Chapter 23
PART TWENTY-THREE
Justin watched as the ambulance pulled away carrying his best friend and his band mate and friend. He sighed in disbelief. Justin looked at Carla and Chris who were sitting close together and could not let go of each other. Chris’s nose looked to be broken or badly bruised. He had blood on his right cheek and a large scratch across his forehead. His knuckles were bloody and bruised, but other then that he seemed to be in good shape. He was breathing fine and actually did not seem to be that sore other then the black eye that had just started to develop. Justin thought of what Lance looked like before he left to come to the limo. Lance had a large gash across one cheek, and a smaller one above one eye. But both were bleeding. Those seemed to be the only facial marks Lance had of the fight, but he knew that both his hands were sore and swollen from punching the other guys. He also knew that Lance took quite a few good hits to the stomach area so he figured that would be sore. Justin thought of his own injuries next, still watching where the ambulance had been. He could feel his chest muscles hurting and his face was sore. He looked out the window and caught his reflection in it. He didn’t have a black eye yet, but his cheek and lips were swollen. He saw the split next to his lip and gently touched it. Actually he didn’t look that bad and would be back to normal after the swelling went down. He was pleased that everyone was okay…well except Lauren. She was so pale and looked fragile when he left her. Justin noticed JC walking to the limo. Justin looked at his friend. JC had a definite black eye starting, and his whole right side of his face was swollen sightly. He didn’t have any blood on his skin but there was a little blood on his shirt, and Justin figured it was from Lance or Lauren. JC looked to be moving slowly and even tripped a couple times. Justin watched as his 22-year-old friend seemed to be moving like a 50-year-old man. He was tired you could tell by his movements. Justin continued to watch as JC neared the limo. JC was within a few feet when he tripped again, but this time he didn’t try to catch himself. He collapsed to the ground and did not move. Justin jumped out of the car and ran to JC. He noticed he was awake and fine.
"Justin, I just can’t move anymore right now!" JC said in a whisper.
"You’ve been strong for long enough tonight. Let me help you." Justin said as he bent down and picked JC up. Taking him in his arms as a father would a son, Justin walked the few feet to the limo and sat JC in the seat next to the door. Justin closed the door as he climbed in and told the driver to drive to the hospital the ambulance had gone to. Everyone started to fuss over JC and ask if he was okay. "He is fine. Just drained. Let him rest and he will be fine" Justin said. JC just sat looking out the window unsure of what to say or do. He was tired and not really that sore. His eye hurt but it wasn’t a pain he couldn’t handle. JC was just tired that was all. That day they had been partying and having fun then the next thing he knew he was defending his friends, and then he took his role as a leader telling everyone what to do and finally he just collapsed.
"I’m fine!" JC said turning to the group in the limo. "Justin is right, I’m tired that’s all!"
The group sat quietly in the limo on the ride to the hospital. It was midnight by the time they arrived. There had been a car accident that held them up. By the time they arrived they had called and were told they could not give out any information on Lauren or Lance, other then that they arrived a while ago and she was being looked at. JC moaned as he climbed out of the limo first followed by Chris, Carla, Joey, Chrissy, and finally Justin. It had been a quiet ride and everyone felt slightly better, the guys were sore but atleast they had had time to calm down.
Once at the hospital the four guys and two girls rushed as fast as they could through the emergency entrance. A nurse named Pam met them. She said they had been told that the guys were coming and to take them directly back to Lauren’s room. She told them they had to be quiet because this was against hospital policies but it had all been arranged. Pam led them back to a small hospital room in the far corner of the ER. She left them at the door and told them to go in.
The group just stood there unsure of what they would see. They knew that Lauren was strong and hoped that JC was right when he told them what the EMTS said about passing out from the pain. Justin slowly opened the door and walked in with the others close behind him. He held Chrissy’s hand and Chrissy held onto JC’s and so on as they entered the room. They all stopped just inside the door to let their eyes focus and take it all in.
Justin sucked in a deep breath as he looked around the room. He saw what he assumed to be a sleeping Lauren on the bed; Lance was sitting on a chair next to her bed with his head on her mattress. Their hands were entwined in each other’s and Lance was silent. Justin looked at Lauren. Her face had been cleaned up and she had bandages covering most of the left side. Her hair was pulled back to keep it from touching the uncovered cuts. Her left arm was lying limply by her side. It was pale and looked misshapen. He figured it was broken somewhere and had his thoughts confirmed when he saw the cast plaster. Looking to Lance Justin quietly motioned for the nurse that was in the room to come over. "Nurse…." Justin read the nurse’s nametag "Nurse Trisha is she okay?"
"Well, the young lady has a severely broken arm, in two places, cuts and bruises all over her face and upper stomach, and two broken ribs. We haven’t been able to take a look at the young man yet. He says he won’t leave her until she is awake again."
"When will that be?" Justin asked looking at Lauren and Lance. The whole group had stood listening intently to what the nurse said.
"Unfortunately we don’t know on that one. We gave her pain medication and the doctors don’t think she has a concussion. By what the young man said she never hit her head on the ground. So hopefully she will feel less pain soon and her body will stop fighting the need to be asleep to deal with the pain. It is a natural reaction. The pain was most likely too much for her to handle so her body decided to make her unaware of it in the only way it could. I assume you guys are friends of hers? And by what I can tell you were in the same fight?" Trisha asked.
"Yeah, to both questions!" Justin said as she walked past the nurse and over to the bed beside Lance. The group gathered around the bed until they were in a circle. Justin put his hand on Lance’s shoulder, causing Lance to jump and look up. He saw his friends and gave each of them a quick hug. They all stood there looking at Lauren willing her to wake up. Lance sat beside Lauren on the bed and JC sat on the stool he had been sitting on. Justin walked over to Chrissy and took her hand in his then looked at his friend lying on the bed. She was as pale as the sheet except for the purple bruises and little bits of blood. Around Lauren’s bed stood and sat Lance next on her right with her hand in his, then JC half way down the bed, sitting on the stool with a hand patting her leg, Joey stood at the foot of the right end of the bed unsure of what to say or do, Chris and Carla were next to him on the left side holding each other, Carla had her head against Chris’ chest and he had his sitting on the top of her head, Justin and Chrissy stood at the head of the bed on her left side with their arms around each other. Justin stood quietly thinking of all the good times. He started to hum to himself the words to their favorite song. Before he knew it he was no longer humming but actually singing.
"Encourage my soul,
And let us journey,
Though the night is dark,
And I am far from home,
Thanks be to god
The morning light appears.
The storm is passing over.
The storm is passing over,
The storm is passing over." Title: "Encourage My Soul" I don’t know who sings it.
By the time Justin had sang through the song once all the guys had joined in and were singing quietly. They sang the song again hoping to get to get a response out of Lauren.
As they got to the last chorus Justin said, "Dear Lord, You have done so much for us today. What more could we ask of you other then to let Lauren wake up. We need her here and we can’t go on without her. Just let her wake up and smile at us that are all we ask. Please Lord in your name, AMEN!" Justin finished. The group turned to look at him and then everyone’s gaze fell to Lauren. As their eyes fell on her face they saw her looking back at them trying to smile. She had woken up.
"BABY!" Lance cried out kissing her unbruised cheek. Lauren tried to smile again and mouthed thank you to everyone and God. Lauren turned to look at the whole group and got quick hugs from them all. "You okay?" Lance asked.
"Sore" she said her throat was dry and she couldn’t talk very well. The nurse brought her some water and she took a few drinks then tried to talk again. "Yeah, I’m just sore that’s all!"
"Oh I am so glad you are okay!" Justin said.
"Thank you guys for everything." Lauren said.
"Um sorry to do this…" the nurse interrupted, "But she needs to rest now, and I see four guys that need to get some cuts and bruises taken care of."
"Okay, we get what you are saying." JC said as he stood up and walked over to Lauren’s bed. "I see ya in a while. Get some rest."
"Thank you JC!"
JC walked out of the room first, Chris and Carla said their good-byes and Lauren thanked Carla for being beside her while she was out of it. They quickly and gently hugged and then walked out to a spare room where JC had went to get cleaned up. Joey quickly hugged her and went to make sure the others were okay. Justin said that everything would be okay and went to get cleaned up. Leaving Chrissy and Lance in the room.
"Come on Lance! Go get those cuts taken care of" Chrissy demanded. He looked at Lauren who shook her head in agreement and kissed her on the forehead then walked out of the room and joined the others getting their injuries taken care of.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE NEXT DAY ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was 12 noon, when the limo pulled up infront of the hospital. Justin, JC, Joey, Lance, Chris, Carla, and Chrissy all piled out and entered the hospital quickly. Going straight to room 815, they knocked on the door.
In room 815, Lauren sat impatiently in her hospital bed. She had signed her own release papers, had bathed, and was ready to get out of there. The night before they had insisted on admitting her even though she complained the whole time. They group had stayed with her until 2 in the morning when they were kicked out by the hospital guards. She slept peacefully that night, and did not wake up till 11 when she had to get ready to go. The guys had found out that they had no major injuries but she still felt bad about everything. Lauren kept apologizing only for one of them to say that there was no need to apologize. Hearing a knock on her door Lauren yelled,
"Come in!"
"Hey, ready to get out of here Girlie?" Justin said as he opened her door and walked in followed closely by the rest of the group.
"Heck Yeah! I was ready to go at 11 when I woke up. All I have to do is make into that wheel chair and we can leave. Already been checked out and everything is signed but I had to wait on you slow pokes to get here." Lauren joked as she slowly turned in her bed. She knew they weren’t the slow ones and that she would not be moving quickly for a few more weeks until her ribs healed. She looked around the group. They all were looking well rested and all though they were bruised and very sore they all seemed as happy as she was to be getting out of New York.
They had canceled the last show there and a few more to give them all time to heal, but were still doing their interviews and had even set up a few more to discuss what had happened. Lance walked over to Lauren’s bed and put his hands gently around her waist to support her. He helped her stand up and move to the chair then sat her down. The more slowly she did things the easier it was. Lance bent down and kissed her and then enveloped her in a hug. "I love you!" he said.
"I love you too!" she said. Lance looked at her. Her hair was down on the left side of her face to hide her cuts and brusies. Her movements were slow and thought out because of her ribs but everything she did made him love her more.
"Come on guys! Tour bus should be here by now. And as they say the show must go on!" JC joked. Lance pushed Lauren’s wheelchair out of the hospital to the waiting bus. The rest were close behind him.
Reaching the bus, Justin and Lance helped her onto the first step since it was high, and then Lance helped her settle down in a little corner of a couch.
"Well are we ready to go?" The driver said.
"Yeah, out of New York!" everyone said at once, then started to laugh. They sat there talking quietly amongst themselves until Lauren cleared her throat.
"So…I have to know this does anyone hate me now?"
"Why would we?" Chris asked confused.
"Well…let’s see…" Lauren paused as Lance started to sit next to her. He put a pillow on his lap and then let her casted arm fall on it. Slipping an arm around her he kissed her and then she continued. "As I was saying…because of me you guys got into a fight, had to cancel shows, got hurt, Carla and Chrissy god only knows what could have happened to them…and I’m sure there’s more."
"Hey, it’s not your fault and Hell no we aren’t mad at you." Joey said.
"Thanks guys! Hey wait I never made it to the police station."
"We took care of that. Carla and Chrissy’s statements were good enough that you don’t have to go in. And then we are charging them with assault. They pleaded guilty to all of it and won’t be out of jail for a good long time. Don’t even worry about it." JC said.
"You guys are the best." Lauren said "Thank you again for EVERYTHING!"
“Hey no problem. I am going to go watch some TV and try to unwind a little." Chris said and went to the back after giving Lauren a hug. Carla stood up after Chris left and said she was going to join him. She gave Lauren a hug and then started to walk to the back.
"Oh yeah…and next time he leaves me alone at a club I am leaving his ass there." Carla joked and then turned back to the back. She sat on one of the couches next to Chris. He put his arms around her and pulled her close.
"Carla Hun…I am so glad you are safe. I can’t imagine life without you." Chris said as he leaned down and kissed her. Trying to be as gentle as possible they parted and Carla lay on the couch, placing her head in his lap. He stroked her hair gently and thanked god she was okay.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Up in the front ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Well, girls and guys these sore tired old bones of mine need some rest." JC said as he stood up and then gave Lauren a quick hug. "Good to have you with us ma’am. And I suggest everyone get some rest. We have a lot of healing to do and to many interviews to have anyone get sick." JC said to the rest of the group. Then he went back to his bunk and heard Joey snoring lightly in his own bed. JC was asleep with in a few minutes of lying down.
Justin, Chrissy, Lauren, and Lance sat in the front of the bus talking quietly. Chrissy yawned and excused herself to go to bed.
"Well, girlie I am glad you’re safe!" Justin said.
"Yeah, well I wish it hadn’t happened at all. I feel so bad about your cancelled shows and all that."
"Hey enough of all this. I would do it again in a second." Justin said as he stood up and hugged Lauren and Lance and then said "I’m beat and need some sleep. Oh and don’t forget to give mom and dad a call later Lauren"
"Okay I will. Thanks for reminding me. Night or afternoon." Lauren said. Justin walked out of the room and walked back to his bunk but not before saying to Lance "Keep her out of trouble would you!"
They all laughed and Justin climbed into his bunk to find Chrissy. She had already fallen asleep and Justin gently kissed her forehead and then put one arm under her neck. He pulled her close and drifted off into sleep land with thoughts of Chrissy running through his mind.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lance and Lauren sat there for a while silent in their own thoughts.
"Lauren, I love you!" Lance finally said breaking the silence. Lauren lifted her head from his shoulder and looked at him.
"Where did that come from?" She asked.
"Here!" Lance said as he took her hand and put I on his heart. Lauren felt it pounding and smiled.
"Well Lance, I love you too!" Lauren said grinning.
Lance knowing that grin asked, "Where did that come from?"
"Here" she said as she took his hand in hers and laid it on her left breast carefully. They both smiled and Lance leaned down to gently kiss her. Being careful to avoid hurting her he ran his hand down from her breast, to her stomach, and then rested it on the inside of her thigh. He began to gently rub up and down her thigh as he leaned in for another kiss. Lauren moved her right hand up and down Lance’s chest and stomach. Reaching in for another kiss Lauren paused as she stretched to far and felt a slight pull and pain in her ribs. Knowing she was in pain, Lance leaned down until their mouths met. Seeing she was in pain had made Lance stop rubbing her leg.
"We can just sit here!" Lance said, into Lauren’s mouth as they continued to kiss.
"Lance, it’s okay. I just have to be more careful." Lauren reassured him as she dug deep into his mouth for another kiss.
Lance reached and pulled a blanket from the other couch and covered their legs and waist with it. Lauren turned and put her broken arm behind Lane’s neck, letting her exposed fingers touch his neck lightly.
"Lauren I wish I would have stayed with you all night last night. I should never have let you separate from us." Lance said. They had been sitting there just looking at each other and kissing for a few minutes.
"This would have happened anyway." Lauren said looking away. She was ashamed of all that had happened and now feared again that Lance would leave her or blame her for everything.
"Lance, do you still truly love me? I mean after all I put you through."
"YES!" Lance said without hesitation. He titled Lauren’s chin up with one hand and with the other he slowly moved the hair off her left side of her face. His eyes grew as he saw the damage done to her face for the first time. He knew it would all heal but he had no idea what they had done. His eyes looked over the extent of bruising. He had saw it before she got bandaged at the hospital but they had told him it would continue to get worse over the night. And she had managed to hide it from all of them by wearing her hair down. He left his eyes shift slowly over her face. Her left cheek was blue and purple and swollen. There was a small cut near the bottom of her eye apparently from a ring. Her eye was slightly red and blood shot and both eyelids were swollen until they were almost forced close. "Lauren I will always love you! I am not going to stop because someone else tells me to or tries to stop me. These bruises…" Lance said as he pointed to his own bruises and then hers "…are going to bring us closer. As your broken bones heal and the bruises disappear I hope that you can let the fear and hate you feel disappear. The physical pain will go away for both of us, but the fear we both had last night will only fade if we help each other. I will always remember how much I love you, and last night only made me love you more. Last night when Jake hit you, I would have given anything for him to be hitting me. I love you so much!"
"OH Lance" Lauren said as she reached up and lightly kissed him. She felt Lance slowly lay her back on the couch and then lay down beside her. He laid his head on her shoulder and she wrapped an arm around his waist. Lauren stiffened slightly as Lance slowly placed his hand on he bottom of her stomach. She felt him lift her shirt slightly and slide his hand under it. Lance slowly ran his hand up her stomach until he reached the bottom of her rib cage. He could feel the heat that was building there from the broken bones and other internal bruising. He gently rubbed little circles around the bruised area. Lauren felt safe with Lance touching her and being in his arms. It even seemed as if the pain lessened as he touched her. Her eyelids grew heavy as he continued to rub little circle all over stomach. With every circle Lance made Lauren seemed to grow more tired. Lauren yawned and Lance looked up to her. "I’m exhausted." She said.
"Well let’s get you to bed then." Lance said slowly standing up beside her, after he had made a few more quick circles over her stomach. He quickly picked her up and put her in her arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck.
"You know I can walk!"
"Yeah, but this is more fun," Lance said as he buried his neck into her shoulder and kissed her neck. He walked back towards the bunk area slowly being careful not to hit any walls. Stopping at her bunk he started to lay her down. But she clung tightly to his neck and said…
"NO!"
"What?" Lance asked confused.
"No, I don’t want to sleep alone tonight or ever again. I want to sleep in your bunk with you."
"Are you sure? There would be more room for you to stretch out here. I don’t mind having you in my arms all night but I don’t want you in pain."
"I want to sleep with you Lance, and the last thing I want to see is your eyes, and the last thing I want to feel is your arms wrapped around me." Lance smiled and turned to place her in his bunk. He kissed her and then turned back to get her pillows and blanket out of her bunk. He placed her pillows on her left side to protect her from falling into the wall. Lance slipped an arm under her neck and felt her turn onto her right side. Lauren laid her casted arm on Lance’s chest. He slipped his arm down her back and Lauren looked up and kissed Lance. Then laid her head back down. Hitting play on his small CD player Lance heard the opening notes of "It’s Your Love" by Tim McGraw and Faith Hill.
"Lance, will you sing me to sleep?" Lauren asked between yawns.
"Yeah baby! Here let me start the song over again." Lance started it again and started to sing softly as he stroked her hair.
"Dancing in the dark,
Middle of the night,
Taking your heart and holding it tight.
Emotional touch, touching my skin,
And asking for you to do what you been doing all over again.
Oh it’s a beautiful thing,
Don’t think I could keep it all in.
I just gotta let you know what it is that won’t let me go.
It’s your love,
It just does something to me.
Sends a shock right through me.
I can’t get enough,
And if you wonder about the spell I’m under,
Oh it’s your love."
Lance stopped singing when he noticed Lauren had fallen asleep. He kissed the top of her head and gently placed his hand on hers. Then he whispered "Dear God, I have talked to you more in the past few days then ever. Thank you so much for all you have done. You have protected me from what I fear most. Losing Lauren would have killed me. I don’t think I could handle it. Thank you for protecting her and sending her angels to keep her here. Everytime I was low yesterday I knew you were right there. Lord I don’t think I could have made it with out you. Thank you again. Always keep her safe and protect her. In your name as always AMEN!"
Lance then mumbled into the top of Lauren’s head "I love you babe! And it is just like the song says "It’s you love I can’t live without" I don’t know how I did it before. Sleep well and remember I’m here for you always."
With that Lance drifted into a peaceful sleep with both arms protectively around Lauren’s waist and arms.
Chapter 24
