Chapter 41: She Strikes Again
Allie
"Allie!" I heard a woman's voice call out. I saw a dark figure dart out from beside the dumpster at the back of the building, as Nico turned that direction to see who had called for me. Before I could even register what was wrong, Nico had shoved me to the ground - knocking the breath from my lungs - and covered my body with his. I heard him grunt in pain as he curled himself around me, then heard the woman screaming Nico's name as shouting and the sounds of a scuffle broke out.
I struggled to breathe, both from the fall and from the weight of Nico's body on mine. I looked up at him, to find him staring down at me with the strangest look on his face.
"It's OK, Sunshine. Everything will be OK, I promise. Did I hurt you?" he asked shakily. He lifted his hand up to brush my hair out of my face, as I tried to move out from under him. I stilled when he moaned as I brushed his side, and he closed his eyes, pain pinching his features.
"What happened? What's wrong? Nico???" My voice rose as terror set in. I pulled my hand back from his side to find it covered in blood, and I screamed his name again.
The next few minutes were a blur of screams - mine and the mystery woman's - and shouting from everyone else. Matt and Michael worked together to help Nico off of me, as Jayne andMin helped me to my feet. I grabbed Nico's free arm, and he looked at me and gave me a pained grimace as Becca frantically ripped his shirt off to see where he was injured.
Seeing the stark fear on my face, Nico attempted to smile. "I'm OK, Sunshine. She just nicked my side a little."
I could barely comprehend what had just happened, could barely understand that the woman had actually stabbed him! I saw Marco running toward us from one of the cars with a first aid kit in his hand, and he moved Becca to the side to get a better look at Nico's side.
I looked around and spotted a shirtless Josh, who was helping Tony hold the woman on the ground. Tony had blood dripping down his arm, and Lana was trying to hold what I assumed was Josh's shirt against the wound. Oh my God, Tony was injured, too?
Several members of the venue's security staff came running toward us from all directions and took control of the situation. Josh and Tony stepped aside as two of the guards handcuffed the woman who was now face down on the ground. All I could see was bleached-blonde hair spilling out from under the dark hood of her sweatshirt.
Josh pointed to something a few feet away, and I realized there was a large knife on the ground, which appeared to have blood on it. Nico's blood? Tony's blood? Probably both. One of the guards stood guard over the woman, while the other stood next to the knife on the ground.
I heard sirens coming closer to us and looked toward the entrance to the back parking lot. I could see a crowd had gathered around the perimeter fence - fans and paparazzi whohad realized that something had happened. I noticed that the two drivers/bodyguards who worked with Marco had joined some of the venue security guards in forming a barrier between us and the crowd. One of the drivers moved all three SUVs to block most of the crowd from our view, and the rest of the guards were ensuring that no one got past the fence.
A row of police cars roared into the lot, with several ambulances following close behind. Nico and Tony were quickly loaded into ambulances, with Nico insisting that I be taken in a third one to be checked out.
"I knocked her down pretty hard. You need to make sure she's OK," he insisted to the paramedic working on him. I tried to assure him that I was fine, but another paramedic pulled me aside and told me that I should really let them at least check me out, for Nico's peace of mind if nothing else.
"We need to keep him calm, ma'am. He's lost some blood, so we need to be sure he stays stable until we can get him to the hospital. He refuses to go until he knows you're being looked after."
I quickly agreed at that point, giving Nico a kiss, and telling him I loved him, before shakily walking over to the last ambulance and climbing into the back. Twenty minutes later, the paramedic had taken my vitals and examined me, agreeing that I had nothing wrong with me aside from a few bumps and bruises, along with a nasty scrape on my elbow that they cleaned and bandaged. I was released to the care of Jayne and Min, who had stayed behind with Marco to go with me to the hospital.
We had a police escort to the hospital emergency entrance, and Marco gave us an update on the way.
"According to the paramedics, Nico and Tony both appear to be OK. Nico was stabbed in the side, just above his left kidney. He lost some blood, but his vitals are good, so they don't think it hit any organs. Tony got slashed on the upper arm trying to get the knife from her. He'll need some stitches, but he was able to move his hand and fingers just fine, so it doesn't look like he sustained any muscle or ligament damage."
"It was her, wasn't it? Stripper Barbie, whatever the fuck her name is. I couldn't see her face, but I recognized her voice. It was her, wasn't it?" I asked hoarsely.
Marco sighed heavily. "Yeah, Allie, it was her. One of the cops told Michael that she was released from custody due to jail over-crowding. He's already called the attorney and I'm sure they're raising hell about it with the prosecutor's office, since nobody notified us, and she presented a clear danger after attacking you once already."
"She yelled my name. She was after me, wasn't she? She was after me, and Nico protected me. That's why he's hurt! It should have been me who - "
Jayne grabbed my arm as I spiraled out of control. "Stop and take a breath, Allie. You know damned good and well that Nico would lose his goddamned mind if anything else happened to you. Those scratches she put on your arm nearly did him in as it was. If she'd actually hurt you tonight, he would have completely flipped the fuck out. He'll be fine. Michael texted me. The bleeding is under control, and they got to the hospital a few minutes ago. The doctors are looking him over now. Tony will get stitched up, Psycho Barbie will be locked up for good, and Nico will be fine. You just focus on staying calm, or Nico will freak out all over again when you get there."
Min spoke up quietly from the front seat next to Marco, waving her phone at us. "Um, the press is going nuts over this. You should probably call your family, Allie."
"Oh shit!" I quickly pulled my phone out of my back pocket, realizing that it was still on silent mode from before the concert started. My screen was lit up with missed calls and text notifications, not to mention what looked like dozens of news alerts.
I quickly called my parents, and Dad answered the phone. I filled him in and could hear Mom sobbing in the background as he relayed the information. Luckily, Gracie was already in bed when the news came out, so she knew nothing about it. I asked Mom to let Scott and Hannah know, and she assured me that she would. Dad wanted to come to the hospital to sit with me, but I knew it would be a madhouse there for a while, so I told him to stay with Mom and Gracie.
I hung up and immediately called Nico's parents. Nick answered, and told me he and Angela were already on their way to the hospital since Becca had called them from the scene. I gave them the update from Marco, and they were relieved to hear that everyone seemed to be all right.
The police car in front of us led us around to a side door at the emergency entrance. The officer exited his car and Marco dropped us off to be escorted inside while he went to park the car. The officer led us directly into a separate waiting area, where Michael, Josh, Lana, Matt, and Becca were seated.
Matt pulled me into his arms as soon as I walked in, and I could feel him shaking. He pulled back and looked me over carefully.
"Nico?" I asked, unable to formulate the words to ask anything more. I felt like I couldn't breathe until I saw for myself that he was all right.
