Chapter 32
JC flashed a smile back at her as Chris sat the plates down on the table in front of them. They were painfully silent as they ate their meal until Shannon broke the silence, "Jace, is Jess mad at me?" JC looked at her with confusion in his eyes, "Mad? Why would she be mad?" She let out a laugh, "Umm, maybe because of what has been happening?" "Oh yeah, I wouldn’t worry about her Shan, she’ll understand."
They finished their meal and Shannon watched some TV, just relaxing on the couch. Chris and JC stayed in the kitchen and talked about things that were happening. After a while, the phone rang and Shannon yelled to the guys that she would get it. "Hello," she said as she picked up the receiver. "Hey! Is JC there? When I woke up this morning, he was gone and he didn’t leave a note," Jess said back to her. Shannon looked into the kitchen and saw Chris and JC looking at her with questioning eyes, "Yeah, he’s here. Want to talk to him?" "It would be nice," she answered back as Shannon handed the phone to JC. JC took the phone and walked out into the living room and Shannon took his spot at the table. She let out a little sigh and then looked deep into Chris’ eyes. "I heard what you said earlier," she told him flatly. He seemed to be startled, "Wha. . what are you talking about? What did you hear me say?" She smiled slightly, "About you wanting to be with me." He let out a deep breath, almost as if he was relieved. "Why didn’t you just tell me?," she asked him quietly. "I. . . I didn’t know how you would take it." She smiled at him and stood up from the table. She walked over to him and gave him a hug, lightly placing a kiss softly on his lips, "We’ll talk about this after JC leaves."
They could hear JC in the living room still chatting with Jess, and rather than interrupting them, Shannon sat back down, thinking about what to say. "Have you heard anything about Britney lately?," she asked Chris. He shook his head, "All I know is she is still denying the whole thing, but there is no way she can get out of it. They caught it on tape." "I wonder what kind of punishment she will get?" Chris smiled at her slightly, "It better be something good. As it is now, she has only a few fans left. Because really, if you think about it, those who were Britney fans also loved Justin, and so when she did that, they all turned against her. So even if she does get off easy, which she better not, she will have nothing to go to since everyone hates her."
As Chris finished his sentence, JC walked back into the room, handing the phone back to Shannon. "What did she want?," she asked him. He pulled himself up onto the countertop and sighed, "She wanted to know where I was. That’s all really. Oh, and she wanted to know what was up with you." Chris raised a brow, "And you said?" JC took a deep breath, "Don’t hate me, but I told her what was going on. I told her about what happened last night and this morning." Shannon was in shock, "You told her?! Why?! Great! Now she hates me, I know it!" JC let out a half-smile, "Well, if you would let me finish what I was saying. Honestly, she’s not mad at you at all. Well, okay, so she is a little, but only because you didn’t tell her." She rolled her eyes, "Its the same with her though, how could I?" JC shrugged and jumped down off the counter, "Well, I’m going to head home now, I’ll talk to you guys later." Off he went, out the door and back to his house.
After he left, Shannon stood up to go back into living room, but as she did, she doubled over with intense pain. "Oh my gosh! What’s wrong!?," Chris yelled as he ran over to her. She couldn’t say anything though, the pain that was gripping at her stomach was too much to bear. Chris eased her down onto the floor and rushed around the room, thinking of what to do. He grabbed the phone and called 911. He told the dispatcher what was wrong, and an ambulance was on its way. As it was on its way, he called JC’s house, but got an answering machine. He was hysterical by then and was actually crying. He choked out into the phone, "This is Chris, Shannon is hurt. We are going down to the hospital. Get down there as soon as you can." He hung up as he heard the sirens approaching. He ran out the door and got the paramedics to cater to Shannon’s needs. Frantically, he asked the paramedics if she would be okay. A woman paramedic stood up from Shannon’s side and pulled Chris off into the living room, away from everyone. Placing a hand on his shoulder, she calmly told him, "She will be fine I’m sure. We aren’t sure exactly what is wrong yet, but please stay calm. Are you her husband?" Chris was completely hysterical as he whispered out a ‘no’. As they finished their conversation, the stretcher came by with Shannon laying in it. As it went past, Chris grabbed her hand and held onto it tight, whispering that he loved her. Chris got in his own car and was on his way to the hospital, following close behind the ambulance. He had gotten stuck in a red light and the ambulance got to the hospital a good 10 minutes before he did. He finally got in and he went to the desk, frantically asking where Shannon was and if she was okay. They told him to have a seat in the waiting room and he saw something he didn’t expect. All his friends were sitting there, waiting for him to show up. As he sat down, Jess stood up and gave him a hug, apologizing for the way she had been acting. As they released from their hug, a doctor came into the room. . . the same doctor they had talked to when Justin was killed. Chris jumped up and ran over to him, "Is she going to be okay??" "Please sir, calm down. We are not sure what is wrong with her yet, we are going to run some tests on her." Chris was almost yelling now, "Can I at least see her?!" The doctor nodded his head, "She may not be able to hear you though. . . she is unconscious."
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