Lance was curled up on
Chris’s bed with his knees drawn as close against his chest as possible. His
eyes were closed but he was not asleep. He could not sleep. His mind was racing
with visions of Lou’s heavy and overbearing body flush against his own and how
they found JC with Lou’s body pressed inside. The blond could not keep them
separate. He squeezed his eyes tight wishing, hoping the vision would disappear,
however, they only intensified. The words Lou spoke into his ear were repeated
over and over making his body shiver, and he wondered if Lonnie had not come
around the corner when he did, would he be in the hospital resting next to JC.
Finally his thoughts were thankfully interrupted when Joey entered the room.
Joey, as quietly as possible,
entered the darkened room, thinking Lance was sleeping. He tiptoed toward the
bed and gently sat down. He placed his hand onto Lance’s shoulder and felt the
younger boy flinch. Joey shut his eyes at the involuntary movement of the
younger singer. Who’s next, he thought. The older brunette tuned his
attention back onto the sleeping form. “Hey, Lance. Are you up?” Joey asked.
Lance simply nodded his head, but spoke not a word. “Do you want to talk about
it, sweetie?”
Lance slowly turned his body
around and faced Joey. He then scooted up against the headboard still hugging
his legs. Emerald eyes met brown. “I…I was so scared.”
“I’ll bet. What happened?”
“He…I think…he was
gonna rape me too. Joey the whole time that’s what I thought.” Lance’s
body shuddered. “He kept hinting towards it, kept mentioning JC.”
That fucking bastard, Joey moved closer toward Lance and sat beside him wrapping a comforting
arm around the trembling shoulders. “Is this okay? I’m not making you
uncomfortable am I?”
“God no Joey.” Lance
reached over and hugged Joey close. “Please, don’t think that. You would
never do that, you could never force someone to have sex with you.” The
blonde’s eyes were full of tears again and they ran freely down his redden
cheeks.
Joey smiled softly as he
looked down at the shorthaired blond. He reached his hand up and tenderly
stroked the gelled mess. “You’re right, Scoop. I couldn’t. I don’t see
how anyone could, especially to you or JC.”
Lance focused his gaze at
Joey, “He…he said that we were weak. JC and I are weak and…” Joey’s
face became a blur. “Why would someone pick on the weak? I don’t think we
are. He was…was so big. I…I couldn’t move.”
“Shh… just relax. He
won’t be touching you again that’s for sure.” Joey paused. He was curious
in finding out what else Lou had said. “What else did he say?” Lance looked
away ashamed and embarrassed. Joey gently grabbed the bass singer’s chin and
forced their eyes to meet. “Hey, it’s all right. I’m not gonna think any
differently about you or JC. I love you both, okay. Nothing you tell me will
change that.”
Lance nodded his head and
thought for a second before continuing. “He said…he could show me what I was
missing out on…what…what JC had all to himself.” Lance rested his head on
Joey’s shoulder and the brunette felt tears soak through his thin shirt.
“He…” Lance sniffed, “he touched me.”
“He what!” Joey yelled.
“Don’t be mad at me, I…
I couldn’t stop him. I tried…so hard.”
“No,” the brunette’s
voice softens. “I’m not mad at you. Lou is so gonna pay for this. That fat
bastard is gonna pay. The nerve of him.”
Lance decided he should
continue making sure he did not leave any of the important information out.
“He touched me and said that I was bigger than JC at least by feel. That’s
why I think he was gonna rape me.”
“I can’t believe he tried
something again. I mean it’s only been, what… ten days since we found him
raping JC,” Joey’s grip tightened unconsciously around Lance.
“I… think he wanted
information, too.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Well, he…he wanted to
know what we were discussing in our meeting.” Lance suddenly turned and yelled,
“Oh, know. He may know what the plan is. He might try and stop it.”
“Lance, hang on here. Did
you tell him what it was?” Lance shook his head. “Then I doubt if he knows
what’s going on.”
“But don’t you think
he’ll be suspicious?”
“Undoubtedly so, but we
can’t stop now cuz the ‘plan’ is all ready in motion. We’re just gonna
have to wait and see what the asshole does.”
“K.” Lance placed his
head onto his knees again and rocked.
“Lance, what else is
bothering you.” Joey moved in front of Lance again tipping the younger man’s
face up so their eyes would meet. “Hey, you can tell me. It’ll be all right.
I promise.”
The vision began swirling in
Lance’s head once more and the blonde’s body shuddered and collapsed back
against the headboard. His stare pinned Joey and he reached his hand out for the
brunette. Joey immediately accepted the offered hand and Lance pulled the bigger
man up against him. Wanting the feel of Joey’s warmth and hoping the familiar
body would chase away the images. Joey lay beside him with both arms wrapped
around the younger man’s waist. Lance turned his head glancing at Joey and
then focusing on a painting located on the wall. “Ummm,” he began twirling a
finger in Joey’s hair. “…well…its like I know how JC felt. How scared he
was. At least a little, I mean, I know how scared he was in the beginning before
he was raped.”
Joey felt the boy’s chest
heave. He tightened his grip and encouraged him. “You can tell me. Don’t
hold back. Otherwise, it will just eat you up and I can’t, I won’t have that.”
Lance nodded his head.
“What is JC feeling right now? I can’t even imagine the amount of fear and
pain he is in. I can’t image and don’t really want to; the amount of fear he
felt when he realized what was gonna happen and then during it. I just don’t
know.”
“I can’t either, nor do I
want to. However, Lou won’t be bothering you again. I’ve made sure that Tiny
will be with you at all times. He’ll check every room before you go in and
every hallway before you go out.”
“What about JC? I mean if
Lou’s gonna be around here, you don’t think he’s gonna terrorize JC. No,
I…I don’t think it’s necessary to protect me. We need to concentrate on
C.”
“The hell it isn’t. I’m
not allowing that fat fuck to lay his pudgy hand on you again.” Joey reached
his hand up and tenderly touched Lance’s face. “You don’t have to worry
about JC’s safety. Wes will be with him and if you think Wes is gonna let Lou
near JC then you’ve got another thing coming.”
“Good.” They sat quietly
in a comfortable silence holding each other for reassurance. “Joey?”
“Yeah?”
“How do you think JC’s is
gonna react to this plan? I mean, he’s gonna have so much on his mind when
he’s better. This’ll just be one more bump, ya know. I’m having a hard
time with Lou just touching me, how is JC gonna handle being raped and then not
be able to tell anyone about it.”
“I don’t know, Lance. I
just don’t know.”
Johnny, Chris and Lonnie left
the hotel and were on their way toward the hospital. The limo ride was silent
and the tension thick no one wanting to speak or having anything to say. Each
person was deep in thought when the sleek black limo pulled up at the back of
the hospital. When they exited the confines all of the occupants were relieved
the ride was over. As the group was entering the hospital, Lonnie grabbed the
back of Chris’s shirt, “What’s going on here?”
“What do you mean?”
“Why aren’t we going up
to JC’s room?”
Chris shrugged his shoulders,
“I don’t know.”
“The hell you don’t.”
“Lonnie, you don’t need
to be told everything, okay. Besides, trust me, it’s better that you don’t
know.”
Lonnie was taken back by
Chris’s words. “Hey, don’t you think we should know what is going on.”
“Funny thing, Lonnie, I
thought bodyguards were suppose to protect us. I guess I was wrong,” Chris
rested a hand against his temple, “cuz, otherwise, JC wouldn’t be in a
hospital recovering from being severely beaten and raped.”
The black man’s mouth
dropped upon hearing Chris, “You can’t blame Wes for this.”
“You’re right, and I
don’t. JC is also to blame for letting this happen to him. If he was strong
enough it never would’ve happened.” Chris turned away from Lonnie and strode
away leaving behind a very shocked bodyguard.
Chris walked up behind
Johnny, who was standing at the information desk, and eavesdropped on the
conversation. “So when can we see Dr. Thompson?” Johnny asked the nurse
behind the desk.
“Well, I’m not sure. I
could page him and figure out where he is and what he’s doing.” The nurse
smiled. “Otherwise, it could be a long wait.”
“Page him, cuz I don’t
have that much time to waste.”
“Sure thing. It’ll take a
few minutes, if you care to sit down. I’ll be right back.” The nurse turned
and walked into a small room that sat just behind her desk, she pulled the door
closed.
“Great,” Chris gasped.
“The fucking waiting game again. I’m so sick of this place. It isn’t even
funny.”
“Just calm down, Chris.
Everything will work out in the end. We should have JC out of here in by the end
of the week. We won’t ever have to come back.”
“Amen,” Chris said as he
sat down next to Johnny. The wait began.
Dr. Thompson walked into the
suite. He looked over toward the patient and smiled. The two boys had fallen
asleep against each other. He hated waking them up, but it was time to remove
the wire holding the brunette’s mandible together. The metal plate should
suffice without the support from the wire; Dr. Thompson thought. The doctor
crept closer in the direction of the bed. He noticed a wet spot had formed
around JC’s groin area. Damn it, he thought, the nurse forgot to
remove the ice packs. Dr. Thompson gently lifted the sheet up and peered
underneath it. He reached his hand in and grasped one of the packs, accidentally
jarring JC. The doctor was greeted with a small moan. He repeated the process
this time being extremely careful and removed the second without causing any
pain. As Dr. Thompson looked up and sleepy azure eyes met his, “Hey, kid.”
Justin smiled, “Hey doc.”
He lifted an arm up and rubbed his eyes thoroughly. “What’s up?” Justin
asked stifled by a yawn.
“I didn’t mean to wake
you.”
“You didn’t JC did.”
“Oh, well, he wouldn’t
have, but I kind of brushed against him while I was removing the ice packs.”
Dr. Thompson nodded in the direction of the discarded packs. “However, I’m
glad you’re up. I was going to wake you any way.”
“Why?”
“Well, based on my
observations, the wires can come off today,” he said pointing at the support
wires on JC’s face. The doctor noticed Justin’s face light up. “He’ll
still have some difficulty speaking and forming words, mind you, but at least he
won’t have this in the way anymore.”
“That’s awesome. I
can’t wait to tell the others. When are you gonna take it off?” The older
man laughed at Justin. “What?”
“We’re prepping a room
now. All I’ve gotta do is call in the nurse and she’ll wheel him out of here
and into the room.”
Justin sat there for a brief
second before he caught on. “Oh, I guess I need to get off then,” he smiled
shyly. Justin carefully removed JC’s head from his shoulder and gently laid it
on the pillow. JC stirred a bit and then stopped. The blond then got down from
the bed and walked over toward the doctor. “Thank you.” He embraced the
older man.
“For what?” he felt the
boy tremble.
“For helping JC…” he
sniffed, “… and keeping him here for me.” Justin pulled away with wet eyes,
“He means so much to me, I…I don’t know what I would’ve done had I lost
him.” Justin turned away and placed his hand on an exposed arm. “Thank you.”
“It was my pleasure,
Justin. My pleasure.” The doctor casually wiped a tear from his own eye and
called in the nurse. Nurse Jennings sauntered into the room waiting her
instructions. “Okay, get Jim and Ronnie in here, they can move JC to room 423.
Justin if you want to wait here that would be all right.”
“Yeah, I think I’ll take
a shower or something. How long is this gonna last.”
“Oh, about thirty minutes
or so. That’s including prep time.”
“Okay, I guess I’ll see
you in a few.” Justin bent down and whispered in JC’s ear, “Good luck.
I’ll see you in a few, k.”
The orderlies came into the
room with a smaller gurney. They lifted the heavily sedated patient gently onto
it and then slowly wheeled him out. Justin sighed as the brunette passed through
the door. He walked out with them and watched them until they turned a corner.
The blond moved back into the suite and into the bathroom, readying the shower
and unaware of what news would be soon coming his way.
Dr. Thompson’s pager rang
as the gurney turned the corner. He looked down and noticed the familiar number
blinking on the screen. Shit, I don’t have time for this. The doctor
moved in the opposite direction then the smaller group. He stopped at the
nurse’s station commandeering their phone. He dialed the extension of the
front desk waiting patiently for Becky.
“Hello,” a soft voice
answered.
“Yeah, Becky you paged me.”
“Oh, well, you ain’t
gonna believe this but that manager guy is here. You know the one who’s with
the singer who was raped.”
“Becky, I know which one
you’re talking about you don’t need to be so blunt.”
“Sorry,” she sighed,
“Anyways he wants to talk to you, like yesterday. Something about signing his
singer out, I don’t know. I figured you would know and since he wants
desperately to talk to you, I thought I could kill to birds with one stone.”
“I think I know what he
wants. I don’t think it’s possible though.” The doctor shuddered at the
notion. There’s no way JC will be ready to leave here. He needs at least
another two weeks or so. But I’m afraid their not gonna give it to him.
“Well, what do you want me
to tell him?” the nurse’s voice brought him back from his thoughts.
“Let him know that I’m in
surgery and that I’ll be down in an hour or so to talk with him.”
There was silence on her end
and then he heard her voice. “Look, you guys can’t come in here. Let go of
that… I’m…”
“Who’s this?” Johnny
demanded.
“Sir, you shouldn’t be on
this phone.”
“Dr. Thompson? Look I need
to speak with you, now.”
“Johnny as much as I would
love to drop everything and rush to you aide, I’m sort of busy here.”
“You don’t need to get
sarcastic.”
“You don’t need to be in
that office and yelling at me and Becky.” He paused, “Look, I’ll be able
to speak with you in an hour. I’m just about to do a simple procedure and then
after that, I’m all yours. Until then you’ll need to leave that office and
wait in the waiting room or else I’ll have you escorted out.”
“Whatever, but you need to
make it quick. It’s about JC.”
“Yeah, I figured it was.
However, I’m busy and will meet you as soon as I can.”
“Okay,” Johnny slammed
the phone down and glared at Becky. “You weren’t gonna tell us he was on the
phone were you.”
Becky looked away. “I
don’t have to tell you that. Now you need to leave this room immediately, or
I’ll have you thrown out of the hospital.”
Johnny exited the office and
walked over toward Chris and Lonnie. “The doctor is a bit busy right now. He
is gonna come and talk to us when he’s finished.”
“What the hell is so
important that he can’t come and talk to us?” Chris questioned.
“He said something about a
simple procedure. I don’t know. I tell you what if he doesn’t contact us
like in an hour we’re gonna go look for him.”
Lonnie stood up and excused
himself. “Where do you think you’re going?” Chris asked.
“Unlike you, Chris, I’m
gonna go check up on JC and see how he’s doing.” Lonnie left, leaving the
two men standing in the middle of the room and went into the elevator.
The bodyguard exited the
elevator upon reaching JC’s floor. On the ride up he contemplated exactly what
and how he was going to say to Justin. The youngest member of the group was not
at the meeting so Lonnie figured he had no idea what was going on. Lonnie
entered the quiet dimly lit room. He was shocked in learning that neither JC nor
Justin was located there. The large black man heard the water running in the
sealed bathroom and drew the conclusion that Justin must be in the shower. He
sat down on one of the leather couches and waited. It was another fifteen
minutes before the water shut off and the bathroom door swung open. Justin
waltzed out with only a towel wrapped around his trim waist. He was busily
scrubbing his drenched hair with another towel and did not notice the bodyguard.
Lonnie cleared his throat announcing his presences and startling the young
singer.
“Hey,” Justin greeted
with a smile. “What are you doing here?”
The head of security tried
smiling back but was unable to. “Hey, yourself young in. Are you feeling
better?”
“It’s amazing how much a
long hot shower helps. I haven’t felt this good since that night.”
“That’s good to hear,
little one. Umm…” Lonnie paused, “how’s your partner in crime doing?”
Justin’s thousand-watt
smile was plastered on his face. “You wouldn’t believe what has happened in
like that last twelve hours. The doctor has him right now and they’re removing
the wiring on his jaw. Dr. Thompson said he would be all right without it cuz
he’s healing really fast, I guess.”
“That’s great.” Lonnie
could not help but smile at the great news Justin just bestowed upon him.
However, his smile quickly disappeared when he remembered why he was there.
“Look, I’ve…I’ve got some news for you.”
The blonde’s heart sank a
bit, “What is it?” The young singer walked over toward his bag and picked
through his belongings finding the perfect outfit.
“Well, to be quite honest
with you I don’t know the specifics, but I can tell you from the looks of
Lance and Joey it can’t be good.”
“What’s going on, Lonnie?
Should I be worried?” Justin put on a loose fitting pair of jeans and a white
t-shirt as he carefully listened.
“I don’t know but this is
what’s gone down since you’ve been here.” Lonnie gathered his thoughts.
“Okay, first off Johnny had his meeting and he brought some outsiders into it.
They looked pretty important but I didn’t catch who they were. Secondly, there
was a lot of screaming and you know that I’m not one who runs around and
talks, but this just didn’t seem right. Anyway, most of the screaming came
from Lance and I heard Joey threaten Johnny.” The black bodyguard studied
Justin for a moment letting the young man retain all the information he was
giving him. “This is the worst part but you’ve the right to know. Lou
pounced on Lance. I caught the fat bastard roughing the poor kid up. I don’t
actually know what went on between them but,” Lonnie statement was cut off as
Justin spoke.
“Lou tried something with
Lance at the hotel?” Justin’s shocked _expression hindered Lonnie’s
resolve.
“Umm…yeah.”
“What the hell is he doing
at our hotel? Why would they let him in there.”
“Little one, you’ve got
to realize that I’d never allow that son of a bitch anywhere near you.
However, Johnny told us to leave him alone and to let him in.”
“What?” The young blond
placed his hands onto his slim hips. “I can’t believe this.”
“I know that’s what I
said. So I see him leaning on the kid and I come barreling down on him, and that
asshole has the balls to dare me to hit him. He went on and said that I
couldn’t make a scene without jeopardizing you guys. I was about to hit him
when Johnny stopped me.”
“Johnny, stopped you?”
Justin’s mouth was agape. He was having a difficult time with the information
Lonnie was feeding him.
“Yeah, I don’t know
what’s up but I don’t like it, J. Something isn’t right here and I’m
afraid JC is gonna end up a part of it.”
“We can’t let that
happen, Lonnie.”
“I don’t think we can
stop it.” Justin sat down beside the larger man and rested his head on
Lonnie’s shoulder. “Another thing.”
“Yeah.”
“I think I know why Chris
hasn’t come in to see JC.”
Justin’s head sprang up
deep azure eyes penetrating dark brown. “Why?”
“Well, he mentioned
something about JC not being strong enough to fight Lou off and that part of
what was happening is JC’s fault. He thinks that there wouldn’t have been a
mess to fix had JC been strong.”
“You’ve got to be kidding
me, right. You’re kidding.”
“I wish I was but it’s
the truth. I was a shocked as you are right now.”
“Oh, my. What are we gonna
do?”
“I don’t know kid. I
honestly don’t know.”
Dr. Thompson walked out of
the surgical room with a smile on his face. The wiring was successful; it gave
the necessary strength for the metal plate and aligned the jaw perfectly. It
would only be a matter of time before JC was singing again. The thought of
Justin’s smile crept acrossed his mind and he relished the fact the young boy
would have something else to smile about. However, giving Justin the information
would be put off for the time being, right now he had an appointment with
Johnny. The doctor paged the information desk and Becky picked up. Dr. Thompson
instructed Becky to let the men know he was ready for them and they were to see
him in his office on the tenth floor. After speaking with Becky the doctor
waited in his office.
It was not long before the
two men entered Dr. Thompson’s office. The doctor stood up from his desk and
extended his hand, “Mr. Wright, it’s good to see you again. Mr.
Kirkpatrick.”
“Dr. Thompson, thank you
for seeing us on such a short notice.”
“Please have a seat.” Dr.
Thompson motioned toward the two leather seats that were positioned in front of
his desk.
“No thank you doctor, we
won’t be staying very long.”
“Okay, then what is this
all about?”
“We just wanted to ask you
a few questions?” Chris answered.
“All right, what are
they?”
“I need to know when the
first possible release date for JC may be?”
“Gosh, Johnny, if I were to
just make a guess, I’d say no earlier than two weeks from today.”
Johnny frowned and looked
over at Chris, “That’s too long.” Chris nodded in agreement. “Doctor we
need him out sooner.”
“How much sooner,” Dr.
Thompson leered at the two men knowing full well the outcome of their
conversation.
“I was thinking more like,
oh, next Monday.”
“What?” the doctor
exclaimed, “that’s ridiculous. There’s no way he’ll be ready to leave by
then. It’d be physically impossible. I mean his minor injuries would be healed
but the hip and jaw will take longer than that.”
“Unfortunately doctor, that
may be the case, but we need to get him out of here before your allotted two
weeks. We’ve got other things we need to worry about and we need JC out of
here. Is there any way to speed up the healing process for the hip?”
“No, none that is
ethical.”
“I guess we’ve no choice
then to pull him out of here next Monday and hope that he’s healed enough,”
Johnny responded.
“Well, Johnny. I don’t
know if you know this or not, but right now you can’t make that decision for
him.”
“What are you talking
about?”
“Only his legal guardians
can sign him out of the hospital and refuse treatment, not his manager.”
“See doctor, that’s how
little you know about the entertainment business. These boys are practically
mine while they’re on tour. I have legal custody over them and I’m the one
with the power to release or take JC out of here.”
“He won’t be ready.”
“We’re prepared to deal
with that.”
“How?”
“I’m guessing that
he’ll be pretty much healed by the time we take him out of here. Am I
correct.”
“No, like I said before,
his hip is far from well. Weren’t you listening or were you only listening for
certain answers?”
“Look, doctor I don’t
want to cause a problem, but we need him and I’ve got everything covered.
We’re gonna tell the press he was in an automobile accident. That’ll explain
away the hip injury and the bruises that are visible to the public and media.”
“This just doesn’t make
any sense, why would you want to take JC out of here before he is healed enough
to do so?”
Chris spoke up, “Doc,
we’re gonna set up something for JC at Lynn’s house. We know he isn’t
gonna be 100 percent but we can’t risk having him here. The media will ask
questions once they figure out where he is and the people here aren’t trained
to deal with them. They may slip and JC’s secret is spread all over the world.
I won’t let that happen to him. It will bad enough that we know about it and
we’re like family.”
“Who are you going to have
monitoring him?”
“Well, that’s kinda where
you come in,” Chris started. “We thought that because you know what is going
on with JC that you could come with us.”
Johnny added. “My people
are already speaking with the head of the hospital trying to work out a deal. Of
course it would be a lot easier if you said you wanted to go. I’d make it
worth your while.”
“Johnny, I’m a doctor. I
don’t need a lot of money. If I agreed to it I’d do so only for Justin and
JC.” He looked into Johnny’s eyes, “It’s to early. You need to wait.
Taking him out next week could do more damage then good.”
“You are entitled to your
opinion doctor, but regardless of what you think I’m taking JC out of here.
With or without you, you need to decide,” Johnny simply said.
“Does Justin know what is
going on?”
“What difference does it
make whether or not Justin knows? Why does everyone think that spoiled brat has
any power over what is done?”
“So your answer is no. When
do you plan on telling him?” Dr. Thompson asked.
Johnny answered, “When I’m ready to. When I’m
ready.”