I only remember bits and pieces.

Hika had me on his lap in the car.

Putting pressure on my wound.

He was shouting about something to someone in the front seat.

I reached up to touch Hika but the moment our eyes met, I faded back out.

**

A  bright light shone on my face when I opened my eyes..

I was laid on bed.

My eyes rapidly searched the room.

It was a medical room.

Almost like an operating room.

There next to me stood a doctor putting an IV into my arm.

He moved quickly, and once he was done with the IV he cut off my hoodie.

I knew I had lost a lot of blood. I felt weak and I was in so much pain.

"O positive" I barely managed to get out.

Though nobody had asked I just had to get it out there.

Upon hearing my voice Hika was at my side. I saw the concern in his eyes as he looked at me, and my thoughts traveled to Nicole.

"Where is she?" I struggled to talk with a heavy blink in my eyes.

"She's fine Nicolas."

"Show me! Get her in here. I want to see her! I need to see!" I demanded.

When Hika didn't respond to me I tried to get up.

With everything we had just gone through, the pain I saw in her eyes and the fear in her voice. I needed to know she was safe.

Hika pushed me back to the bed.

"Okay little one, relax please!" He got up and left my side.

I turned to the doctor. "Give it to me straight doc, how bad is it?"

"Well, the laceration is wide and will require several stiches , however, it wasn't as deep to penetrate or puncture and vital organs. However at the moment, you get to go through the fun part. The cleaning of the wound."

The door bust open and in ran Nicole.

"Nicolas!" She cried as she ran to my side.

I lefted my hand to touch her face, and the tears leaked from my eyes.

"I'm so sorry love." I sobbed out. "Please forgive me. I should've protected you better. I'm sorry you had to go through that. I'm sorry." I just kept repeating my apologies to her. I couldn't help it.

"Nicolas," she cried. "Please don't leave me like mommy did."

I broke down crying. I put my hand to the back of her neck and brought her forehead to my lips. I kissed her face through my sobs.

"Never." I whispered. "I'm going to be okay, I wouldn't leave you or daddy. The doctor is going to make me better okay?"  She nodded

"While I'm in here, I need you to be strong for me out there. Can you do that for me sweetheart?"

"Yes. I promise." She answered with a shakey voice. She held out her pinky for me, linking my pinky with hers I pulled her in to kiss her forehead again.

"Go." I tell her, and she does hugging her dad on the way out.

"Go with uncle Zeke. Daddy will be up soon." Hika tells Nicole.

He pulls a chair to my bedside and I look over at the doctor.

"Ready when you are."

The doctor pulled a bottle from the tray he had set out an poured it over my wound.

I hissed at the pain.

"Talk to me please. Tell me anything to keep my mind off the pain." I tell Hika.

As the doctor wipes the wound and applies antibiotics around the wound Hika starts talking.

"You know before I married Emma, I had told her about you."

I looked over at him with wide eyes. "What?"

"I loved you then, just as I do now, and she knew that. Although I loved her deeply, I loved her more as my friend.

Her father was my mentor, to this life I lead today.

I worked for him day and night.

I trained with him and his men.

We were close. I looked up to him. He introduced me to Emma.

She and I grew close, but only as friends at first.

One day her father got sick, he had pulled me aside and told me what he'd expected of me for my future."

I frowned with confusion.

"He wanted me to take over for him. The land and the business. Emma was an arranged marriage. She and I wed before her father's passing. Going through the pain of losing him brought her and I closer. Thus leading to Nicole."

"You only loved Emma as a friend?" I asked confused again.

"Oh no I loved her. But she was my best friend. She knew everything about me. Including you. It was her idea to name Nicole after you."

Nicole? Nicolas? The shock hit me so hard i didn't flinch as bad as the first stitch was being put in.

"She helped me look for you. She was willing to accept you in with us." He says with pain in his expression.

"Us?"

"Yes. She wanted you here with me, and with her."

"She wanted me too?" I asked blushing a deep red.

"How.. did she..?" I hesitated asking.

"My mentor always wanted to the we run to be free of drug and guns. But not everybody agreed. A few people were caught dealing in the southern part and a kid overdosed. The family wanted justice, and it was served. However the dealers boss didn't like that he'd lost quite a bit of drugs and money, so he retaliated.

They broke into a property Emma was fixing for a family when.. They retaliated."

"I'm so sorry Hika." I reached for his hand.

"She would have loved you." He kissed my hand.

The doctor hand just finished bandaging my would. "He need to finish the transfusion but need to be kept on the IV for antibiotics and fluids. He can be moved back into the house."

"Back into the house?" Confused once again.

Hika leaned closer to me, "We're in the basement of the house."

"What the hell?"