Kevin sobbed and cupped her face in his hands, " Oh god, this is all my fault. Kindra, please. Wake up."
The driver of the car approached the three on the street. Howie, Brian and Nick were already in the club before they arrived.
" Dude, I'm so sorry. She was just standing there. I didn't know what to do." the driver bent down to get a closer look.
Kevin thought for a moment that it was all the drivers fault. But as he turned, his eyes cold as winter he knew that it wasn't.
" Hey, don't worry about it," Kevin stroked her face and began to cry, " I'm sure she's gonna be fine."
The three stood around Kindra's limp body for a couple more minutes. The ambulance came and Aj pulled Kevin away from her as the paramedics observed her and put the braces on her in order to get her onto the stretcher.
As Kevin watched and sobbed from the sidewalk a tall, young man stepped out from the crowd that had formed.
" Oh my god." he said to himself.
Kevin looked up confused, " You knew her?"
" Know her? She just tried to get me to go home with her. Said she wanted to forget her problems and had no better way to do it."
Kevin looked out at the body on the stretcher. It looked lifeless.
" You mean," Kevin looked down and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a tattered peice of paper.....
He could still remember the night.....
The snow was brushing over her face. And the light shining over them, holding each other made her look like a shining angel. She had said that she would never see him again, and he remembered kissing her and telling her other wise. Then he had told her he had to go. He got on the bus and walked out of her life.
His last memory of her, was looking out the foggy glass window of the bus and seeing her kneel in the snow, crying. He had seen her pull a pen and a paper from her pocket, then jot something down. The bus turned the corner and he turned back around to the guys, a single tear in his eye.
" Kev?" Nick slapped him on the back.
" Hey man what happened?"
" Kindra," he was in a trance, " she, she just got hit by a car. It's all my fault."
Nick stared up at Kevin, " That," he cleared his throat and became scarred, " That was um, Kindra?"
" Yeah, I'm sure it was."
" Oh my god." Nick paced back and forth on the sidewalk.
" Nick, what's wrong with you?"
" God Kev, I didn't know. I'm sorry!"
" Nick, slow down. What the heck are you talking about?"
" Well, I kinda got kicked out of the bar for fighting. I made her laugh by laying there on the pavement. I could tell by her pitiful red eyes that she had been crying. Alot." Nick's voice softened, " It was almost like someone had hurt her, so bad, that she didn't want to go on in life. Like she wanted to put her life away in a little bottle and never let it out. I felt so bad for her. I know she probably recognized me but I wasn't for sure. She took me into that store over there and asked me to buy her some stuff cause she wanted to have a good time. I swear man, if I had known it was her I wouldn't have gotten her anything."
Kevin looked away, " Look Nick. I just want to go see if she's ok. That's all. I don't care if you made out with her in the bar. I just want her to be ok."
Nick nearly cried, he knew that this must mean alot to him, " Alright man. I'll make sure you get there now."
Nick motioned to a police officer who was checking the driver, " Could you escort him to the hospital please?"
The officer nodded and Kevin hugged Nick, " Come over there soon alright?"
" Ok Kev!"
Nick turned away sad. He remembered that he had left someone in the bar. He went to the door, " Sarah! Come here!"
Suddenly a young girl appeared in the doorway and kissed Nick sweetly on the lips, " What is it cutie?"
" Look, there's been an accident. Kevin is gonna go to the hospital and we're gonna go too! Do you mind?"
" Will I ever see you again?" She looked down.
Nick smiled, " Come with me then."
Sarah's face lit up, " I will!" she jumped into his arms and kissed him.
" Ok, ok. It's not like I'm leavin for a year." Nick looked at Aj who heard what he had said.
" We better get going!"
They hopped into the limo that had just pulled up and jumped in. Aj, Sarah then Nick and Howie came running out being chasd by a mob.
" GO GO GO! " Nick shouted watching the fans tumble onto the limo.
The limo sped away.
12-28-99 The Morning After The Accident (same Hospital Stephanie is in)
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Kevin looked up after rubbing the tiredness away from his eyes. It was Kindra's mother.
" Rose! Hi! Do you remember me?"
Her face lit up, " Why yes! I do remember you!"
" It's good to see you!"
" You too Kevin! Kindra hasn't said much about you after that night on New Years."
" Oh, well. You probably want to go see her huh?"
" See who?"
" Kindra?"
" Oh no, she's not here. We're here to see Stephanie! We haven't been able to find Kindra for a couple of days."
" Oh my god, I figured you would be the first person they'd call!"
" Kevin? What are you talking about?"
" Kindra was hit by a car last night. She was rushed to here."
Kevin's eyes welled with tears, as he saw her mother collapse into her husbands arms.
Kevin glanced around the room through his swelled eyes.
" Kevin?"
Kevin remembered the voice. It was so sweet to hear it again, " Dawn?"
" Yeah, it's me." she smiled and ran to him throwing her arms around his neck as he stood.
" It's so good to see you, Dawn. You have no idea!"
" Oh, Kevin. I think I do have an idea." she smiled, " Kevin, what's wrong?" she wiped his tears away with her thumb.
" Nothing, my ..." he stopped, " Well, my um...friend, got hit by a car...I'm here to see how she is."
" Oh how horrible."
" Hey Kev!"
" Hey Nick! Look who's here!"
Nick smiled and removed his arm from around Sarah's waist, " Hello, Dawnielle."
" Hello again, Nick." Dawnielle looked away. Nick was her ex-boyfriend. She couldn't stand to see him with another .
" Kevin, this is Sarah, Sarah this is Kevin and a friend of ours Dawnielle."
Sarah shook each hand that was outstretched.
" Kevin, you look like crap. Why don't you and Dawnielle go get something to drink. We'll wait here." Aj suggested walking over to Kindra's parents and introducing himself.
" Want me to go with you Kev?" Nick asked glancing at Sarah.
Kevin smiled at Dawnielle, " No, I got a little catching up to do."
Nick watched jealously as the walked down the hall. She had her arm around his waist and his arm on her shoulder, " She's supposed to be mine!" he mummbled to himself.
Sarah turned, " What'd you say cutie?"
Suddenly Nick detested being called "cutie".
" Could you excuse me?"
Nick ran off down the hall and looked around for Kevin and Dawnielle.
12-28-99 Kevin and Dawnielle at the Hospital (in the gift shop)
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Kevin smiled, " I'm not sure. I told her I would meet her in the park a year from the day we last saw each other."
Dawnielle looked enthused, " Tell me the story. Everything. All the juicy details."
" Well, we met at a concert. Backstage. I asked her on a date. She said yes because I would be there for the week and I told her that we could spend time together."
She was anxious, " And??"
" So we went to the movies, I took her to some of our interviews, and to some conferences. She went backstage to the rest of our concerts here. Then on the last day, we went walking around the city. It was dark, and snowing. God, she was gorgeous that day. The snow was brushing against her face and the street ligths shined just enough to light up her face. She looked just like an angel. I would give anything for her to look just like that again." a tear fell down Kevins face.
Dawnielle reached up to wipe the tear away. Kevin closed his eyes at her touch. He wrapped his hand over hers and opened his eyes.
" You look so beautiful, Dawn."
Dawnielle blushed and tried to walk away. Kevin held her to her hand and pulled her back into his arms. Without even hesitating he leaned in to kiss her.
She pulled away, " Kevin? You know what happened last time this happened. I belonged to Nick. I still love Nick. It hurts me to see him with someone else."
" Nick showed you no love. I gave you all I had. When we left I thought I would never love again!" his voice was getting louder, " Then I met Kindra. And I could love again. I didn't ever want to lose her. She forgot about me. That's how she got hit. She saw me and couldn't believe it was me! I love you, Dawn! You can't runaway from it!"
" No? Maybe you belong with Kindra. She taught you to love again. She's got your heart now. Not me. Don't make a mistake Kevin. And I can runaway. Not from your feelings for me....but from you."
Dawnielle walked out of the gift shop and ran face first into Nick.
" Sorry, Nick."
" What's wrong? You look upset."
Dawnielle glanced back at Kevin, " We'll talk later."
She ran off and Nick entered the gift shop, " Well Kev, you sure know how to pick 'em."
" What are you talking about?"
" Well, you are my friend. Love her. Lose her. Then you meet someone. Learn to love again. Leave her alone for a year. Come back and she get's hit by a car. Then you try to take mine and your ex-girlfriend back....and she runs out on you."
Kevin reached back to slug him, but stopped. Something told him not to do it. Or there would be prices to pay. With tears in his eyes he ran back to the waiting room where he found Kindra's parents, huddled together sobbing. He stopped, he knew what was going to be said, " What's wrong?"
Kindra's mother turned, " Kindra's going to die!"
Kevin fell to his knees and placed his hands on the cold floor, " So this is my life? Love and lose? One way or the other."