Lance looked over at his lover of two years overjoyed at the fact that they were spending their anniversary together, even if it was in secret. The shivers gliding down his spine informed him that AJ was looking at him.
“What’s wrong, love?” AJ asked, concerned at the sudden change in Lance’s mood.
Lance replied absently, “Just wishing that we could tell the others about us. I think we should do soon, I’m sick of having to pretend around our friends.”
“We’ll tell them next week. At least we’re together this year.” AJ said, as he squeezed Lance’s hand gently.
“That’s what I was thinking. We’ll spend a couple of hours at 60:40 then go home for our own celebration,” Lance said with a leer as he turned down a side street.
“Look out, James!” AJ screamed as a car sped towards them, obviously out of control.
There was a loud crash then the smell of petrol as the car overturned, squashing the couple inside. Lance looked over at AJ relieved to see that he was still alive before darkness overtook him.
One Hour Later
“This is New York General speaking is there a Kevin Richardson there, please?” A woman’s voice said on the other end of the phone causing Kevin to pale. Why were they calling was someone he loved hurt or even…dead?
“This is he. Why are you calling?” Kevin replied his voice shaking with worry.
The woman said sincerely, “You are down as an emergency contact number for a Mr Alex McLean. I’m afraid that Mr McLean has been in an accident. Can you come down to the hospital as soon as possible?”
“I’ll be there in ten minutes,” Kevin replied as he hung up.
Jumping up from the bed, he quickly grabbed a cap and walked out of the room towards Brian’s room. Without knocking, Kevin opened the door, unsurprised to find the rest of the group inside.
“Guys, we need to get to the hospital. AJ’s been in an accident!” said as tears streamed down his face shocking the other members of his group who rarely saw him cry.
”How is he?” Howie asked as the group stood ready to be there for their brother.
As soon as the hospital came into view Kevin forced himself to return to reality. The second the car stopped he opened the door and ran towards the emergency department, the rest of the Backstreet Boys just a couple of seconds behind.
“Hi, I got a phone call about AJ McLean it said he had been in an accident. Can you tell me how he is?” Kevin said to the receptionist just as his band mates stopped behind him.
“I’m afraid I can’t tell you anything. If you go to the waiting room, down the corridor and take a left, a doctor will be along shortly.” The woman replied a sympathetic smile on her face as she saw the worry in his eyes.
“Hello, are you here for Mr McLean?” The doctor asked in a calm voice.
Kevin said eagerly, “Yes, we are. How is he?”
As Nsync burst through the door the doctor replied, “He’ll be fine. It was touch and go for a couple of minutes, but he will be fine after a couple of weeks resting. He has five broken ribs, he was stabbed in the stomach by some flying metal, but the surgery took care of that injury. I’m afraid you can’t see him yet.”
“Hi, we heard that Lance was in an accident. Is he alright?” Chris said, speaking for the worried group.
The doctor said shortly before leaving the room, “Oh yes, Mr Bass. He had several major injuries, including a ruptured spleen. He also has minor injuries including broken legs. The main cause for concern is the fact that he still has not regained consciousness and he took a great blow to the head. I advise all of you to get some rest they won’t wake up for a while.”
“Why are you guys here?” Justin asked curiosity in his voice.
Kevin replied, “AJ was in an accident, probably the same one that Lance was involved in.”
Lance could feel something telling him to wake up but it felt so hard to fight against the comfort of sleep. With a conscious effort, he groaned and opened his eyes. The sight that greeted him was not what he expected. Looking up at the face of an obviously concerned blue-eyed man, Lance swallowed twice before speaking.
Lance said half crying, “Who are you? Where’s Alex? What have you done to him? Alex, I need you! Alex...” He noticed the look of confusion the man gave him before there was a sharp pain in his arm and everything went black.
“Why doesn’t he remember me?” Justin Timberlake asked the doctor who was checking Lance’s pulse and pupils.
The doctor replied calm and sympathetic, “My name is Elise Smith. He took a large blow to the head, so some memory loss is expected. Do any of you know who this Alex is? It would greatly help if she were here, the last thing we need is for Mr Bass to be alarmed.”
“We don’t know anyone called Alex. Was anyone in the car with him?” JC said, speaking for the group who were still trying to accept everything.
“I’ll have to ask the nurse, I’ve just come on duty I’m afraid. He’s going to be out for a while so why don’t you go and get something to eat.” Doctor Smith said, her voice making it clear that it was an order not a suggestion.
Across the corridor the Backstreet Boys were looking at their friend in shock, each one amazed at how frail and small AJ looked. This was not how they saw their friend, how had this happened? Each one was blaming themselves, thinking that they should have been with him or stopped him from going out that night.
AJ slowly regained consciousness, the presence of his friends not registering as he searched frantically for something or someone. Looking at his chest, AJ burst into tears surprising his friends who rarely saw him cry.
“What’s wrong, AJ?” Kevin asked, keeping his voice as soothing as possible.
“It’s not here, my necklace. I need it can you get it back, please?” AJ asked his voice a mix of desperation and confusion.
“I’ll have a look for it, don’t worry we’ll get it back.” Kevin said as he searched the chest of drawers not wanting AJ to get any more upset.
With a cry of triumph, Kevin lifted out a gold heart necklace with an inscription on the back. Turning it over he found the words “A + J Forever. July 2000.” Kevin stared at the necklace in surprise, who was J? More importantly why didn’t AJ mention that he was seeing someone?
“Here’s your necklace, I’ll fasten it. Its beautiful, who gave it to you?” Kevin asked ignoring the others staring at him, wondering why Kevin was asking about a necklace when AJ had almost been killed.
“James, on our first anniversary. I gave him the exact same necklace, weird huh? Where is he anyway? He’s not hurt is he?” AJ asked his voice changing from happy to alarmed when he realised that his lover was not there.
“We’ll go and find him for you, why don’t you go asleep and Howie will look after you.” Kevin said as he motioned for Brian and Nick to leave the room before following.
“I think we need to talk to Chris or JC.” Kevin said an idea forming in his mind, the pieces coming together.
Nick said anger in his voice, “Why do we need to talk to them? We should be with AJ.”
“We need to talk to them because I think that Lance is AJ’s James.” Kevin replied, stopping suddenly when he noticed Nsync walking down the corridor towards them.
Remembering that AJ had been in an accident Chris asked, “Hi guys, how is AJ?”
“He’ll be fine. Can I ask you a question, Chris?” Kevin said, wondering if they would think he was insane.
“Shoot but don’t be long, Lance might need us.” Chris replied.
“Is Lance’s first name, James? Has he been asking for someone called Alex?” Kevin said, seeing the confusion then shock in Chris’ face.
“Yeah but everyone, apart from his mom calls him Lance.” Chris said, noticing the look of understanding in Kevin’s eyes.
Wondering if he could confirm his suspicions Kevin said, “I think he and AJ were in the car together but I’m not sure. Can I come and see him with you?”
Chris said looking at Kevin in confusion, “Sure, but he might not remember you. He has forgotten us but remembers this Alex, the doctor said it might be amnesia.”
At this point, the seven men walked down the corridor towards Lance’s private room. As only two visitors were allowed at a time Joey and Kevin walked in together as the others waited outside.
“Hey Kevin. How’s Alex? He’s not seriously hurt is he?” Lance said as soon as he spied Kevin approaching the bed.
“He’s okay and asking for you.” Kevin said with a small smile, wondering if the pair was ever going to think about themselves.
“Tell him I’m alright and I’ll see him as soon as they let me out of here.” Lance said groaning as pain flooded his body.
“We’ll ask the nurse to give you something for the pain.” Joey said seeing Lance grimace in pain.
“Are you Kev’s boyfriend?” Lance asked Joey, knowing there was something familiar about the man.
