Zack found himself laying in a bed in the hospital after what just happened. He still felt a bit powerless, but still he could stand up without any problem if he wanted so. Once he barely opened his eyes… Mila, Tina and Bass were there to check out on him if he was alright... which he was, as he was starting to stir and opening his eyes while groaning. The three felt relieved, but Mila was the most relieved as she then softly grabbed his head and, slowly, kissed him. Zack was confused at first because he just opened his eyes before then smiling a little and kissing back. Then, they broke it and Mila looked at him with an innocent happy look.
"I'm so glad you're okay." She said.
At the same time, Bass and Tina approached the two.
"You okay, buddy?" Bass asked.
"Mila just told us what happened. I'm very sorry, Zack." Tina added with a sad look on the face.
Upon hearing that, Zack, immediately, remembered what happened before he ended up in the hospital: Niki came in and attempted to attack Mila with a knife, but he threw himself in front of Mila, getting injured himself from the attack. It resulted in her getting arrested and him to lay now in a hospital bed. He groaned a little and rubbed his face.
"Oh man... life freaking sucks sometimes... What happened to Niki? Did she get into an asylum or something?" Zack asked.
Mila, Tina and Bass looked at eachother in a confusing way as they actually did not know where Niki possibly ended up. All they could simply do after the accident was to simply know how Zack was feeling. Mila resumed, then, to look at Zack with concern.
"We don't know, but probably."
Zack sighed in sadness and that concerned Mila even more as she slowly went beside him to stroke his shoulder.
"How long was I out...?" He asked.
"A while ago, fortunately, the doctor said that the wound is not serious. You got lucky that girl didn't cut you deeply in the hip." Tina responded.
Zack looked down before closing his eyes…and then reopening them, revealing a serious look as he lifted himself up and stood up from the bed, shocking everyone. Mila tried to put Zack back in his bed, but he resisted and then pushed Tina and Bass, who were also trying to put him back in the bed, aside to get through.
"Zack! Where are you going?!" Bass said.
Zack panted as he still felt a bit of pain in the hip before looking at the three with a glare.
"In which asylum was she put in?! Tell me, I have to get to her!" He said.
The pain in the hip, however, took over once he said that, and so he started to collapse. Mila, quickly, grabbed him before he could touch the ground.
"First of all, Zack, you're not fully recovered yet. And second, like we just told you, we don't know if she's at an asylum or not!" She told him.
Zack growled and brought himself back on his legs.
"I…don't give… a d-damn! We will just ask the police-department where they put Niki! As long as I am here, I won't get any peace, but nothing more than emotional pain. Drive me to the police-department, now!" He responded.
Tina and Bass join in holding him as he still was struggling to stand up due to the injury.
"But what are you going to do if you meet her in wherever she is now? For what Mila has told us, she's got insane!" Tina said.
"Yes, but when I told her to stop, I could sense, that she wanted to. But she couldn't, because Mila was near me! If I go into her room alone, she will probably listen!" Zack told her.
After hearing that, Mila started to become sad and feeling a bit guilty as she looked somewhere else, giving the impression that she was feeling ashamed. Zack noticed it, once he turned around, and wrapped one arm around her back to comfort her.
"No, this won't mean that I don't love you anymore, Mily. I love you more than you think. All I wish for Niki is to snap out of it. There has to be chance to redeem herself." He said with a weak smile.
He gave her a quick kiss on the lips in which she returned it and stroked his back. After a few seconds, they stopped kissing and she smiled back.
"I love you too, Zack... and now that you want to resolve the problem between you and your ex-girlfriend, I love you more, because you just proved to me, that now you care more than ever about your life rather than eternal wealth... let us drive you to the police department."
Tina and Bass felt a little bit shocked after they heard what came out of Mila's mouth at the end of her sentence.
"But, are you sure you can go out now? You're not fully recovered yet…" Tina said.
Zack chuckled before turning to her and giving a little smug.
"Don't worry, Tina. I can handle it. Your wrestling moves really got my bones cracked the last time we encountered, and I was still able to stand up! I had it worse." He said.
For the first time in her own life, Zack had made her blush and couldn't help but to giggle silently. Bass, instead, nodded at Zack feeling sure to go and agreed to take him to the nearest police department to find out where Niki ended up.
"Alright then, we shall accompany you." He said.
Zack, then, had to convince the doctors to go and even if it was hard to do it, he managed to succeed. He put his clothes, slowly and carefully to avoid touching the now bandaged injured hip, back on, and along with Bass, Mila and Tina, he went outside to see his car parked in front of them. Since Zack was injured, Bass suggested to drive.
"Let me drive the cage."
With Bass on the wheel, Tina beside him, and Mila and Zack behind them, the four went to the nearest NYPD. When they have arrived at the department, Zack asked the police officer where Niki ended up. After telling him the full name, the police officer checked on his database on the PC to look where he and his people put the woman Zack was referring to. The police officer nodded again before showing to Zack a picture of the possible girl Zack was talking about. Much to the his shock, it was indeed Niki on the picture. The DJ said that it was her and the police officer revealed that she has been taken into an asylum near Brooklyn. Zack, then, took the note with the address on it and then left, with his friends, the department to get back in the car to drive Brooklyn. While going, Zack warns them that once they have arrived, they must wait for him until he was finished. Both Bass and Tina agreed with this. Mila too, although she was hoping that nothing terrible would happen afterwards. Finally they arrived at destination. They could see that giant word that said ''Asylum''…it was indeed where Niki was.
"Be careful in there, Zack." Mila told him.
Zack's response to this was to simply hug her and kiss her on the cheek. He exited the car and made his way inside the place. He could hear a lot of screams coming from a lot of people that were inside their cell. Zack felt a bit disgusted at this before asking to the reception to ask where Niki was stationed. After he got the information, he went with the doctor to Niki's cell... and once Zack took a step inside, he saw his former girlfriend sitting on the floor depressed.
"...Niki?" He dared to say.
Upon hearing that, Niki widened her eyes because the voice she heard was way too familiar to her, and just after seeing Zack...she went in rampage.
"...YOU!" She screamed.
She ran towards him, but the doctor quickly grabbed her and held her to prevent her to go further as she shook like a crazy and kept yelling.
"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT, ZACK!? GET LOST! I HATE YOU! I HATE THAT BITCH OF YOUR NEW GIRLFRIEND! I HATE ALL OF YOU!"
Zack let his head hung down in sadness, but... then he snapped and run towards her, shocking the doctor, pinning her against the wall, by grabbing her arms and yelling back at her.
"OK, I GET IT! YOU HATE ME! BUT YOU KNOW WHAT?! I AM SORRY FOR ALL THIS MESS! IT WAS MY OWN GREED, WHICH TURNED YOU LIKE THIS! IT'S NOT MILA'S FAULT, IT'S MINE! IF YOU WANT, LET YOUR ANGER OUT ON ME, HELL, YOU CAN EVEN STAB ME IF YOU WANT, BUT I WON'T CARE, BECAUSE I ACTUALLY STILL LOVE YOU AS A FRIEND!"
That made Niki widened her eyes as tears already started to fall from them.
"…Love me…?"
Zack panted from the yelling and tried to speak calmly.
"Like you said, we can no longer be together like before...but still, we can be friends. I don't want you to be like this..."
His grip softened on her and then hugged her warmly and tenderly, making her eyes wide in complete shock, while Zack spoke in a comforting tone.
"Niki... I must apologize for all this trouble I had to put you through, because of my selfish greed... you were greedy too, and we both were together in a completely false way... and I am sorry, that it hurt you that much... I didn't know you loved me this much..."
Niki was feeling other tears running from her eyes.
"So...you still care about me...?" She asked.
"I do! Even if I have a new girlfriend, that doesn't mean I no longer care about you. Because like I told you...I changed my ways. And I really want you to change as well. I don't want you to suffer like I did a few weeks ago because of a little issue I had." He responded.
She then hugged him tightly and started to sob into his chest, while he stroked her hair and he cuddled her to calm her down.
"...Zack... I AM SO SORRY!"
"Shhh... it's fine... I understood what you had to go through because of my stupidity..."
She felt very desperate as she now really knew that what she just did was just wrong.
"I was also the stupid one, wasn't I? I dumped you just because you lost my stuff from the old island that got destroyed by those meteorites and for having a wrong image about you...if it wasn't for my idiocy... maybe this would have never happened…"
"Well, what can we do? We were both greedy assholes back then." He said with a chuckle in attempt to relieve her in which he succeeded.
Then Niki looked down again in sadness.
"But it still hurts me inside... that we were a couple back then, without any substance... and I confess, that even though you were a complete goofball, you were still a funny guy and someone enjoyable to be around with... and because of all these values, I only want ONE last request..."
She blushed a bit in embarrassment while looking at him in a shyly way.
"C-Can... I kiss you...one last time? J-Just so that I can see... what I truly missed..."
Zack widened his eyes and sighed a bit before nodding. After all this was only a request of hers. Even though his heart belonged now to Mila, he still didn't want to see his ex-girlfriend suffering anymore, since he also got to feel the same thing. Niki widened her eyes again, but this time in happiness before kissing him slowly on the lips. Zack closed his eyes as he allowed the kiss to go on. Once Niki felt satisfied, she stopped and smiled.
"Thanks, Zack…"
He hugged her again, but this time she returned it.
"And how are you feeling now? Better?"
"A lot! thanks!"
This was watched by the doctor that witnessed the whole situation and he couldn't help but to grin a little. Zack ran his hand through Niki's white hair and smiled in his usual warm way.
"And to be fair... being with you wasn't so bad, aside from our stupidity... being together with a super-hot woman like you, would have been maybe even better. But I still love Mila more, because she cheered me up and brought me back to life... and now it was time I bring YOU back to life." Zack said.
All that Niki could do now was to simply sigh in relief while having a peaceful look, now that she was aware of Zack not being what she thought.
"Thank you Zack...for healing me from the madness that was in me."
Zack never felt this happy in his life.
"Heh, I'm a great doctor ain't I?" He joked as he laughed a little. Niki chuckled silently before Zack became curious.
"What are you going to do now?"
"I think I'll return back home...back to my family. Well, as long as the doctors allow me to go…"
Zack tapped her shoulder before asking in an uncomfortable way.
"Do you need any financial support from me? If so, then let me know, alright?"
Niki nodded before noticing Zack smiling at her in which made her smile too.
"Take care, ok?" He said with a wink.
Zack started to walk off waving her at the same time and she waved back.
"I'll never forget you, Zack!" Niki said.
"So won't I, Niki! Goodbye." Zack responded.
He then told the doctor that he can release her from the asylum as she was fine now and once Zack was walking in the corridor of the asylum... he looked down, but then looked back up, smiled widely and raised his arms in the air in a victory-like.
"I AM FREE OF SORROWS NOW! I NEVER FELT SO GOOD!" He said before jumping in the air. However, once he did it, he felt pain on his hip again and comically touched the wound.
"Ough! Damn I forgot about that…! How could I be so clumsy…!" He said before chuckling.
He took a quick and relief sigh before exiting the asylum and heading back to the car where his friends were waiting for him. Since he was smiling, while getting inside, it made Tina, Mila and Bass smile back at him.
"So, how did it went?" Mila asked.
Zack instantly, but carefully, pulled her into a tight hug.
"Mily, it worked! I am all good now with her! That means I have no more sorrows in my life anymore!" He said happily.
This made Mila gasp in a shock but happy way as she tightly returned the hug.
"Really!? I'm so happy!" She said.
Bass and Tina could only stare at the two grinning and then looking at eachother in a happy way since they were very pleased.
A few days later, Zack returned back home from the hospital, after the doctors treated the wound, with Mila to keep him company. The two were sitting on the huge couch and watching the TV.
"How's the wound, Zack?" Mila asked.
Zack then pulled up a part of his t-shirt to see his bandage wound on his hip. He smiled a little before turning to Mila.
"Let's say a bit better. I'll bet anything that very soon I'll be back in one piece." He said with a smirk which made Mila giggle a little.
While changing channels on the TV, since most of the programs were uninteresting, he stopped once he put the D.W.A program, which was about wrestling, and they see Tina in her wrestling outfit, performing a few moves on her opponent before her father Bass, as ''Mr. Strong'', joined soon and helped her daughter in the match which ended up with the two triumphing against their opponents. Zack could only chuckle upon seeing Bass taking Tina in his arms.
"Well, I guess they are indeed about to rule the wrestling world." Zack said before laughing while Mila chuckled.
She then slowly placed her head softly on his shoulder while still looking at the TV.
"I think it's really over now, Zack."
Zack knew what she was talking about and so he softly placed his head on hers while smiling, taking off his sunglasses, since he remembered that she wished him to not wearing them all the time with her around, revealing a light smile formed on his lips while keep watching the TV at the same time.
"It is indeed."