PART FOUR

    “JC has he called you yet?” Annie asked.
    “Not yet, but he will.” JC had just gotten there and was sitting on the edge of Annie’s bed as they spoke.
    “Do you really think that he is going to talk to someone C?”
    “I do. He really loves you Annie.”
    “I know he does. And I don’t know what came over him that night. I didn’t even see it coming. I don’t even think that it was the alcohol Jace.”
    “You don’t?”
    “Not at all. Justin has drank before and this never has happened. I think that it might just be an excuse that he uses to make it all go away. To make the thought that something is actually wrong with him go away.”
    “How can you tell it wasn’t the drinking Annie?”
    “JC... I was there. I could see it in his eyes. It was something so much deeper.”
    “You could see the anger?”
    “I could see the cry for help.”
    “I don’t get it,” he said and repositioned himself on the bed, being careful not to move it too much.
    “JC, he was saying things that I have never heard come out of his mouth. He was talking about how cruel the fans were.”
    “Justin loves the fans,” JC intruded.
    “I know that.”
    “I think that of all of us, he respects them the most.”
    “I know this Jace. That’s why I knew something was deeper. He said harsh things about me too.”
    “When I talked with him the other day,” he paused, “before he left,” he continued. “Well, he said that he told you things that the fans said about you.”
    “Yes,” she said in shame.
    “He said that he didn’t mean them. That the fans didn’t say them.”
    “What?” The whole time she had been afraid that the fans actually did have this hidden hatred towards her.
    “He lied about it all. He said that he was just trying to get under your skin because he was so upset.”
    “Did he say anything else to you about that night?”
    “He just said that the only thing he could think about was the fact that you said you would leave him.”
    “He told you this?”
    “Justin is afraid of being alone. Of being without someone to love him the way that you do. You guys were together before we really got big, so he knows why you love him. He’s afraid that if he had to start over with someone else, that she wouldn’t love him for him, but for the fame.”
    “I do love him, and I don’t want to leave him. Not at all,” she stopped for a minute. “JC look at me. Look at what the man I love did to me.” JC said nothing. “He needs help. I can’t help him if he doesn’t ask, and right now he is too afraid to ask anyone remotely close to him. I saw it in his eyes before this happened. Him crying for the help, but it was too late.”
    “Annie, y’all are gonna work this out. He is going to get help for whatever made him snap.”
    “I hope so JC,” she said with a sigh behind her voice.
    “It will,” he said again. Right as he said it his phone started ringing. “Hello,” he answered.
    “C, it’s me.”
    “Hey. Where are you?” he said and got off of the bed. He motioned to Annie that it was Justin. She didn’t say a word.
    “I’m out at the island. I just needed some time to be alone and think.”
    “And?”
    “And I am gonna find someone to talk to,” he said as he buckled his pants.
    “I sure hope so dude.”
    “Don’t worry about it.”
    “I will Justin. Until you are back here and trying to make things work, I will worry.”
    “I can’t make everything perfect all at once, you know that, but I am gonna try.”
    “Trying is the first step to succeeding J,” he said.
    “I know. Look, are you gonna talk to Annie today?”
    “Yeah, I’m here now,” he answered.
    “Can I talk to her please C?” he asked and then sat back down on his bed.
    “Hello,” she said out of no where.
    “Baby,” he said.
    “Justin,” she said back.
    “I just want you to know that I love you and miss you. I needed some time alone to clear my thoughts and figure out what it is that I need right now.”
    “When are you coming home?”
    “I’m not sure. I need to work some of my head out first. I’ll call again soon though. Promise.”
    “I’ll talk to you later then?”
    “Yes, I love you Annie Bear.”
    She cracked a small smile, “you too Justin. Here’s JC.” She handed the phone back to JC.
    “Hey I gotta go,” Justin said when JC took the phone back.
    “Alright man. I’ll talk to you later then. Take care man.”
    “I will, oh and that little girl... the one we met the first night.”
    “Yeah?”
    “Her birthday is today remember. Stop by, tell her I said happy birthday.”
    “I will. I was gonna go over a little later. It’s cool you remembered too J. I’m sure it will mean a lot to her.” JC was happy to hear that Justin had in fact remembered it.
    “Later man,” Justin said and then hung up his phone and headed over to get some breakfast.
    JC looked at Annie and said, “I think it’s gonna be just fine Annie. I really do.” She answered back with a smile.

    JC spent a few hours with Annie, just talking with her and watching some talk shows on television. It was good to get to laugh with her again. She seemed to be doing a lot better. Her jaw wasn’t all tight anymore and she was able to eat with no problems. Her cheek bone still hurt every now and then, but for the majority, it was doing great. Her ribs were still killing her and it often hurt to laugh, but at the same time it felt good on the inside.
    “I’m gonna run down the hall and see Diane,” JC said around two in the afternoon.
    “Okay,” she said and flipped the channels.
    “I’ll stop by though before I leave.”
    “Alright. Thanks for everything Jace,” she said to him before he left.
    “What are friends for?” he said back. “Oh, Lance said that he’d be up here tonight to see you.”
    “Really? Great,” she said with a smile. “Tell Diane Happy Birthday for me.”
    “Will do,” he said and then walked out of the room.
    JC wasn’t really sure which room was hers, but he was sure that he wouldn’t have a problem finding it. He was almost to the end of the hall when he heard a bunch of people talking and giggling. He peeked his head around the corner and saw Diane sitting in the corner of the room. JC knocked on the door before stepping part of the way in.
    “Happy Birthday,” he said.
    Diane’s little neck turned as fast as it could and a smile crashed over her entire face when she saw JC standing at her door. “JC!”
    He walked in and leaned down to give her a hug. “How are ya?”
    “Great! I got lots of things and all my family came. And you remembered!”
    “Of course I remembered,” he said with a smile to match hers.
    A tall brunette walked over to them and said, “hi, I’m Larissa, Diane’s sister.”
    “JC,” he replied and extended a hand. JC thought to himself about how beautiful she looked. She had legs for days, and silky brown hair that slithered over the back of her bare shoulders.
    “Diane showed us the letter that you and Justin signed for her. I’ve never seen her so excited.”
    Diane squealed with a childlike giggle.
    “I’m glad,” he said and looked down at her. “So you gonna show me what you got, or just make me guess?”
    Diane giggled again and then moved her petite hand to the knob on her wheelchair. She drove over to her bed and reached her little arms up into the air to reach the bag on her bed. JC followed her and helped her to lift the bag onto her lap. She took out the little gifts that she had received and told JC who each of them were from.
    “So Diane says that she met you guys a few days ago?” Larissa directed towards JC.
    JC turned his attention from the small stuffed bear that Diane held, back to Larissa. “Yeah. A friend is in the hospital, so we were visiting when I met Diane.”
    “Oh, I’m sorry. I hope it is nothing serious,” she said with sympathy.
    “She’s doing better. Actually,” he turned back to Diane, “she told me to wish you a Happy Birthday, as did Justin.”
    “Thanks!” she exclaimed. “Justin remembered too?”
    “Yup. He called me this morning to ask if I would tell you that he said that.”
    “Where is he?” she said and raised her hands and flipped them out.
    “He’s out of town right now.”
    “Oh. Okay. Well tell them both I say thank you a bunch.”
    JC laughed. “I’ll do that.”
    “Good.”
    JC stayed for a little while longer and talked to both Diane and Larissa. He also met their parents and a few other family members that stopped by. He posed for a few pictures with Diane, so that she would always remember that he was there on her sixth birthday.
    “Can I take a picture of you and sissy?” she asked in reference to her sister Larissa.
    “Uhm sure,” he said and put down his plate and drink. He leaned towards Larissa and put his arm around her back. She placed a hand in the middle of his chest and then smiled for the camera.
    “Thank you!” she yelled.
    “Anytime darlin’,” he said. “I need to get going though,” he said to her.
    “Thank you for coming by,” she said.
    “No problem sweetie. Maybe I will see you again soon.”
    “I hope so,” she squealed again.
    “Thank you for the wonderful cake,” he declared and then said goodbye to everyone.
    Larissa walked out of the room with JC and said, “JC thanks so much. She will be happy for the rest of her life thanks to you.”
    “It was no problem,” he said. “She’s a great kid.”
    “The best,” she smiled.
    “Hey, uhm,” he stuttered.
    “Yeah?”     Larissa was filled with joy all over her insides. She may be twenty-two, but she felt like she was sixteen again and going on her first date. “I’d like that,” she answered back.
    “Cool,” he said back with a half smile.
    “Meet me downstairs at six tomorrow?” she asked and ran her finger in a circle around a strand of hair.
    “Sure thang,” he said. “Later.” JC said that and then headed back down the hall to say goodbye to Annie before he headed out with Chris for the evening. JC never would have thought that he’d pick up a date while at a hospital. She seemed really nice though and JC was excited about it.
    He told Annie about it and she couldn’t help but laugh at him. “Picking up girls at a hospital. Now that’s a new one.”
    “Oh get over it,” he said.
    “I’m sure I will,” she laughed back. “I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon.”
    “Okay. Sleep well tonight. Tell Lance I said hey when he stops by tonight.”
    “I will.”
    “Take care sweets,” he said and then kissed Annie on the forehead and left the room all smiles.

    “You’re getting mighty addicted to this place,” Lauren said as Justin walked into the cafe for some dinner.
    “I’m a growing boy. I gotta eat,” he answered back.
    “Follow me,” she said and led him to the same table that he had been eating at since he got there two nights before.
    “You got anything yummy cooking back there?”
    “Sure do,” she laughed. “And like every other customer, you can look through the menu to see what it is.”
    “What a feisty one you are tonight. You weren’t so bitter this morning.”
    “You haven’t had the shit poor day that I’ve had today either, have you, sir?” she stressed the word sir since she knew it bothered him.
    “It’s Justin, and you know that.”
    “What would you like to drink Justin?” she spat back.
    “Just a water,” he said. “Where’s,” he started.
    “Tracey has the night off. I’m sure she’ll stop by later,” she finished for him.
    “I was gonna ask where the restroom was,” he corrected her.
    “Oh,” she blushed. She was a bit on the jealous side that Tracey had so many nice things to talk about referring to all the conversations that she and Justin had had in the last day. “Sorry.”
    “No problem,” he laughed slightly.
    “It’s right down that little hall. First door on the right.”
    “Okay. Hey can you just go ahead and order me a burger?”
    “Sure,” she answered.
    “Thanks,” he said and then got up from his table and went in there. Justin opened the door and laughed at the wallpaper covering the room. “Strange,” he said as he walked up to the urinal. Justin then walked over and washed his hands and ran some water through his hair. He thought for a second and then took out his phone.
    “Hello,” a girl answered.
    “Annie?”
    “One second,” the nurse said. “Annie it’s a guy,” she said and handed the phone to her.
    Annie assumed that it was Lance calling to tell her that he would be there soon, or that he couldn’t make it. “Lance?” she said.
    “No baby, it’s me.”
    “Oh, hey,” she said.
    “Expecting Lance?”
    “He said he would stop by tonight.”
    “Ahh, well I can’t talk but for just a second.”
    “Your voice is echoing,” she said in a weird tone.
    “Oh?” he said and made a strange face.
    “Justin Randal, are you calling me from a bathroom?”
    “Yeah,” he laughed. "My dinner is being made.”
    “Where are you at?”
    “Some little cafe restaurant thing.”
    “Oh.”
    “How are you feeling?”
    “As good as can be expected I guess. Justin?”
    “Yes?”
    “Are you there to talk to someone really? Or just to get away?”
    “Baby I needed some time. I am gonna talk to someone though while I am here. I was going through the phone book this afternoon. They have a little shopping center thing about fifteen minutes away, and they have a counseling center there,” he looked in the mirror and made a gross face and then ran his hand under the water and patted down an out of control curl.
    “Promise me you’ll go?”
    “I will,” he said. “I’ll see you soon Annie.”
    “Bye Justin,” she said as she knew that he was going to say goodbye next.
    “I love you, bye,” and then he hung up the phone. “What in the hell?” he cursed as he messed with that same curl. “Ugh, never mind,” he said agitatedly and then pushed open the door to the restroom.

    “Here ya go,” Lauren said as she set down Justin’s plate of food.
    “Thanks,” he said and then grabbed the burger with both hands.
    “Just eat it all up,” she tried to laugh. She poured him some more water and then headed back to the desk to greet the people coming in.
    “I plan on it,” he said with a full mouth as she walked off. “Someone is going through PMS,” he mumbled.
    “And do you know much about it?” Tracey asked as she pulled up the chair beside Justin.
    “Oh, uh,” he continued with a full mouth.
    “It’s rude to talk with your mouth full,” she laughed at him.
    “Yeah, yeah,” he said as he swallowed. “What you doing here on your night off?”
    “Getting food! A girl has to eat too ya know.”
    Justin laughed. “Well I just started. You are more than welcome to eat with me.”
    “I’d like that. I’m just gonna run back and grab me something. I’ll be right back.”
    “Okay,” he replied and stuffed another big bite into his mouth.
    A few minutes later Tracey returned and sat back down with Justin. After they had both finished eating and were sitting at the table over a bowl of ice cream, she asked, “so what are you doing tomorrow?”
    “I uh, gotta run and do some stuff.” He was planning to go check out the counselor the following morning.
    “Oh,” she sighed.
    “I’m coming back though,” he tilted his head inward.
    “Well I was just wondering if you wanted to go horseback riding with me. I have a pass thing so I can ride for free.” ‘Not that he is worried about spending too much money,’ she then thought to herself.
    “I’d love to go with you,” he said. He had been wanting to get out on a horse since he got there, so this was the perfect opportunity. “I’ll stop by your cabin when I get back.”
    “That would be cool,” Tracey smiled.
    “Cool,” he smiled back.
    “Well I gotta go. I need to do some errands tonight. I’ll talk to you tomorrow though.”
    “Sounds like a plan.”
    “Breakfast?”
    “A man’s gotta eat!”
    She laughed. “Night Justin. Thanks for letting me eat with you,” she made fun.
    “I had no choice,” he joked with her.
    “Loser,” she said and then cleared her stuff and headed toward the door.
    “Bye to you too,” he yelled out. She answered him by waving at him over her shoulder.

Part Five