed Lana.
“What’s the family emergency that you had?” asked Liz.
“It’s no big deal, just something minor, everyone simply thought that it was an emergency,” said Lana laughing. “I’m coming home in two days,” she added.
“That’s so great,” said Liz enthusiastically.
“Oh man, Liz, I gotta go, my grandmother needs me to help her with something,” said Lana.
“It’s no problem, I’ll see you at home in two days,” said Liz.
“Yeah, count on it,” responded Lana. “Bye.”
“Bye,” said Liz and hung up the phone.
“So what was the emergency?” I asked.
“She said it was nothing, her family just thought that it was an emergency,” she explained and leaned back against me. I wrapped my arms around her and sighed contentedly. Before we knew it, we fell asleep.

THE NEXT DAY
Liz’s point of view

I woke up and realized that I wasn’t in my bed. I then remembered that Nick and me had fallen asleep on the couch. In fact, his arms were still wrapped around me, and I didn’t mind the least bit. I shifted slightly and Nick stirred and opened his eyes.
“Sorry,” I said apologetically.
“No problem,” he said grinning and kissed me.
“Morning,” I said.
“Morning,” responded Nick.
“So what do we do today?” I asked.
“Absolutely nothing,” replied Nick and pulled me even closer to him.
“Hmm, I like that idea,” I said and snuggled comfortably into his arms.
“I love you,” said Nick looking at me.
“I love you too,” I said and raised myself slightly for yet another wonderful kiss.

chapter 10 chapter 12