10 | START OVER

For the next two months, all Nicole could do was party. That's all she knew how to do since she couldn't go back to her parents as a wreck and couldn't just join law school now that she had drug addictions and it had been years since she applied.

Each time she partied, a new drug was passed around. She tried anything to fill the hole in her heart until she finally found it. Something heavy enough to make her forget all of her worries, krokodil. She had only done it once or twice, in such small quantities she'd pass out instantly.

But this time, no one at the party was willing to try the Russian drug, and she had the entire stash to herself. So, she injected the entire pen into herself. It felt like she was in heaven for five seconds before she fell unconscious, as she usually did. But, this time, she wasn't waking back up.

The others in the party had thrown a bucket of water on her, and, usually, that did the trick. But, this time, she wasn't waking up. "Fuck! Someone call 911!" Someone shouted and everyone scrambled to grab their phones and help Nicole.

Before long, an ambulance showed up and began to pump her stomach. She wasn't responding to any of their tactics to revive her, and the medics were scrambling to to do anything to get her to wake up. They stuck her with at least three pens of adrenaline, and on the last one, she woke up. Her heart was beating quickly, but her consciousness was only a side effect that lasted for about five minutes. As soon as those five minutes were up, she passed out. But, her heart was still beating just fine.

Within the hour, she was hospitalized and all kinds of needles and tubes were shoved into her body to try and take out all of the toxins littering her body.

* * *

She was out for about two days, and when she woke up. She spotted a doctor scribbling down notes while observing her vitals. "Oh, hello, Ms. Jenkins." He smiled at her.

Her throat was too dry and sore to reply. "We called your emergency contact and he's here. I'll go get him." The doctor told.

Nicole furrowed her brows and watched the doctor leave the room. The doctor didn't take long to come back with whoever Nicole's emergency contact was, but when he did, Nicole wished he had never went to go get him. It was Nikki.

Nikki looked like he hadn't slept in days. His face was pale and his hair was a mess. Streaks of tears stained his face and a worried look was permanently stuck to his face. "I'll leave you two." The doctor told before exiting the room and closing the door behind him.

Nikki walked up to the side of the bed and dropped to his knees. He grabbed her hand and pressed it to his cheek as he quietly sobbed. "I thought you were gone, forever."

"I'm so sorry for every thing I've done to you. I'm sorry for sleeping with that stupid girl. I'm sorry for ruining your life. I love you, Nicole. I've regretted my mistake every moment since you left." Nikki told her.

Nicole simply blinked, not sure as to how to react. She wanted to hate him, but she certainly did love him. She knew he was truly sorry for the things that he did, but she wasn't sure an apology was enough. But then, Nikki pulled out a small box from his pocket. "I was going to propose to you. Then I fucked up, Nic." He continued to cry.

Nicole sucked in a sharp breath. "I want you to forgive me and we can go back to the way it was before. But I know you might not want that." Nikki intertwined his hand with hers.

Nicole reached out to grab the box and she opened it for herself. She took out the ring and put it on her finger. "It's pretty." Her voice was scratchy and rough from not drinking anything for two days.

She took off the ring and put it back into the box. She gave him back the box and it shattered his heart. "You'll have to work a lot harder to make me your wife, let alone your girlfriend." She told him, indicating that she'd give him a chance but she was not obliged to start over with him again.