Chapter 47

Inner Reflection | home

"You told him you loved him, didn't you?"

JC looked at Justin in shock. "What?"

"When he was...passed out and on the stretcher. You said you loved him, didn't you?" Justin pressed.

JC looked down, then back into Justin's eyes. "Yeah, I did."

"Did you mean it?" Justin asked. "I mean, it could've been like heat of the moment...or something..."

JC looked at him in shock. "Of course I meant it. You, of all people, should know that I don't say things like that if I don't mean them."

Justin nodded, chewing on the inside of his cheek. He knew, all right. JC had told a couple girls he loved them, and they all ended up breaking his heart. "Are you going to tell him?"

JC shook his head vehemently. "Uh uh. I can't."

"I want to make sure he feels the same way," JC said. "I don't want to just...open myself up again, without being sure, you know?"

Justin nodded in agreement. "But I still think you should tell him. He's got a right to know."

JC sighed doubtfully. He jammed his hands in his pockets and rocked backwards on his heels. "Maybe so. But I don't want to...just..."

"Jace! Come here and look at this!" Lance was saying. JC snapped his head up and trotted over to Lance's bed. He looked at the TV.

"Will the rest of the group be continuing the tour, Lou?" a reporter asked.

"We're not sure right now, but it does look like they'll be going on. However, Lance will join them as soon as he is well enough to, and..." JC shut the TV off.

JC looked at him angrily. "I'm not doing the rest of the tour until you're better," he said defiantly.

"Yes, you will," Lance sighed. "Lou's gonna make you and I'm gonna make you. I don't want you guys delaying it on account of me."

"Yeah, well, we didn't stop on account of you before, and you ended up HERE!" JC argued.

Lance looked down and played with the edge of the sheet on his bed. "I'm sorry. But I'm not out there this time," he said. "I want you to do it...you have to!"

"JC, you KNOW Lou is going to make you anyway! I don't care if he promised to let up on you or not, but he's going to make you. And I think you should too. You can't disappoint the fans just because I got a little sick."

"A LITTLE sick? Jesus, Lance, you're in a HOSPITAL for crying out loud! Any concert won't be the same without you in it. And right now? I could honestly care less about disappointing the fans. Do you have ANY idea how scared I was when you collapsed on top of me? How absolutely terrified I was when I noticed that you didn't have a pulse? Lance, I was scared to death, all right? I don't know what I would've done if you weren't okay. You know why? It's because I l-- I've never felt like THIS for ANYONE before now. No one. Get it? I'm NOT going back on this tour until you're 100%." JC gave Lance, who was twisting the sheet into a little ball now, one last look before leaving the room.

"Where's the fire?" Chris asked, looking up from the magazine he was pretending to read. They'd all wanted to let JC have a few minutes alone with Lance, so they were in the waiting room.

"Shut up, Chris," JC growled.

"You guys get in a fight or something? The doctor said we shouldn't really excite him too much..." Justin said.

"You think, Justin?" JC snapped. "He freaking wants us to go on tour without him, okay? I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm NOT ready to do that, and I DON'T want to. I WON'T."

"He what?" Joey asked, astonished.

JC spun around on one heel to face Joey and ran a hand through his hair. "We saw an interview on TV. Someone was asking Lou if the rest of us were...Oh. LOU. Hi."

Lou shot him a glare. "Where's the patient?"

"Thanks Chris," Lou said, then walked towards Lance's room.

JC jumped in front of the door. "Uh uh."

The other three looked up, shocked at his boldness. "Move," Lou said, eyes narrowing angrily.

JC folded his arms over his chest. "No. Don't you think you've done enough?" he asked, squinting and leaning against the door.

Lou glared at JC. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me," JC said, looking Lou straight in the eyes. "This is your fault. You wouldn't let him sit out, you wouldn't let him rest. You forced him to 'date' Danielle and take those stupid all-night flights." His arms dropped from his chest and his fists clenched. "YOU knew he was getting sick, but you wouldn't let him take a break." He stopped leaning against the door, and instead leaned forward. "You called a meeting that said we'd be slowing down...only you FORGOT to invite Lance," he said, his voice rising.

Lou had had enough. He reached out and gripped JC's arms just below the shoulders. "That's enough," he said, his voice angry. JC tried to shake him off but couldn't do it. "This was his own fault."

"You're crazy," JC said, his voice trembling with rage. "You're crazy. Let go of me." Lou only squeezed harder and the other three jumped up. "Let go of me, dammit! You're INSANE. You want the tour to keep going without him, I saw that interview. You want him back as soon as possible, to keep up your 'agenda.' You don't get it, do you? Didn't you learn a lesson from the Backstreet Boys? Is Lance gonna be Brian Junior or something? Oh, wait, heart SURGERY is a little worse, isn't it? We can't spare 8 weeks on this LITTLE PROBLEM we have here, can we? Gonna send him out tomorrow?" JC's head snapped over towards where the nurse was watching with rapt fascination. "Are you getting every word of this down or am I talking too fast for you?" The nurse looked back down and busied herself with paperwork. JC spun his head down and looked at where Lou was still gripping his arms, almost painfully now. "Get your greasy arms OFF of me, dammit!" he said, pretty close to screaming now.

The guys stood frozen with shock. They'd never seen JC this angry before. Even that time he'd gone after Joey..."Um, why don't you..." Justin began, but was cut off.

"We don't need your help here, Justin, do we JC?" Lou asked, squeezing harder. "I'll ask you one more time, Joshua," Lou said. "Step aside."

"No," JC said defiantly, but wincing from the pain. "I won't let you go in there."

"I OWN you, JC. You have to do what I say. I could completely CRUSH you to pieces."

"Pretty close to doing that now, aren't we?" JC said. "Get your hands off of me," he said.

"I will when you move," Lou said, looking at JC confidently. Justin was angry seeing his best friend being treated like this. He jumped up to try to pull Lou off, but Lou just elbowed him away.

"What is so important that you have to see Lance about?" JC asked, almost forgetting the argument the two had had only minutes before. Anger was still smoldering in his eyes, anger directed at Lou not only for the treatment of Lance, but what had just happened to Justin.

"None of your business."

"LANCE is my business. I don't give a flying fuck about what you do with YOUR time, but it sure as hell isn't watching out for any of us. I'm going to say it again. Get. Your hands. Off. Of me. NOW."

Lou only squeezed even harder, so hard that JC could feel him crushing the skin. He pushed him into the door with a bang and he could feel the doorknob against his back. He winced painfully, then his eyes widened when he saw the look of enjoyment in Lou's face. "I don't think so," Lou said, shoving JC to the side so hard he fell to the floor with a thud. Then he opened the door, and jammed it shut with something in the room.

The others ignored him for the time being. Justin rushed to JC, who was sitting with his arms crossed and rubbing his sore arms painfully. "What's going on here, gentlemen?" they heard a stern voice ask. They turned to see Nikolas -- Dr. Gates -- standing there. He looked down and saw JC, still rubbing his arms, struggle to his feet. "I heard yelling...what happened?"

"Well, Doctor..." JC began, not really sure why he still felt so...nervous around this man. Almost like he had to impress him somehow.

Joey saved him. "Well...JC had a little run-in with Lou," he said.

"Um...Lou kinda got a little violent, and..." JC looked at him gratefully, and Nikolas turned to look at him, waiting for more. "And he's in there with Lance now," Joey finished uncomfortably.

"What?" Nikolas asked. "You shouldn't have let him in there by himself, if he...why didn't anyone stop him?"

"JC tried to," Chris put in. "And after a REALLY long argument, he kinda, just...shoved him off to the side. And now we can't get in because he jammed the door."

"What?" Nikolas practically yelped, going for the door. He jiggled the doorknob and heard muffled voices inside, and they sounded angry. He found himself getting angry, and he knocked the door open forcefully. The sight he saw scared even him. Lou was standing, staring angrily at Lance. Lance had tears coursing down his face, and had actually started to hyperventilate.

"Get security," he called out the door.

"Just GET them! Hospital security, not yours." Then he rushed to Lance's side, going by Lou, giving him an angry look that chilled him to the bone.

"James, I need you to breathe. You have to calm down, all right?" Lance blinked to try to clear his blurring vision. He managed a nod, but he was still staring at Lou, fear on his face. He was still breathing very fast, and Nikolas knew he would faint if he couldn't get him to calm down. He looked at where Lance was looking, and saw Lou staring at them. "It's Lou, isn't it?" Nikolas asked, and Lance started breathing faster. "Shh...calm down...we're getting him out of here. Shh, it's all right..." Lance blinked, still trying to clear his vision. At this point, Nikolas didn't exactly care about whether or not he was acting like a doctor. Right now, his concern was Lance, and only Lance. Two burly men came in the door. "Get him out of here," Nikolas said, gesturing to Lou.

"I SAID, get him out of here. He is NOT to be allowed anywhere NEAR this young man, understood?" The guys nodded. Then Nikolas made a split second decision he knew he'd probably regret later. "Send in JC as well."


	Inner Reflection \| home back to Sent From Above Chapter 47 "You told him you loved him, didn't you?" JC looked at Justin in shock. "What?" "When he was...passed out and on the stretcher. You said you loved him, didn't you?" Justin pressed. JC looked down, then back into Justin's eyes. "Yeah, I did." "Did you mean it?" Justin asked. "I mean, it could've been like heat of the moment...or something..." JC looked at him in shock. "Of course I meant it. You, of all people, should know that I don't say things like that if I don't mean them." Justin nodded, chewing on the inside of his cheek. He knew, all right. JC had told a couple girls he loved them, and they all ended up breaking his heart. "Are you going to tell him?" JC shook his head vehemently. "Uh uh. I can't." "Why not?" "I want to make sure he feels the same way," JC said. "I don't want to just...open myself up again, without being sure, you know?" Justin nodded in agreement. "But I still think you should tell him. He's got a right to know." JC sighed doubtfully. He jammed his hands in his pockets and rocked backwards on his heels. "Maybe so. But I don't want to...just..." * "Jace! Come here and look at this!" Lance was saying. JC snapped his head up and trotted over to Lance's bed. He looked at the TV. "Will the rest of the group be continuing the tour, Lou?" a reporter asked. "We're not sure right now, but it does look like they'll be going on. However, Lance will join them as soon as he is well enough to, and..." JC shut the TV off. "Hey!" Lance said. JC looked at him angrily. "I'm not doing the rest of the tour until you're better," he said defiantly. "Yes, you will," Lance sighed. "Lou's gonna make you and I'm gonna make you. I don't want you guys delaying it on account of me." "Yeah, well, we didn't stop on account of you before, and you ended up HERE!" JC argued. Lance looked down and played with the edge of the sheet on his bed. "I'm sorry. But I'm not out there this time," he said. "I want you to do it...you have to!" "I said NO, Lance." "JC, you KNOW Lou is going to make you anyway! I don't care if he promised to let up on you or not, but he's going to make you. And I think you should too. You can't disappoint the fans just because I got a little sick." "A LITTLE sick? Jesus, Lance, you're in a HOSPITAL for crying out loud! Any concert won't be the same without you in it. And right now? I could honestly care less about disappointing the fans. Do you have ANY idea how scared I was when you collapsed on top of me? How absolutely terrified I was when I noticed that you didn't have a pulse? Lance, I was scared to death, all right? I don't know what I would've done if you weren't okay. You know why? It's because I l-- I've never felt like THIS for ANYONE before now. No one. Get it? I'm NOT going back on this tour until you're 100%." JC gave Lance, who was twisting the sheet into a little ball now, one last look before leaving the room. "Where's the fire?" Chris asked, looking up from the magazine he was pretending to read. They'd all wanted to let JC have a few minutes alone with Lance, so they were in the waiting room. "Shut up, Chris," JC growled. "You guys get in a fight or something? The doctor said we shouldn't really excite him too much..." Justin said. "You think, Justin?" JC snapped. "He freaking wants us to go on tour without him, okay? I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm NOT ready to do that, and I DON'T want to. I WON'T." "He what?" Joey asked, astonished. JC spun around on one heel to face Joey and ran a hand through his hair. "We saw an interview on TV. Someone was asking Lou if the rest of us were...Oh. LOU. Hi." Lou shot him a glare. "Where's the patient?" "Borneo." "Thanks Chris," Lou said, then walked towards Lance's room. JC jumped in front of the door. "Uh uh." The other three looked up, shocked at his boldness. "Move," Lou said, eyes narrowing angrily. JC folded his arms over his chest. "No. Don't you think you've done enough?" he asked, squinting and leaning against the door. Lou glared at JC. "Excuse me?" "You heard me," JC said, looking Lou straight in the eyes. "This is your fault. You wouldn't let him sit out, you wouldn't let him rest. You forced him to 'date' Danielle and take those stupid all-night flights." His arms dropped from his chest and his fists clenched. "YOU knew he was getting sick, but you wouldn't let him take a break." He stopped leaning against the door, and instead leaned forward. "You called a meeting that said we'd be slowing down...only you FORGOT to invite Lance," he said, his voice rising. Lou had had enough. He reached out and gripped JC's arms just below the shoulders. "That's enough," he said, his voice angry. JC tried to shake him off but couldn't do it. "This was his own fault." "You're crazy," JC said, his voice trembling with rage. "You're crazy. Let go of me." Lou only squeezed harder and the other three jumped up. "Let go of me, dammit! You're INSANE. You want the tour to keep going without him, I saw that interview. You want him back as soon as possible, to keep up your 'agenda.' You don't get it, do you? Didn't you learn a lesson from the Backstreet Boys? Is Lance gonna be Brian Junior or something? Oh, wait, heart SURGERY is a little worse, isn't it? We can't spare 8 weeks on this LITTLE PROBLEM we have here, can we? Gonna send him out tomorrow?" JC's head snapped over towards where the nurse was watching with rapt fascination. "Are you getting every word of this down or am I talking too fast for you?" The nurse looked back down and busied herself with paperwork. JC spun his head down and looked at where Lou was still gripping his arms, almost painfully now. "Get your greasy arms OFF of me, dammit!" he said, pretty close to screaming now. The guys stood frozen with shock. They'd never seen JC this angry before. Even that time he'd gone after Joey..."Um, why don't you..." Justin began, but was cut off. "We don't need your help here, Justin, do we JC?" Lou asked, squeezing harder. "I'll ask you one more time, Joshua," Lou said. "Step aside." "No," JC said defiantly, but wincing from the pain. "I won't let you go in there." "I OWN you, JC. You have to do what I say. I could completely CRUSH you to pieces." "Pretty close to doing that now, aren't we?" JC said. "Get your hands off of me," he said. "I will when you move," Lou said, looking at JC confidently. Justin was angry seeing his best friend being treated like this. He jumped up to try to pull Lou off, but Lou just elbowed him away. "What is so important that you have to see Lance about?" JC asked, almost forgetting the argument the two had had only minutes before. Anger was still smoldering in his eyes, anger directed at Lou not only for the treatment of Lance, but what had just happened to Justin. "None of your business." "LANCE is my business. I don't give a flying fuck about what you do with YOUR time, but it sure as hell isn't watching out for any of us. I'm going to say it again. Get. Your hands. Off. Of me. NOW." Lou only squeezed even harder, so hard that JC could feel him crushing the skin. He pushed him into the door with a bang and he could feel the doorknob against his back. He winced painfully, then his eyes widened when he saw the look of enjoyment in Lou's face. "I don't think so," Lou said, shoving JC to the side so hard he fell to the floor with a thud. Then he opened the door, and jammed it shut with something in the room. The others ignored him for the time being. Justin rushed to JC, who was sitting with his arms crossed and rubbing his sore arms painfully. "What's going on here, gentlemen?" they heard a stern voice ask. They turned to see Nikolas -- Dr. Gates -- standing there. He looked down and saw JC, still rubbing his arms, struggle to his feet. "I heard yelling...what happened?" "Well, Doctor..." JC began, not really sure why he still felt so...nervous around this man. Almost like he had to impress him somehow. Joey saved him. "Well...JC had a little run-in with Lou," he said. "Um...Lou kinda got a little violent, and..." JC looked at him gratefully, and Nikolas turned to look at him, waiting for more. "And he's in there with Lance now," Joey finished uncomfortably. "What?" Nikolas asked. "You shouldn't have let him in there by himself, if he...why didn't anyone stop him?" "JC tried to," Chris put in. "And after a REALLY long argument, he kinda, just...shoved him off to the side. And now we can't get in because he jammed the door." "What?" Nikolas practically yelped, going for the door. He jiggled the doorknob and heard muffled voices inside, and they sounded angry. He found himself getting angry, and he knocked the door open forcefully. The sight he saw scared even him. Lou was standing, staring angrily at Lance. Lance had tears coursing down his face, and had actually started to hyperventilate. "Get security," he called out the door. "Why?" he heard. "Just GET them! Hospital security, not yours." Then he rushed to Lance's side, going by Lou, giving him an angry look that chilled him to the bone. "James, I need you to breathe. You have to calm down, all right?" Lance blinked to try to clear his blurring vision. He managed a nod, but he was still staring at Lou, fear on his face. He was still breathing very fast, and Nikolas knew he would faint if he couldn't get him to calm down. He looked at where Lance was looking, and saw Lou staring at them. "It's Lou, isn't it?" Nikolas asked, and Lance started breathing faster. "Shh...calm down...we're getting him out of here. Shh, it's all right..." Lance blinked, still trying to clear his vision. At this point, Nikolas didn't exactly care about whether or not he was acting like a doctor. Right now, his concern was Lance, and only Lance. Two burly men came in the door. "Get him out of here," Nikolas said, gesturing to Lou. "But he's..." "I SAID, get him out of here. He is NOT to be allowed anywhere NEAR this young man, understood?" The guys nodded. Then Nikolas made a split second decision he knew he'd probably regret later. "Send in JC as well."