THE NEXT DAY
Liz’s point of view

I woke up the next morning and saw Howie sitting next to me.
“Morning,” he said grinning.
“Hey,” I replied hoarsely. “How’s Nick?” I asked right away.
“He’s awake and silently demanding to have the tube removed from his throat,” replied Howie laughing.
I sighed in relief. “Thank God he’s okay, he is isn’t he?” I asked uncertain all of a sudden.
“Yeah, he’s fine, the doctor said that he’ll be back to his old self in no time,” responded Howie.
“Oh good,” I said relieved. “I wanna see him,” I stated.
“Do you think you’re up for it?” asked Howie.
“I know I am,” I replied and sat up in bed. Howie wheeled the wheelchair in my room closer to my bed and helped me sit down in it. “Okay, let’s go,” I said. Howie wheeled me out of my room and towards the elevator. The ICU was on the fifth floor and I was on the fourth. We got to Nick’s floor and saw the other three guys in the waiting room. They all got up when they saw me.
“Liz!” exclaimed Brian and hugged me. “What are you doing here?” he asked.
“Stupid question Bri,” I said laughing. “I came to see Nick,” I added.
“We’re so glad that you’re okay,” said Kevin and also hugged me.
“So am I, but the doctor won’t let me go home, he said that I have to stay here another week, can you believe that?” I asked. The guys laughed.
“You’ve been hanging around Nick for too long, you’re starting to sound like him,” commented Brian.
“Very funny,” I said. “So where’s his room?” I asked.
“We were just on our way there,” said AJ and the five of us made our way to Nick’s room. We came in and saw that Nick’s breathing tube had already been removed and Nick was breathing on his own.
“Hey guys,” he greeted us. We all said hi to him and came around his bed.
“Nick, Liz and you need to talk, we’ll leave you two alone,” said Brian and the guys exited the room.
“Is it just me or are they always leaving us in a hospital room alone to talk?” asked Nick grinning.
“I guess they think it’s the best place to talk,” I replied also grinning.
Nick’s face then turned serious. “Liz, how are you doing?” he asked concerned.
“I’m okay, I’ll live,” I replied. “What about you?” I asked.
“I’ll be fine in a few days,” he answered.
“Nick I gotta tell you something,” I began.
“I gotta tell you something too,” he said.
“Okay, but me first,” I said and took a deep breath. “Nick, when Bri told me that you got shot, so many emotions went through me. Sadness, anger, fear, concern, but most important, guilt,” I said and Nick tried to say something but I cut him off. “No, I need to say this, just listen,” I said and he nodded. “Okay, I feel unbelievably guilty that you’re in here, it’s my fault because I was dumb enough to open the door that day. I should’ve never done it, or at least I should’ve used the peephole before opening the door. I am so sorry that this happened to you. But I am also eternally grateful to you because you saved my life,” I said my eyes brimming with tears. Nick’s eyes were doing the same. “Nick, you put your own life in danger just to save mine. I can never repay for that but I just want you to know that if you ever need anything, no matter how big or how small, I’ll be there for you,” I finished and wiped my tears away.

Nick’s point of view

“Liz, you should’ve let me go first because then I would’ve told you that you have nothing to feel guilty about,” I began. “It’s not your fault that this happened and I never thought that it was. Truthfully, I don’t even know why I did what I did. It’s just that when I saw that gun being pointed at you, something inside me went off and I was determined not to let that guy harm you. I knew that he was too far away from me for me to stop him from shooting, so I did the only thing that I could think of at the time, I tried to push you out of the bullet’s way. The fact that I got shot was pure accident and it happened because I wasn’t moving fast enough, you had nothing to do with it,” I assured her but I still saw doubt in her eyes. “Liz, I have to tell you something that I’ve been wanting to say to you for quite a while but could never bring myself to do it,” I said and prepared myself for what I was about to say. “Liz, I love you,” I said and as soon as the words were out of my mouth, I knew it was right.
Liz looked at me and her mouth formed into a smile. “I love you too Nick,” she said and those were the most wonderful words I’ve ever heard in my entire life. I then moved myself closer to her and she got up and sat on the edge of my bed. We moved closer to each other and shared our first kiss. It was wonderful; I’ve never experienced a kiss like that before.
“Hey Nick, is that some form of a new breathing exercise?” I heard AJ cracking a joke while Liz and me were kissing. We reluctantly parted and glared at the guys who were standing in the doorway of my room grinning like idiots. Did they have rotten timing or what?
“Funny Bone, real funny,” I retorted.
“Aww, look guys, they’re both turning a very nice shade of red,” said Brian sweetly and I wanted to kill him.
“Are you done yet?” asked Liz.
“Maybe,” replied Brian grinning like a Cheshire cat.
“So does this mean that you two have FINALLY realized how right you are for each other?” asked Howie.
“Yeah I guess we have,” said Liz looking at me and I smiled at her.
“Well, we’d hate to interrupt this little love session, but Liz, you gotta get back to your room,” stated Kevin.
“Since when did you become my doctor?” asked Liz looking at him.
“Since now, come on, let’s go,” replied Kevin and pushed the wheelchair towards her.
“Ugh fine,” said Liz and then turned to me. “I’ll see you later,” she said and was about to get off of my bed when I planted a quick kiss on her lips.
“Definitely later,” I said grinning. Liz grinned back and sat in her wheelchair.
“You know, it just occurred to me that these two live in the same house, and they’re in love…” said Brian and trailed off making his point. The guys laughed and Liz and me rolled our eyes at them.
“Hey, we’re two mature adults,” I protested. The guys looked at me and started cracking up. “What?” I asked.
“Well, Liz may be mature, but you are so not!” said Brian laughing.
“Hey, I’m twenty one!” I exclaimed.
“Yeah, going on five,” said Kevin, also cracking up.
“I’m definitely the human punch line,” I mumbled and then looked at Liz for support. She smiled at me and shrugged, then Kevin wheeled her out of my room. ‘So much for support’, I thought.
“Oh hey Nick, by the way, do you know why I can’t reach your parents?” asked Brian.
“Yeah, they’re on vacation,” I replied, thankful that my mom and dad weren’t there to fuss over me.
“On vacation where?” asked AJ.
“Hawaii,” I answered.
“But why didn’t you go with them?” asked Howie.
“Because duh, did you forget the song recording thing?” I asked. What, did he not notice that we were in Germany like a few days ago?
“Oh right, never mind,” said Howie.
“Great, so we can’t reach your parents or Liz’s mom,” said AJ sighing.
“Somehow I think that’s for the better,” I said. “Parents only make things more complicated than they need to be,” I added.

Liz’s point of view

I settled back into my bed and Kevin put the wheelchair against the wall.
“Comfy?” he asked and I nodded. “How do you feel?” he asked.
“A little tired,” I admitted. Okay, so maybe I was a lot tired but it was worth it.
“Headache?” asked Kevin.
“Yeah,” I said and he placed his hand on my forehead.
“You’ve got a fever,” he observed. “Making out when you’re sick is not a good idea,” he chided playfully.
“It was one kiss,” I told him.
“Two,” corrected Kevin with a grin.
“Okay fine, two, I hardly call that making out,” I pointed out.
“Sure, but I’m sure you and Nick will get to that point as soon as you’re left alone in the same room again,” said Kevin.
“Is there a point to this?” I asked sighing.
“Nope, it’s just fun,” he replied and got up. “Get some sleep,” he instructed.
“Yes Doctor,” I retorted.
“Very funny,” he said and then left.
I grinned, then closed my eyes and went to sleep.

chapter 10 chapter 12