�Hello?� he said still half asleep. He looked up at the clock on the wall. 2:48 AM.

�Mark, I have some bad news.�

�Who is this?�

�It�s Rob. Your mother�something went wrong�the doctors don�t know what happened.�

�What! She said that she was doing fine!� Mike exclaimed.

�I know she did. But like I said, the doctor�s don�t know how it happened.� He paused. �She passed out this afternoon and for some unexplained reason, she went into an a coma.�

Mike�s heart stopped. He never felt such pain before in his life.

�Mark? Are you ok?�

�Uh�yeah.�

�Well I�ll be there in about ten minutes to get you.�

�Ok.� He said and hung up the phone. Once he did so, the phone rang again. He picked it up again.

�What is Rob?�

�Rob? Mike, this is Mark.�

�Oh, sorry about that. What�s up?� Mike said as he got up and searched for a pair of pants.

�We have a huge problem.�

�Tell me about it.�

�What are you talking about? I�m the one that has to deal with dad and his �very special� friend, Ashley.� Mark said mockingly.

�Ashley? Who�s Ashley?�

�Long story. But wait, if you don�t know about her, what are you talking about then?�

�Mark�mom went into an a coma.� Mike said straight up to the point.

Mark�s breathing stopped once all the words registered in his head. His whole body went limp causing him to drop the phone and collapse right next to it.

�How could this happen�what�I need to see her.� He thought to himself but his thought was broken by the faint voice coming from the phone receiver. He picked it up and held it back against his ear.

�I need to get to her Mike.� Was all he could think of saying.

�I know you do because I need to get to her too.�

�But how am I going to get there?�

�I don�t know but I got to go. I�ll call you if there are any changes. Bye.� Mike said as he hung up the phone, which left Mark totally alone on the other side.

Mark set the receiver down, as tears slowly rolled down his cheeks. He looked at the clock on the nightstand. 7:35 PM. He sat there for ten minutes thinking about what he should do. He finally figured out something. It was the only thing he could do. He had to tell Justin the truth.

He walked downstairs trying to find him but only found Kelly cooking in the kitchen. She looked up from what she was doing and saw him standing there; his eyes bloodshot. She put the wooden spoon down and rushed to him.

�Baby, what�s wrong?� she asked as she went to encircle her arms around him but he backed away.

�That�s what�s wrong. I need to get to him.� Mark said as tears started to fall once again. (A/N: He�s a very emotional guy, since he�s been living with Britney his whole life.)

Kelly stood there confused. But that�s when things clicked. The changed is his attitude, the way he spoke, and all the late night phone calls.

�Mark?�

He nodded which made him cry even harder. She wiped them away with the sleeve of her shirt.

�Oh my goodness, please stop crying. You�re going to make me start crying too.� She said as she pulled him into a hug.

�Not for the same reason though.� He paused. �Where�s dad? I need to tell him something.�

�Wait, why were you crying and where�s Mike?�

He sighed. �He�s in LA with mom.�

�When did this all happen?� she asked/

�I�ll tell you later. All I can say is that I need to get to them and dad needs to know what happened.�

�I need to know what happened?�


Chapter 9