“The doctor said he’s doing pretty good,” replied Justin, grimly. “Lots of cuts from the glass, a concussion and a broken wrist. He lost a lot of blood though from the cuts so they’re keeping him here over night and can go home tomorrow.”
“Good,” sighed Chris. Not only was he glad his friend was going to be okay, but also JC who had freaked when he heard the news that Lance had been in a car accident, fearing he had lost his lover the same way he had lost his parents years ago.
“Did they catch the guy who did it?” asked Joey from where he stood next to the window.
“Who are you?” asked Chris, arching his eyebrow.
“That’s Joey,” answered Justin, helpfully. “The other two are Eric and Randy. They’re friends of Lance’s from Chicago and were in the 4Runner at the time as well.”
“Jacob Caine, was the guy who did it,” sighed Chris. “He was arrested a half hour ago. Apparently right before the ‘accident’, Caine was fired from his job by Lance.”
“Good,” nodded Joey. “I hope he pays for what happened!”
“He will,” reassured Justin. Over the hour and half wait between when the accident happened and when Chris had gotten there to the hospital, Justin had gotten to know Lance’s three friends pretty well and although he was unsure of Eric and Randy, he liked Joey. “How’s C doing?” he asked Chris.
“Freaking out,” he replied. “He’ll be here in a few hours, plus any minute I expect that Lance’s room will start filling up with flowers and gifts.”
“That has already started happening,” laughed Justin easing the tension in the room. “I’ve never seen Mr. Cheap-o spend so much money in one spot.”
“That’s what happens when he’s in love,” chuckled Chris while Joey, Eric and Randy looked on confused.
*~*~*
Hours later, the five of them had all been able to visit with Lance, but only for short periods since he had yet to wake up but the doctor assured them that everything was fine.
Throughout the afternoon, Joey had tried to get Justin alone so that he could ask him the question that was weighting on his mind ever since Chris had arrived at the hospital. Finally his patience, paid off when Chris decided to head down to the cafeteria and get them all coffee.
“Justin can I ask you something?” he asked as soon as Chris was gone.
“Sure,” smiled Justin.
“Who’s this C person you and Chris were talking about earlier?”
“C?” asked Justin slightly confused since he figured that they had to of known about JC if they were friends of Lance, but he decided that they merely didn’t know his nickname and didn’t make the connection. “JC Chasez is C. C is our nickname for him.”
“JC Chasez?” asked Joey, still confused since the name did ring a bell.
“You know . . . Josh Chasez,” replied Justin but still he got blank looks from the trio. “Lance’s boyfriend!”
“Lance is straight!” blurted out Eric while Randy and Joey stood there in shock.
“You guys didn’t know!” cried Justin. “Oh God, Lance is going to kill me! I never would of thought that he never told you since he’s so open about his relationship with JC!”
Before any of them could reply, Chris came rushing back into the room.
“Clear the area!” he cried shoving them out of the way. Not long after he did so, a blur that sort of resembled a man ran by. “Room 302!” Chris called after the blur.
“Chris they didn’t know!” cried Justin panicking.
“Huh?” asked Chris confused.
“They didn’t know that Lance was gay and I just outed him!”
“How could you guys not know?” asked Chris turning to the trio. “Lance and JC met while C was in Chicago for a while a few months ago. They tried the apart thing for a few weeks when JC came back here but they were both miserable so Lance moved out here when he lost his job. They’ve been living together since then. The blur that just went by was JC having just gotten back here from LA.”
“Why wouldn’t he tell us?” asked Randy to his friends.
*~*~*
“Baby? Baby can you hear me?” whispered JC as he sat, clutching Lance’s hand, in the uncomfortable chair by his lover’s side. “I so sorry I wasn’t there to protect you, but I’m here now. I know you’re going to be alright, but please baby, open your eyes so I can see your pretty green eyes.”
As on clue, the green eyes fluttered opened and JC smiled down at him with tears in his eyes.
“Josh?” asked Lance confused and groggy. “What are you doing here? Why aren’t you in LA?”
“You were in a car accident around noon today baby,” whispered JC, bringing a hand up to stroke Lance’s cheek. “I flew back as soon as I found out.”
“What happened?”
“I don’t know all the details, yet,” admitted JC. “I just got here. I’m going to go tell Chris to find your doctor then I’m going to be right back. Okay?”
“Okay,” nodded Lance sleepily, closing his eyes. JC quickly used that opportunity to slip out of the room and make his way back down to the waiting room to find Chris.
“He’s awake,” he announced to the gang, briefly wondering why Lance’s friends from Chicago were then, when they didn’t even know that Lance was gay yet. “Chris can you go find his doctor for me?”
“Sure, C,” nodded Chris before wandering off to carry out his orders.
“Are you okay?” asked Justin, walking over and hugging his friend.
“Yeah,” nodded JC. “I just want to get back to Lance though.”
“Go back to your boy then,” whispered Justin, standing back and watching as his friend hurried back down the hall.
*~*~*
JC spent the rest of the afternoon at Lance’s side while the others waited in the waiting room. Finally Justin drove Eric, Joey and Randy back to their hotel while Chris remained waiting for JC until visiting hours were over.
“He’ll be fine,” reassured Chris as he and JC walked out of the hospital that night. “Go get a good night’s sleep and in the morning you can take him home.”
“Yeah,” nodded JC. “Thanks Chris.”
“No problem,” smiled the older man.