Nick walked into the court house in a suit, handcuffs, and shackles around his ankles. He felt humiliated as flashes went off around him and he knew that his family would see some of those pictures ... even his younger brother, who had looked up to him so much, and now must've felt so incredibly disappointed. Nick heard a woman's voice insisting that she wanted to talk to somebody as he rounded the corner that would lead to the court room where his last and final trial would be held.
"I want to talk to him, Will! You don't understand ... I want to talk to Nick."
Nick's ears perked up and he stopped walking, turning around to see who the girl was. He could only see her back, but still remained standing, ignoring the protests of the guards around him, as well as his attorney.
"No! That is not a good idea," 'Will' was saying as he tried to guide the woman in the direction of the court room. Nick's court room.
"I don't care! Get him over here and I want one of those private rooms so that I can talk to him. Look, Will -- he isn't psycho, okay?? He did some crazy sh*t, but I'm not scared of him! Get him over here!"
Nick's heart was practically palpitating inside of his chest and a moment later Will was heading towards him and asking him to talk to a young lady that would like to have a moment with him. Nick agreed and one of his guards went with him to the door of the private room that the woman had gone through moments before. He stepped inside of the room and was surprised when the woman turned around and he recognized the face. The face of a dead woman.
"Amity?!"
"Hello, Nick," Amity turned in her seat and gestured for Nick to take the other.
It took Nick a while to get to the chair because of the slow strides he had to take with the shackles on, and Amity wished she had the keys to take them off of him. In a way, she knew she did -- but she couldn't, she wouldn't.
"I-I thought you were dead!"
Amity shivered at the words and Nick suddenly realized he shouldn't have said it. But he had thought she was dead. That was why he and Brian had been up for life in prison in the first place, right?
"Yeah, so did a lot of people when they found me. I was hardly breathing at the time. You and Brian beat me to a pulp, and I almost did die. But they managed to save me and after many surgeries and reconstructing I'm pretty much back to normal. Except I have a hard time seeing out of one eye," Amity explained and crossed her legs in the business suit and skirt that she wore for the trial.
It was Nick's turn to shudder at her words and he found tears falling freely from his deep blue eyes. They held so much sadness and Amity knew that Nick hadn't meant to do what he had done when he was 15. But she wasn't going to be the one to give him freedom. She just couldn't. Not after all that she had been through on the hands of Nick Carter. She had managed to forgive him enough to talk to him, to see him even, but there was still an anger towards him for the death of their child and the near death of herself.
"I met California this morning, Nick," Amity went on when Nick said nothing.
Nick's eyes widened, nearly popping out, "Cali's here?!"
"She's testifying for you. You know that Brian has been sentenced to life for the beating of me and the murder of Hattie?"
"What?! Bri didn't tell me that -- I just saw him yesterday. Hattie committed suicide!"
"That's what California's saying. She testified for Brian too, but it obviously didn't do much good."
Nick was confused about what California would have to say about him, "How is she testifying for me, though? I mean, she knows everything that went on with you and me ... she's the one that called the police on me."
"Nick ... they think that you and Brian conspired against Hattie and California, but that California had called the police in time. Hattie hadn't. Therefore, they think that you had a part in the death of Hattie." Amity thought he had known, but apparently not.
Nick nearly fainted, but managed to keep his dizzy head from sinking to the ground, "That's ridiculous. Brian and I wouldn't do such a thing!"
"Well, when a teenage boy kills a... a ... baby ... and then he and a friend practically beat a woman to death, they never really know what they're capable of." Amity continued when Nick said nothing, "California's here to tell them that you hadn't been conspiring against her or Hattie ... that Hattie committed suicide and Brian, and you, had nothing to do with that. Nick, I have to tell you this before we leave ... I'm testifying against you."
"You think that I was going to kill California?! That I was in on the death of Hattie ... That Brian killed her?!" Nick stood up and dug his fingers deep into his hair. If only he could escape this nightmare. But he knew he wasn't going anywhere fast ... except back to prison.
"No, Nick. I don't. But I know what you did to our child, and I know what you tried to do to me."
"Mr. Carter, Miss Knox, the trial's starting in 5 minutes. Your time is up," a security guard said, coming into the room and looking at them expectantly.
"Just give us one minute!" Nick urged and the guard finally left and shut the door again. "Amity, before we leave ... I have to do this. I need to apologize for all that I did. I am sooo sorry for what I did to our baby," Nick began to cry at the words and tears fell from Amity's eyes as well. Nick quickly reached up and wiped her face with his thumb, surprised that she didn't even flinch. "I am sorry for what we did to you. I would take everything back in an instant, do you know that?? Before all of that stuff happened I had a hard time killing a fly ... I'm not a violent person, as stupid as that sounds. But you have to believe me when I say how sorry I am for all that I put you through. I know that my apology means nothing, but I am sorry," Nick finished before standing and leaving the room.
Amity sat there in stunned silence and began to shake as more tears began to come down, "It means more than you know, Nick. It means more than you know."
