Nick sat there in his living room watching TV when the front door opened and closed. Brian, Howie, and AJ came in.

        “Hey man,” Brian said.

        “Hey, what’s up,” Nick said.

        “Not much, we all were bored,” AJ said.

        “Yeah, the girls went out to the spa for the weekend, my folks have Baylee for the weekend, James is with Mama D, so it’s just us guys,” Brian said. The phone rang.

        “Hello,” Nick said.

        “Is this Nick Carter?” A woman asked.

        “Yes,” Nick said.

        “Mr. Carter, I’m a nurse at Tampa General Hospital, do you know Britney Carter?” she said.

        “She’s my ex-wife, what happened,” Nick said. Brian, Howie, and AJ looked at him.

        “She was admitted to the hospital awhile ago, she was almost beaten to death,” the nurse said.

        “I’m on my way,” Nick said. He hung up.

        “Nick,” Brian said.

        “Bri’s in the hospital, she was almost beaten to death,” Nick said.

        “Let’s go!” AJ said. They all went to the hospital. Nick went to the nurses station.

        “I’m Nick Carter, someone called me about my ex-wife,” Nick said.

        “Yes, I did, Mr. Carter, your ex-wife has you down as an emergency contact at her work,” the nurse said.

        “What happened,” Nick said.

        “Mr. Carter,” someone said. He turned and saw a police officer standing there.

        “Yes,” Nick said.

        “I’m Officer Smith of Tampa PD, I can explain what happened to your ex-wife,” the officer said.

        “And what happened to her,” Nick said.

        “She was almost beaten to death by her boyfriend, Adam Wilson, we have him in custody, he won’t talk,” Officer Smith said. Nick looked at him.

        “Has this happened to her before,” Nick said.

        “Yes, it has,” Brian said. Nick looked at him.

        “You knew about this,” Nick said.

        “Leighanne told me last night, I wanted to tell you, but Leighanne swore me not to,” Brian said.

        “Why didn’t she want me to know,” Nick said.

        “To protect you,” Brian said.

        “Protect me from what!” Nick said.

        “Bri didn’t want you to know about it out of fear of what you would do, she knew how much you still cared about her and how protective you were of her that you would go after him,” Brian said. Nick looked at him.

        “Brian, you know how much I hate being kept in the dark about stuff, if someone was honest with me, I would have called the cops and Bri wouldn’t be in there right now fighting for her life!” Nick said. He looked at the cop and went to the nurse.

        “When can I see her,” Nick said.

        “She’s in room 234, the doctor is in there right now, go on,” the nurse said. Nick went to the room and walked in and saw Bri lying there. She was black and blue all over most of her arms and face and there was swelling everywhere. The doctor looked up and saw him.

        “Mr. Carter?” the doctor said.

        “Yes, how is she,” Nick said.

        “She’s holding on, we did some tests, we should know more when we get them back, we did x-rays, she has some broken ribs, her right arm is broken and her right leg is broken and kneecap is shattered, we will need to do surgery to repair it,” the doctor said. Nick looked at Bri.

        “Can I stay with her?” Nick asked.

        “Yes, of course,” the doctor said. Nick sat down at her bedside and took her hand in his and held it.

        “Hey Bri, it’s me, you have to pull through this, I’m not leaving you,” Nick said.

Two days later, Nick sat there. Brian stayed with her while Nick had gone home to shower and he came back and sat with her.

        “Hey Bri, bruises are starting to heal up, the doc said your ribs are beginning to heal, he said you are the road to recovery, but you still need to wake up,” Nick said. He sat there holding her hand. He watched her. She slowly started to wake up. Her eyes fluttered opened and she looked around and turned her head and saw him.

        “Nicky?” Bri said.

        “Yeah, Bri, it’s me, I’m here,” Nick said.

        “You know everything,” Bri said.

        “That your boyfriend almost beat you to death and that it happened before, yeah, Brian told me, you could have come to me sooner,” Nick said.

        “I know, I should have, but I was scared that you would go after him and be in jail for assault,” Bri said.

        “Bri, if you had come to me and told me, I would have called the cops and he would have been in jail sooner and you wouldn’t be in here, yes, I would have been mad because he did this to you, but still, I wouldn’t have done anything to would risk me going to jail,” Nick said.

        “I’m sorry, okay, I wasn’t thinking!” Bri said. She looked out the window. Nick sat beside her on the bed. She looked back at him.

        “Bri, you know I still care about you, you know you could have come to me,” Nick said.

        “I couldn’t,” Bri said.

        “Why,” Nick said.

        “Because if you knew the truth, you would have killed him,” Bri said. She looked away.

        “What is going on,” Nick said. The doctor came in.

        “You’re awake,” the doctor said.

        “Yeah,” Bri said. Nick moved to let the doctor examine her.  He went out into the hallway just as Brian and AJ came up to him.

        “What’s wrong, Frack,” Brian said.

        “She’s awake, she said she was scared to come to me, she said she couldn’t because if I knew the truth, that I would have killed me, what reason was there for that to happen,” Nick said. He looked at Brian.

        “I honestly don’t know, Leighanne didn’t tell me anything like that,” Brian said.

        “Get her down here,” Nick said. Brian called Leighanne.

        “You okay, Kaos,” AJ said.

        “I’m just worried, what is she hiding from me,” Nick said.

        “You need to find out,” AJ said. Leighanne arrived and hugged Nick.

        “Leighanne, tell me all that you know,” Nick said.

        “Nick, all I know is what Brian told you, I swear, if there was more than that, I would tell you, you know that,” Leighanne said. Nick sighed.

        “But you couldn’t tell me that Adam was beating her, no one could tell me that because they wanted to protect me, does anyone honestly think I would go after the guy for beating my ex-wife, I would not do anything that would cause me to go to jail,” Nick said.

        “Mr. Carter, you can go back in now,” the doctor said. Nick went back in with Brian, Howie, AJ, and Leighanne. They all  hugged Bri. Nick sat down on the bed.

        “Now will you please tell me what is going on, what are you hiding from me,” Nick said. Bri looked at him.

        “Do you remember the last time we slept together, the one last time before the divorce was final,” Bri said.

        “Yeah, that was six months ago,” Nick said.

        “Three months after that, I found out I was pregnant,” Bri said. Nick looked at her.

        “What,” Nick said.

        “That night, he beat me up and I lost the baby, he took me to the hospital and he apologized over and over again and swore that he would never hit me again, he thought the baby was his,” Bri said.

        “But it was mine,” Nick said.

        “He found out the day he almost beat me to death, he was so mad because he thought I lied to him, I didn’t tell him either way, he thought the baby was his and I couldn’t tell him the truth out of fear of what he would do,” Bri said.

        “I can’t believe this!” Nick said.

        “Nick,” Bri said.

        “Why didn’t you come to me!” Nick said.

        “I couldn’t face you,” Bri said.

        “Why!” Nick said.

        “I thought you would go after him!” Bri said.

        “I don’t believe you! You could have trusted me, Bri, you could have had faith in me! You should have known that I would have done anything for you! You didn’t have to hide anything from me!” Nick said. He walked out the door. Brian went after him. Bri started sobbing. AJ sat on the bed and hugged her. Brian followed Nick to the beach. Nick collapsed on the sand. Brian knelt down beside him.

        “My baby, Brian, that bastard killed my baby, and she couldn’t come to me!” Nick cried. Brian hugged him.

        “She thought she was protecting you, she thought she was doing the right thing, but she still could have come to you, or any of us,” Brian said. Leighanne came up to them and knelt down beside Nick.

        “I knew she was hiding something, I thought she would tell me, I’m sorry, Nicky,” Leighanne said. She hugged him. Nick held onto her. Brian moved and joined the hug.

        “I don’t know what to do, I need to be alone, guys,” Nick said. He got up and went home and locked up the house. He checked his messages.

        “Hey Nick, it’s me, Lauren, I had a great time the other night, we should do it again sometime, call me,” the message said. Nick opened the drawer and pulled out a picture of him and Bri on their wedding day. He remembered that day. He thought about everything and realized what he wanted. He went out the door. He went to the hospital and went to Bri’s room and walked in and saw Brian and Leighanne sitting with her.

        “Nick,” Bri said.

        “Hey, um, can we talk alone?” Nick said.

        “Sure,” Bri said. Brian and Leighanne hugged her and hugged Nick and left the room. Nick sat on the bed beside her and took her hand in his.

        “I’m sorry for taking off like that,” Nick said.

        “It’s okay, Nick, I understood that you needed time alone,” Bri said. Nick looked at her.

        “I’m sick of being alone, I’m tired of trying to find the right woman for me, I had her and I let her get away,” Nick said.

        “Nick,” Bri said.

        “I can’t move on, Bri, I still love you and I know I’m still in love with you, I should have never let the divorce happen, I should have fought it,” Nick said.

        “Oh god, Nick, same goes for me, I shouldn’t have filed for divorce, I shouldn’t have left you, I was so stupid,” Bri said.

        “I want you back, Bri, and I’m never letting go again,” Nick said.

        “Good, because I want that too,” Bri said. Nick kissed her deeply. Brian and Leighanne peeked into the room and saw them kissing and smiled.