a couple days pass and ricky still hasn't seen nina since her moms flew in from la. he's always tried to when he was forced to walk around in the hospital, but every time he passed the room her moms were in there.

he knew she hasn't woken up yet; he hasn't seen and nurses or doctors rush to her room in the many, many hours he's spent staring.

but today he was given the news that he was allowed to go back home. as his parents went to go sign some more papers, he finally checked the bag that was left in his room after the accident and saw his phone, still intact.

"you ready to go?" mike asked as him and lynne walked back into the hospital room.

ricky put his phone into his pocket and gave him a small nod.

"can i go see nini?" he asked.

"of course honey," lynne replied.

he walked over to her door and looked inside to see carol talking to nina. she was whispering something to her as she held her left hand between hers.

she's still not awake.

he couldn't see her face but he saw her legs under her blanket towards the end of her bed. he couldn't help but feel more and more guilty each day that passed.

dana exited the bathroom which was right next to the entrance of nina's room and saw ricky staring inside. she walked out of the room and slightly closed the door with a bit of light still peaking through.

"is she any better?" ricky asked quietly.

dana shook her head.

"dana, i'm so sorry, i didn't know this was going to happen. i never meant for this to happen. i- i-"

"i know you do," dana replied. "i know you love her, and i know she loves you too."

ricky let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, "what's gonna happen if she wakes up?"

"when she wakes up ricky. we both know she's not gonna give up. she's better than that."

he nodded.

"you know we're going to have to take her back to la. she needs to rest right now. with family."

he stayed quiet.

"can i see her?" he asked.

she gave him an apologetic smile before she gave him a hug, "i'm sorry ricky."

he let out a loud breath along with some tears.

"i know this wasn't your intention but we need space."

he pulled away from the hug and dana saw the tears escaping from his eyes. she set her hand on his arm and rubbed it as he wiped his already puffy eyes.

then the door beside them flung open, revealing carol who stood there looking at ricky with a blank look to her puffy eyes.

he gave her an ashamed look and faced towards the ground to avoid her gaze.

"can i speak with you?" carol asked him.

he flung his head up to look at her, then towards dana who had a bit of shock to her face. she looked at carol, then to ricky and gave him a little nod.

"okay," ricky replied quietly.

dana walked back into the room while carol took her spot in front of ricky, closing the door fully shut so dana couldn't hear their conversation.

"we're going to take her back to la. i hope you know that," carol calmly said.

he nodded his head as he looked towards the ground, still avoiding her gaze.

"look, i don't know what happened while she was here, how she ended up in that situation with you coincidentally behind the wheel-"

"we had the right of way-"

"ricky," she said, a bit of frustration to her tone.

"sorry."

"you can't see her anymore."

"i know."

"no ricky," carol breathed out. "you can't see her." he lifted his head quickly, "you can't talk to her, you can't text her. you can't have her on any form of social media. from now on you do not know nor have ever met nina salazar-roberts."

"what? you can't just-"

"i will and i have. her phone got destroyed in the accident and we've already disconnected her number. when we get her a new one, her number will be changed and i will be blocking you, along with everyone else that she has met from salt lake, on social media."

"no. nini wouldn't-"

"please ricky," she sternly said, "all of you, including the cruz's will also have to delete all your pictures uploaded with nina. if not, our lawyers will be in contact."

"but nini-"

"i've made my decision," carol stood her ground. "please leave. you've caused enough damage in our lives already," she opened nina's hospital room door and started walking in.

"wait-"

"and her name is nina, not nini."

she walked in and shut the door, leaving ricky confused, frustrated, upset, all the negative emotions as he stared at the blank white door.

after some minutes of standing there, still processing what just happened, he slowly walked back into his room where his parents sat.

"hey bud, you ready to go?" mike asked as he stood up from the side of the hospital bed.

ricky stood there, staring at them, "they didn't let me see her," his voice cracked.

lynne got up and gave him a tight hug, soon followed by mike that made it a family hug.

"i'm sorry honey," lynne said, "why don't we get you home okay? we can invite your friends to come over."

he slowly nodded before his two parents walked out of the room and he followed behind. he stopped to look at the hospital door where she laid, still unconscious.

"ricky?" mike grabbed his attention.

he looked over and started following his parents to their car.

+

"nurse! help! come quick!" dana yelled as she ran out of the hospital room. "she's awake!"

"hey, baby, it's okay alright. your mom and i are here," carol said as she comforted nina.

soon, doctors and nurses started to come into her room and asked carol and dana to step out so they could run some tests on the girl.

tears started to pour out of the mothers' eyes as they heard the beeping of the machines and the yelling of the doctors.

a couple minutes later, the doctor comes out of the room along with all the other staff.

"is she okay?" dana asked frantically.

"mrs salazar, mrs roberts, she's in good condition," he started.

"thank god," carol said with a sigh of relief.

"but unfortunately, there was something that messed with her brain in the accident and..."

"what? what happened?" dana asked.

"why don't you go in and see," the doctor suggested.

the two moms nodded and slowly made their way in. they saw the brunette looking out the window with a worried look on her face.

"hey, you doing okay?" carol asked.

she nodded slightly.

"how are you feeling?" dana asked.

"okay," she replied with a raspy voice.

"do you remember what happened nina?"

the girl shook her head as she watched her hand be covered by the blonde woman's.

"can i ask you something?" nina asked the women.

"of course honey, anything," dana replied.

"who are you?"