The next few hours flew by in a blur. The cops arrived at my apartment a few minutes after I called them and quickly searched the house for any clues. A separate detective interviewed both Erika and I separately to see if we could give them any insight into the crime. Even though Erika told them all about Josh and showed them the note he left, there was nothing that could really be done. We had no proof that Josh had been the one to ransack our place. All that the police could do was take a description of him and keep their eyes peeled.

I really do have great friends though. As soon as I called Kevin and told him what happened, the whole gang rushed over to support us. They all promised to pitch in and help me clean the place up after the police were done investigating. Kevin and Melanie insisted that Erika and I stay at their place for as long as we needed to and promised that they would make sure that security was at it's tightest.

With all this drama going on I almost totally forgot about Nick. Ordinarily I would have gone practically insane with curiosity, trying to figure out why he wanted to see me, but in light of the circumstances I definitely had other things to worry about. It seemed like we'd just arrived back at Kevin's and I'd just sat down when Izzy tapped me on the shoulder and reminded me that I should probably get ready because we should leave soon to see Nick. I couldn't believe how I'd almost forgot! All the nervousness from this morning came flooding back and I began to wonder again exactly why Nick wanted to see me.

Before I knew it Izzy and I were in her car on our way to the hospital. At first we remained silent due to the fact that a) Things were still a little weird between us and b) I was too busy obsessing over how I looked in the little mirror on Izzy's sun visor.

Finally Izzy broke the ice. "You look fine Mel."

"Are you sure?" I asked her, fussing with my hair and until I realized this was as good as it was going to get and finally gave up.

"Nick doesn't care how you look hun," she pointed out. "He's probably going to be too doped up on pain killers to notice."

"You don't think that he's only asking to see me because he's not in the right state of mind, do you?" I asked her, realizing I forgot to consider the fact that he was probably in fact on all sorts of pain medication.

Izzy sighed. "If you want my opinion I really honestly think that this accident put a lot of things in perspective for him and he wants to come clean with a few things."

"Like?" I prompted. "Maybe why he's been acting like such a jerk lately? Or what the hell is up with Katie coming to visit him?"

"Yes, some of that probably," she said mysteriously and was silent for a moment. "Look, you know how you kept accusing me of knowing something about Nick, but I said I couldn't tell you?"

"Yeah..." I answered slowly, wondering where she was going with all this.

"Well, I do know something and even though I promised Nick I wouldn't say anything maybe it'll be better to prepare you. This way you'll be calmer when Nick finally does tell you," she explained.

Uhmm ok... I thought to myself, not knowing whether to feel apprehensive or relieved that someone was finally going to clue me in to what exactly was going on in Nick's head. "What is it?" I cautiously asked.

Izzy took a deep breath. "I know why Katie all of a sudden showed up because I stopped by Nick's one day while she was over there."

"So they are seeing each other!" I interrupted.

"Not exactly. Let me finish please," she begged. "Katie showed up to tell Nick that she's pregnant. She's trying to say that it's his."

"What?!" I screeched, the news not fully hitting me yet. To tell you the truth I didn't know exactly how to react. Was I supposed to be delighted that he wasn't dying from AIDS? Or should I be enraged that he'd not only gone off and slept with Katie, which was bad enough, but he'd gotten her pregnant as well?

"Calm down Mel! Take a deep breath and breathe," Izzy instructed and waited until I'd calmed myself a little bit. "First off before you start planning anything let me remind you that there is no proof that Katie is even pregnant, much less that the baby is Nick. She claims that she's already seen a doctor and that she's confident that the only person the baby could belong to is Nick, but she could be bluffing. As far as I know Nick hasn't even spoken to her since she told him, so who knows what's going on?"

"Okay even though there is the possibility that she could be making this all up, there is also the possibility that she could be telling the truth, and if that's the case then what does he intend to do? This is going to look so bad to the public and I just know it's the sort of thing the tabloids would have a field day with. Maybe, getting out of this mess now when I have the chance to is the right thing to do," I rationalized.

"That's why he broke up with you in the first place Mel! Can't you see he's killing himself inside? Do you know WHY he said he wanted you out of his life? Because he didn't want to hurt you. It was just easier that way," she tried to explain.

I really didn't know what to say. This was just too much for one day. I was so overwhelmed I was practically numb. Now I had to go in and face Nick and I didn't think I could. If I could barely figure out how I was feeling to myself, how could I tell Nick how I felt? "Iz, I... I don't know what to do," I admitted in a sad voice as I tried to hold back tears.

"I bet you're pretty confused right about now and it's going to require a lot of thought, but as corny as it may sound, the only advice I can give you is to listen to what's in your heart. If you really love Nick that much, than you guys can get through this. It's up to determine whether or not he's worth it or not. He does deserve you to hear him out first before you make any rash decisions though," Izzy advised.

"You're right," I admitted as I looked out the window and spent the remainder of the ride to the hospital considering what Izzy had just said