Part 4
Chapter 14

"Well are you happy now? All that foolish pride you let get in the way of the one thing you cared about the most. Now look at what you've done. Now Look! Its too late now. Too Late...Its all YOUR FAULT!

"No!"
You just had to keep putting it off didnt you Justin?

"No I didnt know!!



"Justin?"

"No..stop. I didnt Know!!"

"Justin?? Man wake up." JC said while gently shaking his friend.

Justin opened his swollen eyes and looked around through blurred vision. He sat up in the unconfortable chair that he had been sleeping in and rubbed his eyes. He gazed around at his surroundings in the waiting area of the Emergency Room.



"Do you want some coffee?"

"Hmm?" Justin stretched his arms out and yawned. "Oh no..I'll go get a Coke or..something. What time is it?"

"About 2 in the morning."
Justin's eyes widened..He thought he had only been asleep for a few minutes, not a few hours!
"Two in the morning?? Has the doctor been out?? Have you heard anything ?? Why didnt anybody wake me up?"

"Yes..Nothings changed..and you need your rest." Chris said looking up from his newspaper a couple of seats down from him.

"The doctor's been out?!? What did he say?"

"He said nothings changed.." JC sighed while placing his cup of coffee on the table and sitting down across from Justin. "Her vitals are still good, She's still breathing with the ventilator, but, She's just..still asleep."

Justin sank back in his seat. His eyes were red and swollen. He looked like he hadnt slept in days...and he didnt feel much better than he looked. His mind was tangled and twisted..He couldnt think straight. He kept thinking about everything that had happened...praying that he could wake up from this nightmare that he seemed to be having.



"Where's everyone else at?"

"There's some guest rooms up on the 2nd floor...Joey and the girls went up there with Alyssa. She needed to lie down." Justin nodded his head in agreement. " And Lance is calling Johnny I think. Anyway they said theres plenty of rooms up there if you want to go lie down for awhile."

"No..No Im staying down here."

"Justin..you need to rest."

"Look JC! Im not leaving her. If it wasnt for me, she wouldnt be in there!"

"Justin. This isnt your fault! How many more times do I have to tell you?" JC said while placing his hand on his shoulder. Justin ignored him while staring at a single tile in the floor, not removing his eyes from it. "Are you listening to me?"

"Curly..Listen," Chris said getting up and sitting down in the chair beside him. "Stop blaming yourself..If not for yourself then for Dani. She wouldnt want you to and you know that."

"I know but.." He tried his best but he couldnt hold back the tears any longer. He sat there as they rolled down his cheeks, while still staring at the floor unable to move.
"But I just cant shake the fact that it WAS my fault."

"That's understandable Justin, but you can't beat yourself up over it. Please man you're going to worry yourself sick!" JC pleaded.

"Oh yeah..I dont want to do that. I dont want to make myself sick while Dani is stuck in a bed in a Coma with wires hooked up to her and bandages covering her and..yeah I should be worried about Myself??"

"That's not what I meant."

"I know..JC Im sorry." Justin said while wiping his face dry.

"You dont have to apologize..Just take care of yourself ok?"

"Allright." Justin agreed.

He sat there staring into space..replaying the whole night over and over in his head. The concert...How much fun they had all had. They had regained thier friendship. Everything seemed to be falling back into place. Seeing Dani's cheerful smile and the way her beautiful blue eyes lit up when she laughed made Justin realize what he had lost. He was wanting it back. He was going to tell her...but decided not to. It wasnt the right time. And besides he still loved Ellie...didnt he?

But now he knew he shouldnt have waited. Now he may never be able to tell her. While they were arguing in the car, Dani had took her eyes off the road for a few seconds...But they were one second too many, She hit an incredibly slick spot in the road and crashed her side of the car into a guard rail. Everyone else in the car was fine..Joey had a few cuts on his head because he was on the same side, but he didnt make any impact with the rail. The vision that stuck out in Justin's head was looking over and seeing Dani's lying over on her steering wheel. Her head had slammed into her door glass and fell down on the steering wheel..He reached over and gently lifted her head up, only to find that she was bleeding..very badly. Somehow he dialed 911 on his cell phone and called an ambulance even though he dont even remember doing it. He remembers hearing Alyssa crying and screaming in the backseat while Joey tried his best to comfort her. Telling her that everything was going to be fine...


But was it?




"Hmm...lets see. I can get stale chips, a candy bar..old cookies..or more stale chips."

"Hey, have you heard anything?"

"No." Justin said to Lance while he stared at the almost empty snack machine.

"Well Johnny said he'd keep her in his prayers...And he said for you to take care of yourself!"

"Uhh huh.."

"Hey, why don't we go to the cafeteria and find you something better to eat, want to?"

"I suppose." Justin said while shrugging his shoulders and following Lance down the hall.

Justin and Lance walked down the hall and took the elevator up to the 2nd floor. The stepped off and continued on thier way in silence. Lance wanted to get Justin to talk because he was being so quiet and he didnt need to keep it all built up inside him. But he just wasnt sure what to say.



"Are you ok Justin?"

"Yeah..yeah Lance Im fine. I'll be allright."

"Well..If you wanna talk about it, "

"I dont wanna talk about it Lance."

"Oh, ok."

"No, I know youre just trying to help, but..How can I talk about my feelings if I dont even know what Im feeling myself?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well.." Justin stopped when they reached the front of the cafeteria. There were menus sitting outside the entrace. He stared at them for awhile then continued.
"I mean, Im just so confused. 'Who do I like?' 'How do I feel?''Is this my fault? 'Was this supposed to get my attention somehow..?' 'What is going to happen to her? "

"Hmm...want my advice?"

"Shoot. I'll take anything right now."

"Pray about it. Then you'll get your answers." Lance said while handing him a tray. Justin smiled back at him.

"You're right. You're absolutely right."



"I recommend the dry burger and rubber fries." Alyssa said, walking up behind them in line.

"Hey Lyss...you guys already ate?"

"Yeah we came down here a few minutes ago. I woke up hungry...heard anything?"

Justin shook his head No, while getting himself a drink. "Nope..not a thing."

"Man..it looks like they could tell us something."

"I know."

"Hey Justin?"

"Yeah?"

"There's an extra bed in the guest room if you want to go up there and sleep."

"I think Im just gonna stay in the waiting room." he said as he paid the cashier and walked over to the table.

"Well..I tried!" Alyssa said to herself.


Vanessa and Andi got up from thier seats as Justin sat down.

"Are JC and Chris still down in the waiting room?"

"Yeah, they were when I left."

"Come on Andi..I guess we need to get them to take us home."

"Yeah..You guys, we're so sorry that we have to leave!"

"Andi for the millioneth time..its ok we understand!" Alyssa reassured them.

"Well..let us know if anything changes and if you need us girl..you call us ok??"

"Ok." she said hugging them. The girls said goodbye to the others and left.

"Well then, Im gonna go back down to the waiting room since the others will be gone." Lance said. "Anybody wanna come with me?"

Joey looked over at Alyssa. "Go on Red..I wanna stay here and talk to Justin."

Joey nodded his head and got up to leave the cafeteria with Lance.


"Look Justin...About the other night at the party, Im sorry for the way I reacted toward you. It wasnt right of me to accuse you of anything."

"No. Lyss you dont have to be sorry."

"But I feel bad...I know you care about Dani, So just please accept my apology. It'll make me feel better."

"Ok I accept it." He said while looking up at her. "But you were right. I should have called her. I should have told her how I felt. I never should have let her go." he said quietly while Alyssa reached over and placed her hand on his.

"She's gonna be ok Curly."


They both sat there in silence until they were startled by Justin's cell phone ringing.

"Hello?"

"Justin?? I've been trying to get ahold of you for hours!"

"Oh Hey, Ellie." He said while uncomfortably looking at Alyssa.

"Why havent you been answering your phone?"

"Um..I guess I had it turned off earlier babe Im sorry."

Alyssa got up from her seat and took her empty tray over to the tray rack. She could hear Justin explaining the accident to Ellie. She walked back over and told him that she was going back downstairs. Justin nodded at her while still talking on the phone.




"Ellie...El calm down. Im fine.. I wasnt hurt."

"But you could have been! How could she not see that the roads were slick?"

Justin clenched the side of the tablecloth with his fist. Ellie was trying to blame Dani of everything. How could she do that to someone she didnt even know?




"Ellie it wasnt her fault!"
"Ok fine..dont get angry with me."

"Im not getting angry..." He sighed as he held his forehead up with his hand while resting his elbow on the table. "I just dont want you to blame her."

"Im not."

They sat there in silence for a few minutes before Justin finally decided to hang up. He shoved his cell phone in his pocket..put his tray away, and started walking back downstairs. He got to the waiting room and saw Alyssa, Lance and Joey sitting around a Tv in the corner. He didnt feel like sitting down right now...he needed some air. So he went outside the side doors of the emergency room that led to a balcony over the parking lot of the hospital. The sun was fixing to rise and a cool winter breeze seemed to wrap all around him.

'I just wish I could hold her again.' He thought to himself as his mind drifted back to thier last day in Vegas together. 'I should have never let her go.'

Justin pulled his coat around him tighter as the air began to get even colder. He felt the tears begin to well up in his eyes again.




"Hey there you are." Lance said, walking out to the balcony.

"Hey." Justin said sniffling.

"The doctor just came out...They've moved her to the ICU. He said we can go back and see her now, two at a time. Alyssa and Joey went back just now. Do you wanna go?"

"Yeah." Justin said nodding his head as he followed Lance back inside. The walked through two double door...back to the Intensive Care Unit. Justin felt his heart fall to his stomach. Doctors and Nurses were everywhere...running around from one room to another. Machines were going off in every direction, Making some of the most awful noises he had ever heard.


"Here's the room." Lance said as they stopped in front of a door marked '146'. There was a small window beside it with a curtain pulled all the way so that no one could see inside.

"Joey and Alyssa should be out in a few minutes..." he said while looking over at Justin. He then noticed the fear in Justin's eyes. Lance's heart began to ache..he couldnt stand seeing his best friend go through so much pain
"Do you want me to go with you...or do you want to go alone?"

"Would it be ok if I went by myself?" Justin finally managed to say.

"That's fine Justin. Just whatever you feel comfortable with."

Then the door opened and Joey & Alyssa stepped out. Alyssa had a bunched up Kleenex in one hand..and another one in the other hand wiping her eyes with it.



"The first five seconds are the hardest." she said looking up at Justin. "she's not responding to anything..she's just laying there, Helpless.." Alyssa cried out as Joey pulled her close to him and hugged her.

"Be strong man." he said as Justin opened the door and stepped in.


Chapter 15