This Time I'll Make It

Liam & Nina (part 2)

By the time the paramedics get here she's still bleeding and hasn't woken up. They put her on the ambo after making sure she's stable. Her sister lets me ride with them so she can call their parents on her way to the hospital, which is only a ten minutes walk from the club.

I hold Nina's hand the entire way, only letting go when they have to take her inside an observation room and ask me to wait in the reception area. Rachel arrives a while after and I let her know Nina was stable and that the doctors are taking good care of her. She thanks me for everything and tells me their parents are on their way so we sit together and wait for the doctor to come out and give us some good news.

Rachel starts sobbing so I hold her hand in mine. I know she's worried and so am I but I'm trying to calm her down and stay positive. I hope everything turns out okay. I thought she only passed out because she had been drinking and lost blood, though she only had one cup. But the paramedic that was assisting her said she collapsed because she had an internal bleeding.

The moment the stretcher passed the hospital doors, they took her to surgery so they could stop the bleeding and make sure everything else was alright. Rachel told me she called the cops after the ambulance left and the guy was arrested and I'm glad because he deserved it.

We've been waiting all morning when the doctor shows up to let us know Nina's out of surgery but hasn't woken up so they are keeping her in observation, which means we can't see her yet. Rachel finally convinces her parents to go home for a while and I promise to call if there are any new developments.

"You should go home too, Liam. Take a shower, change and eat something." She advises before heading out.

"No, I'm okay. I want to stay with her." She nods.

"I'll bring you some food when I get back." I thank her and they leave.

I spend the rest of that day and the next one in the hospital, waiting for her to wake up. Rachel was able to convince her parents to wait at home, saying there was nothing they could do and I would call as soon as Nina woke up. So I've been alone the entire day.

It's almost midnight when a nurse comes tell me Nina woke up and I can see her. I call Rachel while I make my way to her room and step inside to see her laying on her back, her head facing the window. She doesn't notices me come in.

"How are you feeling?" I'm so worried... The last time I saw her she was bleeding on my arms. I can't stop thinking this is all my fault, I should never have left her alone.

"It's you."

"Don't look so disappointed." I laugh and she joins.

"I didn't mean it like that. I just expected to see my parents, or Rachel."

"Rachel convinced them to wait  at home but I already called them, their on their way."

"Thank you!"

"What for?"

"The doctor said you saved my life. So thank you, Liam." She takes my hand in hers and smiles.

"You'd do the same for me." I smile back.

I bring my hand to her face and caress her cheek. "I'm so glad you're okay, I was really scared of loosing you."

"Come closer," she pleas and I lean in to kiss her. "You won't get rid of me that easily."

"Nor do I want to." I assure her and kiss her lips one more time.

"Does this kissing mean you're mine?" I have to ask. I know it's probably not a good time but I need to know how she feels.

"You want me to be yours?" She's speechless.

"I've wanted it since we met. Some things happened along the way, but how I feel never changed. Last night I finally had the guts to go and kiss you."

"You can't be serious. You have treated me with disgust and disrespect since the beginning. In fact, until last night I never heard you say one single nice word to me or even smile to me what so ever. I always thought you hated me 'cause that's what you showed."

She actually thought I felt that way about her? I guess I did treated her really poorly. I just always thought she was so entitled, I still do. She's sarcastic and rude all the damn time and is constantly rolling her eyes and flipping her hair at everyone like she's so important. It drives me crazy.

I had seen her a couple of times before we were introduced and I couldn't stand her so I would always say mean things about her whenever she was around on purpose so she would hear me. All that changed on the day we met.

I was out with some friends and saw her walking down the street, shoulders straight and head up, the usual. My friends and I were sitting in the esplanade of a café and the table next to ours was occupied by a couple. The guy was yelling so loud that I think the whole street could hear him and the girl looked scared.

When Nina heard all the yelling, she stopped on her tracks and just stood there, taking in the scene, her eyes narrowed. The guy got up abruptly knocking down the chair he was sitting on and raised his hand like he was about to slap the girl. That's when Nina stepped in between them. I hadn't noticed she was that close.

"Go ahead and do it." Nina smirks.

"This is none of your business, bitch. Get out of my way or you'll be next." He spits.

"I would love to see you try because then it would be my business. Now leave or I'll have you arrested." She threatens him.

The guy back downs and leaves. Nina picks up the chair and sits next to the girl, holding her hands.

That's when I knew I was in love with someone who was cold, arrogant and entitled and yet stopped a guy from hitting a girl she didn't even know. I had fallen for a mystery. Later that day we were introduced, ironically by the girl she saved, who happened to become her best friend.

"I never hated you, that's a pretty strong feeling. I admit I couldn't stand you. I always thought you were so entitled and rude. I still do. But things changed the day we met because I saw the other part of you. The one that makes you complete. I've been trying to gain courage to ask you out since."

"Well, for what it's worth, I didn't like you either. That changed when you stopped being an ass because I got to see the real you." We both laugh.

"It drove me crazy seeing you with other guys, you know? None of them deserved you."

"I was never theirs. But now I am yours." She takes my hand in hers and smiles. I lean in and kiss her.

It's been four months since that day at the café and I cannot believe Nina's finally mine.