Chapter 12

Inner Reflection | home

Joeys' jaw dropped at Lances' words. "Lance, no...God, give me one more chance. I swear to you I'll do anything. I will change. I'll take anger management classes, anything."

Shaking his head again, tears streaming down, "No Joey. I've already given you too many chances. You won't change. You've already proven to me that you won't. I'm sorry."

Doing what he thought best, even though it killed him to do so, Joey crossed the room hesitantly taking off the ring and placing it in Lances' hand, curling his fingers around it. "I guess you'll be wanting this back." Before Lance could answered, Joey turned and walked out the door before the tears start to fall.

Looking down at the ring in his hand, Lance felt his heart breaking into a million and one pieces. He never thought Joey would give him back the ring. Never in a thousand years. But...in a way, he figured he would. Things between them had changed, and Lance knew that he shouldn't have even thought of proposing to Joey, not with the way his temper was. The engagment was just, to Lance, a way to try and force Joey to change, but he saw now that nothing was going to do that. Not a ring, not the love Lance gave him unconditionally, not the pain in his eyes, nothing. Maybe, some time behind bars would do the trick, the blond hoped.

Once the door closed behind him, Joey leaned up against it. He knew he deserved what was coming, and maybe it was best for him. He didn't try to hurt Lance, it just happened. He was Italian, in his blood, he couldn't help from boiling over. He did love Lance with all he had in him. If only Lance could see the insides of his heart, maybe then he would know. Getting an idea and spotting the guys walking towards him, he quickly turned and walked the opposite direction.

"So you going to sit with him for a while Justin?" Chris asked as they walked back down the hall. "If Joey want's to switch I mean."

"No, you can Chris... I already had my turn, remember???"

"You sure man? I mean, I don't know if I can stomach the state he's in..."

"I did, didnt I? He's really not that bad Chris. You've seen worse on tv."

Nodding his head, Chris walked over and knocked on the closed door, then pushed it opened, walking in and closing it behind him, leaving a little opening.

Sitting down on a couch in the hallway, Justin advised, "JC, sit down and try to relax. You can see him next."

Taking a calming breath, JC paced the hallway. "I don't think I can sit down Justin. You know us, always have to be moving, so here I am, moving. Yep this is me, moving. See?" Justin only sighed and shook his head, trying to calm himself down as much as possible.

Lance was still crying quietly, looking down at the ring in his hand. He didn't even notice Chris in the room with him.

Chris slowly moved to sit beside Lance. "You okay man??"

Jerking his head up quickly, to fast for his injured body to take, he let out a shout of pain. "Ow!"

Jumping to get next to him, Chris voiced, "Lance, what happened? You okay?"

"Yeah," Lance answered. "Just don't scare me like that."

"I'm sorry. Can I get you anything?"

"Did Joey...no, nevermind. I'm fine thanks." Looking down at the ring in his hand again, Lances' eyes started to tear up, dispite Chris' presence in the room.

"Lance, what happened?"

"Nothing...it's just some stuff that needs to...to be worked out between Joey and I," Lance answered, closing his fingers around the ring. "I'm fine."

"I mean, what happened to get you here?"

"Justin called 911 I guess. That's usually how you get to the hospital, once you...you blacked out and fell." Lance knew it wasn't a good idea to lie to his friends, but he had to learn to work out his problems on his own. No more going to JC or Chris for help, or Justin for advice. No more of that. He was 21 years old, nearly 22. It was time he grew up and started doing things for himself.

"And that caused internal damage?"

"I fell really really hard?"

Chris wasn't buying it for a minute. "I mean really Lance, what happened?"

"Nothing Chris," Lance repeated. "I just got dizzy and fell."

"Nice one Lance. Just know when you're ready to tell the truth, I'm here," the older one voiced.

"I am telling the truth," he whispered, his voice meek and mild.

Sitting back down in the chair, Chris only nodded. "Sure you are. You gonna be okay?"

"Yeah...as soon as I'm out of here. When can I go home?" Lance asked, trying to put aside the feeling of the cold ring in his hand. Sure, he could set it on the bed next to him, but he already lost Joey. The ring was the only thing he had now that was still remotely connected to him; so he wasn't about to let it go, not for the life of him.

According to Justin," Chris began explaining. "If all goes well, you can come home with us tomorrow morning."

"What about the concerts? We both know there will be no way I'll be able to dance for a while."

"Justin and JC are working on postponing everything."

"Oh, okay," Lance said, rolling the ring between his fingers. For a moment, his eyes were distant, almost teary again. "Can...can I ask you a question Chris? And I want a serious answer from you."

"You can ask me anything buddy. What is it?"

Taking in a deep breath, Lance asked solemnly, "If you loved someone with all your heart, would you ever do something to hurt them? I mean, really hurt them?"

"Accidents do happen," Chris replied. "I can't say I would ever do it inentionally, but fluck accidents do happen out of the blue."

"What if you were sure it wasn't a fluck, and it wasn't an accident. You were positive they wanted to hurt you?"

"You're sure they wanted to hurt you? Why would anyone in love want to do that?" Chris asked, still not catching on to what Lance was getting at.

"Yes I'm sure. The one that did the hurting, promised to never do it again, but they broke that promise. I mean, all this is hypothetically speaking. I was just curious."

"Well, something, anything could have triggered it," Chris replied. "And if this is hypothical, what are you getting at?"

Thinking fast, Lance responded, "Nothing really. I was just, um, thinking back to a talk show I saw a while back. This guy thought his boyfriend was cheating on him, so he beat him every chance he got. But, the one that was receiving the beatings was either to much in love with his boyfriend to leave, or too scared." Shaking his head, almost shrugging off the subject, Lance added, "I was just wondering what you thought about it."

"Okay, I see what's going on here," replied the older one. "You said you fell, right? Well you fell head over heals over a girl and she called you to brake up with you. And that caused you to hurt yourself. What are you trying to do? Be Jim Carey in 'Liar Liar'? A piece of advice from an old fart here," Chris added. "It doesn't work."

Fighting back a small laugh, Lance shook his head again. "How you managed to figure that one out Chris is beyond me. But, I guess I should never try to keep secrets from you huh?"

With a big grin on his face, "Yep, I figured it out. You should never try to keep secrets from me from the start." He was obviously proud of himself for solving the mystery.

"I know better now Mr. Kirkpatrick," Lance said. Sighing he scooted down under the covers, pulling the pillows up so that he was kinda propped up on them. "Did you guys see Joey leave? He and I talked, and he kinda mad at me for what I told him. And before you ask, it's none of your business."

"Then if it's none of my business, why would I tell you if I saw him?" asked the older man. "What did he do? Tell you it was just another girl?"

Sighing again, he pulled the covers up over his face. "I don't want to talk about it. I just want to forget that I was ever together with this person."

"In that case, do you want me to leave you alone?"

"I don't want to sound rude, but would you please?" his voice was muffled, tears again choking his throat. "I'll be okay. I just...just need to sort through al this right now, and I think I want to do it alone."

Completely missing the point, Chris stood and walked towards the door. "Okay, I'll send JC right in."

Groaning, Lance didn't say anything. He didn't even try and shake his head as the doctors told him not to move around so much, though they didn't put a neck brace or halo on him. He still have some spinal damage, but nothing serious.

Chris walked out into the hallway, leaving the door opened a crack. "JC, he wants to see you now..."

Looking over at the door, JC gulped and tried to compose himself. He hated hosptials, there was no secret there. But, one of his friends was just beyond that door, and he did want to see him. Walking in strongly, he smiled and walked over to the chair that Chris had vacated.

Chris sat down next to Justin in hallway. "Have you seen Joey?"

"Um...I think I saw him turn a corner just as we were coming back from the cafeteria. I guess he just needed time alone..."

Shrugging his shoulders and leaning back against the wall, Chris replied, "I hope Lance is gonna be okay."

"The doctors said he'd be fine. Thank God his spinal cord wasn't severed." Looking off distantly, Justin whispered, "It was inches from being cut. And if it was cut, then he wouldn't be able to move his legs, and then he woudln't be able to dance. Oh my God...that was way too close Chris...that was way too close."

"I found out what happened," Chris said, proud of himself, though still saddened at the thought of what al this was caused by. Or so he thought. "He told me."

"Really?" Justin asked, his eyes lighting up at the thought of finally knowing the truth. If only he had known that what Chris was about to tell him was so far from the truth it might as well have been on another planet. "What happened?"

"Well see I guessed most of it cause he was too embarrased. But he did admit it finally. He had a secret girlfriend that none of us knew about. They must have had an argument and they broke up. Then he thought he was Jim Carrey off of 'Liar, Liar'. He beat himself up."

Justins' jaw dropped. Lance wasn't the type to 'beat himself up' over a girl, was he? "You serious?"

"Wish I weren't for once, but I am..."

Shaking his head, Justin just sighed. "Okay...I'm just glad it was over a girl. That didn't come out right, but you know what I mean." Chuckling a little, he confessed, "You know, at first I thought Joey had something to do with all this..."

"How could Joey have anything to do about this?" Chris asked. "Joey wouldn't hurt a fly, let alone a person."

"I know," Justin said, then sighed. "But, oh, nevermind. Joey couldn't have done it. He lo..." he started, then remembered what he had promised both of them. "He loves flys and people..."

"Lance?" JC asked quietly.

"Yeah Jace?" the blond answered, looking out the window at a couple walking out of the hospital, a new baby in their arms.

JC followed his gaze and tried to get him to smile. "Don't worry, you won't be having a baby this time."

"Huh? Oh..." he said simply, wiping a tear from his eye.

"Nothing...I'm just thinking..."

"Thinking about what? If I may be so bold as to ask."

"About how...how someone I love so much...can hurt me..."

"What do you mean?" JC asked, not hearing Chris' thesis on what had happened.

"I don't want to talk about it..."

"Okay, what do you want to talk about?"

Reaching for a tissue and bringing his hand under the covers, he quickly wrapped the ring in the tissue and handed it to JC. "Can you make sure Justin gets this. He'll know what to do with it. Please?"

Looking down at the tissue, JC asked, "Justin's gonna want a used tissue? Okay, I'll do it. If you want me to."

"Thank you Jace," Lance whispered. "Make sure he gets it back to who it belongs to..."

Not even daring to peak at it, JC answered, "Okay. I'll do that for you." Jesturing at the untouched meal, he enquired, "Aren't you hunger?"

"Not really. I just want to go home..."

"I'm sorry Lance. You can't do that right now."

"When? I just want to get out of here and be someplace where I won't be just another person. I just want to go home and back into Joeys' arms." He didn't even realize he let the one secret he held so dear slip. His mind was all a jumbles that it was as if he wasn't even talking for himself anymore.

"Joeys' arms? Lance I know he can be protective of us all at times, but I'm here for you now. You can go home tomorrow if the doctors say so. Anything else I can do or get for you?"

Sighing, Lance shook his head, despite doctors not to. "Go ask Justin. He'll tell you all you need to know about why I said I wanted to be back in Joeys' arm. Just don't tell anyone else. Not even Chris."

"I take it you want to get some sleep?" JC asked.

"Say no more," JC said, standing and walking towards the door. "Just get some rest. If you want anyone else, just let me know and I'll find them for you okay?"

Nodding, Lance thought about asking JC to go and find Joey, but he figured they both needed time away from each other. "Just make sure Justin gets that back to its owner okay?" he asked instead, pointing to the tissue in JCs' hand.

"Sure thing." Walking out the door, shutting it carefully behind him, JC handed the tissue to Justin. "Lance wants you to get this back to its rightful owner."

Taking the tissue from JCs' hand, Justin unfolded it in the palm of his own hand, soon revealing the engagement ring he had seen Joey wearing on the bus.

"What is it?" JC asked, peering over Justins' shoulder.

"It's Joe...Joanas' ring..." he whispered, his eyes locked on the ring in his hand.

"Jonah? Joeys' friend? How did Lance get it?"

"Not Johan...Joana," Justin repeated. "She's...she's a friend of Lances..."

"Oh Joana? Who's that?" JC asked, running through all the names of the people he's met. "I've never met her."

"She's...um..." Justin started, trying to think of an excuse. "She's a girl Lance was seeing briefly."

Shrugging it off, JC bought it. "Anyone want anything? I can't seem to stay still."

"No," Justin answered, standing and walking down the hallway. "I'm...I'm going for a walk. I need to think over some stuff alone..."

Peeking in each room, Joey searched until he found what he was looking for. "Excuse me, Doctor?"

"Yes?" the elderly doctor replied, not looking up from a clipboard he held in his hands. "What can I do for you?"

"Can I ask you a questin?"

"What son? I'm very busy right now."

"I just wanted to know if you're the doctor that runs that machine?" Joey asked, pointing over to a huge machine that took up most of the room. "I need an x-ray."

"Do you have a doctors request? I need that first before I can proceed."

"Well, no," the singer answered. "But I have cash."

"And I have my rules," the doctor replied, still not looking up from the charts. "If you don't have a doctors' request, I can't help you. Go get one and then come back."

"Where do I go to get one?" Joeys' voice was now becoming desprate.

"Go make an appointment with your doctor, then if he or she recommends an x-ray, come here. That shouldn't take more then a week or so; seeing as to how swamped we are right now."

"But I need it NOW and my doctor is back home in Florida."

Shaking his head, the x-ray tech shrugged his shoulders. "Then I can't help you. I'm sorry. Now, if you'll please excuse me, I have work to finish."

Joey only dropped to his knees and began to beg. "Please, it's important that I get this x-ray now."

"I said no," the doctor hissed. "Now, if you don't leave, and I mean this instant, you'll be removed with force. I've told you already that you can't get an x-ray without a doctors' written authorization. Or can you not grasp that?"

Joey reluctantly got up, turning to leave the room, defeated. "Yes sir."

As he walked down the hall, a voice over the intercomm announced, "Visiting hours in this wing are now over. Visiting hours in this wing are now over. All visitors are asked to depart at this time. Thank you."

"Shit," Joey cursed himself. "I better get back to find the other guys."


	Inner Reflection \| home back to When Love Hurts Chapter 12 Joeys' jaw dropped at Lances' words. "Lance, no...God, give me one more chance. I swear to you I'll do anything. I will change. I'll take anger management classes, anything." Shaking his head again, tears streaming down, "No Joey. I've already given you too many chances. You won't change. You've already proven to me that you won't. I'm sorry." Doing what he thought best, even though it killed him to do so, Joey crossed the room hesitantly taking off the ring and placing it in Lances' hand, curling his fingers around it. "I guess you'll be wanting this back." Before Lance could answered, Joey turned and walked out the door before the tears start to fall. Looking down at the ring in his hand, Lance felt his heart breaking into a million and one pieces. He never thought Joey would give him back the ring. Never in a thousand years. But...in a way, he figured he would. Things between them had changed, and Lance knew that he shouldn't have even thought of proposing to Joey, not with the way his temper was. The engagment was just, to Lance, a way to try and force Joey to change, but he saw now that nothing was going to do that. Not a ring, not the love Lance gave him unconditionally, not the pain in his eyes, nothing. Maybe, some time behind bars would do the trick, the blond hoped. ----- Once the door closed behind him, Joey leaned up against it. He knew he deserved what was coming, and maybe it was best for him. He didn't try to hurt Lance, it just happened. He was Italian, in his blood, he couldn't help from boiling over. He did love Lance with all he had in him. If only Lance could see the insides of his heart, maybe then he would know. Getting an idea and spotting the guys walking towards him, he quickly turned and walked the opposite direction. "So you going to sit with him for a while Justin?" Chris asked as they walked back down the hall. "If Joey want's to switch I mean." "No, you can Chris... I already had my turn, remember???" "You sure man? I mean, I don't know if I can stomach the state he's in..." "I did, didnt I? He's really not that bad Chris. You've seen worse on tv." Nodding his head, Chris walked over and knocked on the closed door, then pushed it opened, walking in and closing it behind him, leaving a little opening. Sitting down on a couch in the hallway, Justin advised, "JC, sit down and try to relax. You can see him next." Taking a calming breath, JC paced the hallway. "I don't think I can sit down Justin. You know us, always have to be moving, so here I am, moving. Yep this is me, moving. See?" Justin only sighed and shook his head, trying to calm himself down as much as possible. ----- Lance was still crying quietly, looking down at the ring in his hand. He didn't even notice Chris in the room with him. Chris slowly moved to sit beside Lance. "You okay man??" Jerking his head up quickly, to fast for his injured body to take, he let out a shout of pain. "Ow!" Jumping to get next to him, Chris voiced, "Lance, what happened? You okay?" "Yeah," Lance answered. "Just don't scare me like that." "I'm sorry. Can I get you anything?" "Did Joey...no, nevermind. I'm fine thanks." Looking down at the ring in his hand again, Lances' eyes started to tear up, dispite Chris' presence in the room. "Lance, what happened?" "Nothing...it's just some stuff that needs to...to be worked out between Joey and I," Lance answered, closing his fingers around the ring. "I'm fine." "I mean, what happened to get you here?" "Justin called 911 I guess. That's usually how you get to the hospital, once you...you blacked out and fell." Lance knew it wasn't a good idea to lie to his friends, but he had to learn to work out his problems on his own. No more going to JC or Chris for help, or Justin for advice. No more of that. He was 21 years old, nearly 22. It was time he grew up and started doing things for himself. "And that caused internal damage?" "I fell really really hard?" Chris wasn't buying it for a minute. "I mean really Lance, what happened?" "Nothing Chris," Lance repeated. "I just got dizzy and fell." "Nice one Lance. Just know when you're ready to tell the truth, I'm here," the older one voiced. "I am telling the truth," he whispered, his voice meek and mild. Sitting back down in the chair, Chris only nodded. "Sure you are. You gonna be okay?" "Yeah...as soon as I'm out of here. When can I go home?" Lance asked, trying to put aside the feeling of the cold ring in his hand. Sure, he could set it on the bed next to him, but he already lost Joey. The ring was the only thing he had now that was still remotely connected to him; so he wasn't about to let it go, not for the life of him. According to Justin," Chris began explaining. "If all goes well, you can come home with us tomorrow morning." "What about the concerts? We both know there will be no way I'll be able to dance for a while." "Justin and JC are working on postponing everything." "Oh, okay," Lance said, rolling the ring between his fingers. For a moment, his eyes were distant, almost teary again. "Can...can I ask you a question Chris? And I want a serious answer from you." "You can ask me anything buddy. What is it?" Taking in a deep breath, Lance asked solemnly, "If you loved someone with all your heart, would you ever do something to hurt them? I mean, really hurt them?" "Accidents do happen," Chris replied. "I can't say I would ever do it inentionally, but fluck accidents do happen out of the blue." "What if you were sure it wasn't a fluck, and it wasn't an accident. You were positive they wanted to hurt you?" "You're sure they wanted to hurt you? Why would anyone in love want to do that?" Chris asked, still not catching on to what Lance was getting at. "Yes I'm sure. The one that did the hurting, promised to never do it again, but they broke that promise. I mean, all this is hypothetically speaking. I was just curious." "Well, something, anything could have triggered it," Chris replied. "And if this is hypothical, what are you getting at?" Thinking fast, Lance responded, "Nothing really. I was just, um, thinking back to a talk show I saw a while back. This guy thought his boyfriend was cheating on him, so he beat him every chance he got. But, the one that was receiving the beatings was either to much in love with his boyfriend to leave, or too scared." Shaking his head, almost shrugging off the subject, Lance added, "I was just wondering what you thought about it." "Okay, I see what's going on here," replied the older one. "You said you fell, right? Well you fell head over heals over a girl and she called you to brake up with you. And that caused you to hurt yourself. What are you trying to do? Be Jim Carey in 'Liar Liar'? A piece of advice from an old fart here," Chris added. "It doesn't work." Fighting back a small laugh, Lance shook his head again. "How you managed to figure that one out Chris is beyond me. But, I guess I should never try to keep secrets from you huh?" With a big grin on his face, "Yep, I figured it out. You should never try to keep secrets from me from the start." He was obviously proud of himself for solving the mystery. "I know better now Mr. Kirkpatrick," Lance said. Sighing he scooted down under the covers, pulling the pillows up so that he was kinda propped up on them. "Did you guys see Joey leave? He and I talked, and he kinda mad at me for what I told him. And before you ask, it's none of your business." "Then if it's none of my business, why would I tell you if I saw him?" asked the older man. "What did he do? Tell you it was just another girl?" Sighing again, he pulled the covers up over his face. "I don't want to talk about it. I just want to forget that I was ever together with this person." "In that case, do you want me to leave you alone?" "I don't want to sound rude, but would you please?" his voice was muffled, tears again choking his throat. "I'll be okay. I just...just need to sort through al this right now, and I think I want to do it alone." Completely missing the point, Chris stood and walked towards the door. "Okay, I'll send JC right in." Groaning, Lance didn't say anything. He didn't even try and shake his head as the doctors told him not to move around so much, though they didn't put a neck brace or halo on him. He still have some spinal damage, but nothing serious. Chris walked out into the hallway, leaving the door opened a crack. "JC, he wants to see you now..." Looking over at the door, JC gulped and tried to compose himself. He hated hosptials, there was no secret there. But, one of his friends was just beyond that door, and he did want to see him. Walking in strongly, he smiled and walked over to the chair that Chris had vacated. ----- Chris sat down next to Justin in hallway. "Have you seen Joey?" "Um...I think I saw him turn a corner just as we were coming back from the cafeteria. I guess he just needed time alone..." Shrugging his shoulders and leaning back against the wall, Chris replied, "I hope Lance is gonna be okay." "The doctors said he'd be fine. Thank God his spinal cord wasn't severed." Looking off distantly, Justin whispered, "It was inches from being cut. And if it was cut, then he wouldn't be able to move his legs, and then he woudln't be able to dance. Oh my God...that was way too close Chris...that was way too close." "I found out what happened," Chris said, proud of himself, though still saddened at the thought of what al this was caused by. Or so he thought. "He told me." "Really?" Justin asked, his eyes lighting up at the thought of finally knowing the truth. If only he had known that what Chris was about to tell him was so far from the truth it might as well have been on another planet. "What happened?" "Well see I guessed most of it cause he was too embarrased. But he did admit it finally. He had a secret girlfriend that none of us knew about. They must have had an argument and they broke up. Then he thought he was Jim Carrey off of 'Liar, Liar'. He beat himself up." Justins' jaw dropped. Lance wasn't the type to 'beat himself up' over a girl, was he? "You serious?" "Wish I weren't for once, but I am..." Shaking his head, Justin just sighed. "Okay...I'm just glad it was over a girl. That didn't come out right, but you know what I mean." Chuckling a little, he confessed, "You know, at first I thought Joey had something to do with all this..." "How could Joey have anything to do about this?" Chris asked. "Joey wouldn't hurt a fly, let alone a person." "I know," Justin said, then sighed. "But, oh, nevermind. Joey couldn't have done it. He lo..." he started, then remembered what he had promised both of them. "He loves flys and people..." ----- "Lance?" JC asked quietly. "Yeah Jace?" the blond answered, looking out the window at a couple walking out of the hospital, a new baby in their arms. JC followed his gaze and tried to get him to smile. "Don't worry, you won't be having a baby this time." "Huh? Oh..." he said simply, wiping a tear from his eye. "What's wrong?" "Nothing...I'm just thinking..." "Thinking about what? If I may be so bold as to ask." "About how...how someone I love so much...can hurt me..." "What do you mean?" JC asked, not hearing Chris' thesis on what had happened. "I don't want to talk about it..." "Okay, what do you want to talk about?" Reaching for a tissue and bringing his hand under the covers, he quickly wrapped the ring in the tissue and handed it to JC. "Can you make sure Justin gets this. He'll know what to do with it. Please?" Looking down at the tissue, JC asked, "Justin's gonna want a used tissue? Okay, I'll do it. If you want me to." "Thank you Jace," Lance whispered. "Make sure he gets it back to who it belongs to..." Not even daring to peak at it, JC answered, "Okay. I'll do that for you." Jesturing at the untouched meal, he enquired, "Aren't you hunger?" "Not really. I just want to go home..." "I'm sorry Lance. You can't do that right now." "When? I just want to get out of here and be someplace where I won't be just another person. I just want to go home and back into Joeys' arms." He didn't even realize he let the one secret he held so dear slip. His mind was all a jumbles that it was as if he wasn't even talking for himself anymore. "Joeys' arms? Lance I know he can be protective of us all at times, but I'm here for you now. You can go home tomorrow if the doctors say so. Anything else I can do or get for you?" Sighing, Lance shook his head, despite doctors not to. "Go ask Justin. He'll tell you all you need to know about why I said I wanted to be back in Joeys' arm. Just don't tell anyone else. Not even Chris." "I take it you want to get some sleep?" JC asked. "Yes please..." "Say no more," JC said, standing and walking towards the door. "Just get some rest. If you want anyone else, just let me know and I'll find them for you okay?" Nodding, Lance thought about asking JC to go and find Joey, but he figured they both needed time away from each other. "Just make sure Justin gets that back to its owner okay?" he asked instead, pointing to the tissue in JCs' hand. "Sure thing." Walking out the door, shutting it carefully behind him, JC handed the tissue to Justin. "Lance wants you to get this back to its rightful owner." Taking the tissue from JCs' hand, Justin unfolded it in the palm of his own hand, soon revealing the engagement ring he had seen Joey wearing on the bus. "What is it?" JC asked, peering over Justins' shoulder. "It's Joe...Joanas' ring..." he whispered, his eyes locked on the ring in his hand. "Jonah? Joeys' friend? How did Lance get it?" "Not Johan...Joana," Justin repeated. "She's...she's a friend of Lances..." "Oh Joana? Who's that?" JC asked, running through all the names of the people he's met. "I've never met her." "She's...um..." Justin started, trying to think of an excuse. "She's a girl Lance was seeing briefly." Shrugging it off, JC bought it. "Anyone want anything? I can't seem to stay still." "No," Justin answered, standing and walking down the hallway. "I'm...I'm going for a walk. I need to think over some stuff alone..." ----- Peeking in each room, Joey searched until he found what he was looking for. "Excuse me, Doctor?" "Yes?" the elderly doctor replied, not looking up from a clipboard he held in his hands. "What can I do for you?" "Can I ask you a questin?" "What son? I'm very busy right now." "I just wanted to know if you're the doctor that runs that machine?" Joey asked, pointing over to a huge machine that took up most of the room. "I need an x-ray." "Do you have a doctors request? I need that first before I can proceed." "Well, no," the singer answered. "But I have cash." "And I have my rules," the doctor replied, still not looking up from the charts. "If you don't have a doctors' request, I can't help you. Go get one and then come back." "Where do I go to get one?" Joeys' voice was now becoming desprate. "Go make an appointment with your doctor, then if he or she recommends an x-ray, come here. That shouldn't take more then a week or so; seeing as to how swamped we are right now." "But I need it NOW and my doctor is back home in Florida." Shaking his head, the x-ray tech shrugged his shoulders. "Then I can't help you. I'm sorry. Now, if you'll please excuse me, I have work to finish." Joey only dropped to his knees and began to beg. "Please, it's important that I get this x-ray now." "I said no," the doctor hissed. "Now, if you don't leave, and I mean this instant, you'll be removed with force. I've told you already that you can't get an x-ray without a doctors' written authorization. Or can you not grasp that?" Joey reluctantly got up, turning to leave the room, defeated. "Yes sir." As he walked down the hall, a voice over the intercomm announced, "Visiting hours in this wing are now over. Visiting hours in this wing are now over. All visitors are asked to depart at this time. Thank you." "Shit," Joey cursed himself. "I better get back to find the other guys."