Part 6

Nancy sat on a stool in the hospital ward and glanced worriedly at Ned, still asleep on the bed.

The last few hours were a blur now. Help had arrived within minutes, reason being Joshua and Sarah had gone to the police even before Nancy had called them. Nancy had to go to the precinct with them to give her statement while Ned had been whisked away in an ambulance.

She had rushed back as soon as she could only to find that Ned was in surgery. He had been stabbed just like she had suspected.

The one hour wait when she had been given no other news had been torturous. She had used that time to call his parents and her father and tearfully explain what had happened. They were already on their way here.

When the doctor had finally called and updated her, she had been so relieved it had taken quite some effort to not scream the place down. Although Ned had lost blood and he had needed stitches, he had been lucky the injury hadn't caused any major damage. The reason he had been out for so long was that he had been drugged heavily. They expected him to wake up anytime now and so she had been allowed to stay with him.

But now looking at him still asleep, IV drip in his wrist, she wondered if she had celebrated too soon. Every time she looked at how pale he was, her heart broke a little. What if the doctor had been wrong?

Nancy took his hand and laced it with hers, seeking comfort from how familiar it felt. She was so tired. She had been on her feet since early morning and it was already hours after midnight.

Nancy had just started drifting off from exhaustion when she felt his hand twitching slightly against hers. Every trace of fatigue vanished as she waited for him to wake up.

Ned blinked a few times. "Nancy?"

"Yeah, baby. How are you feeling?" She asked softly as she gently helped him sit up.

"Okay I guess. Where am I?" He asked, his voice gruff.

"Emersonville Hospital. Do you remember what happened?"

He thought for a moment before answering. "It's coming back. Joshua.. Alex Wheeler... I was stabbed?"

She nodded sadly and then proceeded to tell him what all had happened. Sometime between this, the doctor came in to check on him and Nancy was glad when he declared that Ned would be discharged in a day or so if he promised to take it easy for a while.

"Wow." He said when she was finally done, a dazed expression on his face.

"Ned, why didn't you suspect Joshua after what you'd heard from Sheena?" She wanted him to rest but there were still a few gaps in the story that were nagging her.

"Mostly because he is a friend and I trusted him. Why would he go to the trouble of sending himself threats for no apparent reason? But I obviously couldn't just rely on my gut feelings regarding this. So after I left Sheena, I went to the tracks to confront Josh."

"But you didn't meet him then, did you?" Nancy was confused.

"No. Because I saw Coach Wheeler leaving his office and on a hunch I decided to take a look. I found two notes buried in his drawer. One just said if the Coach knew what's good for his team, he should have a look in Joshua's kit that day. It was exactly like the ones Josh had received. The other was a printed letter with very comprehensive details about how "Jefferson" was hiding drugs in his house. Both were unsigned. I knew they had something to do with the case."

"What did you do next?"

"Josh had already left for work by then. I couldn't even catch him at the house. I had some time so I went down to the faculty accommodations to see if I could make my way into the Coach's house. Get more info on who this Jefferson was."

"Wait! So you didn't know that was Alex's middle name?"

Ned shook his head.

"I didn't know him personally. Remembered hearing it once way too late. By then I was already sitting in his car with a knife in my side. I hung out around Coach's place for a while but he was home so I decided to go meet Josh. You know that short cut which cuts through the woods? I was halfway through when I felt like someone was following me. Next thing I knew two people jumped me. I tried to fight back before I realised they had a knife and were willing to use it. They forced me to walk to their car. By then I wasn't feeling so brave. I don't remember much after that but I think I passed out about fifteen minutes after they started driving and then woke up here."

That made sense. Ned's car had been found abandoned in a field off the highway. They had probably returned and stolen it to create the impression that Ned had left on his own will. And they had already confessed to attempting to hack into his accounts to find what he had been up to.

"Kara Foster wrote that letter to Mr Wheeler."

Ned's eyes grew wide with recognition.

"Alex's ex girlfriend? They were already broken up when I joined but I'd heard that they were a hot thing before. How'd you find out?"

"She was here an hour ago. She's known since last summer. Suspecting Alex of cheating on her, she did some spying. Turned out, his affair with Kourtney wasn't the only thing he was hiding. It freaked her out because she had been arrested as a juvenile once. For possession. And she had trusted him enough to let him know about that part of her life she never wanted to go back to. Kara was afraid Alex would reveal the past she had kept so long a secret."

The girl had been a nervous wreck when she had come to meet Nancy on hearing what had happened. She blamed herself because she had been too scared to choose the direct path to punish Alex. Instead she had been the one who had spread the rumours in the first place. It had only been a coincidence that she had sent that letter the same day as Alex.

"She's giving her statement to the police. In any case, Alex and Kourtney are going to be in prison for a long time for assault, kidnapping and attempted murder." Nancy added.

Ned was quiet for a while. Then he took her hand and placed it against his chest.

"Thank you, Nan. For saving me." He grinned suddenly and pretending to hold a microphone, spoke exaggeratedly. "In a modern retelling of a fairy tale, a beautiful and brave princess saved a handsome but helpless prince from the evil ogres. It was dramatic.."

At that, Nancy couldn't hold it back any more. She burst into tears. It had been so tough to plug her emotions, to be brave for sake of his family and friends. But inside, she had been terrified. Terrified of never finding him again. And when she had, terrified that he wouldn't make it. There had been soo much blood..She didn't know what she would have done if something had happened to him.

She let Ned pull her into the comfortable circle of his embrace.

"I'm okay, baby. We're both okay." He murmured against her hair as he wiped away her tears.

When she felt better, she gave him a long bear hug.

"Easy there, grizzly. Stab wound!"

Nancy immediately jerked back. "I'm so sorry!"

But his eyes were dancing. "One kiss and I'll forgive you."

The kiss she gave him was no joke. When they finally parted, she could feel her head spinning.

But Ned didn't let her go. Instead, he pulled her into another hug.

"I'm not hurting you?"

"I think I'm going to take advantage of the anaesthesia as long as its available." He smiled.

"I was so scared, Nan. For a while I thought I'd never get to do this again." He added softly.

"I love you, Ned. And I'll always find you." Nancy whispered against his chest.

"I know you will. I love you too, Nan." He whispered back as he ran his fingers through her hair.

His parents would be here soon. Most of Omega Chi was currently in the waiting room waiting for a chance to meet him. And Ned needed his rest.

Nancy knew that in a while she would have to leave. But right now, that was the last thing on her mind as Ned held her and she heard the reassuring sound of his heart beating against her heart. And she thanked every one of her lucky stars for keeping him alive.

The End