Date: Sun, 25 Sep 2005 18:50:06 -0700 (PDT)
From: slpwriter <slpwriter@yahoo.com>
Subject: Nick Lachey: My Everything-88

Hello, Everyone!

I'm back with another chapter of "My Everything."

Thanks for all of your support! Without it, I don't
think I could have written this story for this long.

Now on with the story.

First of all, let me just say that this is my first
time writing any kind of fiction like this.

DISCLAIMER: This is a work of total fiction and is
not meant to imply anything about the sexualities of
Nick and Drew Lachey or anyone else mentioned in
this story.

If you are too young to read this, or if
Homosexuality offends you, then please don't
continue any further and leave.

Other 98 Degrees stories I'd like to recommend are.

"Give Me Just One Night" by Unanoche.
"69 with Jeff Timmons" by Zachary Scott Pritt
"Nick Lachey" by Ken.
"98 Degrees Is Hot" by Gay Night
"The Reunion" by RinSong.
"Loving Nick Lachey" by Jordan
"Playing Doctor with 98 Degrees" by Brian
"This Gift" by Sprout

and finally:

"What I feel for you" by Thack.


Now, I"ll let you get on with the story.

Enjoy.


Previously on "My Everything".....


The Detective opened up his notepad so that he could
get ready to take notes. Then, he looked back up at
Joe and asked the first question.

"Do you know of anyone who would have hated your
daughter enough to want her dead?"

Joe thought about it for a moment. Nick was totally
out of the question because he had been there when
Jessica was attacked. Joe also knew that Jeff, Justin,
and Drew would never hurt her. They all loved her.

Then, Joe thought about Kandi, who he'd had a fight
with, earlier. He knew that she didn't like Jessica,
so she could be a possible suspect, but he still
didn't think that she was capable of murder.

"Well," Joe started. "Nick, her husband, is definitely
not a suspect because he was with us the whole time
when it happened." He said. "So is Nick's brother,
Drew, and the rest of his bandmates. They all have
alibis, I'm sure."

Then, Joe thought back to something that had happened
not that long ago. All of a sudden, the pieces of the
puzzle were starting to come together for him.

"I think I know exactly who is responsible for my
daughter's attack." Joe Simpson said. "Alright,
Detective, If you want a suspect, I'll give you the
number one suspect in my book."

"Who would that be, Mr. Simpson?" Detective Adams
asked, as he put his pen to his notepad and started to
get ready to write.

Joe's face started turning red with fury.

"A man named Sean Perry." He said, in a dangerous tone
of voice.

*******************************************************
BACK AT SEAN'S APARTMENT............

DING DONG!

I woke up to the doorbell ringing, signaling the
arrival of a visitor. I looked over at the clock and
saw that it read 12:00a.m. Nick must have headed over.

I got up and stretched to wake myself up. Then, I
quickly got up and headed towards the door to let Nick
in. I'm sure he had to be going through hell right
now.

When I opened the door, I wasn't greeted by Nick.
Instead, it was Danny.

"Danny, hi." I said, tiredly. "Come on in."

Danny entered while I closed the door behind me. He
turned and looked at me.

"Are you aware that Jessica was attacked tonight?" He
asked me.

"Yeah, I am." I told him. "I saw it on the news about
an hour and a half ago. How is Jessica?"

"Not good." He said. "Nick told us that she's in a
coma and her chances of coming out of it are not
good."

I opened my mouth, in shock when I heard that little
bit of news. Things with Jessica were worse than I'd
thought.

"So, you're saying that she could die?" I asked him,
wondering what his answer would be. I saw Danny nod.

"It's very possible at this point." Danny told me. "If
she doesn't wake up, in 48 hours, chances are she
never will."

I shook my head and raised my hand to run it through
my hair. When I did, I realized that it was my injured
hand. I quickly lowered it, hoping that Danny had not
seen it. But, I wasn't so lucky.

"Sean, what happened to your hand?" Danny asked, in
shock.

"Oh no!" I thought to myself, as I looked up at him.
"How am I going to talk my way out of this one?"


**********
CHAPTER 88
**********

"Sean?" Danny asked again. "Come on, tell me. What did
you do to your hand?"

I looked down at my hand and then back up at Danny. I
knew I shouldn't do this, but I was going to lie to
him. I was not ready to get into specifics about what
had happened to my hand and why. I was going to have
to get into where I'd been and I didn't want to talk
about it.

"Danny, it was just a slight accident." I said. "It's
nothing for you to be concerned about."

I saw Danny look at me, strangely. It was clear that
he wasn't buying my excuse. I couldn't say that I
blamed him. He did know me pretty well, considering
our past friendship.

Danny stepped closer to me and grabbed my injured hand
to get a better look at it. As I watched, he started
un-wrapping my bandages. I made no move to resist it.

When, he'd finally unwrapped my hand, he could see the
blood, seeping through the gauze. Then he lifted the
gauze off and saw the long, nasty gash across the palm
of my right hand.

"Oh my god, Sean!" Danny exclaimed. "This looks really
bad! Slight accident, my ass! You may need to get
stitches!"

Hearing him say that, I started to go into panic mode.
"What was I going to do?" I couldn't go down to the
hospital. "What if Nick and the guys were there?" I
didn't want them to see me this way.

"Damn it, Danny!" I cursed, yanking my hand away from
him. "It's no big deal! As long as I keep it bandaged,
it will be fine!"

Danny looked at me, a frown on his face. It was clear
that he was starting to get suspicious about
something.

"Sean, you need to have your hand checked out." Danny
pointed out. "If you don't, it could get infected. Do
you really want that to happen?"

I took a moment to think it over. I knew that Danny
was right. My wound looked worse than I thought. But I
didn't want to go to the hospital, for obvious
reasons. One being that when you went into the E.R.
for anything, they have to fill out a medical report
and I was not looking forward to telling the hospital
what I'd gone through, that night.

"Well, what do you say, Sean?" Danny asked me. "Am I
taking you to the hospital or not?"

*******************************************************
BACK AT THE BEST WESTERN HOTEL.........

NICK'S ROOM......

"So, how's Nicole?" Nick asked Drew, as he entered the
room. "Is she sleeping?"

Drew nodded, as he sat back down, next to Casey, on
the spare bed in Nick's room.

"She's still asleep, Nick." Drew told him. "She was
fussy earlier because of the storm. We all know how
she's afraid of lightning and thunder."

"Right." Nick said, with a nod of his head. "I'm going
to go in and check on her, in a minute. First, I need
to talk to you and Casey about Jessica's condition."

>From the tone of Nick's voice, and the expression on
his face, Drew and Casey could tell that it was very
serious. Nick looked like hell.

"What's going on, Bro?" Drew asked him, his worry
starting to grow. "What's the prognosis?"

Nick sat down on his bed, across from Drew and Casey.
He looked up at them, his eyes saying it all.

"It's not good." He said. "Jessica has slipped into a
coma. And her chances of coming out of it are lousy."

Drew and Casey sat there, both of them frozen in
shock. They could not believe that things were that
serious with Jessica. That only gave them more
questions.

"Oh my god, Nick!" Casey exclaimed, quietly. "What are
the doctors doing for her?"

"Well, they're monitoring Jessica's condition very
closely." Nick said, wiping at a tear that had started
to fall down his face. "The next 48 hours are
critical. If Jessica hasn't woken up by then, chances
are she probably never will."

That made Drew and Casey both feel worse. They
couldn't help but feel helpless. There was obviously
nothing that they could do to help Jessica wake up
from her coma. But there was something else that they
could do for her.

"Nick, before you got here, I was thinking of going
down to the hospital to see if there is anything I can
do for your wife." Casey said. "I was just getting
ready to head down there when you called about 10
minutes ago. I thought that maybe I could help in some
way, given that I am a doctor, myself."

Nick gave Casey a look of gratitude. He was very
touched that Casey wanted to help, but he wasn't sure
what Casey could do for Jessica.

"That's very thoughtful of you, Casey." Nick said,
quietly. "And I'm very grateful to you for wanting to
help, but truth be told, I don't think that there is
anything you can do. Not unless you can make Jessica
wake up from her coma."

Casey shook his head, sadly.

"I'm sorry, Nick." He said. "Not even I could
gaurantee that. We'll just have to pray and hope for
the best."

"He's right, Bro." Drew agreed. "We just have to pray
that Jessica will come out of this. There's nothing
else we can do. Is there?"

"As a matter of fact, there is." Nick said to him.
"Joe and I are going to hold a press conference in the
morning."

Drew frowned in confusion.

"What for?" He asked. "What's that going to
accomplish?"

"We're going to get the public involved." Nick
explained. "Jessica has alot of loyal, caring, fans
out there. If we inform the public that Jessica is in
a coma and we ask them all to pray for her recovery,
then that could make all the difference in Jessica's
recovery."

Drew and Casey looked at each other and thought that
Nick had a very good plan. But the question  is: Would
it work?"

"I think that you may have something there, Nick."
Casey said. "It sounds like a good plan. What can we
do to help?"

Nick thought about how they could help, but he
couldn't think of anything else at that moment. Right
now, he was too worried about Jessica and their
daughter, to really think of anything.

"I'll let you know when I come up with something."
Nick said, rubbing his eyes. "Right now, I'm so
exhausted, I can't even think about anything else but
Jessica and my sweet little girl."

"That's understandable, Nick." Drew replied. "You've
been through the ringer, tonight."

Nick couldn't sit there anymore. He had to be near his
little girl right now. He had to be with her, in case
the worst happened to Jessica. Then, he remembered
that his parents had asked him if he could tell Drew
that they wanted to see him, tonight.

"I have to go and be with my little girl." Nick said.
"I'll watch her while you go down to the hospital,
Drew. Mom and Dad are there and they want to see you."

When Drew heard that, he stood up.

"Mom and Dad are here in town?" He asked. "Why didn't
you tell me, sooner?"

I never got a chance to." Nick said, tiredly. "There
was just so much going on that I just forgot."

"It's ok, Nick." Drew said. The important thing is
that I know now."

Drew stood up, intent on going down to the hospital to
visit his parents. He hadn't seen them since he'd left
town. Now that he was back, he wanted to let them know
that he was alright.

"I'm going to go down to the hospital with Casey to
see my parents now and to give Jessica's parents my
support." Drew said, as he started to walk towards the
door.

"Before you do," Nick said to him. "I'd like to talk
to you for a minute. Alone."

Drew frowned and looked at Casey. Casey sensed that
this could be a very important moment for Drew and
Nick and he decided to give them this opportunity to
talk with each other. Maybe they would be able to get
things out in the open and deal with their issues.

"I'll go downstairs and wait for you in the lobby,
Drew." Casey said. "When you and your brother are done
here, meet me downstairs and we'll go to the car,
together."

"Thanks, Casey." Drew said, as Casey walked towards
him. Then put his arms around Drew's waist and pulled
him in for a quick kiss.

"I can't wait until we get down to the car." Casey
said with a grin on his face. "Then, you and I can
steam up the windows."

Hearing that, Drew's grin matched Casey's at that
moment.

"In that case, you'd better get down there and get the
car ready." Drew said. "I'll meet you down in a
minute."

"Ok." Casey said, releasing Drew. "I'll see you
downstairs."

Casey then said goodbye to Nick and left the room,
leaving him alone with Drew to talk things out.

When Casey had left, Drew turned back to Nick,
wondering what he wanted to talk to him about.

"Ok, Nick, We're alone now." Drew said. "What did you
want to talk to me about?"

"Alot of things." Nick said, tiredly, then gestured
towards the other bed. " Please, sit down."

Seeing the serious look on his brother's face, Drew
knew that whatever Nick had to talk about was not
going to be easy for him. So, he sat down on the other
bed and waited for Nick to decide where he wanted to
start in their conversation.

Nick looked up at Drew, through tired eyes, as he
started to speak.

"First of all, I want to talk about what happened
earlier today when you found me, outside, this room,
crying."

"You don't have to, Nick." Drew told him. "I already
know about the divorce. Jessica told me everything."

"She did?" Nick asked, a little shocked by that.
"When?"

"Later this morning, after our fight in the hall,
earlier." Drew pointed out. "She was devastated, Nick.
I don't think I've ever seen her like that before."

Nick nodded, as he stood up and started walking around
the room, a bit. He stopped at a dresser and leaned
over it, looking at his and Drew's reflections in the
mirror.

"Did she also happen to mention to you that when I
told her that I wanted a divorce, that she threatened
to out me to the whole world if I did?"

Now, Drew was not prepared for that one. When Nick
revealed the awful truth to him, he was stunned.

"She did what??!!" Drew asked, completely blown away
by that insult. "Nick, I can't believe that Jessica
could do something so cruel and hurtful like that."

"Wait, there's more." Nick said. "She also said that
if I were to get back together with Sean again that
she would file for full custody of our daughter and
make sure that I never got to see my daughter while
Sean was in my life."

If Drew wasn't as stunned before, he certainly was
alot more stunned now. That had to have been one of
the lowest things that Jessica could have done to
Nick.

"Nick, I'm so sorry to hear that." Drew said,
symapthetically. "I had no idea that Jessica could
stoop so low."

"Don't worry about it, anymore." Nick said to Drew.
"It's no longer an issue."

"Why?" Drew frowned, now confused.

Nick turned around and looked back at Drew, ready to
tell him what had happened earlier.

"When I came back to the hotel, Jessica apologized to
me and said that she didn't really mean all of those
awful things that she said. Nick explained to him.

"Do you believe she was sincere?" Drew asked him. Nick
nodded.

"Yes, I believe she was." He said. "I have to believe
that all Jessica really wants is what's best for our
daughter. She had to realize that a messy custody case
was not the answer. Nicole wouldn't benefit from
that."

"No, she certainly wouldn't." Drew said, softly. "That
little angel has been through enough, already."

Nick nodded, agreeing with Drew there. Then, he
thought of another issue that needed to be addressed.

"While, we're talking about apologies," Nick said to
Drew. "I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry for
the way I treated you, this morning."

Drew felt his heart burst with joy at that moment when
he heard Nick apologize to him. But, at the same time,
he didn't want to get his hopes up too high. Just
because Nick apologized to him, didn't mean that
things between them were magically resolved.

"It's ok, Nick." Drew said. "Don't worry about it."

"No, it's not ok." Nick said. "My anger was directed
at Jessica, not at you. I shouldn't have been that
harsh with you. You were only trying to help."

"Nick, I understand why you're angry with me." Drew
said. "And, because of what I did, breaking up your
marriage to Sean, I have alot to make up for. With
both of you."

Tears were starting to well up in Drew's eyes at that
moment. Nick could see just how much remorse Drew
actually felt for what he'd done. Nick walked back
over to his bed and sat back down.

"Yes, you do." Nick agreed, his face all serious. "But
you have to understand that I can't just forgive and
forget what you did, like it never happened. Your
deception caused alot of people alot of pain,
including yourself."

As Drew listened to Nick, his tears were starting to
run down his face at that moment, as his emotions gave
way.

Nick continued.

"I trusted you, more that anyone else in this world,
Drew." Nick said, his voice surprisingly calm. "And
once you betray that kind of trust, it is very hard to
get it back."

Drew hung his head, looking down at the floor, as he
nodded. He sniffed, as his crying started to escalate.

"I know that, Nick." He said. "While, I was on the
road, thinking about what I'd done, I thought to
myself: "How could I do such a thing? and the most
important question was: "Why?"

Drew looked up at Nick, with a very intense look in
his eyes.

"And I've finally come up with the answer." He said.

Now Drew had Nick's attention. Drew finally was able
to answer the question that Nick had wanted to know
for a long time.

"If you have the answer, I'd really like to hear it,
Drew." Nick said to him. "I've asked myself that
question a million times. Why? Why would my little
brother do something so incredibly deceitful to his
own brother? and to a man who once considered you a
great friend, and brother in law?"

Drew started to choke up, not just because of the pain
and the guilt that he felt over his deception, but
because he was finally going to look his brother in
the eyes and face the truth. He was going to give Nick
the truth, once and for all.

Drew stood up and looked down at Nick, throught
tear-filled eyes.

"I just hope that you can understand why I did what I
did, because I sure as hell understand why." Drew
said. "It's because I was too weak. I never really
dealt with my depression after Sean chose you over me
all those years ago before you got married. Seeing how
happy you were with Sean and how happy everyone else
was around me, just made me even more lonely. All I
wanted was for somebody to love me. And I was so
desperate to cling onto what I thought was love with
Sean, that I lost sight of what was really important."

"What was that?" Nick asked, his expression intense,
as he listened to Drew.

Drew gestured towards Nick with his hands. That said
it all.

"You." Drew said. "I didn't stop to realize that I WAS
loved. I was loved by everyone. You, Sean, Jeff,
Justin, Kandi, and Danny. They all loved me. That
should have been enough for me. I didn't realize any
of this until I saw Casey again, when I was in New
York City. Casey and I were both at our lowest points
when we came face to face. We consoled each other and
he shared his pain with me, and I shared mine with
him. Then, we both realized that maybe it was fate
that had brought us together. I knew at that moment
that it was possible to find love again. My life had a
purpose again. I finally knew that I could head back
home and try to make things right with my family
again."

When Drew came to that part of his story, he sat back
down again. But he still wasn't finished.

"I just want you to know, Nick." Drew said to him.
"That my feelings for Sean are resolved now. I have a
man who loves me now and I'm happier now than I've
ever been. But, I'll be at my happiest again when you
finally are able to find it in your heart to forgive
me for all of the pain that I caused you."

Drew's words were starting to sink in for Nick. He was
finally beginning to understand what Drew had gone
through.

"I love you, Nick." Drew said, as he wiped his
tear-streaked face. "I would give my life for yours.
You know that. And I would cut off my arm if it would
help take away any of the pain that I caused you."

Nick sighed heavily, as he listened to Drew beg for
his forgiveness. As much as he would have loved
nothing better than to embrace Drew and say that he
was forgiven, it just wasn't that simple. The wounds
were still too fresh. After all, Drew hadn't been gone
that long.

"I have no doubt that you mean all of those things,
Drew." Nick said, tiredly. "And as much as I would
like to tell you that I forgive you, I can't. It's not
that simple for me."

Unfortunately, that wasn't the answer that Drew was
hoping to hear. But, Nick still wasn't finished yet.

"If I'm going to forgive you, I have to have more
time." Nick said. "You have to prove yourself to me,
so that there is no doubt in my mind that you have
changed. Once that has happened, you will gain back my
forgiveness and trust. But we have to do it, slowly.
It can't be rushed."

Drew felt like he was going to burst with joy at that
moment. From what Nick was saying, it sounded like he
wanted to work on repairing their relationship as
brothers. But, did he for sure?"

"What are you saying, Nick?" Drew asked him, his voice
full of hope. "Are you saying that you want to work
things out with me?"

Nick was silent, as he let himself think it over.
Then, he looked back up at Drew.

"I don't see any reason why we shouldn't." Nick said.
"And right now would be the perfect time for you to
start proving yourself. With Jessica in the hospital
and unable to care for Nicole, I'm really going to
need your help and your support throughout this whole
ordeal."

Drew breathed a sigh of relief. He was instantly
filled with joy. He and Nick were finally going to
start making some progress in repairing their
relationship. With time, hopefully, they would get
back their brotherly bond that they had once shared
and become loving brothers again.

"Thank you, Nick." Drew said, as he moved in and
embraced his big brother. "Thank you so much."

Nick was a bit caught off guard by Drew's embrace, but
he made no move to stop it. For a moment, Nick seemed
to wrestle with his thoughts on whether or not, he
should return his brother's embrace. After all, the
wounds were still fresh where Drew's betrayal was
concerned. But he also realized how much he had missed
his little brother while he was gone. In the end,
Nick's love for his brother won out, and he slowly
wrapped his arms around Drew and returned the hug.

Drew, I want you to know something." Nick said, as he
continued to hug Drew. "And it's really important for
you to know this."

"What is it?" Drew asked, not letting go of Nick.

What Nick was going to tell Drew would no doubt make
Drew feel even better.

"Despite what you did to me and Sean when you ruined
our marriage," Nick said, as a tear ran down his face.
"I want you to know that I still love you."

Drew gasped when he heard  Nick admit that. In
response, he hugged Nick even tighter.


*******************************************************
MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE HOSPITAL, IN THE WAITING
ROOM.....

"I cannot believe that I let you talk me into this." I
said to Danny as he and I entered the waiting room
area.

"It's because you know that I'm right." Danny said.
"You need to have your hand looked at by a doctor."

"Maybe so." I said, as I sat down in a chair. "But did
it have to be tonight?"

"Yes it did." Danny said, as he sat down next to me.
"Or it would have gotten infected. If it hasn't
already."

I sighed in frustration as I looked around the waiting
room. I hated hospitals. They were so depressing and
they smelled awful all the time. I have yet to be in
one hospital that doesn't smell like death.

At that moment, I wondered something.

"Danny?" I asked him. "Is Jessica in this hospital?"

I saw Danny look at me. Then he nodded. Just seeing
that was enough for me.

"That's it." I said, standing up. "I'm out of here."

I started quickily walking away, but I didn't get far.
I felt Danny grab me by my upper arm and pull me
towards him.

"No, you're not!" Danny said, sternly. "And don't even
think about trying to put up a fight! You are going to
stay here and get your hand checked out, even if that
means I wrestle you down and tie you to a damn chair!"

When I looked at him and heard the seriousness in his
tone, I knew that he meant business. I didn't stand a
chance against him if I chose to call his bluff. If
Danny wanted to wrestle me down, he could do it. He
was one of the best wrestlers of the high school
wrestling team, back when we were still in school. And
I was sure that he still knew all of those moves.

Finally, I rolled my eyes and sighed, heavily, in
defeat.

"Alright, fine, you win." I said to him. "But, can't
we please just do this somewhere else? I don't want to
be in the same hospital that Jessica is."

Danny crossed his arms over his chest and squinted at
me a little bit. Just seeing that look in his eyes
made me nervous.

"Why are you looking at me like that?!" I asked him,
nervously.

"I'm just trying to figure you out." Danny said.
"You've been acting really strange since I arrived at
your house, earlier. You won't tell me what happened
to you or how you got this awful gash on your hand.
And whenever Jessica's name is brought up, you get
really agitated for some reason. Why is that?"

I could feel my heart beating a mile a minute. I
thought I was going to faint. Danny was starting to
get even more suspicious. If he kept at it, I was not
going to hold out much longer. I was probably going to
have to give him the truth, anyway.

"We'd like to know the answer to that, ourselves." I
heard a voice ring out.

Danny and I turned in the direction the voice had come
from and we both came face to face with Joe Simpson,
Jeff, Justin, and a man who looked like a detective of
some kind.

I turned away at that moment, as I silently cursed to
myself over this situation. I didn't not need this
right now. I was only here to do one thing and that
was to get medical attention. Not to be going another
round with Jessica's father.

*******************************************************
BACK AT THE HOTEL, IN NICK'S ROOM......

"You'd better go." Nick said, as he released Drew from
their embrace. "Casey's waiting for you, in the car,
downstairs."

Drew pulled back and wiped the rest of his tears off
of his face. But, he was smiling now. He had finally
made progess with Nick. Nick was willing to bury the
hatchet with him for now.

"I know." He said. "I've kept him waiting long
enough."

Drew got up and started for the door, but then he
turned back to Nick.

"Are you sure you don't want to come with us?" Drew
asked him. "I'm sure Kandi wouldn't mind watching
Nicole until you get back."

Nick shook his head.

"No, Drew, that's ok." He said. "I'm exhausted, and
Kandi needs to get her rest as well. You go ahead,
though. But, call me if there is any change in
Jessica's condition."

"I will." Drew said, "I'll see you later, Nick."

Drew walked over to the door. Before he could open it,
He heard Nick's voice again.

"Drew?"

Drew turned around with raised eyebrows.

"Yeah?" Drew asked, wondering what Nick wanted. He saw
Nick looking at him, intensely.

"I know it means alot of you that I'm willing to try
and give you another chance to make up for the pain
that you caused me." Nick stated.

"Yes, Nick, it does." Drew said. "And I'm grateful to
you. More than you'll ever know."

Nick nodded.

"Don't make me regret it." He said, the seriousness
very obvious in his face. Drew knew that he meant
business.

"I won't, Nick." Drew said, sincerely. "I promise."

Ok. Nick said. "Go."

Drew nodded.

"I'll call you later." He said, as he opened the door
and stepped out of the room. Then the door closed
behind him.

Nick slowly stood up and started walking into the
living room area of the hotel to check on Nicole.

He entered the room and walked over to where Nicole
was sleeping. He gazed in at her as he watched her
sleep. She was absolutely adorable when she was
asleep.

"Oh, baby." Nick whispered, his voice barely audible.
"You've already been through so much. What's going to
become of you and me if....."

Here, Nick choked up, as he attempted to finish what
he was going to say.

...If your mother dies?" Nick finished as a sob
escaped his lips.

*******************************************************
BACK AT THE HOSPITAL..................

I quickly stuck my injured hand in my pocket before
anyone else noticed it. And I must have succeeded
because no one asked me about it.

"Oh, this is just great." I said, to myself. "This is
just what I don't need right now."

I saw Joe look over at the detective at that moment.
When I saw that, I did too. The Detective was eyeing
me in a very uncomfortable way. I didn't like it at
all.

"Detective, this is the man that I was telling you
about, earlier." Joe said to the man.

When I heard that, I frowned, in confusion. "Why would
Joe be talking to the Detective about me?" Unless.....

I saw the Detective start walking towards me. When he
was in front of me, he extended out his hand.

"I'm Detective Adams." He said. "I take you you are
Mr. Sean Perry?"

I looked down at his hand and then back up at him, as
I refused to shake his hand. I couldn't. Otherwise, I
would have to reveal my wounded hand.

"Yes I am, Detective." I said to him. "What can I do
for you?"

The Detective looked at me, suspiciously as he
withdrew his hand, seeing that he was not going to get
a handshake from me.

"I hope you don't mind, but I'd like to ask you a few
questions." He said, as he pulled out his notepad and
pen.

"Fine." I said to him. "Ask away."

Detective Adams looked at me and prepared to ask me
his first question.

"What is your relationship to Ms. Simpson?" He asked
me, as he watched me carefully.

"We have no relationship." I told him. "She's married
to Nick Lachey."

"That's not the answer I'm looking for." He said. "So,
I'll rephrase that: "Are the two of you close at all?"

I knew that question was coming. There was no way that
I could lie my way out of this one.

"No, we're not, Detective." I said, as I rolled my
eyes. "Jessica Simpson and I will never be friends."

I brought my left hand up to my face as I bowed my
head down and rubbed my face, in exhaustion.

"Why is that?" Detective Adams asked me. "Is it
because of your relationship with her husband?"

That did it. My head whipped upwards in shock as I
looked at the Detective, stunned that he had brought
up that question.

"Where the hell did that come from, Detective?" I
asked him, as I started to get upset.

"From me." I heard Joe Simpson say. I looked over at
him and saw the look on his face. There was no doubt
in my mind that he was out for blood. And from the
looks of it, it was mine!"

I shook my head at him, in disgust. I should have
known that he would badmouth me to the Detective. I
turned back to Detective Adams and proceeded to answer
his question.

"Nick Lachey and I are friends." I replied to
Detective Adams. "I've known him for almost 3 years
now."

"I see." Detective Adams said. "And, are you aware
that Miss. Simpson is here in the hospital in acoma?"

Before, I could answer him, a nurse walked into the
waiting area.

"Sean Perry?" I heard her ask.

"Yes?" I asked her, wondering what she wanted.

"The Doctor can see you now." She said. "Come with
me."

"I'm coming." I said, then looked back up at the
Detective. "I'm sorry, Detective, but I have to go."

I could see that Detective Adams was not pleased about
that. Now, I was hoping that this would get rid of
him. But somehow, I knew that it wasn't possible.

"What do you need to see a Doctor for?" He asked me.

"That's really personal, Detective." I said to him.
"Now, If you'll excuse me, I have to go."

As I started to walk by him, I felt him throw his arm
in front of me, stopping me.

"Not so fast, Mr. Perry." I heard him say. "First do
me a favor and remove your right hand from your
pocket."

"Excuse me?" I asked him, not sure I'd wanted to hear
him.

"You heard me." He said. "Remove your right hand from
your pocket so that I can see it."

Busted! I knew at that moment that there was no way
out of this one. I was going to have to reveal the
truth, whether I wanted to or not.

I looked over at Danny for help. When I did, I could
see that I wasn't going to get any help from Danny. He
was not about to lie and cover for me.

"Just do it, Sean." He said. "Everyone else is going
to find out, soon enough, anyway."

I sighed and turned back around to face the Detective.
As I did, I slowly pulled my bandaged hand out of my
pocket and looked down at it.

"My God, Sean!" Jeff gasped. "What happened to you?"

At that moment, I panicked. There was no way I was
going to stand around for anymore of this. I was going
to go with that nurse and get my hand checked out.

"Not now, Jeff." I said. "I'll explain later."

With those last words, I quickly walked past them and
went with the nurse towards the examination room,
leaving everyone else behind me, with more questions.

*******************************************************
MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE HOTEL, IN NICK'S ROOM.....

Nick was lying on the couch, asleep, next to his
daughter's crib. He was reliving the events that had
happened back at the auditorium ealier that evening.


<<NICK'S DREAM>>

"JESSICA, LOOK OUT!" Nick heard himself scream, as he
saw the chandelier falling towards Jessica's head.

He remembered seeing the look of confusion on her face
as she looked over at him. Then he saw her look up and
saw the chandelier come down on her.

Nick remembered seeing her fall. Then he saw the
vision of her covered in glass. He saw her blood
everwhere.

"DON'T YOU DIE ON ME, JESSICA, DO YOU HEAR ME?!" He
sobbed,into her ear. "DON'T YOU DARE DIE!"

<<END OF NICK'S DREAM>>

Nick awoke with a start, jerking upright into a
sitting position, on the couch, as the remnants of the
dream faded. He saw that he was in the hotel living
room.

His breathing was coming out in quick gasps, his skin
was clammy and cold, and he had tears running down his
face. He had obviously been crying in his sleep and he
also had woken up in a cold sweat.

Just then, Nicole started crying. Nick wiped away his
tears, got up, and looked inside the crib to see
Nicole looking up at him, tears falling down her face.
Nick reached in and carefully picked her up out of the
crib.

"Come here, my sweetheart." Nick cooed as he held her
close. "It's ok now. Daddy's here."

Nicole still wouldn't stop crying. That made Nick
wonder if maybe she needed a diaper change. Nick
smelled her to see if she had pooped in her diaper.
She didn't smell like it, but he figured that he'd
check anyway to make sure.

Nick walked back into the bedroom and laid Nicole down
on his bed. He started opening her diaper to inspect
it. He pulled the tabs apart, opened up her diaper and
looked inside it.

Sure enough, she needed to be changed, for she had
urinated in her diaper.

"Looks like my little cutie needs to be changed." He
said, smiling down at her. She was falling asleep
again. But that was ok with Nick. It made it easier
for him to change her diaper without her making a
fuss, which toddlers sometimes did when they had to be
changed.

Nick grabbed her diaper bag from the bedside table and
laid it down next to him. He opened it up and took out
a clean diaper and some baby wipes. Then, he pulled
her dirty diaper off of her and set it aside to be
thrown away. Then, with the baby wipes, he cleaned her
up a bit, before putting the clean diaper on her.

Once that was done, he grabbed another baby wipe out
of the dispenser and wiped his hands with it. After he
was finished, he threw the dirty wipes inside the
diaper and rolled it up. Then, he got up and threw it
into the trash can nearby.

He turned back around and walked back over to the bed
to where Nicole was laying. He leaned down and
carefully picked her up again. He cradled her in his
arms and walked over to a recliner chair that was
nearby.

He sat down it in and raised the footrest so that he
could lay back into the chair and put his feet up,
too. He held his little girl in his arms, as he
watched her sleep.

"This time you get to sleep in your Daddy's arms, my
little one." Nick said, quietly, as he kissed her
little cheek. "Goodnight, precious."

As Nick lay there, with the baby in his arms, he
couldn't help but wonder what was going on at the
hospital right now.

As Nick started to drift off, there was a soft knock
on the adjoining door to his room. As he looked in the
direction of the door, it opened and he saw Kandi
stick her head in.

"Hi." He said, softly. "Why aren't you in bed?"

Kandi entered the room, in her night gown and saw that
the baby was sleeping in Nick's arms. She quietly
snicked the door shut behind her.

"I couldn't sleep." She said, tiredly. "I have too
much on my mind right now."

"Yeah, tell me about it." Nick said, nodding. "I just
had a nightmare about what happened tonight a few
minutes ago."

Now, Kandi was concerned. She walked over and sat down
at the end of the spare bed, across from Nick.

"Was it about what happened to Jessica, tonight?" She
asked. Nick nodded.

"Yes, it was." He said. "I will never forget that
moment as long as I live. It was so hard for me to see
my wife like that. All covered in glass, her blood
everywhere..."

Kandi could see that Nick was visibly upset by having
to relive that whole experience. Who could blame him?
Anyone would be shaken up seeing someone that they
cared about hurt like that.

"Shh," Kandi soothed, as she rested a hand on Nick's
thigh and patted it, sympathetically. "Honey, don't
think about that right now. It's doesn't do you any
good to get worked up like this."

Nick looked up at her, as he started to break down
again.

"I can't help it, Kandi." He said, as he looked down
at his little girl. "My wife is in critical condition
and my little girl, here, is left with only one parent
to take care of her, right now."

"Nick, Honey." Kandi said, trying to calm him down.
"You have to stay strong. Jessica needs you to do
that. So does your daughter. Don't give up hope."

Nick looked doww at Nicole and saw that she was
sleeping peacefully, now that she had been changed.

"Excuse me, Kandi, while I go and put her back to
bed." Nick said.

He pushed down the foot recliner and started to stand
up. Kandi did as well.

"Why don't you let me do that for you, Nick?" Kandi
offered. "It'll give you a chance to compose yourself,
and then we can talk."

"That's a good idea." Nick agreed. "Here, take her."

Nick carefully handed Nicole over to Kandi, and Kandi
cradled her in her arms.

"I'll be right back." Kandi whispered. "Why don't you
go ahead and turn on the baby monitor so we can hear
her in case she wakes up again."

"Sure." Nick said, as Kandi walked away and headed
into the living room to put the baby down.

Nick walked over to the bedside table and clicked on
the monitor so that he could hear the baby in case she
woke up again. As he did, he could hear Kandi moving
around in there.

Nick sat back down in the chair and put the foot rest
up again. He took a moment to relax while he waited
for Kandi to come out of the living room.

Finally, Kandi emerged from the family room and came
back to sit on the bed again.

"Listen, Nick," She began saying. "if you'd like to go
back down to the hospital and spend some time with
Jessica, go ahead. I can keep an eye on Nicole for
you."

Nick looked at Kandi through his tired eyes and gave
her a look of gratitude. He was very grateful to her
for her support, even though he knew that she and
Jessica hadn't been on good terms lately.

"Thanks, Kandi." He said, as he attempted a smile.
"But, that's really not necessary. I sent Drew to the
hospital with Casey. If there's any change in
Jessica's condition, Drew said that he'd call me."

"Ok, hon." Kandi said, tiredly. "So, what shall we
talk about?"

Nick remembered his conversation with Drew earlier. He
decided that he would tell Kandi about the progess he
made with Drew, on mending ther relationship. He had
no doubt the she'd be overjoyed about it.

"Well, despite all the bad news that's happened today,
I do have some good news to share with you." Nick
said, with a tired smile. "You'll no doubt be very
happy about it."

Now, Kandi was intrigued. She was definitely looking
forward to hearing good news for a change.

"I'm all ears, Nick." She said "It'll be great to hear
some good news for a change. So, go ahead. Tell me."

Nick looked up at her and smiled.

"Drew and I had a long talk, earlier, when you and I
got back from the hospital." He said. "I apologized to
him about how I'd treated him earlier yesterday
morning. We talked things through and came to a
decision."

Kandi was no doubt happy to hear that part, but when
Nick stopped there, she could see that he was still
grinning from ear to ear.

"Well, don't keep me in suspense." Kandi said. "Tell
me. Does it have to do with the two of you? Are you
and Drew going to try to mend fences with each other?"

*******************************************************
BACK AT THE HOSPITAL.........

"Well, Detective?" Joe Simpson asked after Sean had
run off. "Do you think he's hiding something?"

Detective Adams turned back to Joe and nodded.

"You bet I do." He said. "The way he just tore out of
here just now is very suspicious to me. He wouldn't
even explain how he injured his hand to us."

Detective Adams then looked over at Danny.

"Mr. Matheson, do you have any idea how Mr. Perry
injured his hand?" He asked him. Danny shook his head.

"No, Detective, I don't." He said. "I asked him about
it multiple times, but he refused to get into it with
me."

Just then, Detective Adam's cellular phone started
ringing. He picked it up and answered it.

"Detective Adams, speaking." He said, into the phone.
"Oh, Hi Max, what's up?"

"I just wanted to let you know that we got back the
results of the test that we ran on the blood droplets
we found, in the maintenance area of the auditorium."
Max told Detective Adams.

"Yeah?" The Detective asked. "And what did the results
show?"

"After we ran the tests on the blood, we've determined
that the blood type is B positive. So, you have to
have a suspect with the same blood type as this to
figure out who's blood it is."

"Alright, Max." Detective Adams said. "I'll take it
from here. Thanks."

Detective Adams hung up the phone and turned back to
Joe, Danny, Jeff, and Justin, who were wondering what
that phone call was all about.

"Detective, what's going on?" Jeff asked him, as he
walked over to stand beside Danny. "What was that
phone call about?"

Detective Adams returned his mobile phone to his belt
clip and looked back up at Jeff.

"That was one of my forensics guys." He said. "They
found droplets of blood that had been left at the
scene of the crime when the attacker had fled. They
sent it down to the lab to test it and find out what
type of blood it was."

Now, everyone was wondering the same thing. "Who's
blood was it?" If they could find that out, then
they'd know who had tried to kill Jessica.

"And?" Joe Simpson asked, pushing for more info.

"The blood type for the blood that was tested, is B
positive." He said. "Do any of you, standing here,
have the same blood type?"

Joe, Justin, Jeff and Danny all looked amongst each
other and then shook their heads no.

"No, mine is type O." Danny said to him, revealing his
blood type.

Detective Adams then looked over at Jeff.

"What about you, Mr. Timmons?" He asked. "What's your
blood type?"

"Mine is type B negative." Jeff told him.

"And you?" Detective Adams asked Justin.

"Mine is type A." Justin replied.

The Detective wrote down everyone's blood types next
to their names and then started flipping through his
notes.

"Just so you all know, I'm only asking this so that I
have it on record." He said. "Mr. Timmons has an alibi
for last night. He has said that he and Mr. Matheson
were having dinner at the hotel restaurant during the
time that Jessica was performing. And Mr. Jeffre had
said the same. He and Ms. Kane were having dinner
together as well, so none of you are considered
suspects in this investigation."

The guys and Joe all looked at each other in relief.
They were glad that they didn't have to worry about
being suspects. But they were starting to wonder about
Sean. Why was he acting the way that he was?

"Then, that just leaves Mr. Perry." Detective Adams
said. "I'll have to talk to him and find out where he
was on the night in question."

Jeff, Justin, and Danny were listening to the
Detective thinking out loud, and they weren't liking
what they were hearing.

"What are you saying, Detective Adams?" Danny asked
him. "Are you suspecting that Sean may have done this
to Jessica?"

Before Detective Adams could answer him, Drew and
Casey had arrived at the hospital and were heading in
their direction.

"Guys, we're here!" Drew called out to them.

Detective Adams, Joe Simpson, and the rest of the guys
turned around and saw Drew and Casey heading towards
them.

"Hey, Drew, Casey." Danny greeted them. "It's a good
thing that you're here."

Drew frowned as he looked around at everyone. He could
see the serious looks on everyone's faces.

"What's going on?" Drew said, frowning. "Why do I get
the feeling that Casey and I just interrupted
something, here?"

"Because you're right, Drew." Justin said to him, as
he put a hand  on Drew's shoulder. "We were just
asking Detective Adams if he's considering Sean as a
suspect in the attack on Jessica, last night."

Drew and Casey were both floored by that revelation
from Justin. Drew looked at the Detective, ready to
come to Sean's defense.

"Is that true, Detective Adams?" Drew asked him. "Do
you really think that Sean is capable of murder?"

The Detective looked at Drew, with his emotionless
Detective look.

"Anything is possible, Mr. Lachey." Detective Adams
said to him. "And judging by the way Mr. Perry was
acting, earlier, when we tried to question him here
about his hand injury, I have no doubt that....."

Detective Adams didn't get any further before Drew
interrupted him. He had no idea about Sean's injury.

"Whoa! Wait a minute, back up!"  Drew asked in shock.
"What hand injury?"

"Sean somehow hurt his hand tonight, Drew." Danny
supplied for him. "I saw him, earlier, at his
apartment when I left the hospital, earlier. He has a
nasty long gash across the palm of his right hand. It
looked bad enough that he may need stitches."

"Did you ask Sean what happened?" Casey asked,
concerned for Sean."

"Yes, I did." Danny said to him. "But, he refuses to
talk about it with me. That isn't like him at all."

"Which only goes to prove that he's hiding something."
Detective Adams said. "And I'm not going anywhere
until I finish questioning him about his whereabouts
earlier tonight."

Drew looked around at that moment, wondering where his
parents were. He turned to Joe.

"Joe, where are my parents?" He asked them. "Nick said
that they wanted to see me?"

"They're with Tina, in Jessica's room." Joe replied.
"Why don't you go in and see them. They've been
waiting for you. Jessica is in the ICU, room 120."

"Thanks, Joe." Drew said. "I just wanted to say how
sorry I am about what happened to Jessica tonight."

"Thank you, Drew." Joe said. "I appreciate you saying
that."

"Is there anything that I can do for you or Tina?" He
asked him.

"Say a prayer for my daughter." Joe said. "Right now,
that's about all we can do at the moment."

Drew nodded.

"Consider it done." He said. "I'll go and see my
parents first, and then I'll head down to the hospital
chapel."

Joe didn't say anything, but he nodded. Drew turned
back to Casey.

"Come on, Casey, let's go." He said to Casey, and
started walking away to find Jessica's room. Casey
followed him.

Joe, meanwhile, was starting to believe that Sean had
something to do with what happened to his daughter,
tonight. He was standing there, his hands balled into
fists, as his anger started to escalate.

"So help me, If I find out that Sean Perry had
anything to do with what happened to my little girl,
tonight," He fumed. "I'll make him wish that he'd
never been born!"

*******************************************************
BACK AT THE BEST WESTERN HOTEL...........

"Yes, Kandi." Nick said, giving Kandi her answer.
"Drew and I are going to try to rebuild our
relationship." He said. "But, it's going to take time.
It too early yet to forgive Drew."

Kandi was overjoyed to hear that news. She rose off of
the bed and eveloped Nick into a hug.

"Sweetie, that's the best news I've heard all day."
Kandi gushed as she hugged him tightly. "I am so happy
for you and Drew. I knew that you'd come around,
eventually. I told Drew that if he was patient just a
little while longer, then your anger would subside."

Kandi let go of Nick to see him, looking at her with a
surprised expression on his face.

"You really told him that?" Nick said. "I'm very
surprised by that. "Other than me, you were the only
other person who can't forgive easily!"

"I know." Kandi said, with a nod of her head. "But
when I saw him arrive on Sean's doorstep on Christmas
Day, I immediately noticed something different about
him. It was like he had gone through something during
his time away, that changed him."

"He did." Nick said to her. "He grew up. He fell in
love. And for the first time, ever, it was the real
thing for him. Not like what he thought was love when
he was with Sean."

"And, how do you feel about that?" Kandi asked him.
"About Drew being in love with Casey, I mean?"

"I'm very happy for him." Nick said, smiling. "I think
I finally understand now what it must have been like
for Drew to see everyone else happy with someone,
while he was left with nobody. And that could have
been part of the reason he did what he did, destroying
my marriage to Sean."

Kandi thought about what Nick had said for a moment
and realized how much sense it made now. Now even she
started to understand Drew a little better.

"So, in other words, "She said, as the pieces started
coming together for her. "Drew was probably reacting
more out of loneliness, than out of what he thought
was love where Sean was concerned."

"Exactly." Nick said. "Drew was so desperate to find
love, that he misinterpreted his loneliness for
something else."

Kandi thought about that and realized that what Nick
said made alot of sense. She looked back up at Nick.

"Do you think that it will be easier for you to
forgive him now, knowing what you do?"

Nick wasn't sure how to answer that at first. Instead,
he shrugged.

"I don't know." Nick said, unsure of himself. "Maybe.
We'll just have to wait and see how things play out.
But, I do know this much. There's no point in trashing
Drew anymore. I've already seen just how much remorse
he feels for what he did."

Kandi nodded. Then she thought about something and
when she realized what it was, she started to laugh.
Nick looked at her and frowned.

"What's so funny?" He asked her, as his smile started
to turn into a huge grin, just from seeing her laugh.

"You know, it's ironic." Kandi said. "Just about a
half hour ago, you were telling your parents how you
weren't ready to resolve your issues with Drew and how
you two probably never would become loving brothers
again."

Nick nodded, remembering that confrontation.

"I know." he said. "And I meant everything I said, at
the time."

Kandi shrugged.

"What made you change your mind?" She asked,
curiously.

Nick shrugged.

"After what happened to my wife, tonight, I realized
that life is too short to hold on to a grudge." Nick
told her. "I thought about what it would have been
like if it had been Drew who had been injured tonight,
instead of Jessica. Once that thought entered my mind,
I knew that I had to meet Drew, halfway, in getting
our relationship back on track."

Kandi smiled. Then she got up and embraced Nick again.

"Just the same. I'm very happy for you." She said.
"Once you and Drew get your trust and your friendship
back, your brotherly bond will be stronger than ever.
I know it."

Nick smiled, as he returned Kandi's embrace.

"I'm hoping for that, too." He said. "I just hope that
Drew doesn't make me regret my decision to bury the
hatchet with him."

*******************************************************
BACK AT THE HOSPITAL..........

Tina was still sitting at the edge of Jessica's bed,
holding her hand and talking to her, softly. Cate and
John were standing behind her. Both of them felt
sorrry for Tina. No parent should have to see their
child going through what Jessica was.

"Baby, please wake up." Tina begged her. "Your husband
needs you. Your daughter needs you too. Now, more than
ever. You can't give up, now. You have to keep
fighting."

It was no use. Jessica still wasn't responding to
Tina. Tina kissed her hand and reached over to stroke
Jessica's cheek a little.

Just then, there was a knock on the door. As Tina,
Cate, and John looked in it's direction, the door
opened and Drew poked his head in. Casey was right
behind him.

Cate and John's eyes widened when they saw their baby
son, standing in the doorway.

"Hey, can we come in?" He asked, looking around the
room. Then, his eyes fell on his parents. He smiled at
them. "Hi, Mom, Dad." He said. "Nick said that you
wanted to see me?"

When the shock wore off, Cate rushed over to her son
and threw her arms around him, as tears came to her
eyes.

"Thank God." She said, joyfully. "My baby is back!
Your father and I have missed you so much!"

Drew returned his mother's hug, as Casey looked on.
Drew's eyes also were filled with tears. He had missed
his parents alot while he was gone.

"I missed you both, too." Drew said to me. "I wish I
had known sooner that you were here in Orlando. I
would have come to see you, sooner."

"Don't worry about that, Son." John replied. "The
important thing is that you're here now. The family
has to pull together right now."

"I know." Drew said, as his mother released him from
their embrace. "It's really terrible what's happpened
to Jessica."

John looked over at Casey at that moment, wondering
who he was.

"Who is this?" he asked Drew. Drew turned around and
looked at Casey.

"Oh, right." He said. "Mom, Dad, I'd like you to meet
Casey Richards."

Then as Casey was getting ready to shake hands with
Drew's parents, Drew introduced them to him.

"And Casey, this is my mother, Cate Lachey, and my
father, John Lachey."

It's great to meet you, both." Casey said, as he shook
hands with Cate, and then John. "Drew's told me alot
about the two of you."

"All good things, I hope." Cate said, giving him a
small smile.

"All good." Casey said, warmly. "You're both great
parents from what I've heard."

"Thank you, Casey." John said. "We really appreciate
the compliments."

"No problem." Casey said to him. Then he saw Tina,
still sitting near Jessica's bedside. He walked over
towards her.

"You must be Jessica's mother." Casey said as he
introduced himself. "Hello, I'm Casey."

"Yes, I'm Jessica's mother, Tina." Tina said, as she
reached out and shook hands with him. "It's good to
meet you, Casey."

You too, Mrs. Simpson." Casey said to her. "I'm just
sorry that it couldn't have been under better
circumstances."

"Me too." Tina said, as she turned back to watch
Jessica again. Casey looked at Tina, sympathetically.
She looked very tired and worn out, and he couldn't
help feeling sorry for her.

"I just want you to know how sorry I am for what
happened to Jessica, earlier tonight." He said. "No
parent should ever have to go through something like
this."

"Thank you, Casey." Tina said. "I appreciate you
saying that."

Casey then thought about suggesting to her if he could
help in any way. He was a doctor after all.

"Listen, the reason I came down here with Drew is
because I thought that maybe I could help your
daughter in some way, considering that I am a doctor,
myself."

Tina looked back at Casey, in surprise. Casey did look
quite young to be a doctor.

"You're a doctor?" She asked him, then said. "If you
are, then I'd appreciate anything you could do that
would help my daughter come out of her coma."

Casey could see that Tina was starting to lose her
composure. But, even he could not make Jessica come
out of her coma. Nobody could do that, but Jessica
herself."

"Well," Casey started. "First, we have to wait to see
if Jessica wakes up soon. Then, we'll see what happens
from there."

Tina nodded and turned back to Jessica, as she once
again picked up Jessica's hand and squeezed it,
lightly.

"Mrs. Simpson, why don't you go to the cafeteria and
get something to eat?" Casey suggested. "I could stay
here with Jessica while you go down and get some
coffee or something. You need to keep your strength
up."

"No, I couldn't." Tina said. "I need to be here in
case Jessica wakes up."

"Tina, I think Casey is right." Cate said to him.
"Come on down to the cafeteria with me and John while
Drew and Casey stay here with Jessica. OK?"

Tina still didn't want to leave Jessica's side, but
she was feeling a bit weak, and a bit hungry, so she
reluctantly agreed.

"Alright, I will." Tina said as she rose up from her
chair. "But, I want you to promise me that you'll call
me if Jessica wakes up. When she does, I want to be
summoned."

"Don't worry, Tina." Drew said to her. "We will." I
promise."

"Ok." Tina said, as she wiped the remnants of her
tears from her face.

She started walking towards the hospital room door to
leave. As she did, Cate put her arm around Tina, as
she and John followed her out of the room.

When they were alone, Drew turned back to Casey. He
was very worried, right now, about alot of things.

"Casey, I just realized that as much as I'm worried
about Jessica," He said to Casey. "I'm much more
worried about how Nick is going to react when he finds
out that the police are considering Sean as a suspect
in Jessica's attack tonight."

Casey gave Drew an understanding look, as he put his
hand on Drew's shoulder and squeezed it, lightly.

"I know." He said. "But even Nick has to realize that
the whole idea that Sean could have done something
like that, is insane."

"I know." Drew said. "I can't see Sean as the type of
person who would try to kill anyone. Although, the
Detective did say that anything is possible, I still
can't believe it."

"We shouldn't jump to conclusions until we get the
whole story from Sean." Casey replied.

Drew had to admit that Casey had a point there, but he
wondered how they were going to get the full story
from Sean since Danny had said that he'd refused to
talk about how he'd injured his hand.

"How will we get the whole story if Sean doesn't talk
about it?" Drew asked him.

"I guess we'll just have to wait until Sean is ready
to talk about it, openly with us." Casey said to him.
"There's nothing else we can do at this point."

Drew sat down next to Jessica's bed and looked down at
her unconscious form.

"One thing I do know," Drew said, looking back at
Casey. "is that if Sean really did try to murder
Jessica, it would be all over for him. He would go to
prison for the rest of his life, and Nick would never
forgive him. Neither would the rest of the guys,
including me."

"Wait a minute?!" Casey was shocked. "Don't tell me
that you're starting to believe that?!" Sean would
never resort to murder!"

As much as Drew wanted to believe that Sean didn't
have anything to do with Jessica attack, he was
starting to have his doubts. Especially because he had
seen a side to Sean that he'd never seen before,
awhile back."

"I hope you're right, Casey." Drew said. "Oh god, I
hope you are right."

*******************************************************
DOWNSTAIRS, IN THE LOBBY.........

"Joe, would you get a grip on yourself?" Jeff said,
nervously. "You're upset, and you have every right to
be, considering what Jessica's gone though, tonight."

Joe looked over at Jeff, the anger still in his eyes,
as he listened to him.

"But," Jeff continued. "You're not thinking clearly.
You want to blame someone for what happened to
Jessica, but you can't just blame Sean."

"Oh no?!" Joe suddenly said, loudly. "I cant?! Jeff,
that man doesn't get along with my daughter! Have you
forgotten the incident in the living room, when Nick
came back from Orlando with him? He got rough with
Jessica, right in front of all of us! You saw it!"

Jeff opened his mouth to protest, but Justin
interrupted him before he could say anything.

"Joe, come on, that isn't fair." He said, calmly.
"It's easy for you to blame Sean, simply because you
don't like him. That makes him an easy target for
you."

Although Justin was making sense, it only seemed to
infuriate Joe more. He didn't like to hear anyone
defending Sean. Especially the people who were closest
to Jessica.

"Damn it, Justin!" Joe said, furiously. "Since you are
close to Sean too, you can't be objective about this!
Come on! How could Sean not have done this to my
daughter?! Look at all the evidence! He gets rough
with Jessica in the living room and shoves her to the
floor! and just days before that, he beats Nick's
little brother to a pulp! So, don't tell me that Sean
Perry isn't capable of harming anyone! Because as far
as I'm concerned, he's capable of anything!"

Justin couldn't think of anything else to say. He
looked around at Jeff and Danny. They both were also
at a loss for words. It was clear that no matter what
they said, Joe was going to stand by his conviction
that Sean was the culprit who tried to murder Jessica.

"Well," Jeff said. "I guess I can see Joe's point to a
certain extent." He said. "After all, Sean did beat
Drew's face to a pulp when he'd found out the truth
about what Drew did to him. Sean was never one to use
his fists on anyone."

"Finally!" Joe said, throwing up his hand. "Finally,
you are starting to see what Sean is capable of!"

"BUT HE IS NOT CAPABLE OF MURDER!" Danny suddenly
shouted. "I KNOW HIM BETTER THAN ANYONE!"

Danny was starting to cause a scene and that was
getting them unwanted attention. People were starting
to stare.

"Mr. Matheson, calm down." Detective Adams said,
softly. "Making a scene isn't going to solve
anything."

Danny calmed down then, but he was still angry. He
crossed his arms and stared daggers at Joe, as he
stopped talking. Jeff saw this and decided to do
something about it before things got worse.

"Danny, come with me for a minute." Jeff said. "Let's
go for a walk while you calm down."

Danny didn't say anything, but he nodded. With one
last angry look at Joe, he walked over to Jeff. Jeff
put his hand behind Jeff's upper back, briefly as they
both walked out of the lobby area.

Then, Detective Adams looked at his watch.

"What is taking Mr. Perry so long?" He asked. "He
should have been done by now."

*******************************************************
OUTSIDE THE HOSPITAL......

I was outside the hospital, getting some fresh air,
while I thought about what to do where Detective Adams
was concerned. I figured that he must be the Detective
in charge of Jessica's case. And his job was to find
the person who'd tried to kill Jessica tonight.

"What am I going to do?" I thought to myself. "How am
I going to get myself out of this mess I've created
for myself?"

I thought it over and as much as I didn't like it, I
was going to have to face Detective Adams. But, it was
not going to be here, at the hospital. So, I came up
with an idea.

I quickly ran to the car and got into it. As I did, I
reached for my cell phone. When I picked it up, it
beeped. When I looked at it, I saw that the battery
was low.

"Damn!" I said. "The battery is dead!"

I started frantically looking around for my charger
that plugged into the cigarette lighter. It wasn't
anywhere in sight. After a few more minutes of
searching, I found it, lodged underneath the front
passenger seat.

"Oh, Thank God!" I said, kissing the charger in
relief. "Am I glad to see you. Now, I can go ahead
with my plan."

I plugged one end into my phone and the other end into
my cigarette lighter. When the phone flashed on and
said "Charging" I immediately flipped it open. When I
started getting ready to dial a number, I heard the
message beep sound. I had gotten a voice mail from
someone. Curious as to who it was, I dialed my voice
mail and followed all of the prompts, and then waited
to hear the message.

"Hey, Sean." I heard Nick's voice say. "When you get
this message, please call me. It's very important that
I speak with you. There have been some recent
developments that I think you should know about. Call
me later, ok?"

Then the voice mail ended. I didn't have any other
messages.

"I wonder what he wanted." I said to myself. "Well,
we'll find out soon enough."

I then sat down in the driver's seat and pulled out my
keys to the car. I started the engine and started
backing out of the parking lot. Once I was out of the
space, I turned around and looked towards the entrance
to the hospital.

I noticed that there were a bunch of news reporters
hanging around, outside. Security was doing their best
to keep the entrance clear so that people could get in
and out without being ambushed by them.

When I saw that, I was even more convinced that what I
was doing was going to be what was best for everyone.
Except, I thought about the fact that I was leaving
Danny behind, without telling him where I was going.

"I'm sorry, Danny." I said to myself. "You'll just
have to understand that I have to do what I have to
do. Hopefully one of the guys will give you a ride
back to my house."

I flipped open my phone again and dialed Nick's cell
phone. After a few rings, he picked up.

"Hello?" I heard his voice greet me. He sounded
exhausted.

"Hi, Nick, it's me, Sean." I said to him. "How are you
doing? I heard about what happened to Jessica, tonight
on the news."

"Not good." He said. "I'm a complete wreck right now."

"I'm sure." I said, sadly. "Listen, could you stop by
my apartment? I'm on my way home now and I need to
talk to you about something."

"Can it wait?" I heard him say. "I'm really exhausted
right now."

"Actually, no it can't." I said to him. "This is very
important. I wouldn't ask you if it weren't. Meet me,
Nick. Please?"

I didn't hear anything for a moment, which must have
meant that Nick was thinking about it. I could still
hear him breathing on the other end of the line.

"Ok, I'll be right there." Nick said. "Bye, Sean."

"Bye, Nick." I said, and then hung up my phone.

I then continued to drive out of the hospital parking
lot. I got back on the road and headed for home.

*******************************************************
BACK AT THE HOSPITAL...........

"I can't believe the nerve of Joe Simpson, or
Detective Adams!" Danny said, as he and Jeff walked
through the halls of the hospital. "Accusing Sean of
those things! Of murder!"

"I know." Jeff replied. "It does seem rather extreme."

Danny looked over at Jeff, in shock.

"Extreme?!" He exclaimed. "Jeff, it's insane! I know
Sean! He doesn't have it in him to commit murder! He's
just not that kind of person!"

Although Jeff really wanted to believe Danny, he was
having doubts about Sean's innocence. Now if Sean was
still the same man he knew 2 years ago, he would have
given it a second thought. But from what he had seen
of Sean since he'd come back into their lives, he had
to wonder if maybe the new Sean Perry really was
capable of murder.

"Well, I believe Everyone is capable of murder." Jeff
stated. "If they're pushed far enough."

Danny suddenly stopped walking. Jeff stopped and took
a good look at him. It was clear that Danny was
visibly upset by Jeff's statement just now.

"But not Sean." He said, as he tried to hold it
together.  "This is a man I've known for years! We
grew up together! I've seen Sean get taunted and
teased, in high school. I often wondered if he would
snap, myself. All he wanted was to get along with
everyone in high school. He never held a grudge
against anyone. Not without a good reason!"

"Danny," Jeff started, seeing how upset that Danny was
actually getting. "I have no doubt that you know Sean
better than I do, or the rest of the guys do, but
maybe he's not the same guy anymore. After what we did
to him, it changed him! And if you remember, not long
ago, he beat Drew to a pulp when he find out about how
he had destroyed Sean's marriage to Nick. and that
came as a total shock to all of us! Sean was never
violent like that before! He never believed in
settling scores with his fists!"

"Stop it!" Dany berated Jeff. "If you're not going to
be on my side of this, then just go back upstairs to
the lobby with Justin and everyone else and leave me
the hell alone!"

Jeff looked at Danny, trying to clear his face of the
tears, that were falling down his face. He pulled
Danny close and put his arms around him for a brief
hug.

"I'm sorry." Jeff said. "I'm sure you're probably
right. I guess maybe neither of us should jump to any
conclusions until there is more proof. After all, Sean
is innocent until proven guilty, right?"

"Yes, he is." Danny said, as he clung to Jeff. "But
he's not guilty. He can't be!

"We'll find out soon enough." Jeff said to him. "In
the meantime, why don't you come back to the hotel
with me and get some sleep? You're dead on your feet
right now. Hell, so am I."

Danny looked up at Jeff and saw how right he was. Jeff
looked like he was ready to fall asleep.

"You do look exhausted." Danny agreed. "But, I can't
leave until Sean comes back from getting his hand
checked out. He has to take me back to his apartment,
since I'll be staying there for awhile."

"Alright then," Jeff said. "How about we get some more
coffee and then I'll walk you out to his car. Do you
have a key to it?"

"Yes." Danny replied. "Sean gave me one years ago when
he was on tour with you guys and asked me to keep an
eye on his apartment, back in New York."

Ok, cool." Jeff said. "How about you and I go out
there and wait for him in the car. We can relax and
get some shuteye while we wait."

"That's a good idea." Danny said. "Let's go."

Danny started to turn back the other way, but Jeff
grabbed his arm.

"No, this way." he said. "There's a back entrance not
far from here. We'll just have to walk around the
building to the car. Besides, this will help us to
elude all those reporters that are outside."

"Right." Danny said, as he stifled a yawn. "Lead the
way."

He and Jeff started walking down the corridor and then
took a few right turns down a few more corridors and
sure enough, there was the back entrance that Jeff had
told him about.

Once they were both out of the building, they started
walking around towards the parking lot where Sean's
car was parked. When they did, Danny stopped in his
tracks.

"Oh no." He suddenly said. Jeff turned and looked at
him.

"What?" He asked.

"Sean's car is gone." He said. "Look."

Jeff looked in the direction that Danny was pointing
and saw that there was an empty parking space where
Sean's car had been.

"It looks like you're right." Jeff said. "It is gone!"

"But, he knew that I was going to be staying with
him." Danny said, obviously hurt that Sean had left
him behind. "Why would he have just left me here,
without telling me that he was going to leave?"

"I don't know." Jeff said, with a look of
determination on his face. "But, we're damn well going
to find out. Come on!"

They both headed back towards the hospital entrances
to let Justin know what was going on.

*******************************************************
BACK AT SEAN'S APARTMENT.........

I entered my apartment and set my keys down on the
coffee table. I then walked towards the kitchen and
headed for the pantry. I opened the door to it and
pulled out a bottle of Whiskey out of it. I set it on
the table. Then I turned and pulled a glass out of the
cupboard and filled it with ice.

I opened the bottle of whiskey and poured some into
the glass. Once that was done, I put the cap back on
the bottle and set it back onto the counter.

I picked up the glass and took a big sip if it and
quickly swallowed it. I grimaced as I felt the burn of
it going down my throat and into my stomach.

"This is pathetic!" I said to myself. "Look at this!
Look at what that bitch has driven me to!"

I normally was not a drinker at all. This wasn't the
solution to my problems, but it was the best thing I
could come up with at the moment.

I took another sip of my whiskey and walked back over
to the couch to sit down, while I waited for Nick to
arrive.

in a few minutes, I heard the doorbell ring. I got up,
my glass of booze still in my hand, and walked over to
the door and opened it. I saw Nick's tired form,
looking back at me.

"Come on in." I said, as I sipped my whiskey again.
"Make yourself comfortable."

I turned away and headed towards the couch, while Nick
shut the door behind him. When I turned around, I saw
him frowning at me.

"What?" I asked him, wondering what he was looking so
intense about.

Nick gestured towards the drink in my hand.

"Whatever it was that you wanted to talk to me about,
must really be important for you to be drinking that
whiskey." Nick pointed out. "That's not like you at
all."

"Yeah, well," I said, in a sarcastic tone. "It's the
best thing I could come up with at the moment. Do you
want one?"

Nick shook his head.

"No, thanks." He said, looking at me, worriedly. "I'll
pass."

"Are you sure?" I asked him. "After what happened
tonight, you look like you could use something
strong."

"Yes, I'm sure." He said. "But, I'm worried about you,
Sean. What's going on that has you drinking like this?
It's got to be something big."

"Oh, it is." I said to him, as my anger resurfaced.
"It has to do with that bitch you have for a wife!"

Nick frowned, seeing how angry I was, which started
giving him questions.

"What are you talking about?" He asked me. "What about
Jessica?"

I took another sip of my whiskey, this time a bigger
one, and gulped it down.

"I believe I was the last person who saw your wife
before she was attacked, tonight." I said. "She paid
me a visit earlier tonight."

"She was here?!" Nick asked, obviously shocked by
that. "When?"

"I don't know." He said. "But I think it was right
before her concert started. I was here when I saw it
on the news, so I know that the attack must have
happened after I saw her."

Nick nodded. Then I saw him look down and his
expression changed to concern.

"What's the matter?" I asked him, wondering what he
was looking at.

Nick reached out and grabbed my right hand, by the
wrist and lifted it up to have a better look.

"What happened?" He asked. "Why is your hand wrapped
up in this bandage."

Once again, I was faced with that question that I
didn't want to answer. But, I decided to, anyway."

"It's nothing." I said. "Just a slight accident,
that's all."

Nick didn't look like he believed me. But, that was no
surprise to me. Everyone seemed to be that way,
tonight.

"I can see you don't believe me." I said, seeing the
expression on his face. "So, I'm not even going to
bother with any explanations. Instead, we need to get
back to Jessica."

Nick looked at me, his concern for me, growing, as he
saw the state that I was in.

"Alright, fine." He said. "I'll drop the question
about your hand, for now. What did Jessica want when
she came here, tonight."

"Oh, only just to remind me once again about how I
will never share another holiday with you, ever
again."

I then looked down at the coffee table again and
noticed my broken ornament still sitting there. I
choked up, immediately, as I remembered what it had
meant to me.

"And to stick the nife in my back and twist it some
more." I said, as I knelt down and grabbed what was
left of the ornament. "She dropped her purse on this
ornament of mine and destroyed it, forever."

The tears were coming back full force now. I couldn't
help it. The one last meaningful memory of my parents
was gone.

"I'm sure it was just an accident, Sean." Nick said.
"Why would you be upset this much over a broken
ornament?"

As much as I could have been angry with Nick for
saying that, at least he had been more sensitive about
it.

"Because, this was the last gift I got from my parents
before they died." I revealed to him. "They gave it to
me on my 16th birthday, right after I got my driver's
license. It read: "The World's Greatest Son."

After I'd revealed what that ornament had meant to me,
I saw Nick's face take on a painful look. It was like
he could feel my pain.

"Sean, I'm so sorry." He said, coming over and hugging
me, tightly. "I wish there was something I could do to
make your pain go away."

I wrapped my arms around Nick and held onto him like I
would never let him go.

"After that I totally lost it and exploded with rage.
I told her what the ornament had meant to me and that
it's irreplaceable. She wouldn't even say that she was
sorry and said that maybe now I'd feel the same pain
she did because she was going to lose you, because of
me. She told me that you asked her for a divorce."

"I can't believe this." Nick said, still hugging me.
"So, that's why she took off so unexpectedly before
her concert was to start. She got back just in time
for her introduction. She almost missed it."

Now, that was news to me. I didn't know that she'd
left the concert to come back here to have it out with
me.

Nick released me and looked me in the face.

"What happened next?" He asked me, urging me to go on.

"Well, after I found out about the divorce, I told her
that I was glad that you finally see her for what she
really is."

Nick raised his eyebrows, then.

"I can only imagine how she reacted to that." he said.

"Oh no you can't." I told him. "She went ahead and
said that if I even tried to get back together with
you, that she would tell the whole world about our
relationship."

Nick's mouth dropped open, in shock. Before he could
say anything, I stopped him.

"Just wait, it gets worse." I said to him. "She also
said that if you and I do get back together, she will
go to court and file a motion for full custody so that
she'll have full control over her daughter. that way
she can make sure you're never granted any visitation
rights, while I'm in your life."

"I can't believe her!" Nick said, looking very angry.
"She went back on her word!"

Now, I was confused. Nick didn't seem all that shocked
about it. His reaction was not what I'd expected.

"What do you mean?" I asked him. "And why are you not
more shocked about this?"

Nick looked up at me.

"I'm not as upset, because Jessica made those same
threats to me, earlier this morning, when I told her,
I wanted a divorce. But earlier tonight, before her
concert, she apologized to me and said that she didn't
mean any of those threats."

"Maybe she just wanted to stick it to me, one last
time, before she admitted defeat." I said. "I didn't
think even she could be that heartless to try to
destroy you like that. But after seeing her tonight, I
have to wonder about that, now. If she really does go
through with that, then that just proves that she
doesn't love you. How could she do that to the man
that she supposedly loves?"

Nick turned back to me.

"What happened after she made those threats?" He asked
me. "I'll bet you almost had a heart attack."

"You'd better believe it." I said. "I almost did. But
then after that, it got worse. More words were said
and then she dealt the final blow to me."

"What was that?" Nick asked, looking almost frightened
at the expression on my face.

I lost my composure right then. I brought a hand to my
face and covered my eyes as the first sob escaped my
lips.

"She said that you never loved me the same way that
you love her." I said to her. "She said that you only
tried to love me, out of pity, because I was raped,
and you wanted to make it up to me. So, she said you
played my little charade and ended up playing me like
a violin in the process."

"How dare she say that to you?!" He said. "She sure
had alot of nerve!"

I removed my hand and turned to look at Nick. He was
really angry now. But, I had a question to ask him.

"Was she right?" I asked, in between sobs. "Did you
ever really love me?"

"No, she wasn't!" Nick said, in shock.Then he cupped
my face.

"Sean, my love for you was very real." Nick said,
sweetly. "I don't want you to ever doubt that."

"Thank you, Nick." I said, as I hugged him again. "I'm
sorry I had to ask you that, but I needed to hear it."

"Don't apologize." He said. "Anyway, what else
happened?"

I pulled back from Nick, briefly.

"Well, then she went to leave and then said that she
wanted to clarify something for me." I explained to
him. "That's when she told me that I wasn't the
world's greatest son, and that he'd died a long time
ago! After that, she left."

"I'm really sorry that you had to go through that,
Sean." Nick said. "Jessica had no right to come down
on you like that."

I turned away and leaned down to pick up the TV
remote. I switched on the television and then set the
remote back down on the table. Then, I also put my
drink down, too.

"Do you want to know what the worst thing about this
whole tragedy was?" I asked him.

"What?" He asked, curious as to what that was.

"When I saw on the news that Jessica had been
attacked, tonight, all I could feel was relief." I
explained to him, as I started to lose it again. "I
wondered if she was dead. And if that had been the
case, I knew that the hell in my life was over. It was
finally over and I wouldn't have to worry about
Jessica anymore. I wouldn't have to be put through
anymore pain by her."

I looked up at Nick and saw that he was shocked by my
revelation. He was looking at me, intensely.

"If it's wrong for me to feel that way, Nick, I'm
sorry." I sobbed. "But, it's how I feel. It's the only
way I can feel."

After saying all of that, I couldn't go on. I sank
down onto the couch and buried my head in my hand as I
allowed myself to cry my heart out.

Nick just stood there, looking down at me. After
hearing everything that I'd said, he wasn't sure what
to say or what to do. He didn't even know what to
feel, either.

Finally Nick sat down beside me, on the couch. I sat
up and took a look at him, wondering what he was
thinking. I could see the mixed emotions that were
playing on his face. It looked like he wanted to be
angry with me, but at the same time, I think he felt
sorry for me.

Nick didn't say anything. Instead, he put an arm
around my shoulder and pulled me into his arms. When
he did, I clung to him like I would never let him go.

"Oh God, Nick!" I said, as I sobbed hard. "I never
wanted to hurt you like this! Please, forgive me! I
love you so much!"

After I'd finished rambling, I heard Nick gasp, in
shock. It was then and there that I realized that I'd
let the truth be known. I had revealed my true
feelings for Nick. "Now what? How was he going to
react?"

Before I could find out, I heard the door slam shut.
Startled, Nick and I both turned to see Joe Simpson,
standing near the door, along with Danny, Jeff,
Justin, and Detective Adams.

"I KNEW IT!" Joe bellowed. "NICK, I TOLD YOU THAT HE
WASN'T OVER YOU! NOW, I'M MORE CONVINCED THAN EVER
THAT
IT WAS HIM WHO TRIED TO MURDER MY DAUGHTER, TONIGHT!"



To Be Continued........?

Well, that's all for this one. I hope you all enjoyed
it!

"What happens next?" Oh, if you only knew!"

Stay tuned.

slpwriter@yahoo.com