“You!“ I exclaimed. It was that reporter! I twisted out of his grasp. What was unnerving is that I knew that I was only able to because he let me. He was huge and I don’t mean fat.

“That’s right you little bitch.” He grinned.

“What do you want, Leon?” Nick demanded as he stepped in front of me. I was shaking now, I could feel it.

“I’ve got a little score to settle with you punks. It just so happens that I don’t like being ratted out.” His voice was dangerous and low. I shuddered.

“Well it just so happens that I don’t like the things you were saying to us yesterday. Maybe next time you think about opening that fat mouth of yours, you’ll consider what you say first!” Nick shot back.

That enraged Leon. His face turned bright red. “Listen you little brat! I nearly lost my job because you and your little friend can’t handle a few questions. Well, welcome to the real world, boy! I want my interview, and damn it, I’m gonna get it!” He snarled.

“Like hell.” Nick informed him angrily.

“Oh you can bet I will. I am going to make both of your lives a living hell until I get it!” Leon yelled. A huge vein was bulging out of his neck. This guy was insane. I was afraid that he was going to do something and I wanted to get out of there. I tugged on Nick’s arm. Thankfully he got my message.

“Whatever.” Nick scoffed as he started to walk by him.

“WHERE THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE GOING?!” Leon bellowed. Without warning he grabbed Nick and slammed him up against the wall. “I didn’t give you permission to leave.” He said, his face inches from Nick’s.

I frantically looked around. Where was everyone? Couldn’t anyone hear that lunatic yelling? “Let go of him!!” I yelled. “Someone help!!”

“You just made a big mistake.” Nick said quietly. I could see fear flicker across his eyes, but it was immediately followed by anger.

“Right.” Leon smirked as he punched Nick in the stomach. Nick tried to double over, but Leon kept him pinned against the wall. Without thinking I grabbed his arm and tried to pull it off Nick.

“You asshole!” I raged. I barely even saw it coming. His back of his fist came flying like a ton of bricks. It hit me across the side of my face and I let out a cry as I went crashing onto the floor.

“HEY!” I heard several pairs of feet running our direction from where I was half kneeling, half laying on the floor.

“Just wait kids. I’ll be back.” I heard Leon hiss. Then I felt a pair of hands on my shoulders and I tensed. I expected another blow, but it was Kevin’s voice that I heard.

“Ellie? Are you alright? What happened?!” He asked anxiously.

I looked up to see AJ tearing down the hall after Leon, Nick slumped down against the wall, trying to catch his breath, with Howie crouched in front of him. AJ shouldn’t have gone after him. The man was dangerous.

Kevin looked at my face and gasped. I could feel it started to swell. I gingerly touched my cheekbone, just under my left eye, and winced. It hurt something fierce. When I pulled my shaking hand away, I was shocked to see blood on my fingertips. “He hit me.” I said unnecessarily.

“That I can see. We need to get some ice on that.” He shook his head.

I looked over at Nick. “Are you okay?” I asked.

He nodded, clutching his midsection. “Damn.” His eyes widened when he saw my face. It must have looked bad. “You shouldn’t have done that. He really could have hurt you!”

“He went after you! What was I supposed to do? Just stand there and watch?” I cried.

"He's long gone." AJ called as walked back towards us. There was someone walking with him, but I couldn't see that far to tell who it was.

“AJ, that wasn’t too smart.” Howie reprimanded.

AJ shrugged. “This is Gracie. She saw part of it happen from down the hall.” He gestured to the Asian girl standing next to him. She almost looked like she was in a mild state of shock, being so close to the guys and all. I studied her closely. She looked maybe a couple years younger than me, about my height, maybe a little taller. She gave me a tentative smile and crouched down next to me. She had absolutely gorgeous eyes. I always notice people’s eyes. Hers were almond shaped and very dark, nearly black.

“Are you okay?” She asked softly.

I nodded shakily. I guess my nerves were still pretty raw.

“I saw that creep come up to you guys.” She explained, shifting her eyes between all of us. “I didn’t think anything of it until he went after Nick. I was going to go get help, but everything happened so fast. The next thing I know, he is tearing down the hall in my direction. I wanted to stop him, but I just kinda froze.”

“No, that’s good. Trying to stop him would have been dangerous. You might have gotten hurt too.” Kevin assured her.

She nodded uncertainly, then turned her attention to me. “I’m going to get you some ice for that okay?”

I nodded. “Thanks.”

She took off down the hall and I happened to notice AJ admiring her as she disappeared around the corner.

“No way, Bone, she’s too young for you.” Howie informed him.

“How do you know? Hell, I can look, can’t I?” AJ retorted.

Howie shook his head and laughed.

“Now what?” Nick asked quietly. “That guy is definitely not right in the head.”

“What exactly happened? Did you provoke him or something? I know that temper of yours.” Kevin demanded.

Nick narrowed his eyes. “I didn’t do a damned thing. He came out of nowhere and freaked out on us. He was pissed that he got into trouble for the way he was talking to us before. He’s got it out for us.”

Kevin sighed. “We need to figure something out.”

“No!” I cried. “If he gets into trouble again, he’ll come after us again.” I shuddered.

“El, we can’t let him get away with that. The man has problems, obviously.” Howie reasoned.

“I know.” I replied. “I just don’t want anything to happen again.”

“It won’t.” Kevin assured.

“Hey, I got some ice, but let’s go into the restroom so we can wash the blood off.” Gracie had returned with a washcloth with ice in it.

I nodded gratefully and Kevin helped me to my feet. They promised to wait outside until we were done.

Once in the restroom I let my breath out in a long whoosh. I was still kinda shaky, but it was starting to go away. This whole thing had me totally blown away. I mean, I wouldn’t say I had a boring life, but this took the cake. This was just too unreal.

“You’re getting some color back.” Gracie told me, her eyes smiling.

I snorted. “I must have been pretty ghostlike. Oh! By the way, my name’s Ellie.”

She grinned. “Gracie, and I already knew what your name was. I’m sure you know that you and the guys have been all over the news.” She grew serious. “I’m so sorry. I can’t imagine how hard it’s been on you and the guys. Especially Brian. The whole thing just seems so unreal.” She ran some water over a paper towel and carefully wrung it out.

I smiled faintly. “My thoughts exactly.” She gently wiped the paper towel over my cheekbone and I winced.

“Sorry, I’m trying to be gentle.” She said quickly.

“It’s okay, I’ve felt worse.” I smiled to make her feel better. “So, how come you’re here? Do you work here or something?”

“No, my mom’s friend is sick and she asked me to bring her up some stuff since she had to work.” Gracie explained.

“That’s cool of ya.” I smiled at her. She was being so helpful. After wiping off the blood, I took a look at my face. It looked pretty fierce. My cheekbone was sort of a blueish-purpleish color, except for the angry cut in the middle. Pretty. At least he didn’t break my cheekbone. Gracie handed me the ice and I carefully held it up to the side of my face.

“Did you know them before all this happened?” Gracie asked.

“Huh? Oh, um, no. I had never met any of them and I didn’t think I ever would. I think I am still in a mild state of shock about the whole thing.” I replied.

“I can imagine. How’s Brian doing?”

“He’s doing good.” I said evasively. I didn’t want to give out any information that I wasn’t supposed to.

We walked out and the guys were all standing there trying to look inconspicuous. I leaned over and whispered to Gracie, “Backstreet Boys? Where? What Backstreet Boys?” I cracked. She grinned.

Nick made a face at me. “Smart ass.”

I snickered. “Better than being a dumbass.” It was the same exchange that we had shared earlier.

He rolled his eyes, but smiled. That was cool. At least he looked like he was feeling a little better. Leon had pounded him hard. I shuddered again. Hopefully we wouldn’t have to see anymore of him.

“Well, thanks for your help, Gracie. Would it be okay if we got your number in case we need a witness or something?” Howie asked her.

Gracie’s eyes lit up. “Uh, yeah, of course.” She scribbled her number down on the scrap of paper that AJ had provided for her. “It was nice meeting you all and if there is anything I can do, let me know okay? And tell Brian I hope he is feeling better.”

The guys nodded and I thanked her for the ice and for helping me. We all started walking back to our waiting room. We were anxious to find out about Brian.

~*~*~*~*~

“We have the results back from the endoscopy.” Dr. Johanson started.

We were all sitting in Brian’s ICU room again. It was cramped as always, but I think that was the furthest thing on my mind right now. Jackie was sitting on one side of the bed, her son’s hand held tightly in her own. Harold stood behind her, his hands resting on her shoulders. Nick was in the chair on the other side of the bed. Kevin stood behind him and AJ next to him. I stood right behind them next to Howie. I leaned my head on his shoulder. I could tell by the look on the doctor’s face, that this wasn’t going to be all that good. Brian was still groggy from the procedure, as the meds hadn’t worn off yet. He didn’t even notice my face when we all walked in. Dr. Johanson had, however. He told me to keep the ice on it.

“Brian’s larynx has been damaged. It happened when he was on the ventilator. Somehow the tube bruised his larynx and...”

“‘Somehow?’ What do you mean by ‘somehow?’ You don’t know how it happened?” Demanded Jackie. Harold gave her shoulders a squeeze.

“Let him continue honey.” He said softly.

“We aren’t exactly sure why it happened. It is very rare. Okay, let me explain this in more detail. The larynx is the ‘voice box.’ It’s primary function is to prevent food or fluid from entering the lungs, but its secondary function is to produce sound. Fortunately, his primary function hasn’t been affected. There are two pairs of strong connective tissue bands that are stretched across the upper opening of the larynx. Those are the vocal folds, also called the true vocal cords, and the ventricular folds, also called the false vocal cords. The vocal folds are what produce sound. The laryngeal muscles are what control the larynx. The extrinsic ones, that are responsible for elevating the larynx during swallowing, have been unaffected. The intrinsic muscles are the ones that have been damaged. The intrinsic muscles contract to change the length, position, and tension of the vocal folds. That means that the loudness of the voice is determined by the force of air that is passed over them and also the amount of vibration.” The doctor explained. “In plain English, his vocal cords are what have been damaged. The muscles that control them have been bruised and therefore cannot vibrate and make sound.”

I couldn’t believe that I was hearing all this. There were a million things I wanted to ask, but I couldn’t open my mouth. Brian looked like he was in shock.

“Is this permanent?” Harold asked carefully. I glanced at him and he was struggling with his emotions. He looked torn between being angry and devastated.

“Well, we’re hoping not. If the muscles are just bruised then they should heal in time.” Dr. Johanson replied nervously.

“How come he can whisper then?” Nick asked, trying to keep his emotions in check.

“When a person whispers, no air is passed over the vocal cords.” The doctor replied. No one spoke for a minute.

“So, this happened because someone screwed up, basically!” Nick burst out angrily. “I say we sue their asses.”

Harold glanced at Nick and Kevin gave Nick a stern look indicating that now was not the time to go there.

“Of course, we will provide the best speech therapy for Brian possible. We will pay for all of it, naturally. We are going to do everything in our power to help Brian get his speech back.” Dr. Johanson promised.

Harold nodded. “Could we talk out in the hall a moment?” He asked the doctor.

Dr. Johanson nodded and the two of them stepped out.

I looked at Brian to see tears slipping out of his eyes. His mom leaned over and wrapped her arms around him comfortingly. She was also crying. I felt tears come to my own eyes and I struggled to push them back. I wondered what the doctor and Brian’s dad were talking about. None of us dared to make a sound except for Jackie’s soothing whispers to Brian. He was still crying and I felt heartsick. His beautiful voice, the voice that seemed to come straight from Heaven. In just a moment, an unfortunate accident, it was gone.

[author’s note: Well, as of today, no more summer break. But, truth be told, I’m glad the semester’s started. I think time is going to fly. Between 15 hours, work and planning the wedding, I’ll have my hands full. Oh, and this story of course! ;) Thank you guys for your awesome reviews! Keep ‘em coming ok? Until next time...]