Part Four
“Hmmm,” Mer sighed and tilted her head a little.
“Morning,” he said in a soft husky voice.
A small smile crossed her face. “Hey.”
“You sleep okay?” he asked.
“Uh huh,” she mumbled. “What time is it?”
JC took his free hand and reached for the clock by the side of his bed. “Early. It’s six.”
“Ugh,” groaned. “I have to be at the office at eight thirty.”
“You have some time.”
“No, I gotta go get showered and get dressed and stuff.”
JC ran his hand through her hair and she couldn’t hide the smile that he brought to her face. “Ya know,” he started.
“Hmm?”
“You could save yourself a step at your house.”
Mer licked her lips and grinned at him. “How would I do that?”
“There’s a shower on the next floor,” she teased.
Mer gently hit him in the stomach. “Funny,” she said with a solid voice.
“I’m kidding,” he smiled down at her.
Mercedes smiled and propped her body up a little bit. “I need to be out of here in thirty minutes.”
“We’ll work on that,” he chuckled quietly and pulled Mer’s face closer to his until their lips brushed against one another again. JC hoped that the previous night was just the beginning of a whole new happiness.
JC wrapped his arms around Mercedes and kissed her lips quickly. “I’ll call you later,” he said.
She smiled. “Okay. Later Jace.” Mercedes backed away from him and made her way down his walk way. She got to the end of the driveway, where her car was, and waved back up at him. There were butterflies flying all around her stomach and she couldn’t believe that the previous evening had actually happened. One minute they are fighting, and the next minute they are embracing one another while making love.
JC sighed as he watched her pull out of the driveway and then drive down the street. He shut the door and walked to his room in a daze. When he approached his bed, he fell backwards onto it and just stared up at the ceiling. He was hoping that nothing was going to change. The last time they kissed and then separated, they acted as if it was a huge mistake. JC felt that this time there was no mistake and there would be no regrets either.
Mercedes finally made it to her house and she literally ran up the stairs to her room. She needed to put on more appropriate clothing for work and grab the paperwork that she would need. Once she was fully set, she grabbed her car keys once again and dashed for the car. Not an easy thing to do in high heels either.
“Look what you’ve done to me,” Mercedes sang as she looked at the cars in front of her. All she could think about was JC. Mercedes heard a faint voice coming from her radio so she reached over to turn up the radio. JC’s voice filled the car and Mercedes couldn’t help but smile.
Mercedes’s smile soon faded and the sound of JC’s voice was no longer the only thing that she heard. New sounds took the place of the song she was listening to. The wheels of her car screeched as she tried to put on her brakes. Metal collided with metal and Mer’s body flung against the steering wheel and her view suddenly became solid black.
“Call 911!” someone yelled when they finally approached the four vehicle pile up. “Now,” the man yelled and leaned over to check Mer’s pulse.
A seventeen year old boy stood on the side of the highway and his teeth chattered while he dialed 911 on his phone. “Yes there’s been a really bad accident. Four cars. I don’t know....”
“Miss can you hear me?” someone said to Mercedes.
No response.
“Miss can you hear me?” he said again.
There was still no response.
Five or six other people all pulled to the side to see what they could do to help. There was now a huge line of cars waiting behind the incident. None of them quite sure what was going on. None of them knowing if people were alive or if they were dead.
“Her name is Mercedes Cooper,” the EMT said to one of the doctors as they wheeled Mer into the hallway. She had IV’s running out of her left arm and she had on a neck brace and a few bandages where she gashed her head and shoulders.
“Any emergency numbers?”
“There is a paper in the back with a list of numbers, but uh,” the EMT hesitated.
“What’s the problem?” one of the doctors trailed behind with the EMT as the other rushed Mer into the ER to continue checking her out.
“Well she’s got the numbers of famous people in here.” The man handed the doctor the purse. “I’m not sure how valid they are.”
“How famous?” the lady asked and pulled the wallet out of the purse.
“Nsync famous. My daughter adores them. That’s the only reason I know their names.”
“Well, famous people have friends too. I’ll call whoever is at the top of the list. Thanks.”
“No problem,” the man said and then headed back out of the hospital.
Dr. Fredrick unfolded the paper and saw the list of numbers. She picked up the phone and dialed the first number on the list. “Answer,” she said and drummed her fingers on the counter.
Chris looked at the caller ID and saw the number was unlisted. “Hello,” he answered with hesitation.
“Mr. Kirkpatrick?”
“Who is this?” he asked.
“I need to speak with a Mr. Chris Kirkpatrick.”
“I need to know who is calling.”
“Sir this is Mandales Medical Hospital. Can I please....”
“This is Chris. What’s wrong?” he got nervous.
“Sir we have a Miss Mercedes Coo....”
“What’s wrong with Mer? Is she okay?”
“Sir it seems as though Miss Cooper was involved in an accident.”
“I’ll be right there,” he said in a rush. He didn’t need to hear anything else. Panic took over him and he wasn’t sure what he needed to do. Chris grabbed the keys and took off out the door. He prayed that there wasn’t anything seriously wrong.
Chris pulled into the parking lot at the hospital and he rushed into the ER. He didn’t seem to care who was in there. “I’m looking for Mercedes Cooper,” he said out of breath.
The lady at the desk recognized him and couldn’t help herself from being star struck. “Aren’t you?” she started.
“Does it matter who I am? My friend is in the hospital and I need to know where she is,” he said out of anger.
“Sorry sir,” she shook her head quickly. She was ashamed that she let herself loose her professional manner. “Miss Cooper has been moved into a room on the ward on the fourth floor.”
“Thanks,” he said and darted down the hall to the elevator. When he finally got to the elevator he pounded on the up arrow and shifted his weight from one side of his body to the other as he waited for the doors to open.
“Finally,” he said impatiently when the doors slide open. He got into the elevator, an empty one for that matter, and pushed the number four button. “Let’s go. Let’s go.” Chris was hoping that maybe she just got scratched up a little bit and that was why she was at the hospital, but the fact that she had a room now was a little too much for Chris. He didn’t know what to think.
The elevator beeped and the doors opened. Chris stepped out and looked both ways. “Signs?” he looked again and finally saw one and followed the arrows to the “Ward”. Chris followed five signs until he finally ended up at a desk. “Uhm, I am looking for a Miss Cooper. She was brought in tonight.”
“You must be Mr. Kirkpatrick,” a voice said behind him.
Chris turned abruptly and nodded. “Where’s Mer?”
“Miss Cooper was involved in an accident earlier this morning. It was a four car incident.”
“But she’s okay right?”
“She is fine physically, but she isn’t responding to anything right now.”
“Oh my God,” he put his head in his hands.
“It is most likely just a temporary thing Mr. Kirkpatrick. The shock might just have lasted longer than usual. The EMT said that she was showing some responses when they were on the way here. Maybe the morphine has just conked her out. Her eyes dilate when they should, so I think that she’s going to be just fine.”
“Can I see her?”
“Of course,” the doctor said and led him down the hall.
Chris walked into the room that the doctor had directed him to. He went straight to Mer’s side and grabbed her hand. “Mer, I’m here. You’ve got to wake up.” Chris just stared her over. She had a few bumps and bruises, but all in all she looked fine. Chris looked over at the pile of her stuff and saw that the clothing that had been cut open was one of her nice suits. “Man, she had to work today.”
Chris left Mer’s side and went to the front desk. “Can I use your phone since I can’t use cell phones in here?”
“Right there sir,” she pointed to the end of the desk.
“Phone book?”
“There,” she pointed to a drawer.
“Thanks,” he said and flipped the pages until he got to the page with the firm that Mer worked at. He dialed the given number and waited for someone to answer. After the woman had stated her name and the firm’s name, Chris replied with, “I am calling for Mercedes Cooper. She’s been involved in a car accident. Can you please let whoever needs to know that she can’t come in.”
“Yes sir right away. Thank you for the call and tell Miss Cooper that Aleece says to get well soon.”
“Will do. Thanks.” Chris hung up and decided that he needed to call the guys. “Justin,” he said when Justin answered the phone all out of breath.
“What’s up?”
“Mer’s in the hospital.”
“What do you mean Mer is in the hospital?” Justin stated quickly.
“She was in a car accident.”
“Oh man, is she okay? I heard there was a pile up on the main road outside of her neighborhood.”
“She’s banged up and all, but they say she’s okay.”
“They say? What does Mer say?”
“Uhm... she’s not responding to anything right now.”
“Not responding!” he yelled.
“They say her eyes are doing what they should. Whatever the hell that means.”
“I’ll be right there. You are at Mandales right?”
“Yeah. On the ward, fourth floor. Call the rest of the guys okay. I gotta call her dad.”
“Okay. I’ll be there soon.”
Justin arrived at the hospital a short time later and he went straight up to the fourth floor where Chris said that they were. “Chris!” he yelled down the hall when he saw Chris sitting in a chair.
“Hey,” he got up. “Where are the other guys?”
“Lance and Jessica are on their way. Joey was way out of town so he is gonna be late, but he said that he was on his way too. I can’t get a hold of JC. I called his house and got no answer. Then the cell phone rang and I got his voice mail. I told him to call as soon as he got the message.”
“You can’t have your cell on in here Justin.”
“I know. I told him to call my pager. I’ll call him back from a pay phone or whatever.” Justin was a step ahead of Chris.
Chris shook his head. “She still hasn’t opened her eyes or anything like that. The doctors insist that everything seems normal though.”
“It’s normal that she isn’t awake?”
“I don’t know. Maybe I just don’t pay attention. I was kind of spazzed when I got here.”
“Chris,” Justin said in an upset tone. “Uhm, excuse me Miss,” Justin said to the first doctor that walked by.
“Yes,” she replied.
“Can you please tell me what’s going on with Mercedes Cooper?”
“Yeah, let me grab her chart okay?”
“Thanks,” Justin said and grabbed Chris by the arm. “Did you happen to hear anything that the doctors might have told you?”
Chris shrugged. “I guess I just heard what I wanted to. I know that I heard that she is okay though. I didn’t make that up.” Chris did indeed only hear things that stuck out. He failed to hear the rest of Mer’s condition, and why she wasn’t responding.
“Sir,” a different doctor said.
“Yes,” Justin turned around.
The woman flipped through Mer’s chart and then looked up at Justin. “Miss Cooper was involved in...”
“An accident. Yeah I know that part. I just want to know how she is. Why isn’t she responding or waking up or anything like that?”
“Miss Cooper was heavily sedated. She was in a lot of pain on the way to the hospital so the EMT’s pretty much doped her up.” The doctor tried to refrain from using medical jargon that would only confuse the guys.
“So she’s just high on stuff.”
“Not high sir,” a smile cracked. “She will be pretty knocked out for a little while though. When she does come around, it will most likely be for short periods.”
“But she’s okay?”
“Exactly. She does have a sprained wrist though. That was what was in so much pain earlier. She totally pulled her whole wrist out of place. It was required to pop things back into place.”
Chris cringed. “That’s gross.”
“Chris you didn’t get any of this the first time they probably told you did you?”
Chris shook his head. He was upset that he didn’t. He just was so shocked and afraid. There was no way that his brain was fully functioning right then. “Sorry.”
“It’s alright. I wanna go see Mer. You‘ve already seen her right?”
“Yeah. She’s in this room over here,” Chris said and then headed toward her room with Justin.
“Thanks doc,” Justin said and followed Chris.
Justin peeked around the corner before entering Mer’s room. He wanted to just see her before he went in there. Perhaps it was just to prepare him. Chris stood at the door while Justin walked over to Mer’s bed. “Mercedes, can you hear me?” he whispered to her.
There was still no response.
“I’m sure you can hear me. You just are tired right now and can’t answer me. I’m here though. Chris is here too and the rest of the guys are on their way.”
Justin couldn’t believe the fear that had taken over his emotions only minutes before. He was so afraid when Chris called to tell him that Mercedes was in the hospital. Even though he knew that she was going to be alright, and she’d be back home in no time, it was still an eye opener to what was really important in life. Friendship; a bond that two people share that should never be broken.
“You really scared me Mer,” Justin started to say.
“Chris,” Lance said as he walked up right behind him. He placed his hand on his shoulder and said, “How is she?”
“She’s gonna be just fine. She’s just a little out of it right now because of all the meds I guess.”
“Thank God. Justin made it sound like she was hanging by a thread or something.”
“Well I didn’t really tell him too many good things when I told him to call you all. Hey Jess,” Chris then acknowledged Lance’s girlfriend’s presence.”
“Hey.”
“I don’t guess that we all really need to be here though now that we know she’s okay.”
“Is she talking to Justin or is he just in there talking to himself?” Lance asked as he peeked through the door.
“She isn’t awake or anything. I don’t even know when she will wake up. Y’all don’t have to stay here if you don’t want to.”
“Nah, it’s alright. We can just hang out in the waiting room until she wakes up or whatever.”
“I dunno when that will be.”
“She got a concussion or anything like that?”
“I don’t believe so. The doctors didn’t say anything about one.”
“We’ll stay here,” Jessica butted in. “We’ll catch Joey on the way through. He’s got to pass the waiting room to get here. We can fill him in or whatever. I am sure that he’ll want to run up here just to check on things though.”
“Thanks,” Chris said and put an arm around Jessica. “You too bro,” he said and patted Lance on the back. It was done in a brotherly manner and both guys knew it was their way of ‘hugging’ without actually hugging.
“Not a problem,” Lance replied. “You gonna come down with us or what?”
“Uhm...” Chris thought. He really didn’t want to leave Mer. “Maybe I’ll come down and grab a coffee then I will come back up here and convince Justin to leave so I can sit with Mer for awhile.”
Jessica cracked a smile. She sensed a small hint of jealousy for the friendship that Mercedes and Justin had built up. “Okay.”
“Let me just go tell Justin.”
“Alright.”
Chris went into the room and told Justin that Lance and Jessica were there and that they were gonna go get something to drink. He also told him that when he got back he wanted to spend some time with Mer. Justin totally understood and said that he would go wait with the others while Chris sat with Mercedes.
“Well Mer, Lance and Jessica are here and they just went down with Chris to get something to drink.” Justin sat in the chair next to Mercedes and just watched her breath ever so slowly.
“Hmmm,” Mercedes sighed and her eyes fluttered open.
Justin jumped to his feet and went to Mer’s side. “Mercedes. Can you hear me?”
“J....” she mumbled.
“Yeah it’s me,” he brushed the pad of his thumb over her cheek. “You’re gonna be just fine Mer. You were just in an accident.”
“Chris...”
“He’ll be right back Mer.”
“C....” she then mumbled.
“See what?”
“JC...”
“What about JC?” Justin looked at her with questioning eyes.
“Here.”
Justin shook his head. “No Mer. JC isn’t here.”
A tear filled Mercedes’s left eye and then she closed them.
“Sleep Mer,” he said and then placed his hand on hers. His body shook. He was ecstatic that Mercedes was alright. The only thing that he didn’t understand is why she asked for JC. Was it just that she hoped he wasn’t there? Was it something else? Justin’s thoughts were interrupted by the vibrating of his pager on his hip.
Justin took his eyes off of Mer and looked down at the number on his pager screen. “C,” he said and then exited the room. “Miss where is the pay phone?” Justin asked the lady at the desk.
“If it is a local call, you can use the phone at the end of this desk,” she said and pointed to the cream colored phone. “Justin dial nine to get out.”
“Thanks,” he said and slid his hand over the counter until it hit the base of the phone. He picked up the receiver and dialed JC’s house number.
“Yeah,” JC answered.
“C, where the hell were you man?”
“I was outside. What do you want? You didn’t really say much on the message other than ‘page me immediately’. Is something wrong? And why didn’t I call your cell?” JC asked question after question before he gave Justin any time to answer.
“If you’re done playing the question game now. I’m at the hospital.”
“What for? You alright man?”
“I’m fine. Look I know that you and Mer aren’t really the best of friends, but I thought I should...” Justin didn’t get the chance to finish his sentence before JC broke in.
“What’s wrong with Mercedes Justin?”
Justin was surprised with the tone of concern in his voice. “She got in an accident.”
“Is she okay?” JC’s heart started to beat quicker and quicker. He was looking through his pile of papers to find his car keys and he was half way out the door by the time Justin finally answered him.
“She’s okay. She’s banged up and all. She finally woke up a few minutes ago. She’s doped up with meds pretty bad.”
“Oh my God,” JC stated as he got into his car. “Where are you? I’m on my way.”
“Mandales. Uhm, C can I ask you something?”
“What?”
“Did something else happen with you and Mer. I mean are y’all friends now or what?”
JC turned the keys to his car. “Why?”
“She asked for you when she woke up.”
“She did?” JC smiled.
“Yeah.”
“Uhm I'll fill you in when I get there. Tell her I’m on my way.”
“Yeah okay. We’re on the ward. Fourth floor.”
“I’ll be there as soon as I can,” JC said and clicked his phone off.
Mercedes’s eyes batted open once again. This time it was Chris in the room with her. “Mer,” he said and put his hand on hers.
“Chris,” she said quietly. “What happened?”
“You were in a car accident.”
“I’m okay right?” she asked. She was still kind of high on meds so she didn’t really know what was supposed to hurt and what wasn’t.
“You’re great. You have a few bumps and bruises though.”
Mercedes looked down and saw the wrap around her wrist. She gave him questioning eyes and said, “This?”
“Oh, you did sprain your wrist. The docs said you popped it right out of place,” he said and made the motions of a breaking wrist.
“That’s nasty.”
Chris chuckled and then agreed. “Yeah it is. They popped it back in place though. They said it will be pretty sore for awhile. I don’t know if they’ll leave it wrapped or put a cast on it though.”
Mer tried to shake her head some. “Where are the other guys?”
“Joey should be here soon, if he isn’t already. Lance and Justin are in the other room with Jessica. And JC is on his way.”
“Justin was in here wasn’t he?” she asked. She remembered his presence earlier, but she didn’t remember that she had talked to him.
“Yeah, he was in here. I just switched places with him actually. He said that you woke up once earlier, but only for a minute. You asked where we were... and you asked for JC.”
“JC?” she smiled.
“Yeah,” he said.
“Yeah,” she simply replied back. She remembered now that the last thing she remembered hearing was his voice over the radio. It was his voice that was so vivid in her mind at that moment. “Where is he?” she asked.
“He should be here soon. Mer, I thought that y’all hated one another.”
“We don’t,” she stated and then left it at that. It was only a few seconds later that her eyes shut again.
“Jace, hey,” Justin said when he saw JC turn the corner.
“Hey,” he said and walked over by the others. “Where’s Chris and Joey?” he asked right away.
“Joey was out of town so he had to drive all the way back. I dunno when he’ll be here. Chris is in the room with Mercedes.”
“Where are they? Can I go back?”
“Yeah, uhm, let me show you where they are. Y’all I’ll be right back,” he said and then proceeded to show JC the way to Mer’s room. “So what’s the deal?” he asked as they walked down the hall.
JC smiled. “It’s a long story that maybe Mer should be able to tell if she wants to, but I can say that we’re not fighting anymore. I ran into her at the studio last night and we kinda talked our way through things.”
“Well that’s good,” Justin said assuredly. “She asked for you ya know.”
“Yeah, you told me on the phone.”
“Oh yeah,” Justin let out a soft chuckle. “Here,” he said and stopped at the desk first. “Is it okay if he goes in to see her?” Justin asked the nurse at the desk.
“Yes, but remember only one at a time are allowed in the room. This isn’t even visiting hours, but because of the circumstances, we’re letting you guys in anyway.” In other words, because the guys were famous and it would have been a little more difficult for them to be around with a crowd of other visitors, the station let them come in between hours.
“Thanks, I know,” he said and then stepped across the hallway.
“Chris,” JC said as he stepped in the room.
“C, hey,” he said and stood up. He approached JC and patted his should quickly, a brotherly action of sorts.
“The nurse said only one of us could be in here. Can I stay for a minute to talk to her?”
“Yeah sure you can. She was awake a minute ago, but she’s out again right now. She might wake up again in a little bit, but who knows. She’s stubborn.”
JC laughed. “I can vouch for that one.”
“She asked for you again,” he stated. “Maybe she’s got a funky concussion and she thinks that y’all are like awesome friends or something.”
JC laughed again. “Yeah maybe. Seeing me might snap her back into the reality of things eh,” he joked.
“Exactly. Well hey, we’ll be out in the other room. You can come out there and get one of us if you wanna go get something to drink or whatever.”
“Thanks. I don’t wanna hog all of your guys’ time with her.”
“Eh, she’s pretty boring when she’s asleep anyway. I want her when she is awake,” Chris laughed again. Leave it to him to make this a time to make people smile and forget their worries.
“Do you know when they are gonna let her out?” he directed his question toward both Justin and Chris.
“I’m not sure, but I would almost guess that they keep her in over night for some observation or whatever weird stuff they do,” Justin replied.
“You mean waking you up every hour on the hour to check your blood pressure and temperature.” Chris remembered that from when he had to stay the night once after he had gotten a concussion when he clonked his head on a wall while trying to be funny.
“Ha, that’s gotta suck,” JC laughed and also remembered the night that Chris was referring to.
“Okay, we’re gonna go now. You gotta talk fast when she wakes up, because she sure doesn’t stay that way for long,” Chris laughed.
“You got that right,” Justin targeted back and then put his arm behind Chris to trigger the movement away from the room. “Tell her hi again from us when she gets up.”
“Will do,” JC said and then headed over to Mer’s bed.
Just when JC got to her bedside, a nurse walked in. “Hello sir. I don’t mean to bother you, but I need to check her vitals and such. It should just be a moment.”
“Oh yeah, sure thing,” he said and backed away so that she could do what she needed to do.
“Thank you sir,” the nurse said after she had taken Mercedes’s blood pressure and checked that her temperature was still normal.
“No problem,” he said and then took his spot back nect to her beside. “Looks like it is just you and me,” he told her softly.
“Uh huh,” she whispered.
JC smiled and looked down at her. “Sleepy?”
“Like... you wouldn’t... believe. How long have... you been here?”
“Not too long. How did this happen?”
“I heard you.”
“What?” he was confused.
“You were singing. That’s the... last thing I remember.”
“You were listening to us when you got hit?”
“I was listening to you. Thinking of... the way that you looked at... me last night. Thinking of... how you held me... afterwards.”
“I’m sorry,” he felt somehow that it was his fault that she had gotten in an accident.
“It wasn’t your fault,” she hesitated. “Do the guys know about... us?” she asked as her eyes slowly batted at JC.
“I just told them that we worked things out.”
“Is Justin....?” she started and hoped that JC knew what she meant. The last thing she wanted was to hurt Justin in anyway.
“He seemed fine with it to me. Then again I didn’t go into any details with him.”
“He needs to know... that you and I are gonna be more... than just friends.”
JC blushed. “Are we?”
“If you want me,” she said with a faint smile.
“More than you know,” he leaned down and gave her an assuring kiss on the lips. There was a tingle that entered his body as soon as their lips met. He felt the same way that he did the night before when she was laying in his arms. “I don’t think that this is going to bother Justin,” he added. “I actually think that he knew it was coming. He’s smarter than he lets people believe.”
“Well I do know that much,” she let out a quiet laugh, but stopped quickly but her sides were a bit sore.
“Things will be just fine.” JC took his hand and laced his fingers with Mercedes’s.
“I’m sorry that it... took me so long to realize... what I really wanted,” she said after she looked at their hands joined together.
“I was probably an ass. I know. It was my fault too.”
“I wasn’t any better. Why I did... what I did is a long story, but... I do plan on telling it to you... You deserve to know. And I need... to get it out.”
“I’m glad. You tell me whenever you are ready to talk.” JC actually already knew in part. But it meant a lot to him that she was wanting to tell him why she had pushed him away for so long. Well, it was only a couple months really, but to him it seemed like forever.
“Thank you.”
“Thank you Mercedes,” he stressed her name.
“I’m tired JC,” she said out of no where.
“Go back to sleep. We’re not going anywhere,” he said referring to him and the other guys.
Mercedes smiled at him and her eyes closed again. JC’s only response was yet another smile. He couldn’t believe how one night had just changed his life. Well, not entirely, but it was a change. A change that he was glad happened.