Chapter fifty four

Nick doubted he had ever run as fast as he currently was. He had taken charge of driving Matt's car..and let's just say the two were lucky to still be alive. Having driven past two red lights and causing a commotion at a busy street where an accident had been seconds from occurring.
Matt had shouted and yelled all the the way to the hospital. And the yelling only got louder when they got to the hospital and Nick exited the vehicle without fully parking the car. Matt had to quickly shift to the drivers seat and do so before the hospital got a new patient that would have inevitably been him.
A wait of fifteen seconds at the elevator got Nick paranoid...so he took the stairs instead. Taking two at a time at a pace that left everyone else on the the flight gasping and shrieking because he almost pushed them to the side and off the stairs.
Nick didn't get it.
He had been by Crystal's side since the second she was admitted. Not once had he left that institution. And the moment he did...she woke up.
He blamed himself for not being there.Tried not to think about how Crystal would react when she learnt that he wasnt at the hospital. She would probably feel hurt. Like he didn't care for her at all. And he simply could not have that!
He was used to gruesome exercises so the driving, the running and the stairs were no big deal. He was a little out of breath but nothing exaggerated. On getting to her floor, he saw Dahlia standing outside the door. She watched him keenly as he approached. And he saw a very slight smile tilt her lips.
" Is she in there?" Nick asked, hoping they hadn't moved her to another room already Dahlia gave him a curt nod.Her green eyes wielding concern and relief.
" She called out for you the second she came around. Miguel's with her now..." he didn't wait to hear the rest of the statement.
He ought to have been happy that she had called for him...that she still wanted him with her despite it all.But all he felt was angry. He was angry at himself for not having been there.
He didn't rush in though. He took slow steps through the doorway. Listening to Miguel's voice as he told Crystal something about her dad and how worried he had been. She was about to respond..but then she fekt Nick's presence no doubt.
Despite how quiet he had been, she naturally knew he was there. Because the second he walked into that room her entire form was instantly covered in a layer of goosebumps. Her heart very rapidly gained momentum. It wasn't a joke. Even the machine sensed the change in her body and begun beeping.Narrowing his eyes at the machine, Miguel frowned. Then he asked Crystal whether she was okay, but all her focus had now been shifted to the mqn standing just inside the doorway. She whispeed his name. Then she very weakly stretched out her arm to him, and immediately after, he was there.
He went down on one knee next to the bed and held her hand in his. At some distant partbof his brain he heard Miguel quietly step out and shut the door.
And in the few seconds that followed, Nick relieved all the anguish and torment he had been in the last couole of days. The fear of losing her still fresh on his mind. And he vowed to never again leave her side.
" Nick ?" Crystal called out when the silence grew overstretched.
When she had first regained consciousness, he had been all she could think of. And when she learnt the he wasnr there she had almost begun panicking. But then Miguel had stepped in. Filled with relief. And he had told her of how worried they all had been.
Most especially Nick.
He told her how he had refused to leave her side, alnost starting a scene and growing violent when they tried to make him leave. She had listened to Miguel talk and her heart had both broken into pieces and swelled with pride and affection.
To learn that Nick cared for herr to such an extent was truly very fulfilling. Even though that was a fact she was well aware of.
" Nick didn't answer her when she called out to him. Instead, he tightened the hold he had on her hand and brought it to his lips. Placing a soft lingering kiss on her knuckles.
She watched him. With his eyes closed and his head slightly bowed..she watched him.
He looked tired...worn out. Never before had she seen him looking so...so.... scared. And she knew that if he dared open his eyes then she would see that fear clearly showcased in those grey depths.
She called out to him again. Affectionately. Her voice holding all the love she felt for that man and conveying the message to him.
" Never do that to me again baby,.." he flattered his thick lashes open and gazed up at her "..never again, "
His voice was shaken. Broken. Knowing that she had made him go through so much pain only served to twist the knife in her gut. A very bad metaphor considering why she was there in the first place.
" I'm sorry, " she whispered past the oxygen mask that Miguel refused to let her take off.
Shaking his head, Nick gently cupped her cheek, the same way he'd done the last few days when she could react to the gesture.
Crystal leaned in to his touch.Then she reached over and pushed that stubborn lock of hair back. How she had missed that closeness.
" Don't apologise...never say sorry to me for anything, okay? "
She still felt too weak to answer so she simply nodded . Hating that she was beginning to feel sleepy again.