"Nick!" Amy screamed into the phone still sitting inches away from Greg, who was still unconscious in the floor. Nick was so surprised by her voice, he dropped the phone, picking it up so fast, he almost dropped it again. "Are you there!?"
"Yea, yea, I'm here, what's the matter?" Nick said.
"It's Greg. I don't know what's wrong with him. he came home, and I…..he's not waking up." She said, sounding like she had been crying for a while.
"What? Not waking up? What do you mean?" Nick asked as he hurried to grab his jacket and his keys. "Amy? Listen to me. I'm going to go get in the car and head over to your house. I'm going to call you on my cell, so keep the phone close. You need to check his vitals." He was standing at the phone cradle waiting for her to reply.
"O...Ok. I check his pulse, right?"
"Right. Keep your finger there until I get there. If he stops breathing, you will need to know." Nick knew right away that he probably shouldn't have said this. He thought about how hard this could be on the baby, but was broken from his thoughts by a sound like a frightened child on the other end of the phone. "Amy? Are you there?"
No answer. "Amy? What is it?" As he asked this he heard, almost inaudiable, her say one word: "Stabbed."
"Stabbed? like with a knife?"
"No, no, with a….a needle. I recognize the marks." Nick thought about how it would be easy for her to recognize them. Then, he heard her say, "He's going to die, isn't he?"
"No." Nick surprised himself when he said that. It was like an auto response, like he was trying to convince himself that that was impossible. He remembered that he had to get to Greg, to call an ambulance. "Amy, I'm coming right now. I'll call you back in a minute." He hung up the phone before she answered and rushed out the door. He got in the driver's seat and turned on the ignition. But he didn't move the car. Suddenly, he was overcome with fear; that Greg could die. Greg, the one who could almost always make a joke in a bad situation. Greg, the one who told him that he could tell him anything shortly after that night when Nick was kidnapped. Then, urgency kicked in He pulled out his cell and dialed Amy's number.He turned on the siren, to get to Amy's faster, and peeled out of the driveway. He would never forgive himself if he was too late.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"No." Nick said, "Amy, I'm coming right now. I'll call you back in a minute." Amy heared him hang up the phone with a soft click and she turned off the phone. Setting it down, she hesitantly put two fingers on Greg's neck. his pulse was quick, like he had been running, and he had started to sweat;something she didn't notice when she was on the phone with Nick. She looked at him closely noticing how he looked like he was just sleeping.
She had heard on the news and in the papers how he had gotten beat up earlier in the year on a case. She had planned on visiting him in the hospital, to make sure that she knew that she was still there for him, that she was still his friend. But Luke had caught her when she had tried to leave, and caught her up in her lie: that she was going to yoga. something she had started doing after she got off drugs. But he had memorized the schedual. Something she hoped that he wouldn't have. He made her stay at home, threatening her, which wasn't unusual.
The phone rang, yanking her out of her memories. She picked it up and on the caller ID she saw that it was Nick. She turned it on and he said that he was on her street. True to his word, like always, she heard a car pull up in the driveway, and she yelled, "Come in!" before he had a chance to knock. The door opened and Nick came down the hallway, stopping dead when he saw Greg, but came out of it. He came down the hallway and fell to his knees next to Amy and Greg. He put his two fingers on Greg's neck and felt his pulse. He let out a sigh, and dialed an ambulance on his cell phone. Amy looked at him thinking that she would never forgive herself if she was too late.