Loss Of Inncocence

By: Isabelle

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Isabelle was sitting on the couch thinking about Nick, they had been together for over a month now, she cared for him deeply. She was lost in her thoughts that she almost didn't hear the doorbell. She snapped out of it and walked to the door, she opened it and to her surprise, there stood Nick.

"Hey" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around his neck.

"Hi" he replied, walking in.

"What are you doing here so late?" she asked casually.

"Well I missed you and I really wanted to see you, and anyway, it isn't that late, it's only 8:30, do you want me to leave?" he asked, a bit disappointed.

"No, of course not, it's just that I didn't think you were gonna come tonight" she replied.

"Oh is that right?" he asked, coming closer to her.

"Yeah" she replied.

He got to her as close as possible and kissed her deeply. When they pulled away they just looked at each other, it was the best kiss she'd ever gotten from him.

"Are you thirsty?" she asked, turning around to go to the kitchen.

"No" he replied, taking her arm and turning her around. He kissed her again, this time it was a passionate kiss.

"Boy, you really must have missed me!" she teased.

"Like you wouldn't believe" he said. He was looking at her with the most loving eyes, but there was a bit of sadness in them also.

"What's wrong?" she asked, concerned and confused.

"Nothing" he replied.

He gave her a little kiss on the lips and looked deep into her eyes again. "I love you" he whispered. She couldn't believe it, he had just told her that he loved her. She didn't know what to say, was she supposed to tell him she loved him too? She didn't know if she did love him.

"You what?" was all she could say.

"I love you" he said, backing away from her a little bit.

"I don't know what to say" she said, getting tears in her eyes.

"Just tell me you love me...please?" he asked.

"I...I don't know if I can do that" she admitted.

He was standing there, in front of the woman he loved, and she didn't say it back, he felt like such a fool. "What? So you don't love me?" he asked.

"I don't know, I just...I don't know if I love you" she replied.

"I understand" he said, anger building in his voice. He started walking to the door and opened it ready to walk out.

"No, Nick...stay, please?" she asked.

"No" he replied painfully.

She just stared at the door blankly. She fell to her knees, crying, thinking the relationship was over. She found the strength to get up from the floor and go to the couch, falling on it, looking at the ceiling. 'What did I do?' she asked herself repeatedly.

* * * * * * *

Nick walked to his car and drove around for what seemed like hours, he didn't know where he was going, but he didn't really care. He had just told her that he loved, and he stormed out of her apartment cuz she didn't say it back? What was wrong with him? All he wanted to do was go back over there and apologize to her and hold her in his arms...forever!

"But I love you" he screamed, hitting his fist against the wheel. He wasn't really looking where he was going until he heard a couple of cars beeping at him, he looked up and saw a bunch of lights coming his way, and then everything went black...

* * * * * * *

Isabelle was still laying on the couch thinking about Nick. She finally got up and went to the kitchen to get something to drink, she looked at the clock and it read 9:45, she was getting pretty tired but she didn't wanna go to bed cuz she knew she wasn't gonna fall asleep, so she went back to the couch and opened the tv, she flicked through the channels until she found a movie playing, she made herself comfortable and watched, her eyes were getting heavier by the minute.

She was half asleep when the phone rang, she jumped from the couch and looked around her apartment, but realized it was only the phone when it rang again.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Yes hello, is this Isabelle I'm talking to?" someone asked.

"Yeah, may I help you with anything?" she asked, getting a bit frightened.

"Well, I'm Officer Smith, I'm afraid I have some bad news about Nick" he said.

"What is it, is he ok?" she asked.

"Well he was in a pretty bad car accident about 30 minutes ago, can you come down to the Orlando hospital and we'll ask you some questions?" he asked. She couldn't speak, she was crying pretty hard, she didn't want to believe that he had been in a car accident, but she knew it was real.

"Sure" she replied.

"Great" the officer said and hung up the phone.

She dropped the phone from her hand and fell back on the couch, she thought about stuff. Was this really happening? Was he gonna be alright? Was he gonna die? A bunch of questions and thoughts rushed through her mind. She picked the phone up and put it to its place, she got her coat and went to her car and drove to the hospital.

* * * * * * *

She finally arrived at the hospital after what seemed like an eternity. She went to the counter and asked where Nick was. After she had all the information she needed, she went to his floor and saw his family in the waiting room, all crying and hugging, this made her cry even harder, and that's when it hit her, Nick had been in a car accident.

"Noooooooooo" she yelled and fell to the ground, crying and hitting her fists against the floor. Nick's sister, BJ, followed by her parents, Bob and Jane, came running towards her, embracing her into their arms. Aaron saw all of this happening, he hated to see his brother's girlfriend this way, he couldn't take it anymore and started running down the hall, Bob ran after him.

"Sweetie look at me" Jane said.

She started crying when he said that, the thought of Aaron wanting to tell Nick that he loved him was amazing.

"Well I'll tell you what, I'm going to see him in about 10 minutes, how about you come with me and you can talk to him and then I'll talk to him, does that sound good?" she asked.

"Yeah, thanks" he replied.

"My pleasure" she said.

About 15 minutes later, the doctor walked in, everyone looked up at him, expecting to hear news. "Well I'm sorry but I'm not here for news, I'm here to tell Isabelle that she can go and see Nick now" he said.

"Alright thanks" Isabelle said, "I'll be bringing Aaron with me if that's ok."

"Of course it is" he replied.

Isabelle walked to Nick's room, Aaron close behind her. When she was at the door she stopped, not knowing if she was ready to see him, but she needed to do this, so with Aaron beside her, they walked in. What she saw made her blood run cold, he looked so small and helpless beside all those machines, she couldn't believe that she was looking at someone that God was slowly taking away. She looked at Aaron and he was just standing there, looking at Nick's body, she just wanted to tell him that everything would be alright and that Nick would be fine, but for some reason, she couldn't.

Aaron walked up to the side of the bed and Nick slowly opened his eyes. "Hey buddy" Nick said weakly.

"Hi" Aaron replied.

"How are you?" Nick asked.

"I'm ok" he lied, "How about you?"

"Well I think you can figure that one out by yourself, huh?" Nick said, smiling a bit.

When Aaron saw him smile, he gave him a hug. "Nick, I don't really know what's happening right now, but whatever happens, I want you to know that I love you" Aaron blurted out, crying.

"I love you too" Nick replied, getting tears in his eyes.

"Well I have to go cus Isabelle wants to talk to you" Aaron said.

"Alright, I'll see you later, right?" Nick asked.

"You can count on it" Aaron replied.

"Bye" Nick said.

Aaron walked out, leaving Isabelle and Nick alone. She didn't know what to say or do. Nick didn't seem to be taking this too hard, although she thought that he was just being strong in front of Aaron, and she was right cuz when she looked at him, he was crying. He looked at her and told her to come closer.

"I wanna tell you that I'm sorry for what happened between us two earlier" he said.

"No, I'm sorry" she said.

"Are we ok now" he asked. She nodded. "But I do love you" he whispered.

She thought for a moment. She loved him too, she always had, she just realized it now. "I love you too" she said.

"Come here" he said, opening his arms for her.

She hugged him, never wanting to let go, cuz if she did, she knew it would be forever.

"I love you so much" he told her.

"I love you too" she replied, tears of joy and happiness falling down her face.

"Promise me something?" he asked, pulling away and taking her hand in his.

"Anything" she replied.

"Promise me you'll never leave me and that you'll always love me" he said.

"I promise" she said, she knew she was always gonna love him.

They looked at each other and his hand became weak, his eyes closed and his hand fell to the side of the bed, she looked at the heart monitor and it was beeping, showing a straight line, she knew this was it.

She kissed his lips softly, "I love you".

The doctor and two nurses cam rushing in, they checked everything. "Time of death...11:25pm" one of the nurses said.

Isabelle slowly walked away and turned to take one last look at him. She walked to the waiting room to tell everyone, her face was pale and she felt like she was gonna faint soon, not one tear was falling down her face cuz at that moment, she just didn't know how to cry. When she arrived at the room everyone looked up at her and saw the look on her face.

"He's gone..."

¤ THE END ¤

Copyrighted 2003