Chapter 11

Inner Reflection | home

Walking into the front door of the hotel, the kitten in his arms, Joey bumped into Justin. Acting a little too cheerful, he greeted, "Hey Justin, what's up."

"Um...hey Joey," the blond replied, raising an eyebrow. "Where's Lance? Still on the bus?"

"I thought he was right behind me. He'll be here shortly. Maybe he stopped to grab something."

"'Shortly'?" Justin echoed, his curiousity getting the better of him. "Joey, what happened between you and Lance?" Turning around to look out towards the bus, Justin waited for a moment to see if there was any movement. When there was nothing, he turned back to Joey. "What's going on?"

"What do you mean 'what's going on'? That's what's going on. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to check-in excuse me." Turning and walking towards the check-in desk, he left Justin standing there.

That uneasy feeling again overwelmed Justin. Turning and almost bolting towards the bus, Justin was welcomed by the sight of his friend laying on the ground, a puddle of blood by his mouth, his eyes shut. "Oh my God..." Just from the sight of his friend laying there, tramatized Justin. He forgot how mad Joey had been and then how calm he was just a few seconds ago. To Justin, it didn't even happen, Joey was the sweet teddy bear he was made out by the press to be.

Kneeling down next to Lance, Justin gently shook his friends' shoulder. "Lance, buddy, wake up..."

Groaning and fluttering his eyes slightly, Lance moaned out Joeys' name, coughing up more blood. Grabbing his sides, he tried to turn back over onto his back, but with every move he made, pain surged throughout his body. "Joey..."

Without hesitiation, Justin picked up his cell phone and dialed 911.

"911, state the nature of your emergency," a female voice said a moment later.

"Uh hi...is this 911? Do I have the right number?" Justin asked, worried about his friend, and not thinking.

"Yes sir, you have 911. What is your emergancy?"

"I'''I'm not really sure what my emergency is...cause I don't know. But...I do know some information," Justin replied, his voice starting to panic.

"Where are you? I'll send an ambulance there. What happened?"

"I...I don't know where I am. We just got here. Wait, I do know where we are, I'm on my tour bus."

"And where is your tour bus sir?"

"I'm not really sure. Multipler, Vermont. I don't know."

"Montpiler, Vermont sir." In the background, she was furiously typing away on the key board, trying to figure out where they were. "Okay, sir, I need you to look out the window. Do you see any buildings or signs that will help get the ambulance there quicker?"

"I don't want to leave my friend."

"You don't have to leave him, just look out a window if there is one in the room with you."

"I'm lazy, I'm staying here."

"Then you're friend isn't going to make it, if he's the one that's hurt. Sir, I need you to cooperate and look out a window," the operater ordered, her once calm voice raising into harsh tones.

"How about I tell this. Tell your sirens to go with their sirens off and listen for the sound of screaming girls. That will lead you to the Nsync bus."

"Is that where you are?"

"This is Justin Timberlake," he replied, getting aggrivated. "Yeah, that's where I'm at."

"Why didn't you say so?!" The dispatcher radioed the ambulance to go to the hotel they were staying at. "They'll be there in a few minutes Justin. How's hurt?"

"Lance is hurt. He's coughing up blood. I don't know what's wrong with him."

"Is he on turned on his back or stomach?"

"He's...he's kinda between his back and stomach."

"Okay, carefully, without moving his neck as there might be spinal damage, turn him onto his back. You're going to have to support his neck while you role him over."

Trapping the phone between his shoulder and ear, he managed to get Lance onto his back. "Okay, I got him stablized. What do I do?"

"Can he talk, or make any noises from his mouth?"

"I don't know. Lance can you talk?" Moving his lips slightly, trying to form words, Lance only managed to make gurgling noises, but no words. Realying to the operator, Justin informed, "He...he can make...make a noise, but...but he can't talk."

"Can he move his fingers?"

Trying to move his fingers for him, Justin answered, "Yeah, with help."

"Can he move them on his own?"

"Lance, listen to me. You're going to have to move your fingers okay? Do it." The older blond tried to move his fingers, but they remained still. He only groaned in pain and started to slip back into unconsciousness. "Okay...La...Lance stop." Relaying again, Justin informed, "No...he can't...and he's starting to go into sleepy again."

"Okay, he may have spinal damage." Flipping to her quick refernce book, the dispatcher instructed, "You're going to have to make a neck brace for him until the ambulance gets there. The easiest way is to put his head between your knees, holding his head stable at the temples, squeezing ever so lightly."

Slipping his knees on either side of Lances' head, Justin did as he was instructed. "Okay, now what? I won't have to do cpr on him will I?"

"No you won't have to do cpr. Just hold him as steady as you can until the ambulance gets there. Let me know if there is even the smallest changed in anything he does."

"So I get to keep talking to you?" Justin asked, his mind totally screwed up with what he was doing. Here he was his friends' life hanging in his hand, and he wasn't thinking clearly.

"The ambulance should be there in a few moments, just keep doing what you're doing."

"Okay...sh...should I sing for him or anything? Would that help him?"

"I don't think any amount of your singing will help Lance right now."

"Okay, whatever will help him, just let me know," said the blond, his voice almost that of a scared child.

"I will Justin. You're doing fine. Keep it up." Within a few moments, the silence was broken by the sounds of sirens. They were coming closer and closer, the sound of footsteps soon following as the EMTs made their way to the back lounge.

"We'll take it from here."

"How did you get past our securtity?" he asked, not realizing at first who they were.

"What securtity? Kid get out of our way if you want you friend to make it," one of them replied, pulling out a neck brace and strapping it onto Lance, while the other used a sort of suction device to clear his airway of the blood that was collecting there. "We got to get him to the emergancy room stat."

Sitting out of the way, Justin asked, "Can I go with him, please?"

"Yeah, come on," the other EMT ordered as he rolled a back board under Lance. Then the two lifted him up and onto the stretcher, manuvering it carefully off the bus and over to the waiting ambulance.

Running behind them, he was unsure of what to do. "Do I go in here?" he asked, pointing to the back of the ambulance.

Hopping into the ambulance behind them, he replied, "I don't want to get in the way."

Starting an IV on Lance and assessing his injuries the EMT in the back shook his head. "Sit down and you'll be fine. What happened to him?"

Drawing a complete blank, Justin answered, "I...I don't know. One minute I was talking to Joey in the hotel and the next, I come out to the bus and find him like this."

"How long has he been like this?"

Looking at his watch, the blond shook his head. "I don't know. As soon as I found him, I called the dispatcher." Then it dawned on him that he was still on the line with 911. "How long has it been?"

"Rescue 12, about 5 to 8 minutes has passed," the operators' voice came from over the cb radio.

Turning around, about 5 to 8 minutes," he added. "So it happened before that. I don't know."

The rest of the drive was spent with Justin answering questions as best he could from the EMTs and watching as they continued to do all they could to try and save his friends' life. The drive seemed to last for etenity, when in reality it was only 5 or 6 minutes. Once they got to the emergancy room entrence, Lance was hauled out of the ambulance and raced down a prepped room; Justin being instructed to wait outside; friends weren't allowed in the O.R.

Pacing back and forth in the waiting room, Justin pulled out his cell phone and dialed JCs' number. He was usually the best to talk to about that.

"Wh...what do you what?" JCs' voice asked, hoarse and raspy, coughing miserably into a tissue he had in his hand.

Justins' voice showed the scared and volerable little boy that he had been during childhood. He only managed to spit out, "La...Lan...Lance..."

"What do you want Lance?" JC asked, not reconginizing the voice as that of Justins'.

"I...I...I'm not Lance...it...it's abo...about Lan...Lance," he replied, opening starting to cry.

"What about Lance?" JC asked, sitting up in bed, his entire body aching. When it came to one of his brothers, he'd put aside his own pain for them. "What happened?"

"I...I don't...don't know," Justin answered in that child like voice. "I just found him...and he wasn't him."

"Where is he?" asked the older one, kicing the covers off and rushing out into the hallway down to Chris and Joeys' rooms. "Guys get out here!" he shouted, pounding on the doors, his cell phone still in hand.

"He's in the emergancy room. They're working on him now."

"Alright, we'll be there as soon as we can," JC informed then hung up. He didn't even realize it was Justin on the phone. All he knew was that one of his friends was hurt and they had to be there for him.

With a heavy sigh, Justin ended the call and slipped his phone into his pocket. There wasn't much more he could do except wait...wait and pray that Lance would be fine.

"Yeah, what do you want?" Joey asked walking out of his room, still craddling the kitten in his arms.

"It's Lance," JC replied, pounding on Chris' door. "He's in the hospital. We need to haul ass and get down there...now!"

Falling to his knees in the middle of the hallway, Joey couldn't believe it. "What?"

"Something happened to Lance. I got a call from someone saying he was in the hospital. He sounded serious. We need to go check this out. Come on man, we gotta book it!"

"How...how we gonna get there?" Joey asked, Chris stepping out into the hallway, confusion written on his face. "All we have is the bus."

"Then we take the bus," JC answered. Turning to Chris, he pointed down the hallway, towards another set of rooms. "Go get James and meet us down at the bus. Hurry!" Before Chris could say anything, JC had Joey up to his feet and was pulling him and the kitten along down the hall towards the elevators, his face paler then it had ever been, and not because he was battling a bug.

Joey, running to keep up with JC, inqured, "Wha...wha...is he going to be okay?"

"I don't know man. The dude that called me didn't say much. Just that he was in the emergancy room." Running out of the hotel and up onto the bus, JC prayed for it to be all a joke, but when his eyes caught sight of the puddle of blood in the back lounge, he knew it was true, that something had happened to Lance. "Oh God..."

Joey sat down, placing the kitten next to him. Leaning forward, he placed his head between his knees; knowing in the back of his mind that if anything were to happen to Lance, that it was probably his fault.

"Dude, you were the last to be with him," JC said, looking down at Joey. "Did he seem weird or not himself?"

Looking up, Joey answered, "I...I don't know. To tell you the truth, I had my mind on my own problems. I wasn't paying attention."

Looking down the hall right at the blood that marked where Lance had been, JC all but lost his footing and collapsed to the ground. "This isn't happening. This is just a bad dream."

Finally Chris and James hopped onto the bus. Seeing the two men and their expressions, Chris asked, "What all happened?"

"Something happened to Lance. He's at the hospital, we don't know any more details," JC stated, his voice monotone as James started the bus and pulled away from the curb.

Chris, who had been holding both of his dogs, placed them on the ground and turned to JC. "If something happened on the bus, shouldn't we leave it here for a crime scene?"

"And how would we get to Lance, Chris?" JC snapped. "See which of us has the most talented thumb?"

"Good point. Okay, we'll take the bus."

They road to the hospital in silence, Busta and Korea had made their way to the back lounge and began sniffing at the pool of blood. At first they seemed to be curious at it, but when Busta started clawing at it and trying to cover it up with the carpet. Korea sniffed at it then began to whine, laying down next to it, resting her head on her paws.

"Korea? Busta?" Chris called, noticing the dogs' reactions. "Come here you two."

Lifting his head up, Joey saw what Chris was talking about; the animals. "We...we can't take them into the hospital. What are we going to do with them?"

"Leave them on the bus, I guess," Chris said. "Oh maybe James could take them back on the bus and arrange for a limo or something to pick us up at the hosptial when Lance is ready to come back with us."

"Can you take these 3 back to the hotel and send a limo for us?" Joey asked James, his voice trying to calm down.

James shook his head, concentrating on the road in front of him. "Of course guys. No problem."

Turning back to JC, Joey wondered, "Do you think he'll be okay?"

Shaking his head and resting his head in his hands, JC fought to keep his composure. "I don't know Joe. I hope so. God, what happened to him?!" Joey only prayed it was a retorical question. He just sat there staring into space worrying about his beloved fiancee.

Within a few minutes, they pulled into the hosptial parking lot. "Come on," JC sniffeled, not from the cold; he had been crying most of the way down from the hotel. Leading the 3 men off the bus, they all looked up towards the looming building in front of them. Gulping, JC took the first step towards the double doors that would take him to where Lance was. Joey followed sullenly; keeping his eyes on the ground below him.

"Hi," JC said to the nurse behind the counter. "We received a message that Lance Bass was admitted here like, maybe 15 minutes ago. Can you please tell us where he is?"

Looking up from a pile of paperwork, the nurse asked, "Are you family?"

"He has no family in this state," Chris answered from behind JC. "We're his friends he's travling with."

Picking up Lances' chart, the nurse shook her head. "I'm sorry, but only family is allowed in to see him at this point."

"But he has no family in Montpiler," JC reillerated. "His nearest family is in Mississippi. Please, we have to see him, just for a minute."

JCs' words seemed to make her reconcider slightly. "How well do you know him?" she asked finally

"He's like our baby brother man," Chris said, his voice lowered and his collar pulled up so no one would recognize them, although there weren't that many people in the waiting room. "We'll leave just as soon as we find out what happened to him. We just got a call saying he was in the hosptail, that was all. We don't even know why he's here."

The nurse didn't recognize any of them. She saw so many faces a day that she had to do double takes to make sure it was a doctor she was letting behind the counter and not just some Joe Smoe off the streets. "How can I be so sure you actually know him and aren't saying that?"

Pulling out a picture of the group from his wallet and showing it to the nurse, JC pointed out them in turn. "See? There's Lance and Joey. Me and Chris, and the blond dude is Justin."

Finally giving in, the nurse directed, "Fine. Room 365, but only one at a time. He is awake but he's very uncomfortable. The doctor has given him something to ease the pain which in turn could make him sleepy." Almost running over each other, the 3 turned and ran down the hall, after shouting their thank yous for her kind action. They didn't stop running until they were on the third floor and standing outside room 365.

Joey, once they were outside the door, asked almost hesitantly, "Who's gonna go first?"

"I don't think I want to go in..." JC answered. "I mean, I want to, but I don't think I'm ready for what may be behind that door. You know me and needles. I...I...someone else go..."

"What me to go first and lighten his day with a few jokes?" Chris asked.

JC only looked to Joey. "It's fine with me..."

Just then, Justin wakled out of Lances' room and saw JC, collapsing in his protective arms. "I'm so gad you're he...he...here..."

"Shh," the older one comforted. "What happened? How is he?"

"He's doing better than when I found him. No more blood..."

"What do you mean 'no more blood'? He was that worse for wear?"

Looking up into JCs' eyes, his fear showing through, the youngest one replied, "Yeah. He had blood coming out of his mouth."

"Oh my God," Chris and JC whispered at the same time. "So that's why there was blood on the bus. Are you sure he's fine? The dogs were, like I don't know, whimpering for him when the sniffed at the blood."

"He's okay now," Justin explained. "Just really weak."

"When will he be able to go home? I mean, back to the hotel?" JC asked, rubbing his hand against Justins' back soothingly.

"From what they told me, they said they wanted to keep him at least overnight for observation and do some more testing later to see if there was more internal damage than they thought, but if everything goes oaky he can come back tomorrow morning."

"Internal damage? Justin, what happened? One moment he was fine, the next he's here. What the fucking hell happened?" Chris asked, not caring if there were other people on the floor with them.

Chris' words made Justin start crying all over again. "I don't know," he cried into JCs' shirt. "I just found him..."

"Shh," JC said again, shooting a harsh glare Chris' way. "No one is blaming you for anything. You did the right thing Justin. You did the right thing. Stop crying."

"I want to go home," Justin said, his eyes moving up to JC again. "ALL of us...WITH Lance."

"We can call off the rest of the tour," he suggested. "Or postpone them. We won't go anywhere until Lance is all better."

Nodding in agreement, Justin replied, "That'll work. I'm worried about him."

"We all are Justin...we all are."

"I'm gonna go get something to eat from the cafeteria," the blond voiced, changing the subject. "Anyone want anything?"

"I'm not hungry, but I'll go with you Just," JC offered, looking at Chris and Joey. "Want anything guys?"

"No. I'll be fine," Joey replied. Gesturing towards the room, he added, "Can I go in?"

"Yeah man," Chris said. "I'm going with Justin and JC to get something. We'll be right outside when you're ready for a person change okay?"

"Okay." Bracing himself for whatever condition Lance might be in, Joey slipped in the door, shutting it quietly behind him. "Lance?"

The blond groggily turned his head to look towards the direction of where the voice came from. When his eyes set on Joey, they reverted to that of a child, clouded with fear. "Pl...please don't...don't hurt me..." he whispered, his once strong voice matching his eyes; child like.

"Would you like me to leave?" he asked, quietly standing just inside the door where he stopped.

Tears started to role from his tired eyes. Turning and looking the other direction, Lance whispered, "Why Joey? I thought you'd changed. You said you'd stop hurting me. Why did you beat me again?"

"I didn't mean to. I didn't know what I was doing," Joey apologized, lowering his eyes to the ground. "I... I...I'm sorry Lance. I love you with all my heart and I don't know what got into me. I'll do anything to make it up to you," tears starting to freely cascade down his cheeks.

Sniffling and shaking his head, Lances' answer was, "You said that once Joey, and I believed you. Now I'm laying in a hospital bed because of something you did to me. I don't know if I can take it anymore Joey. You...you lied to me, telling me you'd changed. You didn't Joey. You didn't change. I...I love you too...but, if you're going to...to hurt me like this...then..." Stopping and turning to face him again, he went on. "As soon as I'm out Joey, I'm going to the police. I gave you way to many chances to change. I guess you don't want to, so...I'm going to the police Joey."