Moonshine and I ((Possible Mature Content - undetermined))

The man released his hold on her, though he still kept the gun pointed at her. Ria slid down to the pavement, holding one hand to her head as she listened to Nikko speak, offering them all of his money. The other man at the end of the alley rushed up and grabbed the wallet, pocketing it and then dragging the other man away, shooting the gun one last time at the wall next to her. She immediately flinched, letting out a whimper as she curled up a bit tighter, her eyes focusing on the bullet hole in the brick wall and then looking up to Nikko. "T-thank you, Nikko..." she choked out over the sound of other screams, her body beginning to tremble in pain from her head.

He let out the breath he had been holding then looked down at Ria.She was obviously terrified and her head was starting to bruise where she had been hit."Come on,let's get you to the hospital."Nik said as he picked her up gently."Do you still have your keys?"

Ria nodded her head, grimacing at the motion. "Yea. I think..." she said, motioning to the tipped over purse on the ground. "I can walk..." she added, carefully sliding out of his arms and grabbing her purse, finding her keys left in the hidden pocket. Gently pulling them out she handed them to him closing her eyes for a second before standing at his side, still trembling a litte, though it had begun to slow down. She held her hand with the ring tightly, thanking God for letting her keep this ring, though she felt horrible that he had needed to give up everything to get her there. Apparently they had ditched her purse when they realized it had no money in it, and hadnt bothered to really look at it.

Nik stayed close to her and held the keys tighter as gunshots sounded from down the boardwalk.Somebody screamed and more shots went off."Come on lets hurry."he said and started running again.

Ria nodded her head, slinging her purse over her shoulder and sprinting after him quietly. The quick movements made her feel dizzy but she fought against them until they reached her car where she held onto the passenger side door and rubbed her temple, closing her eyes for a few seconds before opening them. Silently, she entered her keypad number and unlocked the car before slipping into the seat and leaning back. She buckled herself in, then closed her eyes.

Nik jumped in the car and started it up."Hold on."he said as he backed out fast then screeched out of the parking lot like other cars were doing.He didn't slow down til they were about a block away.Another 5 minutes later they were at the hospital.

Ria nodded her head, clenching her hand against the door to steady herself. Hearing the car screech she bit her lip. Her poor car. When they arrived at the hospital she didnt want to move. When she opened her eyes the black dots were still there. And, honestly,she didnt want to fall unconcious.

Silently Nik opened his door and went around to Ria's. He opened it and caught her when she almost fell out.He hooked his arm under her knees and his other arm went behind her back as he carried her inside the hospital.Nurses saw them coming in and flocked toward Ria.They checked her out while he explained what happened,then they took her away in a gurney,leaving him in the waiting room.

((i hope a time skip is okay))


a few hours later Ria awoke to white walls and beeping machines. She let out a tiny groan, rolling onto her side and looking around the empty room. Looking to her left hand she saw her mothers ring and held her hand to her chest, taking in a few short breaths and calming herself down. Her father was back in Texas getting the rest of their stuff and he wouldnt be back for a few days. This was great.

Nik waited in the waiting room,watching as more victims from the boardwalk walked or wheeled in.It really was a grim situation.The ER doctor came out eventually and told him that he could go back with Ria now.So he went and sat with her til she woke up. "Hey."he said softly when her eyes opened.

Ria blinked, looking at him curiously for a few moments. She honestly hadnt expected him to stay. But, here he was, still here. "Hey." she responded before pausing, "didnt expect you to stay..." she whispered, her gaze traveling around the room before back to him.

"I wouldn't leave here not knowing how you are."he said smiling.Nik blamed himself for her condition because if he hadn't insisted on taking her up to the boardwalk,they would have probably been fine." So how do you feel?"

Ria shrugged. Most of her pain was gone, but she was almost certain it was just the pain meds doing that. "Better. Have a concussion. But no real pain as of this moment. Probably the meds though" she said before shifting herself so she could look at him a bit easier.

"Damn that sucks."He said feeling more guilty."I guess the doctor called your father and he's on his way."Nik said diverting the subject.

Ria nodded her head. "Yea... Driving back up from texas now. Though he is just leaving si a few more days on my own. Which isnt really that bad. " she said wirh a tinh shrug.

"your from Texas?What's it like there?"Nik asked intrigued.

Ria smiled and pulled her knees up to her chest. "Its really hot and dry. Pretty good sports teams, at least thats what my dad says. And we got a lotta cowboys..." she said, not really sure how to explain it.

"What did you do there?"He asked.

Ria shrugged, "Not much really. I did a bunch of rodeos. And almost all of my friends either did football or where stuck as cheerleaders. So... yea. Never really could get together much." she finished.

"Oh.What did you do in the rodeos?"Nik asked then moved out of the way when a nurse came in to check on Ria.

Ria allowed the nurse to check her blood pressure and such before she answered. "Basics, barrel racing and pole bending. Had to drop it when we moved here. But, that's kinda good considering just how much stress it created." she said with a tiny shrug, closing her blue eyes and trying to force herself to relax, not liking hospitals much. Though, still having her mothers ring comforted her a lot.

"Wow."Nik said then leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.He was tired and still had an adrenalin buzz.

((Drama is needed. XD))

ria sighed and closed her eyes. But, a few minutes later her vitals dropped drastically sending in quite a few nurses and the paddles, shocking her back to stablity, associating it with the event trauma finally setting in.

Nik was shoved out of the room as the doctors and nurses went in.Minutes passed by before they wheeled her out in a gurney,taking her upstairs to critical care.Nik was told that he wouldn't be allowed to see her until they could make sure nothing bad was the cause of the dramatic drop. So he ended up walking outside and stood with everyone as it started raining.He had no clue what to do,he barley knew Ria but he felt guilty all the same because it was his fault she was in the hospital.

( )

((XD if he told Ria it was his fault. She is totally going to slap him for stupidity reasons. XD))


after running quite a few tests they came up with nothing. Nothing at all to have caused it. When she awoke again though some memories were hazy. She could remember the boardwalk, and the balloons. But nothing after that until right now. What was going on? When another nurse came in Ria cocked her head and spoke up. "Whats going on... Why am i here?" she asked, really uncertain of everything as she touched a finger to her head and winced. "Whats wrong with me? How did i even get here?" the nurse shook her head and explained her injuries and how a boy had brought her in, re explaining the concussion.

Really, all she wanted right now, though, was to see a familiar face.