Chapter 41 She Strikes Again

Allie

"Allie!" I heard a woman's voice call out. I saw a dark figure dart out from beside the dumpster at the back of the building, as Nico turned that direction to see who had called for me. Before I could even register what was wrong, Nico had shoved me to the ground - knocking the breath from my lungs - and covered my body with his. I heard him grunt in pain as he curled himself around me, then heard the woman screaming Nico's name as shouting and the sounds of a scuffle broke out.

I struggled to breathe, both from the fall and from the weight of Nico's body on mine. I looked up at him, to find him staring down at me with the strangest look on his face.

"It's OK, Sunshine. Everything will be OK, I promise. Did I hurt you?" he asked shakily. He lifted his hand up to brush my hair out of my face, as I tried to move out from under him. I stilled when he moaned as I brushed his side, and he closed his eyes, pain pinching his features.

"What happened? What's wrong? Nico???" My voice rose as terror set in. I pulled my hand back from his side to find it covered in blood, and I screamed his name again.

The next few minutes were a blur of screams - mine and the mystery woman's - and shouting from everyone else. Matt and Michael worked together to help Nico off of me, as Jayne and Min helped me to my feet. I grabbed Nico's free arm, and he looked at me and gave me a pained grimace as Becca frantically ripped his shirt off to see where he was injured.

Seeing the stark fear on my face, Nico attempted to smile. "I'm OK, Sunshine. She just nicked my side a little."

I could barely comprehend what had just happened, could barely understand that the woman had actually stabbed him! I saw Marco running toward us from one of the cars with a first aid kit in his hand, and he moved Becca to the side to get a better look at Nico's side.

I looked around and spotted a shirtless Josh, who was helping Tony hold the woman on the ground. Tony had blood dripping down his arm, and Lana was trying to hold what I assumed was Josh's shirt against the wound. Oh my God, Tony was injured, too?

Several members of the venue's security staff came running toward us from all directions and took control of the situation. Josh and Tony stepped aside as two of the guards handcuffed the woman who was now face down on the ground. All I could see was bleached-blonde hair spilling out from under the dark hood of her sweatshirt.

Josh pointed to something a few feet away, and I realized there was a large knife on the ground, which appeared to have blood on it. Nico's blood? Tony's blood? Probably both. One of the guards stood guard over the woman, while the other stood next to the knife on the ground.

I heard sirens coming closer to us and looked toward the entrance to the back parking lot. I could see a crowd had gathered around the perimeter fence - fans and paparazzi who had realized that something had happened. I noticed that the two drivers/bodyguards who worked with Marco had joined some of the venue security guards in forming a barrier between us and the crowd. One of the drivers moved all three SUVs to block most of the crowd from our view, and the rest of the guards were ensuring that no one got past the fence.

A row of police cars roared into the lot, with several ambulances following close behind. Nico and Tony were quickly loaded into ambulances, with Nico insisting that I be taken in a third one to be checked out.

"I knocked her down pretty hard. You need to make sure she's OK," he insisted to the paramedic working on him. I tried to assure him that I was fine, but another paramedic pulled me aside and told me that I should really let them at least check me out, for Nico's peace of mind if nothing else.

"We need to keep him calm, ma'am. He's lost some blood, so we need to be sure he stays stable until we can get him to the hospital. He refuses to go until he knows you're being looked after."

I quickly agreed at that point, giving Nico a kiss, and telling him I loved him, before shakily walking over to the last ambulance and climbing into the back. Twenty minutes later, the paramedic had taken my vitals and examined me, agreeing that I had nothing wrong with me aside from a few bumps and bruises, along with a nasty scrape on my elbow that they cleaned and bandaged. I was released to the care of Jayne and Min, who had stayed behind with Marco to go with me to the hospital.

We had a police escort to the hospital emergency entrance, and Marco gave us an update on the way.

"According to the paramedics, Nico and Tony both appear to be OK. Nico was stabbed in the side, just above his left kidney. He lost some blood, but his vitals are good, so they don't think it hit any organs. Tony got slashed on the upper arm trying to get the knife from her. He'll need some stitches, but he was able to move his hand and fingers just fine, so it doesn't look like he sustained any muscle or ligament damage."

"It was her, wasn't it? Stripper Barbie, whatever the fuck her name is. I couldn't see her face, but I recognized her voice. It was her, wasn't it?" I asked hoarsely.

Marco sighed heavily. "Yeah, Allie, it was her. One of the cops told Michael that she was released from custody due to jail over-crowding. He's already called the attorney and I'm sure they're raising hell about it with the prosecutor's office, since nobody notified us, and she presented a clear danger after attacking you once already."

"She yelled my name. She was after me, wasn't she? She was after me, and Nico protected me. That's why he's hurt! It should have been me who - "

Jayne grabbed my arm as I spiraled out of control. "Stop and take a breath, Allie. You know damned good and well that Nico would lose his goddamned mind if anything else happened to you. Those scratches she put on your arm nearly did him in as it was. If she'd actually hurt you tonight, he would have completely flipped the fuck out. He'll be fine. Michael texted me. The bleeding is under control, and they got to the hospital a few minutes ago. The doctors are looking him over now. Tony will get stitched up, Psycho Barbie will be locked up for good, and Nico will be fine. You just focus on staying calm, or Nico will freak out all over again when you get there."

Min spoke up quietly from the front seat next to Marco, waving her phone at us. "Um, the press is going nuts over this. You should probably call your family, Allie."

"Oh shit!" I quickly pulled my phone out of my back pocket, realizing that it was still on silent mode from before the concert started. My screen was lit up with missed calls and text notifications, not to mention what looked like dozens of news alerts.

I quickly called my parents, and Dad answered the phone. I filled him in and could hear Mom sobbing in the background as he relayed the information. Luckily, Gracie was already in bed when the news came out, so she knew nothing about it. I asked Mom to let Scott and Hannah know, and she assured me that she would. Dad wanted to come to the hospital to sit with me, but I knew it would be a madhouse there for a while, so I told him to stay with Mom and Gracie.

I hung up and immediately called Nico's parents. Nick answered, and told me he and Angela were already on their way to the hospital since Becca had called them from the scene. I gave them the update from Marco, and they were relieved to hear that everyone seemed to be all right.

The police car in front of us led us around to a side door at the emergency entrance. The officer exited his car and Marco dropped us off to be escorted inside while he went to park the car. The officer led us directly into a separate waiting area, where Michael, Josh, Lana, Matt, and Becca were seated.

Matt pulled me into his arms as soon as I walked in, and I could feel him shaking. He pulled back and looked me over carefully.

"Nico?" I asked, unable to formulate the words to ask anything more. I felt like I couldn't breathe until I saw for myself that he was all right.

"He'll be fine. The doctors are in with him now, but the bleeding was under control by the time the ambulance got him here. He's been asking for you, though. A nurse just came out to ask if you were here yet, because he's raising hell back there."

"What about Tony?"

"He's getting about ten stitches or so on his arm. He's more pissed that the blood ruined his T-shirt," Matt joked, trying to lighten the atmosphere in the room.

I felt my body sag in relief. I still needed to see Nico for myself though. Michael flagged down a nurse, who let me back in to Nico's room once Michael told him that I was Nico's fiancée.

"I'm glad you're here," the nurse said as he led me through a maze of hallways. He flashed a smile at me as he told me, "He's been very anxious to see you, and has refused to be taken down for his scans until he sees for himself that you're OK."

At my startled look, he assured me, "He's not in any imminent danger. We would have taken him down to radiology despite his protests if that were the case." He stopped in front of a room and gave a quick knock before opening the door.

I walked in to find a doctor in the corner of the room looking at something on the computer in front of her, and Nico lying on his uninjured side with his eyes closed.He opened them when he heard my footsteps. He tried to sit up, but the nurse and I both urged him to stay still. I reached for his hand as tears streamed down my face. I took in a deep breath, feeling as if it were the first breath I'd taken since this whole nightmare began.

"Oh, hell, Sunshine, please don't cry. I'm OK. I just need a few stitches, but are you all right?" he asked, eyeing me carefully. "Michael said that the paramedics on-scene cleared you, but are you sure you aren't hurt? I tackled you pretty hard, I'm so sorry, love."

I reached out and cupped his face, so very grateful that he seemed to be more or less OK. I couldn't stop the tears at the thought that I could have lost him tonight.

"Allie?" Nico looked at me questioningly, and I realized that I hadn't answered him.

"I'm just fine, honey. A few bumps and bruises maybe, but nothing to worry at all about. I need to know that you're going to be all right though. How do you know you only need a few stitches when you haven't let them run their tests and scans yet?" I wasn't at all happy that he'd delayed treatment just to wait on me.

Nico looked at me and smiled a little sheepishly. "I'm sorry, Sunshine, but I just had to see for myself that you were OK."

I looked at the nurse and then the doctor for confirmation. She cleared her throat and introduced herself.

"I'm Dr. Patel. I'm glad you're here, Allie. He's been quite adamant about seeing you before we proceed, but I assure you he is stable atthe moment. Mr. Peretti has given us permission to speak with you about his condition, so I can let you know that his vital signs are good, considering his injury. We've just given him something for the pain, so he shouldn't feel much discomfort once that kicks in. The blood flow is controlled, and we believe this is just a soft tissue injury. However, we will be transporting him down to radiology to be certain there is no hidden damage." I flinched, and she smiled reassuringly."Even if something shows on the scans, it is doubtful that it would be anything serious considering the placement of the wound and how stable he is right now."

Another member of the hospital staff arrived, and the nurse, Nathan, explained that they would be transporting Nico to radiology now, and that I could wait in the room until he returned.He assured me they wouldn't be long, and Dr. Patel patted my arm and told me she would be back as soon as she had viewed the images.

I gave Nico a quick kiss, much to his dismay.

"Wait a minute, will ya?" he groused to Nathan and thetransport aide. "I need to kiss my girl." He seemed to be slurring his words just a bit, and his eyelids were heavy.

"Sorry, Mr. Peretti. We don't want your pulse and blood pressure spiking. Dr. Patel will be back in here giving us all grief if that happens."

Nico smirked and tried to wink at me, but ended up opening and closing both eyes, then squinting at me."Yeah, that would happen, guaranteed. Have you looked at the curves on my girl? She's hot!" I blushed and looked at Nathan in alarm as Nico continued rambling.

"Never mind, don't you look at 'er." He shook his finger at Nathan. "I don't want anybody lookin' at her. She's mine. All mine. My Sunshine. My only Sunshine. Forever and ever. She promised me." The more he spoke, the worse the slurring was.

Nathan and the transport aide laughed, and Nathan explained, "The meds are kicking in. He's feeling no pain now, believe me. He'll be pretty out of it for a while."

I chuckled, relieved that Nico was apparently just loopy from the pain meds, not having some kind of neurological issue.

Nico started singing "You Are My Sunshine" as they wheeled his gurney down the hall toward radiology, his voice sounding surprisingly in tune for a man who was stoned out of his gourd.

Less than twenty minutes later, Nathan brought Nico back into the room. He was no longer singing, and was propped on his good side sound asleep.

"Dr. Patel will be in to speak with you in just a few minutes, but the scans looked good, she said. I think he'll be just fine. Uh, you will need to watch him with the pain medication when he goes home though. He reacted pretty strongly to it."

I raised my eyebrow in question, and Nathan laughed as he explained.

"He's a lightweight. He serenaded us all the way down to radiology, then wouldn't lie still for the scans until he'd told us all about how wonderful you are and how much he loves you and his princess?" He looked confused, and I explained that's what he calls my daughter.

"OK, that makes sense then, because he kept saying he was so happy because his princess calls him Daddy now. He zonked out mid-sentence after telling us that he wanted you to give him a sponge bath, and hasn't moved a muscle since then."

I blushed and hid my face in my hands as Nathan chuckled.

"It's OK, ma'am. I've heard a lot of people say a lot of things under the influence of pain meds. His was pretty mild, and really sweet, actually. I've always been a big fan, and I'm even more of one now," he confessed with a shy smile. "He seems like a genuinely nice guy."

I smiled and smoothed Nico's hair off his forehead. "He's incredible," I said.

Nathan and I both looked up as Dr. Patel came into the room.

"OK, Allie, I've just looked at the images, and it is only a soft-tissue injury as I suspected. No muscles, organs or major blood vessels were hit. We will need to cauterize and suture the wound and be mindful of infection since it was a penetrating injury.He is going to be sore for a while, and he'll need to take it easy, but he'll be just fine.

"Would you prefer to wait outside while we get him stitched up?"

"No, I'd rather wait here, if that's OK," I told her. She nodded and gestured to the chair in the corner.

"That's fine, you can sit there. Mr. Peretti appears to be out, thanks to the pain medication. That's probably for the best.I will numb the area anyway, to be sure he is as comfortable as possible.

I was impressed with their efficiency as Dr. Patel stitched the wound closed with Nathan's assistance. She talked me through each step, explaining that she was cauterizing the small blood vessels in the part of the wound where the tip of the knife went in the deepest. She then placed nine stitches to close up the surface of the skin where the blade penetrated. She applied a layer of antibiotic ointment over the sutures before she bandaged him and gave me instructions for caring for the wound and watching for signs of infection.

"He can leave as soon as he wakes up and we're sure there are no lingering effects of the medication. He will be sent home with a slightly lower dose of pain medication, although I would advise he use those only under supervision. He seems to be more susceptible than most to the effects." Nathan snorted and flashed me a grin, as Dr. Patel smiled and shook her head.

"He was quite entertaining down in radiology," she said ruefully. "I have also prescribed an oral antibiotic as a safeguard against infection, and the antibiotic cream which should be applied regularly."

I thanked her for all of her help before she left, leaving Nathan behind to enter notes in Nico's computer chart and clean up the supplies they'd used from the suture kit.He and I were talking softly about his favorite Storm Front songs when there was a knock on the door. I opened it to find Nick and Angela standing there. Nick was pale under his normal olive-skin tone, and Angela looked devastated. I quickly moved to the side and opened the door wider, so they could come in and see Nico.

"He's going to be all right. He's sleeping because of the pain medicine, but he just had his stitches, and there is no internal damage. He'll be just fine."

Angela burst into tears at my words, and she flung herself into Nick's arms. He held her as she sobbed against him, trying his best to hide the tears of relief in his own eyes.

"Just give her a few minutes. She worked herself up into quite a tizzy in the car on the way over here. We're just lucky his Nonna was already in bed when Becca called, or there'd be two of them raising a ruckus in here."

Angela leaned back and glared at Nick. "Oh, just shush or I'll tell your mother you said that!" she threatened. Nick and I laughed, and I had to smile as Angela turned and grabbed me.

"Are you OK, sweetheart?She didn't hurt you, did she?"

"I'm fine, thanks to Nico. He pushed me out of the way and covered my body with his." My voice wavered on the last word, and I felt my knees get weak as the horror of the night really hit me.

"He saved me," I sobbed. Angela tried to catch me as my legs gave out, but Nathan was a bit faster. He grabbed me and gently guided me to the chair, instructing me to sit there while he checked me out.

"I'm OK," I assured him. "The paramedics already did all of that."

Nick crouched down next to my chair and put a firm hand on my knee.

"Listen to the man, baby girl. Let him check you out, just to be safe. You know that son of mine will tear this place apart if something's wrong with you."

Nathan took my blood pressure and heart rate, which were both elevated. No surprise there. He removed the bandage on my elbow to inspect the wound, along with checking out the scratches on my arm from my first run-in with Psycho Barbie. After applying more antibiotic ointment and new bandages, he told me he was going to ask the doctor about prescribing an oral antibiotic for me.

"One of those scratches on your wrist is pretty red and inflamed. I think it would be better to be safe than sorry, especially now with an open wound on your elbow, too."

Everything else checked out fine, so he told me to stay seated and he would bring me a soda and a snack to make sure my blood sugar level was maintained.

I smiled gratefully at him as he hurried off, returning moments later with a small tray for me. Dr. Patel walked in behind him.

"Allie, Nathan tells me that you felt a bit light-headed.You need to eat and drink something, but first I'd like to see the injuries to your elbow and wrist that he mentioned, if you don't mind."

She took only a few seconds to glance at the scratches and scrapes, before agreeing that they should heal fine, but she thought an oral antibiotic would be a good idea. She confirmed that I had no medication allergies and that my pharmacy information was the same as Nico's, then made some notes on the computer. She nodded approvingly at Nathan.

"Good catch, Nathan," she said, nodding approvingly at him. She turned back to me and pointed to the tray Nathan had brought in.

"Sip that, and eat slowly. You've had a shock to your system tonight, even without any major injuries. It won't do Mr. Peretti any good if you let yourself get run down," she admonished gently before walking out of the room and closing the door behind her.

"Allie?" I heard Nico whisper, his voice more raspy than usual. "You OK, Sunshine?"

I tried to jump up to rush over to him, but was stopped by Nathan. "Let me help you, please."

"What's wrong, Allie? Why can't you walk?" Nico started to get a little agitated, and his dad put his hand on his shoulder to hold him in place.

"She's fine, son. She just got upset and needed to sit down for a minute. The nurse here checked her out though, and she's fine."

Nathan helped me to Nico's side, and scooted the chair over so I could sit down next to the bed.

Nico reached out a hand and brushed a tear off my cheek. "Are you sure you're all right, Sunshine?"

I smiled at him through my tears and nodded my head. "I'm just fine, thanks to you. Don't ever throw yourself in front of a knife again, though. I love you too much to lose you like that!"

Nico laughed softly at my scolding. He cupped his hand around my face, brushing his thumb over my cheek to wipe away my tears. "I'd do it again in a heartbeat, love. I wouldn't have a choice. I can't live without you."

My breath caught at his words, and the love I could see shining in his expression. I wanted nothing more than to wrap my arms around him and feel his heart beating against mine, but I knew that would have to wait.

I left Nico with his parents long enough to go back to the waiting room to let everyone know that Nico would be discharged soon. Tony was there with a bandage on his arm, and I gave him a gentle hug.

Michael and Lana went back to speak with Nico for a few minutes, wanting to make sure he was OK with the statement Lana was going to release. The rest of us sat down, nobody wanting to leave until Nico was able to go with us.

Tony's phone rang, and he glanced at it before stepping outside to answer it. He came back in a moment later with a sheepish expression on his face.

"Um, so that was James. He's here, and I needed to give security permission to let him come on back."He stood there looking uncharacteristically nervous.

"James?My friend James?" I asked, wondering why he had called Tony rather than me. That question was answered when the door to the waiting area opened and James charged in, making a beeline for Tony. He took one look at the bandage on his arm and carefully reached for him, drawing him in for a hug, which quickly turned into a very passionate kiss.

Oh, my fucking God!James, Alex's oldest friend - my straight friend - was kissing the shit out of Tony, who was kissing the shit out of him right back.

I quickly glanced around the room to find Matt, Becca, Josh, and Min looking every bit as stunned as I was.

As the two men slowly drew apart, they both looked around as though just now realizing that they had an audience.

James met my shocked gaze and gave me an embarrassed smile. "Uh, Allie-cat, I think I have something to tell you."

I grinned in delight and arched my brow. "Oh, really? And what might that be, James?"

"Well, I'm apparently gay, or bi, or whatever. So...."

Tony snorted and wrapped his arm around Josh's waist. "What he's trying to tell you is that he is the guy I've been seeing. I told you that you would like him."

I could feel the tears welling up again, happy tears this time. I rushed over and gave them both a big hug, taking care not to bump Tony's injured arm.

"I am so damned happy for you guys. When did this happen?How long have you two...?" I trailed off, waggling my eyebrows at them and making them both roll their eyes at me.

"Remember the night you guys announced your engagement, and James got so drunk he couldn't drive home?Well, I drove him back to my place since it was closer."

"And?" I asked, nosily wanting more details than that.

"And, we've been together ever since, doll," Tony said with a huge smile.

James looked at me, then looked at everyone else in the room. "To be honest, I wasn't sure I was ready to come out yet. But then when I saw the first news alert and realized Tony had been hurt, I knew I had been so stupid to try to hide it. He had asked me to come to the concert tonight, but I didn't because I knew people would be looking at Tony extra hard after today at The Grove. But if I had been there, if I had been with you guys, I might have been able to - "

"Stop!If you'd been there, you might have gotten hurt, too," Tony said, cupping his hand around James's neck.

I swooned, right there in the middle of the waiting room. I was still stunned, but so fucking happy for both of them. Tony pulled James in for another kiss, right at the same time that I heard Nico's voice from behind me.

"What the fuck?"

Tony and James broke apart, both of them whipping around to look at Nico sitting in the doorway in a wheelchair, staring at both of them slack-jawed. Nathan stood behind him, having pushed him down here from the exam room.

"Surprise!" Tony said, waving exaggerated jazz-hands in the air and making everyone laugh. "Yeah, so James is the guy I've been seeing."

"Well, that's kinda fucking obvious now, dumbass. Congratulations!"

The security guards came in to let us know that our vehicles were waiting for us by the side door. Nathan wheeled Nico out, per hospital policy, and I gave him a hug and thanked him for everything he had done for Nico that night. Nico shook his hand, before Nathan helped him into the back seat of the SUV.

"You've got concert tickets for our next show here in LA if you want them, man. I'll make sure our manager gets in touch with you. Thanks for all of your help, and especially for keeping an eye on Allie. I appreciate it."

Nathan was stunned. "Wow. You don't have to do that, but I would love to see you guys in concert again."

"You mean Nico's impromptu concert tonight didn't do it for you?" I teased. Seeing Nico's look of confusion, I explained about his behavior while he'd been zonked out of his mind.

"Oh, hell, please tell me none of the guys filmed that shit, Sunshine."

"Nope, but only because they were all out in the waiting room.If they'd seen you, you know they would have."

The rest of us hugged goodbye before going our separate ways for the night. We were all exhausted and agreed to get together the next evening to celebrate the success of the show, and the happy new couple, and just life in general after the night we'd had.

It was after 3:00 am by the time we made it home. The pain medicine they had given Nico at the hospital had completely worn off, and he was barely able to walk up the stairs even with my help. I managed to strip off his jeans before getting him settled into bed. I got a bottle of water for him, and gave him another pill, tucking the covers in around him and making sure he was comfortable.

"I love you, Sunshine" he murmured as I stroked his hair back off of his forehead.

"I love you, too, honey. More than you will ever know." I bent down and kissed his lips and he made an effort to return the kiss before he closed his eyes.

I got myself ready for bed and slipped in beside him. I curled up next to him - luckily, his injury was on the other side - and placed my hand on his chest over his heart. I fell asleep with the feel of his heartbeat against my palm, knowing there was no place in the world I'd rather be.