Dangerous Illusion
Author’s note- I got this idea after I thought I would be done for awhile, proving writing fanfic is a never ending cycle of love! Enjoy!
Warning- not your usual (love) story. Then again, none of my stories are!
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“5, 6, 7, 8, - Lance, step it up!” Nsync’s choreographer shouted. It was 11:00am and the guys were rehearsing for a show later that night.
After spending a few days to work on their new album, No Strings Attached, the choreographer wanted the guys to go over the performance. They were doing really well, except for the occasional slip up due to lack of sleep.
“Come on guys! You have a show tonight!” she encouraged. They were practicing outside on the parking lot behind the bus while the band rehearsed inside. “Chris, J.C., get ready!” she instructed, referring to the backflip Chris and J.C. did in the song. Chris turned to Joey, and J.C. turned to Lance. The partners took each other’s hands and flipper the other.
J.C. landed correctly, but as Joey flipped Chris by his feet, his hands slipped off Chris’s sneaker, causing Chris to spin slightly, landing hard on his side on the pavement.
~>~>~>~>~>
End pt.1
“Stop!” the choreographer, yelled as she saw Chris go down.
As Chris sat up, he gasped for the air that was knocked out of him. The others gathered around him as he began a coughing fit, lasting about thirty seconds.
“Chris! I am so sorry, man. Are you okay?” Joey asked, guilt-stricken.
“I’m okay,” Chris replied as he unsteadily stood. “Just knocked the wind out of me,” he lied. “I’m gonna go catch my breath for a minute, okay?”
“You’re sure your okay?” she asked.
“Yeah, no harm done,” Chris lied again, flashing a false smile.
“Okay then, the rest of you, back to work!” she encouraged, clapping her hands once and pointing to where they had been.
Dazed, Chris headed in the bus for water. He favored his side, each breath burning in agony. Once inside the bus, he lifted his shirt and looked at his side. He saw a big, dark bruise covering his side, but no broken skin. He gently felt the area, and could detect no broken bones either. ‘Then why does it hurt so much?’ he wondered, heading towards the refrigerator. He pulled out a water bottle and sat down on the small couch. He took a drink, but immediately started coughing again, covering his mouth. Pain flared through him and as he pulled his hand away from his mouth, he could see something was wrong.
~>~>~>~>~>
End pt.2
There, on the palm of his hand, was a small amount of blood. ‘Great,’ he thought as he wiped it on the leg of his pants. ‘I’m going to get through this. I can’t tell anyone because Joey will think it’s his fault, and it’s not. So, I'm just going to deal with it.’ He tried to ignore the pain in his side as he put the cap back on the bottle, and after taking a deep breath, headed back outside.
“How you feeling?” Joey asked when he saw Chris come back outside.
“Never better,” Chris replied, lying through his teeth.
“Good,” the choreographer answered as she came over. “We’re done here, do you feel like you know the routine okay?”
“I’ve only been doing this dance for how many years?” Chris replied. It was true; they had been doing the dance ever since ‘Tearin’ up my Heart’ came out.
“Okay then, I guess you guys can do whatever now. Remember, show’s at eight!” she said before she trotted off in the other direction.
“Remember, show’s at eight!” Lance mocked in his girl voice, and everyone started laughing.
Chris went into another coughing fit, and he covered his mouth and turned away, not wanting the others to see the blood. Quickly, he wiped his hands on his pants and turned back to face them, his side in pure agony.
“You sure-“ Joey started, then was interrupted when Chris assured him everything was fine. “Okay,” Joey sighed.
“So what are we gonna do with ourselves?” Justin asked, his azure eyes twinkling in the sun.
“I don’t really feel like doing much,” Lance said, eyeing the pre-occupied Chris.
“Who’s up for some basketball?” J.C. asked, his eyes roaming the area for a ball.
“Sound’s good to me,” Justin agreed.
"I think I'll sit this one out," Chris replied cautiously, knowing his abused side couldn't handle it.
"Yeah, me to," Lance said, studying Chris.
"Okay, well, you two join us anytime," J.C. said as he, Justin and Joey turned and ran on to the neighboring court.
Not wanting to talk about it to Lance, Chris walked over to a bench beside the bus and sat down.
Lance followed, and Chris sighed as Lance sat beside him. "Chris," Lance started, "Maybe I haven't known you as long as Joey or Justin, but I can tell when something's bothering you. So, come on, what's up?"
"The sky," Chris replied, looking at his shoes.
"Okay, what's wrong?" Lance prodded, ignoring Chris's aversion.
"The right side," Chris smiled, looking at Lance.
"What?" Lance asked, confused.
"It's the rule for guy's earrings," Chris explained. "Left side right, right side wrong."
Lance thought for a minute, then cracked up. "Oh my god, you're stupid!" he laughed.
"Aren't we all?" Chris asked, trying not to laugh and hurt his side. He was already fighting down a cough.
Noticing Chris was preoccupied again, Lance asked, "Seriously though, what's bothering you?"
"Nothing," Chris answered, putting his hand on Lance's shoulder. "Nothing I can't live with."
"Okay, fine," Lance sighed. "I'll talk to you about this later, you can count on it."
"Whatever," Chris said, rolling his eyes. When Lance didn't move, he asked, "What?"
"I'm not gonna let you sit here by yourself," Lance replied. "If you won't play, neither will I."
Chris smiled, despite the growing pain in his side. "You don't have to do this," he said.
"Don't remind me," Lance replied, watching Justin make a slam-dunk.
"I'll be back," Chris said, getting up and heading for the bus. He could feel his throat catching as he talked, and knew another coughing fit was coming.
~>~>~>~>~>
End pt. 4
Chris barely made it on the bus when another attack hit him full force, resulting in a slightly larger amount of blood than last time. "That is just nasty," he said to himself as he decided to spare his black tear-away pants and wash the blood off. Now his throat was starting to hurt, and his side might as well have been ripped off for all the pain it was causing.
As he grabbed a paper towel and dried off his hands, Lance came on the bus. "Whacha doin'?" he asked cheerfully.
"Taking a shower," Chris relied sarcastically.
"Really? Well when you're done, we're going to get something to eat. Wanna come?" Lance asked.
Seeing nothing harmful in that, Chris agreed. "Sure. Where we goin'?"
"Don't know. Well just drive around 'till we see something." Lance said, shrugging his shoulders.
"Sounds fine to me," Chris said. "I'll be there in a sec."
"K," Lance said as he bounced off the bus and back outside.
'Maybe it'll keep my mind off my side,' Chris thought as he grabbed his wallet. 'Some thing doesn't feel right though,' Chris thought as he counted his money, trying to waste time. 'Almost like I can’t breathe. Oh well.' He shrugged, shoving his wallet into his pocket and headed out to find his friends.
~~~~~
After driving for half an hour, they finally decided on pizza. Deciding WHICH pizza place took another 15 minutes, and finding a half-private table took another five. Everywhere they went, there were girls anxiously awaiting the concert that night.
Normally, Chris would be the first one done, but his throat and the threat of a coughing fit slowed him down.
"Hey, you okay?" Justin asked, noticing Chris was having problems eating.
"Yeah, I'm just not feeling so good," Chris replied. For some reason, he was extremely tired and felt cold. But he didn't say that.
"Well you better feel good," Justin teased, "cuz we got a show in an hour!"
Chris nodded sleepily, then pushed his plate aside and rested his head face down on the table.
"Come on sleepy head," Justin said, jokingly elbowing Chris- in his injured side.
Chris barely kept from crying out pain exploded in his side. As the agonizing pain doubled, he sat up, blinking tears from his eyes. Feeling a coughing fit coming, he quickly mumbled, "I'll be back," before he got up and headed for the bathroom, coughing.
"What's wrong with him?" J.C. asked, confused.
"Beat's me," Justin replied.
"I'll go talk to him," Lance volunteered, getting up and heading to the bathroom.
"Oh well," Joey shrugged as he finished his slice of pizza.
~>~>~>~>~>~>~>
End pt. 5
Once he was inside the empty bathroom, Chris sat on the floor with his back against the wall, coughing terribly. When he looked at his hand, there was a fairly large amount of blood. Sighing, he reached up and grabbed a paper towel, wiping his hands of the blood. As he threw the paper towel in the trash, Lance entered the bathroom.
"Cut the crap," Lance ordered, catching Chris's attention. "What the hell's wrong with you?"
Dropping his gaze, Chris started, "Noth-"
"Don't even give me that shit," Lance interrupted. "You're sitting on a bathroom floor!"
"It's nothing!" Chris defended, raising his voice and holding out his hands. 'Crap,' he thought as he watched Lance's gaze fall on his bloodstained hands.
"Chris," Lance replied softly. "What's the blood from?"
Seeing the hurt in Lances eyes, Chris sighed, deciding he couldn't keep it from his friend any longer, no matter how it would affect Joey. Or Justin. "It's from earlier this morning," he started. Lance continued his confused gaze as he continued, "When I fell," he hinted.
"At practice?" Lance finally caught on.
"Yeah. I- my side has been hurting pretty bad." Chris said, down-playing his injury.
"Okay, so where's the blood coming from?" Lance asked as he leaned against the sink.
"When I cough," Chris mumbled.
"Stand up," Lance ordered, motioning with his head. Chris slowly stood up, facing Lance. "Now show me your side," he asked quietly.
"I don't know if-" Chris began to kid.
"Just do it," Lance said firmly.
Chris sighed and lifted his shirt, revealing a deep dark purple bruise that covered his whole side.
"Good Lord," Lance gasped. "Why didn't you tell anyone?"
"I didn't want to make Joey think it was his fault," Chris replied simply, letting his shirt down.
"Chris, when it comes to something like this, screw Joey's feelings," Lance said. "You're going to have that looked at if I have to drive you to the doctor's myself."
"No!" Chris argued. "You can't! We gotta show! I can't let this mess up our first concert in three weeks! You can't tell! I feel fine, really!"
"Chris," Lance began.
"I'm older than you, in fact, I'm the oldest one here, and you can't make me go!" Chris said.
"You're going to make it through a concert?" Lance questioned.
"Yeah," Chris replied stubbornly.
"Okay," Lance sighed. "But you're going to the doctor's when the concert is over, got it?"
"Yes, mother," Chris smiled as Joey walked in the bathroom.
"You guys having a party without us?" he asked.
"No," Lance said. "We were just leaving."
"Good, then. Let's hit the road!"
~>~>~>~>~>
End pt. 6
Joey shot J.C a worried look as Chris stumbled a third time in the first 25 minutes of the concert. It was clear their friend was faltering; he looked dead on his feet. Chris was covered in sweat and drained of his normally endless energy. Try as he might, he was always behind in the dance moves. When it came time for the backflip, he fell, and didn't get up. The girl's screams quieted as the band stopped and the others gathered around Chris's fallen form. Lance and Joey picked him up and carried him off stage as J.C. made an announcement to the audience.
“Uh, I’m sorry about the interruption, stop by the ticket window on your way out for a refund. We’ll keep you updated on the situation. Goodnight!”
J.C. quickly ran after the others as the audience’s volume of concern rose. The lights went out and the band hastily began getting their equipment off stage. As Justin ran next to J.C., he pulled out his cell phone and dialed 911. It was fairly dark, but they spotted where Lance and Joey were hovering over an unconscious Chris.
“What happened?!” J.C. asked worriedly as he noticed a trickle of blood coming from the corner of Chris’s mouth.
“It’s his side,” Lance remembered. “From where he fell earlier.”
Confused glances were thrown about as some paramedics arrived. “That was quick,” Justin noted.
“We were on the other side of the stage,” one of the paramedics explained as they ran to their patient. “In case the girls get too worked up and faint.”
They took Chris’s pulse, and then one pulled out a stethoscope and placed it on Chris’s chest. After a few seconds, he looked up and announced, -
“His lungs are flooded! We gotta get him to the ER now!” They quickly placed Chris on the stretcher as the others gathered around.
“Is he gonna be okay?” Joey asked, speaking for all of them.
“He will if we move now. We only have enough room for one of you in the ambulance, the rest can follow,” a medic announced as they started to run to the ambulance.
“I will,” Justin blurted out.
“Okay, we’ll be right behind you,” J.C. said as the others ran to the limo.
Gravel crunched as people scattered in the dark. Time was flying by, although it seemed as if nothing was happening. Inside the ambulance, Justin felt like he was in an episode of ER, only with his best friend’s life at stake.
The paramedics worked furiously, inserting IV’s and recording stats. As the ambulance sped along, the paramedics removed Chris’s shirt, revealing the bruises only Chris and Lance knew about.
All three of them were stunned as Justin realized, “That is what Lance was talking about! Earlier today, he landed wrong on a back flip. But he said nothing was wrong!” Justin explained, getting upset.
“Did you notice any changes after the accident?” the first paramedic asked.
“Um, he was coughing a lot, and- oh, at dinner, he said he didn’t feel good, then- oh, God, I elbowed him to wake up and he left, he still went on with the concert and that’s it,” Justin said, growing even more frantic as the medics gave each other worried glances. “What?” Justin asked. “He’s not gonna die- is he?”
~>~>~>~>
End pt.6
“No, he’s not gonna die, the coughing means that he’s been bleeding internally all day; every jolt causing whatever organ his ribs punctured to tear even more. There’s nothing we can do here, he has to be operated on immediately.”
As if on clue, the ambulance pulled up in front of the hospital, where they were met by a team of doctors and nurses.
They quickly whisked Chris into the ER, while a nurse steered Justin to a small waiting room. He sat, dazed and blaming himself until the others arrived and joined him. He was almost at the point of breakdown when the others comforted him and asked what happened. He was about to explain when a nurse walked out of the ER.
“Are you guys here with Mr. Kirkpatrick?” she asked.
“Yeah, is he okay?” J.C. asked.
“He will be,” she started. She sat down next to them and continued, “During whatever happened this morning, Mr. Kirkpatrick hit his side extremely hard, causing a rib to slightly pierce a lung. It didn't go the whole way through, at that time it just allowed some blood to enter the lungs. An hour or two ago, he was hit again, causing the injury to worsen, and the blood flow increase. When he was dancing?" She questioned, unsure of what they had been doing. "The heart increased blood flow, literally flooding the lungs. He is in the OR now, and although it sounds serious, he will be okay once we repair the lung."
They all breathed a sigh of relief as she got up, then added; "He must have been in a great deal of pain. I can't understand why he didn't tell any of you." Then she walked off.
They sat in silence for a second before confessing:
"I knew, he showed me before the concert and I didn't do anything!"
"Well, I hurt him even more!"
"We wouldn't even be here now if I hadn't been so lazy!"
"Guy!" J.C. interrupted, "it's nobody's fault! It was an accident. How were we suppose to know?"
"He spends too much time worrying about other people," Lance explained. "He didn't want us to blame ourselves, that's why he didn't say anything."
"He better make it, cuz I'm gonna kill him!" Joey said, a little angry, but also touched that his friend cared that much. But more angry for jeopardizing his life. "My feelings aren't' worth his life." He added.
They all amended to that, and after waiting about 45 minutes, they were allowed to see Chris, who was awake and beaming with and medicated good mood.
A nurse walked in and explained that the almost drunken like state was due to the anesthesia and that he would be normal in the morning.
"Actually," Lance replied, "This is just about his normal."
"Hey- I resemble that remark," came Chris's groggy reply.
"I'm sure you do," Joey said as they laughed at their now-asleep friend.
"Sleep well," J.C. said, looking at Chris. "We're gonna have a long talk in the morning."
Finnis
You are listening to NEVER EVER By ALL SAINTS
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