Glad you guys like this story, the positive feedback means a lot to me. I'm just going to go back and forth between the two characters for awhile. Now back to Nick!

"Danny called? When?" Nick asked, upset that he didn't get to talk to his friend.

"Last night." said Jillian.

"Why didn't you let me talk to him?"

"Nicky, you were sleeping. I didn't wake you up because you needed your rest. I don't think I could have woken you up anyway thanks to those sleeping pills the doctor perscribed."

"Okay." Nick relented. "What did he want?"

"He just wondered how you were doing. I told him about the kidnapping and that you weren't able to come to the phone."

Nick looked at his mother in shock. "You told him?"

"He's your friend, I thought he had a right to know." said Jillian, biting her lip.

"I know you meant well mom but you have let me tell him what happened. I think the news would have been a little easier to take if he had heard it from me." said Nick, placing a hand on his mother's shoulder.

"I'm sorry sweatheart. Are you going to call him back?" asked Jillian.

Nick nodded. "Yeah, he's at work now but I can leave a message on his answering machine."

Jillian left the room to give Nick some privacy. He dialed Danny's number. After listening to Danny's recorded voice telling him to leave a message at the sound of the beep Nick said, "Danny, it's me Nick. Call me back as soon as you get this okay? It's important."

Later that night the phone rang. Nick almost lost his hearing when he heard Danny yelling on the other end. "Nick! My God, are you all right? I almost had a heart attack when I heard what happend."

"Sorry about that man. My mom shouldn't have scared you like that." said Nick. He knew what Danny was going to ask next. Sure enough, Danny asked "You want to talk about it?" in a voice that said he would understand if Nick didn't want to. But Nick did want to talk about it. His friends had only talked about the kidnapping just long enough to answer Nick's questions, but after that they had refused to say anything more on the subject. Whether it was because it was too painful for them or because they thought they were protecting Nick by not saying anything was unclear. Perhaps it was a little of both. But Nick needed to talk about what happend. And not to some shrink who was being paid to listen to him either. He needed to talk to a friend. Danny had been spared the horror of watching Nick suffer via a weblink, something Nick was grateful for. It might make talking about it a little easier.

Nick told the whole story pausing only to answer Danny's questions. Afterward Danny asked, "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," said Nick. "What's on your mind?"

"How did you come out of that hell with your sanity intact? I'd be in a mental hospital if I didn't kill myself first."

Nick smiled. "I just thought of my friends and family. I knew I had to hold on for them. So, anything going on with you?"

Danny was quiet for a moment. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Come on, Danny! I told you what happend to me, it's your turn now! If you're thinking that I won't take your problems seriously you're wrong. I would never do that. I want to know if things have improved since the shooting."

"Not really, things are pretty tense right now." said Danny. "I've done a lot of things that I ain't proud of. I want to change, I want to do the right thing but it always seems to blow up in my face!"

"Hang in there Danny, you'll get through this. I know you will."

"Nick, my cell phone's going off. I'll talk to you later." In a warm voice Danny added, "I'm glad you're all right."

Nick hung up the phone. He hoped he was right about Danny.