Mixed 'N' Matched Love

Drew's POV:

The next time that I opened my eyes, I found out that we – meaning Nick and I – were in a hospital now. My eyes followed over the white walls, the white bed, and a white curtain that was placed next to me. I felt a burning sensation on my chest and legs, but they no longer hurt as much. I was shirtless and only wearing my jeans, which were singed at the bottom.

I wondered for a moment, ‘Was this seriously a hospital, or was I in heaven now?’

And then another thought, ‘Where was Nick then?! I mean, we both died together, right? Just like Romeo and Juliet? Doesn’t that mean that we have to be together now?’

I started to panic then but before I could jump up and start to really get all worked up; I heard a soft groan coming from next to me. I pushed back the curtain and saw Nick lying on her bed. She was sitting up and rubbing her eyes, like a little child.

I didn’t waste any time rushing over to her.

“What the hell is the matter with you?!” I screamed at her, even though I didn’t mean to.

“Mm, what are you talking about, Drew?” she just mumbled back.

“What am I talking about? Why don’t you tell me yourself? Since you’re the one that decided to go and set the warehouse on fire with yourself in it!”

Nick stopped rubbing then and looked up at me, locking her eyes with mine. “Oh” her expression said, but her mouth remained shut.

”Answer me!” I demanded her.

Nick didn’t answer me, no, instead she just began to stretch, her arms high above her head and a small squeak escaped through her mouth. But, that didn’t exactly stop me from continuing to yell at her while she just kept on tuning me out.

She got up from her bed then and headed towards the bathroom. I waited outside for her, while I looked around for my shirt, which was placed underneath my pillow. Nick came out just as I had finished pulling my shirt on, which hurt my chest and arms a little. I noticed her face and hair were all wet and she seemed to be looking around for a towel.

I sighed deeply, admitting defeat – at the moment. I knew that my anger would start to arise again at some point. I looked around as well and my eyes landed on my bed; there was a blanket draped over the bed sheet and I remembered that it was on me when I had first woken up. I sighed again and then picked it up. It wasn’t exactly a towel, but it was still pretty usable.

I placed one hand firmly one Nick’s shoulder as I placed the blanket over my fingers and then began rubbing at her skin with the other. My eyes locked with hers as I did this and suddenly the hand on her shoulder began to move all on its own. It cupped itself around the side of her face and on her soft cheek.

I wanted to so badly pull her into a hug and just hold her in my arms, despite the pain I might feel of the closeness of Nick to my still pretty burned chest and legs. But, Nick seemed to have other plans. She pushed me away and walked towards the door. I didn’t waste any time thinking and just followed behind her.

Outside sitting and waiting for us were Nick’s side of the family along with mine and then our friends. I watched as Nick just stood emotionlessly as she faced them all.

Nyla was the first to jump up and hug her tightly. “Nick!”

And even then, Nick just stood there doing nothing to comfort her back.

“Nikkia dear-!” her aunt had begun to say, but was cut off by her dad.

“What in the world were you thinking?!” he exploded out on her, much like I had done.

That seemed to have broken her out of her trance, because her eyes turned sad and misty.

“I-I’m real sorry dad, I just…I-I went to go get something from the old warehouse and I knew it was pretty old and the lights probably didn’t work anymore, so I brought a candle with me and I don’t know what happened. I-I guess I probably just tripped over something and ended up causing the whole place to get on fire,” she lied to him. “I really am very sorry about it all, dad, really, I never meant for it to happen like this.”

The way her voice sounded seemed pretty honest to me, but for some reason there was a part of me that was having a hard time believing her. It was as if she was really bluffing and was once again creating another web of lies to cover up the tracks of her sinful deeds. And maybe it was because she really was, but she just didn’t want to alarm her dad and aunt with all of this.

“Well, you’re lucky that Drew was here to save you or who knows what would have happened.” Mr. C continued.

Nick’s eyes drifted towards me then but there was no expression on her face to indicate what she was feeling. She just gave me a blank face and then turned back around.

“So, are we allowed to go home?” I asked no one in particular.

“Yes, son, but you need to stay home and rest.” my own dad answered me, while mom just pulled me into a hug and bawled into my shoulder.

I nodded – that I could do – while rubbing my mother's back, hoping to calm her down.

“Hey dad,” Nick asked, snapping her head up all of a sudden. “What hospital is this?”

“Um, I think it’s something called St. Mary’s Kids and Adult’s Hospital,” her auntie answered. “For some strange reason both of the hospitals were packed and too busy for us, so we were forced to come here instead.”

There were only two hospitals and Jersey. One was for kids and teens up to the age of eighteen and then there was the adult hospital for people that were nineteen and part of the elderly.

I noticed Nick’s eyes widen a bit and she seemed to be intently focused on something. Maybe she was afraid that someone would notice her and remember her from when she came here the other night that she was rescued? But, then what if they end up saying something too loudly and someone overhears it? That was bad. We’d have to be careful.

“But, none of that matters now, all that does is that we’ve got to get you both home now, you can rest.”

“But, um, dad, I can just…like real quickly say hi to someone who’s a patient here?” Nick stammered to find the right words. “He’s like only eight and he doesn’t have much time to live, so-so, I just wanna see him one last time before he goes, ya know?”

Mr. C sighed as he had begun to already tap at his phone, texting and messaging his clients and business partners from all around the world.

”Oh, alright.” he finally agreed.

“Thanks dad!”

“But,” Mr. C looked up then and looked Nick straight in the eyes. “You’re taking Nyla and Drew with you, so I know that you won’t run off along with your little friends instead of returning back to us.” there was an odd look on his face. It was one that I’ve never seen before. He looked almost…parenting. Ever since Nick’s mother’s death, Mr. C’s been real busy with work and hardly ever had any time left for his two daughters. No wonder Nick turned out so wrong and destroyed. She had no one to talk to, no one to ask for advice, or look up to; she had no help at all. “Don’t think I don’t know what you’ve been up to this whole week, young lady, I’ve seen you go out through that window more than once and I know you’ve been staying out late a lot.”

Nick snapped her head up then and her eyes briefly glanced over to me. She seemed to be glaring at me. As if this was my entire fault.

‘Yeah, right, I haven’t even mentioned a word to anyone about her new lover,’ I thought to myself. ‘Just like you haven’t mentioned a word to the police about what I’ve done, Nick.’

“But, dad…!” she groaned.

”No buts!” he countered back. “You and Drew may love to party and you may have been friends for a long time, but that doesn’t mean that you should be spending all this time together before your marriage. I know you two must be really eager to get married already, but there are some limits too, you know. You’ve only just gotten engaged, a few more weeks and soon you’ll be married, and you’ll be able to spend as much time together as you wish. But, for now, just give it a break and stay home and rest until you both feel better.”

I got exactly what Mr. C meant. He thought that Nick has been spending all this time with me and that she’s been going out and coming back so late at night because of me!

‘Ha! If only it were really that,’ I thought bitterly. ‘If only if were really that.’

Nick groaned again and sighed, before finally agreeing. And then suddenly, she was off – almost like she was in a race. She began to weave through the corners and the people, down the stairs to the bottom floor, and then around another corner. She walked fast and angrily, almost as if she were stomping down the hall.

It was hard for me and Nyla to keep up with her pace like that and when she had finally stopped right there in the middle of the hallway, we almost banged right into her back. I looked at her face; she seemed to be stuck on one particular person then.

I recognized who it was perfectly. His face was now permanently etched into my brain. Jordan. Nick’s new boyfriend and my number one enemy. I hated him for stealing my precious little Nick away from me and rotting he brain. But, I knew it was just as much of my fault as it was of his.

I could tell though then that whatever she came to do with him wasn’t going to be a good thing. The expression on her face meant trouble and any trouble for Jordan was like happiness for me, so I knew that this was something that was going to be totally worth watching.