Chapter fifty one

Crystal had searched for pictures and news on the internet. Back when her dad had told her about the danger on their lives.
And the pictures she had found of Marcus Hines had shown a normal human being who could pretty much fit in anywhere But now, as she stared at the blue of his eyes, she realised just how wrong she had been.
There was no life in them.... there was nothing in them other than the single minded focus to extinguish everything that stood on his way. She wanted to scream... she wanted to call out for Nick who she was sure was only a few steps away, but she was too shocked to do anything but stand there. A sadistic smile creeped into his aged features.
And then she felt it, an impact on her gut. And when she looked down, she saw the knife he had just stabbed into her stomach and the blood that was only starting to form.

Nick was halfway to the car when the sound of his name echoed in the sky. That was Matt's voice, and he sounded stressed and frantic. Turning around, Nick desperately searched the crowd for Crystal. And finding her was easier than he had expected. People were no longer rushing to and from. Instead, they had stopped walking, and he could see them as they formed a little crowd, stopping to observe something.
His protective instincts spiked to life.
He didn't know how but suddenly he was running, forcing his way past the crowd and to the opening between them. And there, lying on the ground was Crystal. Matt was down on his knees beside her ,and a bloodied knife lay somewhere next to them.
" Crystal! "
He fell to his knees beside her.
Crystal struggled to breathe, her eyes open yet unseeing. Her head pounded... God! Nick clutched her tighter, putting pressure on the wound. His voice harsh in her ears, the words all lost beneath the frantic buzzing in her head.
" Nick..." she whispered hoarsely. Wanting to ask him what was going on but feeling too weak to do so.
" Shhh.... don't talk, everything is gonna be okay.... you're gonna be okay, " he pleaded with her. His hands now covered with her blood, he watched her lashes as they flattered close. But he didn't let them.
" Stay with me! Crystal!..." he tapped her cheek until she lazily opened her eyes again. Matt had called an ambulance and in the far distance he heard the siren as it approached. She coughed weakly and he saw blood. Looking around desperately he wondered what to do. The love of his life lay lifeless across his lap and there was nothing he could do. That was the kind of weakness he feared most. Looking around he tried to find Matt, but he couldn't. Either because he wasn't there anymore or because his eyes couldn't register anything apart from Crystal.
" Come on baby don't do this to me, " he refused to let go of her even after the ambulance arrived, they had to pry him away with force. And on the ride to the hospital he saw all the possibilities that he feared as they flashed before his eyes.
He needed her to be okay, he needed her to wake up and assure him that everything would be okay. He couldn't handle seeing her like that, the image was tearing him apart. He felt as if he was burning up from the inside out. He held her hand, but the contact did nothing to soothe him, not when she wasn't holding his back or pressing hers to show him that she could hear him.
And he had been even more intense and savage at the hospital when they locked the doors to the emergency room with him standing on the other side. Where was the calm he had harnessed throughout his life?! He dug both hands into his hair, pacing the space as his chest rose and fell with rapid breaths. His clothes were now stained with her blood, a clear reminder that she was currently in pain.
Guilt, hurt and emotions so raw all clashed inside him.
He had to call someone..... he had to tell them what had happened.
Miguel was the first one that came to mind. He was in a meeting when he received the call, but when Nick told him what had occurred, he heard the fear and panic in the other males voice. He couldn't form words clearly, so he just told him which hospital they were in and cut the call. Then he dialed her dad's number but it went to voicemail.
" Aiden.... I'll call Aiden... " he told himself shakily.
" We're not in the country but I'll inform Mr. Lockwood right away! Is she okay?, what happened? ---" he cut the call. Then he walked in no particular direction with heavy steps, but then they collapsed under his weak weight and he fell to his knees. His pulse racing too hard too fast. His eyes blurry and crowded with fear.
Lifting his still trembling hands, he looked at the dried blood, then back at the direction where they had taken Crystal. And a growl so loud and feral escaped his throat.
Miguel and Dahlia arrived a while later. And so did Miguel's mom. And Matt arrived a while after they all did.
They pressed his shoulder, as if trying to tell him that he wasn't alone... but he was. The loneliness he felt was severe, because if Crystal wasn't with him then he might as well exist alone in the godforsaken planet.
The next eternity of hours was spent in that grey sort of daze. As Crystal hovered in between life and death, Nick existed in that same cursed limbo with her. But he ached with love... with longing... with profound regret. With a fear that never faded to numbness but lingered so close to the surface his skin burnt with it.
What if she never smiled again?.. What if those beautiful amber eyes never sparkled with mischief, and with the light that even she had tried to capture with her own paintings but had been unable to because of how natural and alive it truly was.
And what if the last memory he had of her truly alive was when she had walked away from him with a look he hadn't been able to read. A look he would probably never be able to read because she was now fighting for her life.
Dahlia crouched down next to him on the floor. Asking him to be strong because Crystal would need him when she woke up. But he didn't have it in him, what if she never woke up?... that was a possibility he had no choice but to accept. And if it turned out to be so then he would cease to exist as well!
He looked around the hallway, how he had gotten there in the first place he couldn't remember. It was as if he had forgotten everything that had happened in between the time they got to the diner and now. They were there for hours, and all it served was to remind him of the last time he had been in that hospital. When her dad had been shot. He recalled how he had held her with care. How he had invested each second into ensuring that she didn't feel alone. Fisting his hands in his hair, he bowed his head. His elbows on his thighs as he tried to collect himself.
If he could only turn back time then they would have never gone to the diner in the first place. And when the doctor came out and approached them he had staid where he was on the floor. Watching him, trying to study his features and learn the truth about her state on his own.
The rest of them rushed towards him, worry masking their features.
" The knife grazed some vital organs and she did lose a lot of blood, we've done everything we can but for now all we can do is wait. We'll keep her under close supervision through the night and see what happens but right now all you can do is pray and hope that she makes it. "
The words wet supposed to calm him at least a little she was still alive and there was also a chance that she would make it. But all he felt was dread and the uncontrollable need to see her. To touch her while he knew she could still probably hear him.
He needed her.
" Can I see her? " he asked the doctor as he passed by him. His tone still shaken and desperate. If the doctor said no then he would find another way to do so, with or without their authorisation he would see her. It didn't matter for how long as long as he saw her.
The doctor would have said no, but then he looked at Nick and the word dried in his throat. It wasn't the fear he felt.... not was it the sympathy. It was the devotion he saw in Nick's eyes. That and the determination to see Crystal.
" Wait until we transfer her to another room, then I'll authorise for you to see her. "
Nodding, Nick watched as the doctor walked away. Then he stood and headed to the washroom, needing to wash the blood off his hands.
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Sinking to her side of the bed, Nick took Crystal's cold hand and held it in both of his. Willing some of his warmth into her. He just could not take it anymore.
" Crystal? "he whispered her name " Crystal, you can't do this to me okay? You have to wake up soon because I don't know how much more of this torment I can take, " his voice broke and he had to clear emotion out of his throat, "..I'm sorry I failed to keep my promise, I should have been there to protect you and I wasn't. But if you wake up then I promise I'll make it up to you, " he looked up at her, shaking his head when her eyes wouldn't open. Lightly tracing his fingers down her cheek.
" I need you, baby. I need you to wake up. I need to hold you against my heart because it's the only fucking time I feel it beating. And if you go... it dies. The last part of what makes me human dies with you. I'll die as well, if you're not in this goddamned planet then there's no way for me to be in it. If you leave me then I'll have nothing left, I'll be empty Crystal, "
He felt something on his face, something hot and unfamiliar, and when he lifted up his hand and wiped it away it came away wet.
Tears.... he was shedding tears. And although the revelation shocked him, he didn't care. Nothing else mattered apart from her.
" I'll understand it if you don't choose to forgive me, and if you do then I promise I'll be with you... " he clawed at his mind, trying to find something to bribe her with so that she would come back to him. He didn't care what it was, as long as it tempted her to not leave him.
" I'll let you order anything you want.. and we'll shop for as long as you want. It doesn't matter what you're going to buy, as long as you're there then I'll be fine.. "
She didn't respond... and his heart was breaking even more by the second. And when he realised that she wouldn't answer, he let the emotions loose. When Nick had been growing up at the orphanage, with no one other than Matt to count on, he had never cried.. And when they had run from there and slept out hungry in the rain then he hadn't cried either. And when a gun had been pointed at Matt's head after he had stolen from the wrong person the tears had been completely missing. And now, as he held Crystal's hand in his, and as he watched her lying on that bed, he didn't cry.....he wept.