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The guys all sat quietly in the van, the radio playing softly in the background. The snow was coming down in sheets, nearly enough to be white out weather, making the driver extremely nervous about driving the roads to the hospital. Rob, the driver, cursed under his breath and hit the brakes when a car slid off the highway in front of him. A sign for the hospital loomed up ahead saying they only had 5 more miles to go before they would reach their destination. Rob pulled into the parking lot a few minutes later and everyone piled out of the van, rushing into the hospital. Rachel was pacing back and forth in the waiting room, with her arms wrapped around herself.
"Rachel!" Lance called softly and her head snapped up showing her red rimmed eyes and flushed cheeks. He pulled her into his arms and held her close to him. Rachel rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes, tears springing to her eyes yet again.
"Its okay, sweetie." Lance whispered to her while the others waited somewhat impatiently to find out where Ashley, Devon and Mike were located. Rachel finally pulled away from her boyfriend and looked over at Joe, Justin, Chris and JC with worry.
"They're up on the third floor, rooms 328, 329, and 330." she told them. Everyone shuffled toward the elevator and hit the up button. No one said a word, for no one knew what to say. What was there to say in a situation like this? Ashley and Mike's parents were on their way to Denver. They told JC they were going to book the next flight out. Devon's parents were no longer around, so all she had was Mike's family and Chris. The elevator ride seemed to take hours to get to the third floor, even more so because of the silence. The doors finally opened and they all stepped out and took a look around. A sign told them that visiting hours were over for the night, so JC and Chris walked over to the nurse's station to talk to the person in charge.
"Excuse me, we're looking for Devon Summers, Ashley King and Michaela Costeo." Chris said softly as he leaned on the counter tiredly.
"I'm sorry, immediate family only and visiting hours are over." the woman replied shaking her head.
"Um, I can deal with visiting hours being over, but I'm all the family Devon has. Both of her parents are dead and I was planning on asking her to marry me on New Year's Eve." Chris explained and JC gave him a shocked look.
"All right, visiting hours start tomorrow morning at eight. I'll leave a note here telling the on duty nurse that you are her fiancé." the nurse smiled at him and got back to her paper work. JC followed Chris over to where everyone had settled in a bunch of chairs.
"We can't see them until tomorrow morning. And immediate family only." JC sighed as he sat down on the couch, resting his head in his hands.
"Why only immediate family? I kinda wanted to see Mike." Justin inquired making a face.
"I don't know Justin. Its just the hospital's rule I guess." JC shrugged his shoulders tiredly as he closed his eyes.
"So, I guess we're in for the long haul." Joe sighed leaning back in his chair.
"Looks like we are." Chris nodded equally as tired as the rest. Lance sat quietly on the other couch, Rachel sprawled out with her head on his lap. Lance looked down at her, his hand resting on the top of her head. Rachel closed her eyes and soon fell into an exhausted sleep.
"I'm going down to the cafeteria to get some coffee or something. Anyone want anything?" JC questioned jumping to his feet. He couldn't tolerate sitting still. He'd go crazy if he had to.
"Coffee would be nice." Chris nodded giving his friend a sympathetic smile.
"Ditto." Justin sighed rubbing his face with his hands. JC nodded then headed to the elevator. The cafeteria was empty except for a few doctors and nurses who were pulling the midnight shift. JC filled a Styrofoam cup with coffee then sat down at an empty table, lost in thought.
"You can't ignore me anymore, JC. Do you hear me?" Mike yelled, tears filling her eyes as she pushed him away from her with every word. "I am a person, I am your girlfriend and you have to talk to me!"
"I do talk to you, Mike. I do." JC defended himself verbally because he couldn't physically.
"No you don't. You don't, JC. Do you know how long its been since we've had a real conversation that has nothing to do with classes or your career? Two months." Mike cried out, her hands dropping to her sides, dejectedly. JC just looked at her, stunned, not knowing what to say.
"You've changed. When I was your best friend, you'd never shut up. Lord, I hated how much you talked sometimes. Now I'm lucky if I get four complete sentences out of you. I want the old Josh back." Mike whispered sitting down on the grass, hugging her sweatshirt closer to her.
"You don't even call me by your damn terms of endearment anymore, let alone flirt with me." Mike shook her head, a single tear finally trickling down her cheek.
"I'm sorry little bird." JC replied softly as he knelt in front of her. "I didn't know. I just figured you wanted your space because of the class load you were carrying and I was busy a lot. I don't know what else to say other than I'm sorry."
"JC, if I wanted my space I'd tell you. I wouldn't just pretend nothing's wrong. You know I can't hide things from you. My class load is no different than your daily load with recording and touring, except for the fact that I get to go back to my room at the end of the day." Mike shook her head. "I just can't deal with being near you when you're a million miles away. It makes me wonder if you even love me anymore."
"I love you, little bird. Sometimes too much. Never forget that." JC scolded softly as he pulled her into his arms. "I love you."
"I needed to her you say so." Mike whispered in his ear. "Because I love you too."
"You look like you could use a friendly shoulder." a voice startled him out of his memories. He looked up and saw a young girl in a candy striper's uniform with a sympathetic smile on her face.
"Yeah, I suppose I could." JC nodded with a sigh.
"My name's Carli." she told him as she sat down in an empty chair. "You want to talk about it?"
"My girlfriend... she was in a car accident." JC sighed shaking his head, looking into his cup of coffee.
"Wait, was she one of the three girls that came in tonight? What were their names? Um, King, Summers, and an Italian sounding name." Carli questioned raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah. Costeo. Mike Costeo. She's my girlfriend." JC nodded with a slight smile.
"She was the only one who was conscious when they brought them in." Carli told him softly.
"She was?"
"Yeah. She was even talking. She was pretty out of it, but she was talking." Carli shrugged as she stirred her hot chocolate.
"What was she saying?" JC inquired, equal parts wanting to know and not wanting to know what she had said.
"She just kept saying something like, tell him I've loved him my whole life." Carli touched his hand gently, trying to comfort him. JC sighed, tears filling his eyes, as he looked away from Carli. He took a deep breath and sighed it out, trying to compose himself again.
"Thanks. Why are you here so late, anyway?" he questioned, changing the subject so he could maybe lessen the pain just a little bit.
"Oh, I'm always here this late. My sister died of cancer a few weeks ago, and my nephew is a patient here. After my hours are done, I generally go up and sit with him for a while. I was just on my way up. Would you like to join me?" Carli stated getting to her feet.
"Thank you, but no. I have to get some coffee up stairs." JC answered with a quick shake of his head.
"I'll give you a hand." she smiled.
Joe sat in a chair with his eyes closed, trying to block everything out of his mind so he could get some sleep or at least attempt to get some sleep. It was amazing how everyday, people were in this same position. Trying to fall asleep so they could escape the despair and pain for just a short while. Lance and Justin were talking softly, trying not to disturb him. Chris had gone off to wander around the hospital because he couldn't just sit there and do nothing. Joe's mind wandered bringing him back to happier times.
"Ssshhhhh. Don't wake her up." Joe whispered to Justin. They were in the middle of the male vs female prank war on the tour bus. Ashley had gotten him good with hiding all the food on the bus in his suitcase, now he was paying her back. He took the paint brush that Justin was holding for him and dipped it into some warm water. He then dipped it into hot pink paint and began to work on his creation. He painted first one cheek, then the other, then he decided to paint her forehead. Justin kept giggling and Joe kept smacking him to shut him up.
(The next morning) The guys all sat around the tv watching a movie waiting for the girls to wake up. Joe had told them what he and Justin had done while everyone was asleep and they couldn't wait to see Ashley in her work of art.
"Joseph Anthony Fatone Junior, you twit!" Ashley screeched running into the room and tackled the laughing young man. He had painted superman symbols on both her cheeks and the name Lois Lane on her forehead in bright pink paint. Everyone in the room burst out into hysterical laughter at the sight of poor Joe being pounced upon by a petite girl with a bright pink face.
"Hey, you asked for it Ash!" Joe laughed trying to fend her off.
"I'm gonna kill you for this one!" Ashley laughed and started tickling him.
"No wait! Help!" Joe cried, tears of laughter streaking down his cheeks.
"You did this to your self Joe." Lance laughed shaking his head.
"Yeah, but Justin helped!" Joe said in between gasps. Ashley suddenly stopped and glared over at Justin.
"Oh no, he threatened with bodily harm if I didn't help him." Justin exclaimed holding his hands up to ward off an attack.
"I did not!" Joe yelped as Ashley jumped to her feet.
"You did to!" Justin laughed as he backed away from Ashley.
"Did not!" Joe laughed climbing to his feet.
"To!"
"Not!"
"TO!"
"NOT!"
"You did to, Joe and you know it!" Justin cried out jumping behind the chair JC was sitting in.
"I did not. I think the hair dye has finally reached your brain." Joe replied dryly shaking his head.
"Wait, you dye your hair Justin?" Ashley inquired making a face. Everyone started laughing at Ashley's sarcastic comment as she flopped down on the couch. "Why am I always the last one to know these things?" she giggled.
(Two days later) "SONOFABITCH!" Justin yelped when he saw his reflection in the mirror. He tore out into the hallway and stormed into JC's room, where everyone congregated in the mornings. Everyone looked up and all the jaws in the room dropped to hit the floor.
"Now wait just a damn minute! You trying to one up my hair?" Chris demanded laughing.
"You think I find this funny? Pink, Chris! She dyed my damn hair pink! But not just any pink, hot pink that won't wash out until 34 washes!" Justin yelled throwing his hands into the air.
"She? Now hold on a minute. I didn't switch your dye." Ashley yelped when Justin started toward her.
"It looks like Miss Piggy attacked me in my sleep last night!" Justin complained loudly.
"Oink, oink baby." Chris laughed. Mike walked into the room and burst out laughing.
"Wait, ohmigod! When did you guys turn into Jem and the Holograms?" she demanded, her lips twitching with a smile. "The resemblance you have to Jem is amazing Justin."
"Who the hell put this crap in my normal hair dye?!" Justin demanded loudly.
"That would be me. Actually, both Ashley and I came up with the idea, but I thought pink and put it in the bottle." Mike explained with a smile. "And its Manic Panic so it'll wash out in a day or two."
"All right ladies, just remember, you have to go to sleep sometime and when you do, Justin's gonna come out and play." Justin smiled devilishly as he nodded.
"Um.... Joe... you're sleeping with me from now on!" Ashley laughed hiding behind her boyfriend.
"Bring it on Justin. I can guarantee that whatever you do, I can one up you. I have ten brothers, remember?" Mike laughed settling onto JC's lap with a laugh.
"Ooh, I'm scared now." Justin snorted walking from the room.
"Hey Jem... don't forget you have a date with Rio tonight!" Chris yelled as the door closed.
"Yeesh, talk about teenage rampaging emotions." Ashley shook her head with a smile as Joe pulled her onto his lap with a laugh.
"Hey Joe, here's your coffee." JC said softly as he sat down. He opened his eyes and saw a young woman with his friend.
"This is Carli. She volunteers here." JC explained with a sigh. Joe nodded to the young girl as he picked up one of the many cups of coffee that were now on the table.
"How come you're smiling?" JC questioned leaning back in the chair he was sitting in.
"I was just remembering the prank war we had last year on the bus. I painted Ash's face and she got so mad." Joe laughed shaking his head.
"Yeah, I remember that. To get even, Mike and Ash put pink dye in Justin's regular hair dye." JC laughed softly, his eyes twinkling with amusement.
"God, J got so pissed. That was funny as all hell." Joe giggled hysterically.
"Okay, why are we laughing?" Justin questioned as he walked over to the laughing duo. JC looked up at Justin and burst out laughing, which only baffled Justin further.
"How are the Holograms doing this year Jem?" Joe finally choked out through his laughter. Justin made a face, not quite understanding what his friend meant.
"The light goes on!" Joe cried when realization dawned on Justin and his lips twitched with amusement.
"You know, its funny you asked because I've decided to leave 'N Sync and ask them to become my new group." Justin replied with a contrite smile.
"Really? And what will your new hit song be? A rendition of Aerosmith's 'Pink'?" JC laughed loudly rubbing the fatigue from his face.
"Ha ha, very funny JC. I'm glad those humor classes actually taught you something." Justin sighed taking a seat with them. He grabbed a cup of coffee and poured an obscene amount of cream and sugar into the cup before taking a sip from it. "You guys remember the time when they pretended to be us for Halloween?"
"Oh God, I haven't thought about that in a long time! Rachel was JC, Mike was Chris, Ashley was Justin, Devon was me and Andie was Lance. That was a trip." Joe laughed sitting up.
"They even learned all our choreography so they could do the dances perfectly." JC laughed shaking his head. "I don't think I've ever seen a bunch of girls have so much fun doing something to humiliate their guys with!"
"Humiliate nothing. Remember, we dressed up as them, too." Justin reminded with a grin.
"Oh yeah. I totally forgot about that. Mike yelled at me for weeks for stretching out her favorite dress." Joe said softly as he tossed his cup into the trash.
"Mike was always getting down on us for things we did wrong. Devon did, too. Two peas in a pod those two are." Justin shook his head.
"Gee, I wonder why. I mean, they're only related." JC snorted loudly. Justin rolled his eyes heavenward with a smile.
"Hey, what about the time when...." Justin laughed.
"Mom, we want to invite everyone over for a night of movies," Justin started as he helped his mother unpack the groceries in the kitchen. "Do you mind?"
"No, just keep it quiet and don't make a mess. All right?" she answered with a smile.
"Thanks, mom." Justin kissed her cheek then bolted from the room to get on the phone to call everyone. JC and Chris were up in Chris's room listening to music and trying their hand at writing a song. All Justin had to do was call Lance, Joe, Ashley, Mike, Casey and Devon. Maybe Lance would have the guts to ask Rachel to join them, but he was leaving that up to his friend to decide. He would get JC and Chris to go with him the video store and help him pick out movies to rent. As soon as the phone calls were done, he ran up the stairs and burst into Chris's room with a grin.
"Everyone's coming over to watch movies. We have to go rent some now." Justin told them when they looked up with annoyance.
"Justin, we're kinda in the middle of something." Chris sighed shaking his head.
"Oh, well, did you guys know that your girlfriends are ready to give up on you? I mean, you haven't really been around a whole lot, and I know for a fact that everyone's busy, but its been what? Like two weeks since you've been able to spend any time at all with them? Besides, Devon's about ready to kill half of her staff and Mike's ready to pull her hair out because finals are coming up and she hasn't had anything to do to relax." Justin countered folding his arms over his chest.
"You know, I think the kid has a point." JC nodded as he got to his feet. "All right, let's go."
They ended up renting a couple of horrors, a couple dramas, a couple action adventure and a couple science fiction movies. By the time they got back to the house, Ashley, Lance and Joe were spread out in the living room talking and laughing about something that had happened on the way there.
"So, what'd you rent?" Ashley questioned excitedly.
"Stuff." Justin shrugged with a smile as the door opened. Mike and Devon walked in with Casey not to far behind them, all three looking like they wish they could command the earth to open up and swallow them whole. Justin walked over to Casey with a devilish grin and pulled her into a kiss. She dropped her bag and wrapped her arms around Justin in a tight hug.
"Hi stranger." Mike sighed giving JC a frazzled smile.
"Hi, little bird." JC replied softly pulling her into a hug. She rested the top of her head on his chest and closed her eyes as JC ran his hands up and down her back in a soothing gesture.
"Okay, let's get this show on the road." Justin stated as people started to pick their spots on the floor and furniture.
"I have a request. I'm so semester burnout and I need something to put me in a better mood. I request that you guys play this one first." Mike pleaded pulling a video out of her bag. Justin took it and read the title.
"Disney? You've got to be kidding me." he shook his head laughing.
"Well, considering that during finals week, the campus center plays Looney Toon's twenty-four, seven so people don't go absolutely bananas, no, I'm not kidding." Mike replied with a tired smile. Casey took the video from Justin and read the titles out loud.
"Aladdin, Hercules and The Black Caldron. I dunno Justin, they sound like fun. Besides, good way to keep the baby brother occupied and out of your mom's hair for a while. She'd thank you." Casey smiled, giving him a slight pout. Mike turned and rolled her eyes at Ashley who burst out laughing.
"Okay, how many for Disney right away?" Justin yelled loudly. Mike, Ashley, Casey and Devon raised their hands. Devon and Ashley glared at Chris and Joe, and soon their hands went up also.
"Its unanimous. Disney it is!" Mike cried grabbing the video. She slipped it into the vcr as JC walked back in from the kitchen. Justin turned off the lights and made himself comfortable on the couch with Casey in his arms. Jonathan, Justin's little brother ran down the stairs at a speed unknown to man when he heard the Disney music blare out of the television. JC sat down and leaned back against the wall, giving Mike a smile. She took that opportunity to pounce on him.
"I know he's got munchings and crunchings somewheres in here." she mumbled searching his pockets as JC burst out laughing.
"Munchings and crunchings? JC, your woman's lost it." Chris stated shaking his head, laughing.
"And you deserve severe smackings and whackings on your tender head." Mike laughed launching herself at Chris. She was stopped short by JC who wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him. She heaved an exaggerated sigh as she leaned back against her boyfriend's chest and cuddled closer. She looked back at him with a smile and planted a soft kiss on his lips.
"Ssssshhhhh!" Jonathan practically yelled from his seat in front of the tv.
"Sorry." Mike whispered with a smile.
"Yeah, I remember that now. That was definitely an interesting night. Poor Mike and Ash, they were so exhausted from studying constantly for their finals." Joe sighed suddenly becoming serious again. He shook his head jumping to his feet. It was almost four am and he was about to go crazy.
"You guys really care about them, don't you?" Carli questioned, giving them a soft smile.
"Yeah, of course we do. Mike's been a part of our lives for a long time. Me and JC's for over eight years now, and the others for about four or five years. Ash for about three years and Dev for two years." Justin shrugged tossing his cup into the trash can. Justin hadn't really thought about the serious aspect of the accident, being that any of them could, in fact, die. And that scared the hell out of him. Mike and Ash had become older sisters of sorts to him. They were always trying to protect him, especially Mike. He couldn't count how many hours he had spent in Mike's room just talking and receiving some comfort from her. She would always make him a cup of hot chocolate with a candy cane melted into the cup and just sit there and listen to him rail on and on about how the guys would piss him off or just venting about not being able to do normal things without causing some sort of panic.
Justin jumped to his feet and walked over to the elevator. He needed some fresh air. As soon as he was outside, he sat down on a bench in front of the hospital and sighed looking up at the stars. Mike had told him of making a wish on the Man in the Moon, and wishing on stars. He smiled shaking his head. Mike was a dreamer, a fighter, and he couldn't see her dying anytime soon. One of her favorite sayings was 'heaven doesn't want me and hell's afraid I'll take over, besides, I was kicked outta hell for selling ice cream cones'.
"Hey, you okay?" a female voice asked from behind him. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Carli standing outside, hugging herself because she had forgotten her coat.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Things were just getting to me and I needed a few minutes to think." Justin shrugged looking back up at the stars.
"Would you like some company?" she inquired staying where she was.
"Yeah, have a seat." he replied nodding to the seat beside him. Carli silently sat down and looked up at the stars.
"From my bedroom window, I can see the stars so perfectly. There's none of the lights from the city, so the light from the stars is so bright it nearly lights up the whole sky. And the moon, the moon is absolutely breathtaking." she stated softly and she shivered slightly. The temperature had dropped quite a few degrees since she had gotten off work. Justin gave her a sideways glance and noticed her subtle shivering.
"Here, put this on." he told her as he took off his coat.
"No, you keep it. You're the singer, you need to keep warm so you don't get sick." she shook her head with a smile.
"Where I come from, not accepting a guy's help is an insult." he smiled still holding the coat out to her. She looked at him for a moment, then took the coat from him, laughing softly.
"So you know I'm a singer, huh? What gave me away?" he questioned leaning back on the bench.
"I think it was all the magazines I've seen your face on the covers of." Carli laughed. "That and I listen to your music."
"Ah, that would explain it. Why weren't you at the concert?" Justin glanced over at her again.
"I was planning on going, but my little sister had her heart set on going. She's in love with JC you see, and I couldn't let her heart be broken by not being able to go to the concert. So, I gave her my ticket and she went with my friends." she shrugged with a smile.
"That was really nice of you." Justin nodded approvingly.
"Not really. She wouldn't stop whining. No, I'm kidding. I just figure there would be another concert sometime, so why get all aggravated on not going to this one. Besides, from what I hear, she met up with JC and got her picture taken with him and an autograph, so it means more to her than me. Its important for kids to get to do those kinds of things." Carli laughed shaking her head.
"You're something else, I can tell you that much right now." Justin smiled.
"I'll take that as a compliment." Carli grinned as she stood up and held her hand out to him. "Come back inside before you catch pneumonia."
"Yes mom." Justin teased taking her hand. The two walked back into the hospital with identical grins on their faces. Joe and JC were talking to two elderly couples when they got back up to the third floor, and they could only guess that they were Mike and Ashley's parents.
"Mr. and Mrs. Costeo, Mr. and Mrs. King, you all know Justin and this is Carli." JC introduced the new comers.
"Thank you for being here." Mrs. Costeo smiled at Justin and Carli.
"No problem Mrs. C. You know we all care about Mike." Justin smiled giving the woman a short hug. Everyone sat down and waited the last two hours before visiting hours would hit. Mrs. Costeo looked over at her husband and gave him a smile filled with courage. Mike was their daughter who could fight her way out of anything. Mr. and Mrs. King paced up and down the hall way, not knowing what to do with themselves. This was the first time any of their children had been this seriously hurt. It was going to be a long two hours.
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