Chapter 19

Erik stood in the hospital corridor with Mike while Alex’s doctor examined her. She had looked so scared when she had woken up that Erik had immediately sent for Dr. Williams, who had come running with Alex’s doctor. Now all Erik could do was wait.

Twenty minutes later, Dr. Williams came out of Alex’s room. "How is she?" Erik asked. Kristi smiled.

"She’s healing faster than the doctor thought she would. She still has to have the breathing tube in for a little longer until her lung is strong enough to do its job, but it shouldn’t be much longer," she said. Erik breathed a sigh of relief. He looked past Kristi and saw Maria walking toward them.

"She woke up!" Erik yelled.

"Shhhhh," Kristi shushed him. Erik was too happy to be quiet. Maria smiled as Erik hugged her tightly.

"I was just talking to her and she woke up!" he said, excitedly.

"See, you have healing powers that you didn’t even know about," Maria told him. Erik smiled. Maria looked at Kristi.

"She’s going to be okay?" she asked the intern.

"So far, it looks good," Kristi said.

"Will she be able to go to the party on Saturday?" Erik asked her. Kristi frowned and shook her head.

"Uh, I don’t think so. She’s healing quickly, but not that quickly. Give her some time. She’ll have to undergo a psych consult, too, just to make sure she’s not, you know, too psychologically scarred by what happened to her," Kristi explained. Maria nodded.

"I understand. That’s important," she said, looking at Erik. He nodded. He hadn’t thought about how Alex would handle being stabbed. He was too happy that she was awake. The doctor came out of the room. He pulled Kristi aside and talked to her for a minute, before walking off. Kristi turned once again to Maria and Erik.

"She can have visitors, but only for a short amount of time. She needs to rest," Kristi told them. Maria and Erik nodded. Kristi led them into Alex’s room. Alex was lying with her eyes open. They moved to look at Maria and Erik. A tear slipped from the corner of one of her eyes. Maria wiped it away.

"No crying. You’re okay. There are a lot of people who care for you and we’re all here if you need us," she told her. Erik smiled and took Alex’s hand.

"You don’t know how happy I am to see those beautiful eyes of yours," he said. Alex looked like she wanted to say something, but obviously she couldn’t. Commotion in the corridor made Erik and Maria turn towards the door. Miguel came into the room with another man, who Erik knew right away was Carlos. He was big. He looked tough. He also had one arm in a sling and a scowl on his face.

"We should have been called immediately!" Carlos bellowed at Kristi.

"Excuse me?" she asked. Erik frowned.

"When she woke up. She needs her family with her, not these people!" Carlos yelled. Maria turned to him, a look of anger on her face.

"I am not ‘these people,’ Carlos! Keep your voice down, you don’t want to upset your sister," she scolded. Erik nodded. Carlos turned his gaze on him.

"Who the hell are you?" he asked, rudely.

"Carlos, man, chill," Miguel said softly. Carlos didn’t listen.

"I’m a friend," Erik said.

"Yeah? Well, I’m her brother. She needs her family, so get lost!" Carlos shouted. Alex fidgeted in the bed. Maria could see that she was getting upset.

"Carlos, you’re upsetting Alex. Stop it!" Maria said, trying to keep her voice controlled.

"I think everyone should leave," Kristi suggested. Alex’s head turned back and forth slowly. She held tightly to Erik’s hand. He squeezed her hand.

"I’m staying," he said, looking at Carlos.

"The hell you are!" he bellowed. Miguel grabbed his brother’s good arm and pulled him out of the room. Mike frowned when he saw them. Maria and Kristi followed them out. Kristi looked mad.

"I will not allow what happened in there to ever happen again! If you want your sister to get better, I suggest that you stay away from her unless you choose to behave appropriately while in her hospital room. Do you understand?" Kristi glared daggers at Carlos. He pulled his arm away from Miguel and stalked off. Miguel hurried after him. "I’m going to alert security to keep an eye on Carlos," Kristi said as she walked away. Maria sighed and looked at Mike, who just shook his head at her.

Inside the room, Erik was trying to calm Alex down. He told her what Kristi had said about the breathing tube and she settled down a bit. There was so much that she wanted to say to Erik, but she couldn’t and it was frustrating the hell out of her. The tube in her throat was uncomfortable, to say the least. She just wanted to talk to Erik and tell him that she was okay. He looked so worried and scared for her. She didn’t really hurt, except for her throat and her chest hurt a little, but other than that, she was fine. She didn’t really remember much that happened. She knew that she had been stabbed, but why was still a mystery.

Maria returned to the room and she sat with Erik for a little while before they were ordered to leave. Maria felt a hundred times better than she had when she had first arrived. Now that Alex was awake, Maria could share Jacob’s optimism that she’d be okay.

"I am officially scared of Alex’s brother," Erik said as they rode down to the lobby in the elevator. Maria shook her head.

"I have no idea what the hell that was all about, but I do know one thing…Carlos’ temper has gotten worse while he’s been away in jail," she said.

"Oh…that’s encouraging," Erik said, rolling his eyes. He wasn’t kidding about being scared of Carlos. Alex had warned him, but he hadn’t taken her totally seriously. That had been a big mistake.

Friday, October 26^th

Maria sat in her loft with Susan, Emily, Sarah and, yes, Jocelyn. The party plans were pretty much finalized, but Maria wanted to go over everything in case they had forgotten something. She had recruited Emily and Sarah, who had been a big help in setting things up. Well, if there was one thing teenagers knew about, it was parties.

"Is the food all taken care of?" Maria asked Susan, knowing that Jocelyn was the one in charge of the food. Susan nodded, looking over at Jocelyn.

"I believe so," Susan said. Jocelyn looked at Maria.

"You could ask me, you know," she said. Maria sighed. Perhaps she was being too hard on the bitch.

"Fine. Is the food all taken care of?" she asked again, this time directing her question at Jocelyn.

"Yes. I have everything arranged with the caterers. They will set everything up themselves and will be at the hotel two hours early to arrange the food how they want it," she said.

"And we’ve reserved the pool area as well?" Maria asked.

"Yup. The pool’s all ours," Emily answered. Maria smiled. Emily had shown a new side of herself lately. She wasn’t as shy or reserved and was more outgoing than Maria had thought she was. Maybe Emily just had to feel useful. She had been a huge help planning the party and Maria was extremely grateful to have her there.

"Great. Okay, I’ll call the hotel to confirm everything before tomorrow night. We’ll all have to get there early, so don’t plan on making a grand entrance," Maria said, looking pointedly at Jocelyn.

"I’ll be there early," Jocelyn said, crossly. Sarah smiled. She loved watching Maria spar with Jocelyn. If there was one thing she wished she had, it was her sister’s gift of being a total bitch when she wanted to be. Sarah always backed down. She didn’t handle herself well during confrontations.

"Dates are up to you guys. We can’t really plan that," Maria remarked.

"You’re lucky because you already have one," Sarah said. Her crush on Jacob was waning, but she was still jealous of their relationship. She shouldn’t be, but she was. Jacob was hot and to know that Maria was sleeping with him made Sarah envious. She couldn’t exactly say ‘dating’ because as far as Sarah knew, Maria and Jacob had yet to go out on a real ‘date.’ So, her sister was kind of a slut, although Sarah would never say that to Maria’s face. She smiled.

"What’s so funny?" Maria asked, noticing Sarah’s smile.

"Nothing," she said.

"Kyle’s my date," Susan announced. Maria smirked. "Now don’t go jumping to conclusions. He casually asked if I had anyone to go with and when I said no, he casually mentioned that maybe we can go together. It’s nothing like that," Susan said firmly as Maria continued to give her a knowing look.

"I don’t know anyone to ask," Emily said, shrugging. "I don’t mind going solo though. It’s cool."

"Are you sure? I can try and hook you up with someone," Maria said. Emily shook her head emphatically.

"No. If there’s anything I absolutely don’t want to experience, it’s a blind date," she said.

"I’d get you a guy that can see," Maria joked.

"Ha, ha," Jocelyn said, flatly. Maria glared at her.

"What poor soul is taking you?" she asked.

"I’m not telling. You don’t know any of my friends anyway," Jocelyn replied.

"It’s hard to know people who don’t exist," Maria said. Sarah laughed. Jocelyn frowned and stood up.

"If we’re done here, I’m going," she said.

"Go. Goodbye. Be a stranger," Maria told her, waving her away. Jocelyn stalked out of the loft. Once she was in the hallway, she smiled. Maria had no idea what awaited her tomorrow night.

"I think I officially hate all of our songs," Erik remarked as the guys all lay around trying to catch their breath. The cameras were, of course, filming. Ed had stepped out for a minute, leaving the guys with a few minutes break.

"One of the great things about performing live is that we get to change the songs every night, so that they’re never the same night after night," Jacob said, pulling the tab off of his water bottle and unscrewing the top. He took a long drink.

"Who’s nervous?" Erik asked, looking at the others. "Ash?" Ashley shrugged.

"Yeah, I’m nervous. We’re gonna be performing in front of, like, 20,000 people every show. That’s a lot of people," he said.

"20,000 people to be exact," Dan said, smiling.

"I hope we don’t suck." Trevor was lying on the floor, looking up at the ceiling. Things were still too awkward between himself and Jacob. Although Jacob was acting like nothing was wrong, Trevor, the ‘sensitive’ one, was bothered by what Jacob had said to him about Maria. He had told him to ‘back off.’ He had said it nicely, but he had been totally serious. So, Trevor had, indeed, ‘backed off’ and was practically ignoring Maria anytime he saw her now. He felt awful about it, but it was necessary if he wanted his feelings for her to go away and die someplace.

"Erik, man, it’s too bad you’re not going to the party tomorrow night," Ashley said. Erik shrugged.

"It’s just a party. I’d rather be with Alex. And since she can’t go, well then, it’s the hospital for me. She’s having her breathing tube taken out today. I’ll finally be able to talk to her and have her answer me back," he said, smiling. "Besides, I won’t have to get all dressed up and you guys do."

"Yeah, but it won’t be the same without you there," Trevor added.

"After all, you’re one of the two of us band members that actually has a date, even though Erik, you and Alex aren’t going to the party," Dan said. He shook his head. "How is that possible, fellas? Are we that pathetic that we’re gonna show up without dates at a party honoring us?"

"Should I answer that?" Jacob asked, smirking. Ashley threw a towel at him.

"Oh, shut up, Mr. ‘I have a date already,’" he said. Jacob smiled.

"I’m sure there will be plenty of eligible, desperate women there looking for eligible, desperate guys like, say, you guys," he told Trevor, Dan and Ashley. The three of them glared at him. Erik laughed.

"You go, boy!" he said, running over and slapping a high five with him. "Seriously, Trevor, you should call Britney and see if she’s available," Erik said, smiling.

"I’d have to clear it with Justin first," Trevor said, a grin on his face at the thought of Britney accompanying him anywhere.

"Didn’t they break up?" Ashley asked.

"They break up at least once a week, don’t they?" Jacob remarked. The guys laughed. Ed entered the studio. He pulled off his shades and smiled at the guys.

"Okay, guys, break’s over," he said. The group groaned, but got back to work.

Saturday, October 27^th

"I can’t believe how much better you look from just a few days ago," Maria said as she stood by Alex’s bed looking at her. Alex had gotten the breathing tube removed the day before and she had cleaned herself up a bit, brushing her hair and fixing her face so that she looked somewhat ‘presentable.’ "How do you feel?" Alex sighed.

"I want to go to the party," she said, sadly. Her voice was still scratchy from the breathing tube, but just hearing her voice was music to Maria’s ears. "It kills me to think that Erik is going to be having a lot of fun without me." Maria smiled to herself. Alex didn’t know about Erik’s plans to have his own little ‘party’ with her.

"It’s not a big deal. You won’t miss much," Maria told her.

"Yes, I will. I was supposed to help plan it and now I’m stuck in this stupid hospital not even able to go," Alex said, sadly.

"Oh, come on. This place isn’t that bad. You get waited on constantly, you get to sleep a lot, watch TV, and you’ve got a really hot guard outside of your door," Maria told her, smiling.

"I can’t really see him from here," Alex said. "I wish I didn’t need a guard." Maria hadn’t talked to Alex about what had happened the night of the stabbing/shooting or what had gone on with Carlos. She wanted Alex to heal physically before discussing that stuff. So far, Alex hadn’t brought either of those subjects up.

Maria sat down in the uncomfortable plastic chair beside the bed. "Well, don’t worry about the party," she said, changing the subject. "The Making the Band cameras will be there anyway, so I’ll request that I get a tape for you and we can watch it together. Then you’ll see how much you didn’t really miss." Alex nodded, but still didn’t look happy. Maria didn’t know how to improve her mood.

"I think I just want to rest now," Alex said, closing her eyes. Maria sighed.

"Okay. Do you want me to call before the party or anything?" she asked.

"No, that’s alright. Have a good time." Alex was totally depressed. Maria kissed her cheek lightly and left the room. She smiled at the guard that was posted outside of Alex’s door. He was necessary because the guys who had stabbed Alex and shot Carlos had yet to be apprehended. And, after Carlos’ behavior on Monday, Kristi made sure that the hospital was taking precautions that Carlos didn’t disturb Alex again. As far as Maria knew, he hadn’t been back to see Alex since that day.

Maria made her way to the elevators. ‘I hope Erik can cheer Alex up,’ she thought. ‘If he can’t, no one can.’

The Walsh Studio building was closed due to the fact that the staff had a party to prepare for. Maria thought that it was ridiculous to close down the studio because of the party, but it was Kyle’s decision and he had made it, so she couldn’t do anything about it. So, she basically had the whole day to worry about the damn party.

After leaving the hospital, Maria had gone over to the hotel where the party was being held and she had checked with the manager to make sure that everything was arranged. What she had really been doing was making sure that Jocelyn hadn’t screwed anything up. It turned out, however, that everything was, in fact, fine and organized. For that, Maria was grateful. She had then gotten some lunch and after that, she had gone to get her nails done. She had medium-length acrylics and just had to have them buffed and painted silver. Then, she headed back to her loft.

What she wanted to do was call Jacob, but she knew that he had a photo shoot and magazine interview that was scheduled to last most of the morning and then the group had rehearsal until five. After that, the guys would be set ‘free’ to get ready for the party.

"If they’re late, I’ll kill them," Maria said as she unlocked the door to the loft. She entered and smiled when she saw Heathcliff lying on top of the piano. It was one of his favorite spots. Maria had covered the piano with a colorful tablecloth with musical notes all over it ever since Heathcliff had turned it into his perch. "Sarah? Em?" Maria called out. Sarah came running.

"When do we get ready?" she asked, excitedly.

"It’s only a party, Sarah. Chill out," Maria told her. "I’m going to get ready soon because I have to be at the hotel earlier than everyone else."

"What about Jacob?" Sarah asked.

"He’ll show up with the group. With their schedule, forget it. I have no idea what time I’d get there if I waited for him," Maria said. She wandered into the kitchen. She wasn’t really hungry, so she just grabbed a Snickers bar.

"I saw your dress. Jacob’s gonna flip when he sees you," Sarah said, a hint of jealousy in her voice. Maria smiled.

"It’s a little more daring then I’m used to, but I thought that I’d go for it," she said. She couldn’t wait for Jacob to see her in it. Without Alex to help her, Maria had been a bit lost while shopping for a dress. She wanted a change. Life was too short to live conservatively all the time. So, after trying on dresses that made her look like, well, the way that she always looked, Maria had taken a risk and tried on something that she would never normally wear. It had turned out to be the dress. It consisted of a black lacy ‘bra’ and a matching short, mini-skirt. Over the bra and skirt was a fishnet/lacy sleeveless black sheath that had a high neck. It was totally sheer except where there was lacy material. The sheath went from her neck to her ankles and fit her like a second skin. Maria had never worn anything like it and she never thought that she would wear anything like it. Alex would be proud.

"I actually can’t wait to see if you have the guts to walk out of this loft in that thing. Or what there is of it," Sarah said. Maria smiled. She finished her candy bar and looked at the digital clock on the microwave.

"Damn! I have to take a shower. Will you help me get dressed?" Maria asked.

"Sure. You don’t have to worry, though. You always look good," Sarah said. Maria didn’t hear her since she had already disappeared into her room. Sarah sighed as Emily came out of their room and walked over to her.

"Don’t worry, Sarah, you’ll look good, too," she said. Sarah smiled at her cousin.

"Thanks. Why don’t we get ready, too? I know that the party is still hours away, but it’s something to do." Emily shrugged.

"Okay. Why not?" she said as they went back to their room to change.

"Come on!" Ashley yelled as he flew into O-Town’s house and up the stairs to his room. "We gotta do some fast dressing if we want to make it on time to our own party!"

The rest of the guys hurried to their respective rooms---all except Erik. He didn’t have to hurry. Alex wasn’t going anywhere. The camera stayed with him and the Mikes.

"So, Mike, you’re coming with me?" Erik asked Mike M.

"Yeah. Mike, here, likes parties more than I do," he said, slapping Mike C. on the back. Mike C. grinned. He was already dressed in gray dress pants and a white button-down shirt with a ‘dressy’ sports coat over it.

"Well, I’m gonna change and I’ll be right down," Erik said as he ran up the stairs, not giving the camera guy a chance to follow. The Mikes went into the sitting room to wait.

Emily checked herself in the mirror once more. She was satisfied with her appearance. She wore a long, burnt orange skirt with a slit up to the middle of her thigh. The blouse that matched was a wrap-around blouse that tied at the back. It was short enough for a tiny bit of her midsection to be showing. She wished that she were more feminine rather than muscular, but she couldn’t help her physique. Emily wore her contacts and had a little make-up on, but not a lot. Her hair was pulled back on the sides and clipped together with a flowery, rhinestone clip. She liked the way the burnt orange almost clashed with the red highlights in her hair.

"You look great," Sarah remarked as she came in from the bathroom. Emily turned to look at her and smiled.

"So do you," she commented. Sarah was wearing a green and black mini-dress with black sequins sewn throughout. It had tank top-like straps and where the dress ended, which was right above her knees, there was gauzy, sheer green material that went the rest of the way to Sarah’s ankles. "I like the look of the dress. It’s different." Sarah nodded.

"I saw something like it in one of those bizarre fashion magazines that Maria has in her collection. I was able to find this at a small boutique not far from here," she said as she brushed her hair. She hated doing her hair, so she just left it down. She felt that she looked older with it down. "Let’s see how Maria’s dress looks on her." The girls grabbed their evening bags and left the room.

Maria was studying herself in her full-length mirror when the girls entered her bedroom. Emily smiled.

"Wow! You look amazing," she told her. Maria smiled.

"Thanks. Are you sure it’s not too…revealing?" she asked. Sarah shook her head.

"For you, yes, but it’s just so not you that you can get away with it," she said. Maria looked confused.

"Okay, thanks. I think," she said. She had to admit, the dress did look good on her. A lot of skin was showing, but the lace concealed just enough so that she didn’t look cheap. Maria clipped her wavy hair up on each side with silver clips. She slid on a few silver dangle bracelets and quickly sprayed on some light perfume. After stepping into her black, strappy dress shoes, she was ready to go. "Why are you guys ready so soon? You don’t have to go early with me."

Sarah shrugged. "We helped plan this thing, so we might as well go with you now," she said. Maria nodded.

"Okay. You guys look great, by the way," she said.

"Thanks," Emily said. Maria turned off the lights and locked the door behind her as she headed downstairs to her jeep. ‘No limo for us,’ she thought. She didn’t mind, though. "Let’s party, girls!" Smiling, the three of them got into the jeep and were on their way to the hotel.