“Nick! She’s up!” Someone called.
Seconds later, Ally’s mother and Nick were peering over Ally’s bedside. “Ally?” Nick asked quietly.
The only thing Ally could do was hold out her hands for both her mother and Nick. Ally’s mother had tears streeming down her face as she held her daughter’s hand in her own. Nick found himself fighting back tears as he squeezed Ally’s hand. When Ally blinked and opened her eyes again, a third face was staring into hers. Nick answered Ally’s questioning glance. “Brian,” he said, motioning over towards Brian, who had been staying with Nick the entire week while Ally lay unconscious.
Brian smiled at Ally as Ally smiled up at him.
“You took a pretty nasty fall.” Nick continued.
“Nasty fall my ass,” Ally wanted to scream. “I…didn’t…fall.” Ally choked out over a period of 10 seconds.
Nick gave Ally a confused look. “Yes you did. Don’t you remember?”
“I can’t believe this.” Ally thought. She shook her head. Suddenly Ally winced in pain. She looked down to see her leg in a white wrap cast.
“You don’t remember?” Mrs. Parker asked.
“Good sign.” Brian added sarcastically.
Ally shook her head again. Moments later, Rachel and Matt joined the group around Ally’s bedside. When Ally saw Rachel, the heart monitor the hospital had Ally connected to rose into a series of fast beeps. A nurse rushed into the room.
“I’m afraid that all of you are going to have to leave,” she told the group. “Ally’s condition could go either way at this point and all of you together may be creating some stress on her.”
“No!” Ally wanted to yell. But it was too late. The nurse had already ushered out all of the five visitors in Ally’s room.
“I’m gonna go grab some coffee,” Mrs. Parker announced with a sigh. “Can I get anyone else a cup?”
“That would be great,” Nick said, smiling at Ally’s mom. Over the past week, she and Nick had become very cordial.
When Ally’s mom had left, Rachel was feeling more and more nervous that she would be found out. It was bad enough that Mike has suspected her when he had seen Ally leave the ski resort in an ambulance, but now, Ally’s heart monitor went crazy when Ally had seen her.
“You doing all right there?” Brian asked Rachel. In the week that Brian had spent with Nick, he had come to understand the dislike towards Rachel.
Rachel jumped at the question. “I’m fine,” she snapped. Finally, the emotional dam that Rachel had been building for a week broke down. She began to cry uncontrollably. “Ally didn’t fall,” she sobbed. “I knocked her over that boundary line cliff.” Brian, Matt, and Nick all stared at Rachel in disbelief.
“You did what?” Nick asked, allowing the anger to show though in his voice. “I don’t believe this.” Nick said. “All week you have played stupid about this entire thing. You even lied straight to my face when I asked you about Ally at the resort. What the fuck were you thinking?” Without thought, Nick lunged at Rachel. Brian caught him before he reached her.
“Calm down Frack,” Brian soothed angrily eyeing Rachel.
“Get out of my sight.” Nick said disgustedly. “I can’t even look at you.”
Rachel looked over to Matt for help only for Matt to turn away. She stood up and left the hallway, still sobbing.
Nick sat in the tension for a couple of minutes before walking into Ally’s room again.
“I’m sorry sir,” the nurse from before started. “You can’t be in here.”
“You don’t understand,” Nick defended. “Some information was just brought to my attention as to why Ally’s heart monitor rose. Rachel, a girl that has been in and out of here all week, pushed Ally over the boundary line in that skiing accident. Ally saw Rachel when her heart monitor went up.”
“I see. It’s entirely possible that Ally became a little angry. That would cause her monitor to rise,” the nurse said. She allowed Nick to pass her and Nick rejoined Ally at her bedside.
“Rachel confessed,” he started. “The whole thing. She pushed you over the cliff.”
Ally attempted a smile. Finally Nick knew the truth behind her accident.
Chapter Twenty-One
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