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~* Have a Heart *~ “Hold on! Wait for me!” she begged. I couldn’t help myself. I mean, she was begging! I reached a gloved hand out to push the elevator door, forcing it to stall and re-open for her. She smiled as she squeezed inside. She seemed to be heading to the third floor as well because she gave the button a cursory glance then turned to us. “Almost didn’t make it. Thanks for waiting.” “You’re welcome,” I offered with a polite smile. “Aria Blade, right? I have a patient who talks about her non-stop, and about the ‘awesome new armor next issue’.” She chuckled wryly as she leaned against the back wall. “Yeah. We know the artist. It was supposed to be a big Halloween surprise, but…” I trailed off. She frowned, giving us a quizzical stare. Nicole sighed as the doors opened. “My dad...” was all she could get out.

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The black, tinted-windowed mini-van had only barely rolled to a stop at the drop-off outside the hospital before the side-doors flew open, expelling four teen-aged heroes out in front. A passing nurse, still in dusty rose-ish pink scrubs stopped to watch the spectacle as the four of us rushed inside, and I’d swear I thought I heard her giggle under her breath.

We had more important things on our minds to notice, though. While our driver, an off-duty police officer judging by his brief conversation with Allison on the way in, found a more permanent parking spot, we approached the front desk. An older woman whose soft, brown hair had only just begun to silver here and there looked up at us over the rim of her titanium-rim glasses. She looked like she wanted to make a kryptonite joke, and who could blame her? Instead she leaned forward slightly and removed her glasses.

“Can I help you girls?”

As I wrapped Nicole in a hug, I could feel her trembling. She buried herself in my shoulder as Allison stepped forward. “We’re here to see Bob Morgan. He was brought in earlier with a mild heart attack?”

“Oh! Yes of course!” she perked right up and smiled. “Are you friends or family?”

“Family,” I responded immediately. The Morgans had accepted me with open arms. I wasn’t about to let any hospital staff tell us we couldn’t go see the big guy. She nodded at that, turning to her computer for just a moment to type something.

“It looks like he’s in room 305. Visiting hours are over, but I’m sure the head nurse will make an exception this time.” She paused and looked us over briefly, offering a sympathetic smile.

“Thanks,” Jennifer added, even as Allison and I led Nicole to the nearest elevator. I still remembered my first time in this hospital, not a day after arriving in Alpine Springs. I pushed those thoughts from my mind though, as Jennifer pressed ‘3’. The doors started to close, but the nurse we’d seen outside came SPRINTING out of nowhere.

“Hold on! Wait for me!” she begged. I couldn’t help myself. I mean, she was begging! I reached a gloved hand out to push the elevator door, forcing it to stall and re-open for her. She smiled as she squeezed inside. She seemed to be heading to the third floor as well because she gave the button a cursory glance then turned to us. “Almost didn’t make it. Thanks for waiting.”

“You’re welcome,” I offered with a polite smile.

“Aria Blade, right? I have a patient who talks about her non-stop, and about the ‘awesome new armor next issue’.” She chuckled wryly as she leaned against the back wall.

“Yeah. We know the artist. It was supposed to be a big Halloween surprise, but…” I trailed off. She frowned, giving us a quizzical stare.

Nicole sighed as the doors opened. “My dad...” was all she could get out.

“Oh no. Listen, you go see your dad. I’ll talk to my super and clear you girls, okay?”

Nicole smiled weakly as she nodded. She released her grip on my waist only long enough to hug the nurse, just as quickly latching onto me again. I flashed the nurse a warm smile as we parted ways, making our way down the hall. Though we received vastly fewer stares in the quiet hall than we did entering the lobby, it still felt odd being in a public place like this, dressed like my favorite superhero. At least the skirt left plenty to the imagination, even without the leggings. Banshee was such a prude.

I tried not to giggle, which would have been so horribly inappropriate, at my own wandering thoughts, focusing on trying to be strong for Nicole as we reached 305. We stopped just outside, Nicole only now realizing she still had her mask on. She laughed quietly as she rolled her eyes, peeling it off and offering it to Allison.

“Can you hold this for me?” she asked softly. Allison smiled as she took the mask from her friend, nodding quickly.

I gently pushed the door open, leading Nicole inside. I’ll admit I’ve never seen someone after they’d had a heart attack even if it was a mild one, so I had no idea what to expect. We found Nicole’s dad relaxing in bed in a hospital gown, under a light white blanket, watching a football game on the little television. Gina was nowhere in sight, though her Prada handbag sitting neatly on a nearby chair gave away that she would return soon.

Bob, on seeing us, quickly shut the television off, smiling as we approached. “Well hi there girls,” he remarked cheerfully, as though nothing were wrong. I let Nicole go and watched as she rushed over, wrapping her arms around him.

“Hi there?!” she laughed and sobbed at the same time. “You big goof! You had me so scared! Is everything- I mean, are you okay?!”

He smiled as he wrapped her in a hug, at least as best his IV would allow. He ran his hand over her hair as he whispered, “Shh, it’s okay.”

Gina stepped into the room holding a styrofoam cup of steaming, black coffee. Still dressed in an elegant black evening gown, it seemed they’d gone out for the evening to give us some space for the party. She set the cup down on a nearby hospital tray as she stepped closer, resting her hand on Nicole’s shoulder.

“Sweetheart, you could have stayed with your party. Dad’s going to be okay.”

Nicole tearfully glanced back at Gina, reluctantly releasing her father only to wrap her in a hug next. “No we couldn’t. I couldn’t. There was no way I could stay there until I saw for myself.”

Bob chuckled quietly, squeezing Nicole’s hand. “Thank you. It means the world to me that you’d give up your party to be here. That goes for the rest of you too.” He smiled at us, motioning for us to come closer. Jennifer giggled a little.

“When we saw Nikki and Robin run off we knew something was up. Besides, the party was a blast, but there’ll be other parties. We figured she needed us as much as she needed to see you.”

“Actually, before you came in we were just discussing you four,” Gina added with a knowing smile, turning to return to her uncomfortable-looking hospital chair. She leaned back, delicately crossing her legs before continuing. “Bob’s doctor said he’s going to make a full recovery, but the man has a love affair with salt.”

Bob gave a sheepish smile at that. “What can I say? Stress wasn’t the only factor in my first heart attack. I got lucky this time though, and I want to get serious about my diet. I can’t do it alone, so I’ve asked Gina to help me stay on track.”

Nicole grinned that shark-like, impish ‘up to something’ grin, turning her gaze, and her grin on me. Uh oh. I thought two sisters plotting against you was trouble, but apparently mother and daughter excelled at this too. “Y’know… Robin is an AMAZING cook. I bet she knows a few low-fat no-salt recipes. You’d never even miss the salt.”

I blushed a little. “Well, I’m sure I could figure something-” I started, but paused when someone knocked at the door to the hospital room.

The red-haired nurse from before peeked around the corner with a wry smile. “I’m not interrupting anything am I?”

Bob smiled as he shook his head. “Not at all. Just please tell me you haven’t come for another blood sample.”

“Bob!” Gina scolded.

He laughed. “What? That other nurse was Hell-bent on making me bleed.”

The nurse giggled quietly. “No, nothing like that. I was actually hoping I could ask your visitors for a really big favor.”

At this point the four of us turned to her, and I asked, “What kind of favor?”

“Well, I told you before about the Aria Blade fan. She’s sick with pneumonia, and really depressed that she can’t go trick-or-treating with her friends this year. We took up a small collection of candy for all our kids, but I think it would mean the world to her to have Aria Blade deliver hers. I understand if you don’t want to do it, but-”

“I’d love to,” I answered, before she could even finish. Her bright smile lifted my spirits. Nicole bent down to hug her dad again then stepped closer.

“Hey, don’t forget Raven Wing!” she laughed, wrapping me in a playful hug from the side.

Allison and Jennifer looked at each other, grinned, and tied their masks into place, passing Nicole’s and mine to us, and we followed the nurse out of the room. She led us down the hall to the nurse’s station where a heavy-set woman with bobbed blonde hair sat typing away at a terminal. As the nurse led us closer, the other woman glanced up at us. She looked positively exhausted, with heavy bags under her eyes, but even so she managed a professional smile.

“We’ve gotta get some more help on night shift,” the woman grumbled, turning in her chair to reach under the counter. As she came back up with a large, bright orange plastic pumpkin full of candy, the red-haired nurse chuckled dryly. “Yeah, right. Good luck convincing an RN to move here.”

“Actually, I know two RNs with ER experience. I don’t know if either of them would want to get back into this kind of work though,” I offered. I knew Mom kind of missed working in a hospital setting instead of the local clinic, but I didn’t know if she’d want to go back to long night shifts again, and I had no idea where Kelly stood.

The woman’s eyes lit up at that. “Night shift’s actually pretty quiet. We could even take some people off day shift that have wanted to work graveyard, if we could get some day shift people in here. Tell you what; just have them call downstairs if they’re interested; whatever position they want, we’ll find a way to make it work. Sound okay?”

I nodded quickly, the other nurse taking the pumpkin-shaped candy receptacle and passing it to me. She grinned as we turned to walk away. “You really are a superhero if you can get us some relief. More and more nurses are leaving for private practices or bigger hospitals in New Haven or Hartford.”

“My mom used to work at Mercy Medical in San Francisco. One of the big reasons she agreed to move out here with my half-sister is because she was getting burned out on big city life, then when she had her car accident, she had to take it easy for several months, but she’s been talking about kind of missing working at a hospital – she just doesn’t want to work ER again anytime soon.”

The nurse chuckled quietly as she stopped outside a hospital room. “I don’t blame her. I just didn’t have the stomach for it. Alright, this is Cristina’s room. I’m just going to go in and see if she’s awake first.”

Nicole giggled a little as she leaned into me, resting her head on my shoulder. “Robin this is so sweet. Kind of makes me feel a little better about tonight. I mean, sure, my dad’s in the hospital, but at least something good can come from it, right?”

I gave her a light squeeze as Jennifer giggled. “Nikki, you’ve been hanging around Robin too long.”

“And that’s a bad thing?” she shot back playfully.

“I never said it was,” she chided. Before the playful banter could continue, the nurse opened the door wide, motioning for us to come inside. A little girl of maybe nine or ten lay slightly elevated in the hospital bed with tubes and monitors running here and there, an old stuffed teddy bear clutched tightly to her chest. An adorable porcelain doll in a purple Victorian gown, as well as a number of vases, stuffed animals, and other ‘Get Well Soon’ gifts weighed down the hardwood table by her bed.

I wanted to cry for her, being trapped in this hospital room like this, but I had to smile when, as she slowly rolled over, red ringlets shifting against her pillow, her jade green eyes widened. “Oh my Gosh,” she whispered almost breathlessly as the four of us approached her.

“Cristina, right?”

She nodded quickly. I giggled a little as I held up the bucket. “Since you’re stuck in here, the nurses asked us to deliver this to you.” I offered her the bucket of candy, but she ignored it, sitting up to wrap her arms around me instead, crying softly.

“Thank you so much,” she whispered. “This is so cool!” she giggled, coughing lightly as she laid back again, accepting her bucket-o-sweets.

I smiled as I squeezed her hand, Nicole, Jennifer and Allison stepping closer. Nicole added, “Happy Halloween.”

The girl’s eyes widened even further. “Raven Wing too?! Wow!”

“And this is Coronal Rose, and the new Volcaness too,” she replied, motioning to the other two. Jennifer and Allison walked around the other side, each respectively giving the girl a reassuring hug. ‘Volcaness’ grinned.

“I know you don’t recognize me like this, but it’ll all make sense in the next issue.”

“Really?! This is so great! I love your costumes, but … what are you guys doing here? And please don’t tell me you came all the way from New Heathridge City just to see me.” She grinned matter-of-factly.

“Okay, you got us,” Nicole replied. “We’re…”

“We’re here to root out a vampire hiding in the morgue,” I nodded seriously.

“… What? Really?” she cringed slightly. I responded in my most heroic ‘Aria Blade’ voice.

“Yes, but you’re safe. We’ve hung garlic outside the door to the morgue to keep him from escaping and hurting anyone until Psychic Strike can get here to do her banishment thing, like the one she used against Raven Wing’s father.”

“Cool!” she responded excitedly. I hadn’t noticed that the red-haired nurse had left, until she returned with a small point-and-shoot digital camera. She held it up with a smile.

“Smile, girls!” she called, causing us all to look up. Allison and I, being closest to the head of Cristina’s bed, leaned down to hug her, with Nicole and Jennifer kneeling and smiling for the next couple of pictures that followed.

“Now people will HAVE to believe I met you guys!” she giggled.

“You should try and get some sleep, sweetie,” the nurse spoke as she stepped closer to check the girl’s IV. “By the time you wake up I’ll have your picture printed. Maybe Aria Blade and her friends can even sign it for you.”

“Would you?!” she asked excitedly, again causing her to cough. I frowned, instinctively squeezing her hand.

“Of course, sweetie,” I responded with a warm smile. She smiled broadly, but yawned, nestling back into her bed again. After the nurse turned out the light, she led us out into the hallway, where she paused, pulled the door closed, then turned back to us.

“I really can’t thank you girls enough for this.”

I smiled a little, unable to shake the uneasy feeling her coughing left me with. “We’re happy to help. My heart just goes out to her though. Is she going to be okay?”

“She’s actually a lot better now than when they first brought her in. It just progressed so quickly… She’s reacting well to the medication though, so she should be able to go home as early as next week.”

“That’s a relief. Oh, do you want us to come by again to sign that picture?”

“That won’t be necessary, actually. I can print it off right here at the hospital. I keep a private stash of photo paper on-hand for days like this.” She grinned warmly. “It won’t be a minute, if you want to wait in Mr. Morgan’s room while I take care of it.”

When we stepped back into Nicole’s dad’s room, both Bob and Gina smiled at us, the latter standing to wrap us in a big group hug. “That was very sweet, girls.”

Allison laughed. “You don’t know the half of it. That little girl would’ve seen right through us if not for Robin’s quick thinking.”

Jennifer nodded, continuing, “That was some fast thinking. Oh, if anyone asks, Aria Blade and crew are officially here to fight a vampire in the morgue.”

Bob and Gina looked at each other, then at me. I smiled sheepishly. “I know, I know, but she just looked so helpless, and having ‘Aria Blade’ here to cheer her up, I couldn’t just dash her hopes and tell her we just came from a Halloween party.”

“Speaking of which, we just received a call from Bruno, relaying a message from Shadowfang. She said that if you felt up to returning, that several of your friends from school were waiting to see you play with the band again.”

Bob added, “Really, I’m okay. You should get back to your party and have fun tonight.”

Nicole glanced between us and her parents, biting her lip. “… Are you sure?”

They nodded in unison. She sighed reluctantly, stepping closer to hug him. “Alright, but don’t you DARE eat anything salty while I’m gone!” she chided, kissing his cheek.

After meeting up with the nurse at the nurse’s station, and autographing the picture for Cristina, we took the elevator down to the lobby, to even more strange stares. It was only at this point that the thought of transportation occurred to us.

“Uh… How are we going to even get back to the party?” Jennifer asked. Scott, our off-duty cop, security guard, and chauffer cleared his throat.

“Ask nicely?” He smiled. “Bruno called and told me you might need a ride back, so I stuck around. How’s your dad?” he asked, turning his attention to Nicole.

She smiled brightly. “He needs to lay off the salt and other high cholesterol stuff, like the doctor told him last time, but he’s actually gonna listen this time.”

“Glad to hear it. Now, I believe we have a party to get to, and don’t worry. I won’t drive so fast this time,” he teased as we walked out to the parking lot together. For a cop, he was a really nice guy. I liked Jane Garrett too, enough to officially change my middle name to Jane when I got the elusive ‘F’ on my birth certificate, but she always seemed so formal.

Back at the party, the band was right in the middle of a new song when we arrived. Shadow practically grinned a broad, fangy smile as she caught sight of us, even as Trina, Mark and Laura came running.

“There you are! What happened?” Laura asked frantically.

“It’s my dad,” Nicole responded. “He’s going to be okay, but he had a mild heart attack. I just couldn’t stay knowing he was in the hospital, so I got one of the security guys to drive us.”

Jennifer giggled, “We would’ve been back sooner, but there was an adorable little girl in need of a hero.”

“Four heroes,” Allison continued. “Poor kid was stuck in the hospital on Halloween, THE second greatest night of the year, so one of the nurses asked us to cheer her up.”

“That’s so cool. Oh, we met some friends of yours.” Trina responded, pointing toward a pair of girls about our age. One wore a solid black outfit vaguely reminiscent of my Kenpo gi and a matched headband, while the other wore a puffy poet’s shirt and tight pants, with knee-high black boots that folded over at the top. The plastic cutlass at her side swayed as they both rushed over and wrapped me in a hug, and in the better light where we were standing, I could make out their faces clearly.

“Nat! Rach! You made it!”

“Told you we would!” Rachel giggled. “Sorry we’re a little late though. My car broke down about a mile outside town so we had to wait for someone to come look at it. Luckily it wasn’t serious, but I’m still taking it to the shop on Monday.”

Nicole, wrapping Rachel and Natalie in a collective hug, responded dryly. “I’ll look at it for free.” Rachel and Natalie stared at Nicole in surprise, causing her to giggle. “What? Don’t look at me like that. I love cars, engines and stuff.”

Before she could continue, the music ended, and Scarlet spoke, catching our collective attention.

“Ahh, it appears Raven Wing has returned. So tell me, shadow-caster, care to match wits with the likes of a true Mistress of darkness?”

Nicole turned and gave me a quick kiss on my cheek. She rushed up onto the stage, striking a defiant pose. “But of course, Scarlet, dear. Name the terms and conditions for battle.”

Shadow hissed, “Four strings, spun from Hell-forged metal.” She pointed to a point on the stage where the fog had only just begun to recede, revealing Shadowfang’s old bat wing bass, Nicole’s prized possession. Nicole picked up her bass, draping the strap over her shoulder.

“Let’s see what you’ve got, Shadow-babe,” she chided, causing Shadowfang to scowl. Rather than starting off with an easy riff like last time, they dove right into the hard stuff. By hard stuff, I mean watching them made MY fingers hurt. I couldn’t help cheering with the crowd though, and before long chants of ‘Raven! Raven!’ had begun to grow.

The back-and-forth continued for a full minute before Solace kicked up a solid drum beat and Demona started to strum, and the band-plus-one were soon in the middle of the finest example of rock opera that I’d ever heard. Granted my exposure was limited, but I knew what I liked, and I loved this!

When the song ended, Scarlet flung her hand downward, sending a localized blast of fire at her feet. At the same time the lights fell. When the rose again, a mere few seconds later, all four band members had disappeared, and Nicole now sat cross-legged on the edge of the stage, lazily smiling at me. I approached and wrapped her in a hug as she giggled. She picked up the cordless microphone left lying on the stage's edge.

“Alright! Thanks for coming out everyone. I hope you had a great time, but it’s time to start wrapping it up. You don’t have to go home, but if you stay here, you get to meet Bruno – and to clear up any confusion, Bruno’s the ex-pro wrestler-looking dude you met at the gate.” She grinned. “Oh, you guys can stay if you want,” she added after turning off the microphone, as Trina, Laura, and Mark approached. They each hugged her in turn, Trina responding.

“Thanks, but Laura’s giving me a ride home, and we need to beat my parents home, otherwise it’s going to be a long night.”

Mark smiled, “Yeah, ditto. I’ve gotta be up early or I’d stay and hang out.” He paused, smiling at me. “Oh, uh… is you guys’ friend Allison seeing anyone?”

Nicole and I giggled as she responded, “Technically her parents don’t want her dating until she’s sixteen, but… well, since we all are, and we’re all like, inseparable, he might make an exception if I vouched for ya.”

“Really? Awesome!” he smiled a big, goofy smile as he turned to leave. Allison, as it turns out, had been standing right behind him, now blushing furiously, which caused us to giggle even more.

“Oh my God, you did not just offer to set me up with Mark?”

“You don’t like him?” Nicole asked innocently. Natalie giggled.

She blushed more intensely, lowering her voice. “Yes I like him. He’s really sweet, and he really knows how to sweep a girl off her feet, but… I’ve never dated anyone before!”

“Gotta take the plunge some time,” Jennifer offered as she approached, wrapping Alison in a hug. “Don’t worry, we won’t let you drown. Hey! Natalie, Rachel!” she exclaimed in surprise, as another round of hugs were exchanged.

Allison meanwhile smiled at Jennifer’s sentiment, nodding uneasily. “Thanks guys. Hey Nikki? Do you want to come stay at my house tonight?”

Nicole nodded. “Sure. Just let me call my mom and let her know. I dunno if she’s going to stay up there with dad or what, but I can’t help feeling safer at your place tonight than in this big old house alone.”

Jennifer and I grinned at each other, cheering in unison. “Sleepover!”

Allison laughed. “I kinda figured you guys would want to stay over. I already asked my parents this morning, although they might change their mind now that you’re trying to set me up on a date,” she teased. “What about you guys? Rachel? Nat?”

Rachel and Natalie looked at each other, Rachel responding. “I wish we could, but we didn’t bring any extra clothes or anything. We can stay and hang out for awhile though. Natalie’s riding with me, but we both got permission to stay out late.”

We followed Nicole inside, where she led us to the oak L-shaped staircase where one of the security people stood. He quickly stepped aside on seeing her though, causing her to giggle a little. “Party’s winding down, but Daddy’ll pay you guys overtime if you’ll keep an eye on things for another hour or so. I’m going over to my friend’s house for the night, so I’ll set the alarm before I leave.”

“Yes ma’am,” he replied, adding, “We’re making a sweep of the house to be sure no one snuck in, but as far as I know it’s just yourselves and the band upstairs.”

“Awesome,” she responded without missing a beat, turning to lead us upstairs. We followed her down a long hallway, and after she rounded the first corner, she stopped, pointing at the closed door. “That’s where we set the band up with their own private green room. You guys can hang out with them while I finish getting everything in order here if you want.”

I smiled and gave her a warm hug before turning to knock on the door. Demona eased it open just a crack, but on seeing us, flung the door open wide, motioning for us to come inside. “Thank God. I thought someone figured out where we were hiding!” she laughed as we followed her in. Allison giggled as she nudged the door closed behind her.

Despite spending a lot of time here over the past few months, I actually didn’t remember this room at all. The rich, dark paneling contrasted the blue wallpaper about halfway up the wall, and beautiful, very comfortable-looking matched furnishings of oak and fabric decorated the area. Shadowfang and Scarlet, still in their stage costumes, sat together drinking what looked from my vantage point to be some sort of red wine. They both turned and raised their glasses to us, Scarlet grinning.

“Girls, working with you and Nikki has been the most fun the four of us have had in awhile. If you’re ever in London-”

“Or Belfast!” Shadow interrupted with a giggle, clearly already feeling the effects of the wine.

Scarlet laughed, “Or Belfast, look us up. We’ll put something together. The fun of being an indie group is we can get away with shenanigans that would have a record exec tearing out his hair.”

A woman of about Solace’s height, but with long waves of reddish brown hair twisted into a tight French braid, dressed in baggy jeans and an oversized black t-shirt padded barefoot out of the attached half-bathroom. She stared at us like a deer in headlights, which caused Shadow and Scarlet to giggle.

“Um… Ladies, this is Natalie Poole and Rachel Kleiner. We were junior counselors at Girl Scout camp together last summer. Nat, Rachel, that’s Scarlet, Shadowfang, Demona Rose, and … I THINK that’s Solace,” I giggled, the drummer having by now regained some composure. She smiled wryly.

“Sorry,” she offered quietly. “Normally we try to keep our band personas and our ‘real’ selves secret, you know, to preserve the mystique, but I’ve been in costume for four hours straight, my feet hurt, and that wig was starting to itch fiercely.”

Rachel came out of her stupor first, offering Solace her hand with a warm smile. “It’s okay. We won’t tell anyone. I love you guys’ music. Your drumming is amazing.”

She giggled, turning to approach Scarlet and Shadow to join them in a glass of wine, as she sat on the smaller sofa across from them. “Thanks. Scarlet, Demona and I were in a punk band together before drama happened and we re-formed with Shadow. It helped a lot for keeping up with Demona’s love of crazy-fast solos.” She stuck her tongue out at the pink-haired one, eliciting a giggle from the three.

“Man, Robin, when you said Nikki was rich, you weren’t kidding,” Natalie finally spoke. “This house is amazing, the party was off the charts awesome, and now … we’re talking to freaking Heedless Despair.”

“Oh, money’s got nothing to do with our being here. We just like Nikki,” Demona offered almost playfully. “Girl’s got a lot of heart, but she’s had it pretty rough. Plus after her sweet sixteen, the way she gave Shadow a run for her money? We wanted to see just how good she was.”

Shadow glanced over her shoulder, raising her wine glass. “Don’t get us wrong. We’re not going to steal her away from you or anything, but if she ever comes looking for a letter of recommendation for college she’ll have our full endorsement.”

I didn’t even hear the door open behind me, so Nicole’s response made me jump just a little. “Seriously? You guys are the best!”

“Yes, seriously! Nikki, you’re good. A little rough, but good.”

“Wow… Thanks. That means so much coming from you guys. Oh, security’s making a final sweep of the place, but they’ll leave you alone. I set the alarm, but I’ve set you guys up a one-time use key so you can get out without triggering it. Just punch in 3180, but make sure you don’t forget anything or you’ll be stuck in here.”

Solace giggled. “Stuck in a beautiful house like this all night. That would be a right shame.” She grinned. “I take it you’re stepping out?”

She nodded. “We’re heading over to Ally’s for a sleepover. With my dad in the hospital, I just don’t feel right staying here. Mom’s going to come home to change clothes, then go back Hey, um… I know you guys probably don’t want to hang out with a bunch of high school kids all night, but you’re welcome to join us.”

Demona seemed genuinely disappointed as she replied, “Oh, I wish we could, but we have to be on a plane in three hours. We’re just waiting for the crowd to clear out so we can sneak out of here. Tell you what though, the next time we’re in Connecticut, I’ll personally make sure we have some time to just hang out and de-stress. You guys’ homecoming game was a blast.” She flashed me a broad grin.

“… That WAS you! I can’t believe I didn’t see it sooner.”

She laughed. “Well, you never asked if we were the band, just if we were ‘with’ the band,” she teased.

Allison and I caught a ride with Rachel and Natalie back home, while Nicole gave Jennifer a lift back to her house so she could change clothes and get some things for the sleepover. I needed to get a fresh change of clothes myself, and let Mom and Margie know where I’d be, so I parted ways with my friends for the moment, heading into my house.

“There you are! How was the party?” Mom greeted me at the door. She must have heard Rachel’s car in the driveway next door. I smiled as I wrapped her in a hug.

“The party was great. Except … Well, Mr. Morgan’s in the hospital.”

“Oh no! What happened?”

“Well, it’s a long story. Can you help me out of my costume? I’ll explain everything while I change clothes.”

Mom followed me upstairs while I explained everything that had happened, both at the party and at the hospital. I didn’t really give a second thought to stripping down to my underwear in front of her. I mean, not only was she my mom, but she was a nurse too. There was absolutely NOTHING I could feel embarrassed about in front of her. I stepped into my closet, emerging a moment later in my favorite pink sweater, a pair of jeans in-hand.

“Scott, the off-duty cop gave us a ride back to the party where we met up with Rachel and Natalie, you know, the girls from camp? Anyway, we’re going to hang out at Allison’s for a few hours. Would it be okay if I sleep over tonight? I know we just had another sleepover, but Nikki really needs this.”

“I… suppose,” she sounded reluctant, so I stepped closer, wrapping her in a hug.

“Mom, what’s wrong?”

“I just keep thinking about what could have happened had that security person not been an off-duty policeman. You girls just accepted everything so easily…”

“The Morgans screened everyone they hired, but… You’re right. I wasn’t thinking.” I frowned. “I’m sorry Mom.”

She smiled as she kissed my forehead. “Just be careful. You’re my only daughter. I have to be overprotective sometimes.”

Hearing those words made my heart soar. Even all these months later, I still loved to hear the words ‘my daughter’. I hugged her tightly and kissed her cheek then grabbed my gym bag, stuffing my pajamas and an extra change of clothes inside.

We’d only have a precious couple of hours to catch up with Natalie and Rachel, and I didn’t want to miss a moment of it. We’d have to invite them along if we managed to push through a Girl Scout-sponsored ski trip this winter.

At least Nicole had never been skiing either, but the fact remained I was the only girl not acclimated to cold weather, let alone snow. I had to giggle a little at the idea though, as I rushed downstairs, heading next door to my ‘second home’.

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