It had taken her a few days, but Elizabeth finally managed to located Anna. It had taken so long because Elizabeth had searched every place she thought Anna could be, when it turned out Anna was somewhere that Elizabeth never thought to look.

        The hospital. The place that Anna hated more than any other place in the world. Where she’d spent the last four gruelling months of her life.

        That's where Elizabeth had found Anna...sitting in the waiting room, the same waiting room where Anna's family and friends had sat night after night after she had one of her relapses.

        Elizabeth found Anna curled up into a ball on one of the chairs watching the TV that was there, watching some old comedy show.

        But she wasn’t laughing. The tear stained cheeks and the dark, clouded eyes told Elizabeth all she needed to know.

        No, this wasn’t good.

        There wasn’t anyone else in the waiting room, so Elizabeth approached Anna right away as the show went into a commerical.

        “What are you doing here?” Elizabeth didn't wait to say something. She feared that if she waited, she wouldn't know what to say. From the look on Anna's face, she knew about JC and his new girlfriend.

        She didn't just look upset, but she looked pissed off. Elizabeth had never seen Anna pissed off at all. This was a side of Anna she wasn't sure she liked.

        Anna turned her head away from the screen and stared at Elizabeth. She hung her head and sighed. “I didn't know where else to go,” she said.

        “Why didn't you come to the house? I've been worried sick about you. Everyone's worried about you,” Elizabeth said.

        Wouldn't knowing that people were worried about her bring maybe a hint of a smile to Anna's dark features? Anna's dark brown hair was tied up as it normally was, but her blue eyes looked more like a dark shade of brown. Elizabeth could see the tear stains on her face; Anna had been crying.

        That had confirmed it; Anna knew the truth.

        Anna just shrugged. “I just wanted to be alone.”

        She expected Elizabeth to ask why she wanted to be alone, but when she asked nothing, Anna knew that she knew. Maybe she had talked to JC, or maybe the look in her eyes was way too revealing. Elizabeth had always been able to tell when something was wrong. Right now, she needed a friend. She needed someone to tell her that everything would be alright, though deep down she wasn't sure if anything would be anymore.

        “Why didn't you tell me?” Elizabeth asked. She was still standing a few feet from Anna, so she took a step forward. And to give a little comfort to her friend, placed a warm hand on Anna's shoulder.

        Anna was quiet for a minute as she contemplated why she hadn't told Elizabeth. When it finally came to her why she hadn't told anyone about what JC had done, she realized that she didn't want to look back on the past. The last six months had been pure hell, and the recent disaster to occur in her life, she just wasn't ready to talk about yet. \

        “I don't want to talk about it,” Anna snapped, and Elizabeth pulled her arm away. “I'm sorry.” She put her face in her hands and cried. She hardly ever cried, but she felt so lost now that she had lost JC that she didn't know what to do. “I just...God, I can't believe this is happening. Just when they tell me I'm cured, this shit has to happen.”
 
        “Why don't we go somewhere and talk privately?” Elizabeth suggested.

        From the looks of Anna's body as she got up slowly from the chair, she hadn't eaten in the last few days.

        “We'll stop on the way home and pick up something to eat,” Elizabeth told her.
 
        Anna was too tired to argue. “Okay.”



---Later That Night---

        “That bastard.”

         Anna had just finished explaining the note and the flowers JC had left her, just a few days before she was released from the hospital.

        And Elizabeth wasn't pleased. If she expected anything out of JC, this certainly wasn't what she expected. She had always thought of JC as a good husband. The thought of him cheating on Anna never would have crossed her mind. Until now.

        “I can't believe he would just send you a note instead of telling you in person,” Elizabeth said.
 
        “He did what he thought was best,” Anna said, chewing on a french fry. She hadn't eaten since she had received JC's “little gift”. And she was starving. “I hope the asshole's happy with his new barbie doll,” she said bitterly.
 
        Just when things were looking up for Elizabeth, things seemed to be going wrong for Anna. And when things were going well for Anna, things were going terribly for Elizabeth.

        More than anything, Elizabeth hated seeing her friend going through this pain, especially after all the hell she'd just been through with her disease. If she ever saw JC again, Elizabeth promised herself she'd give him a punch just to show him what a jerk he was. She just prayed the divorce would be quiet, then the two could just go their seperate ways.

        “He sent the divorce papers this morning,” Anna said quietly. “That's why I ran off this morning. I found them this morning in the mail. I've had all my mail forwarded to my new house. Just when I thought that JC was going to change his mind and come back to me, I got the papers.”
 
        Elizabeth could tell she was devestated. For good reason, she thought.

        Anna and JC had been together almost four years, and he had betrayed her in the worse possible way. If Justin ever did that to her, she didn't know what she would do.
 
        “If there's anything I can do----”
 
                    “I know,” Anna said, managing a small smile. “Thanks.” She hugged Elizabeth.

        The next few months would be hard, but she knew with all the support she had, that she would get through it. She could forget JC. She had to if she wanted to move on.



        JC looked across the room at his four best friends. His four best friends that were pissed at him, and refused to talk to him. But they had to cut a few songs, so they all agreed to get along and play nice, just for today.

        JC didn't blame them for being angry at him. He wasn't very happy with himself at the moment, either.

        Leaving Anna that note hadn't been the most manly thing to do, but at the time he had felt he had no other choice. Why keep lying to Anna and hurt her more? Didn't she deserve to know the truth? If only he had known how much he needed her when he had started the affair with Amy.

        At first, the affair had been casual and somehow it helped him to deal with the possibility that he might lose Anna to her disease. So he and Amy started seeing each other a little more, keeping JC from spending time at the hospital with his wife, who was slowly starting to recover. JC was still fearing the worst and found comfort in someone else's arms.

        But now looking back, he wished he could go back and change his actions.

        He had sent off the divorce papers last night. He knew that by now she had probably already gotten them. He had ended his relationship with Amy last night, too. He didn't love her. He couldn't go on seeing her when he knew that Anna was the only one in his heart. He didn't want to hurt Amy as he had hurt Anna.

        For a while JC had considered going back to the house he and Anna shared. He had contemplated getting on his hands and knees and asking for forgiveness.

        But instead, after he broke up with Amy, he had gotten into his car and drove all night, trying to take the pain away with the wind in his face, and liquor to drown his sorrows.

        But that hadn't worked, either. Now here he was, getting ready to cut the song he had written for Anna, and he was drunk.

        Well, sort of. Hung over was more like it.

        How could he have done this? He had not only hurt Anna, but himself and the four guys staring back at him as he sang those words like he still meant them.

        They glared at him as if to say ‘how dare you say those words after what you've done?’
 
        After they were done cutting the songs, JC grabbed his jacket and headed for the door. He wasn't wanted; it wasn't hard to see. The sour looks and the glares were enough to convince him.

        He stopped dead in his tracks when he heard Joey's voice.

        “Don't go, man.”
 
        Then he heard Lance's.
 
        “Yeah, come over here. Let's talk.”
 
        Then Chris' voice rang through his ears as JC looked back at his bandmates and friends.

        “Do you want some water? You look like you could use some.”
 
        JC smiled and walked back to them and sat down next to Justin, who still refused to talk to him.

        “Thanks,” he said, accepting the glass of water from Joey. He took a long gulp, then put the glass down.

        “We know you got drunk last night, JC,” Lance said. “Why did you do it? You never have more than one drink.”
 
        JC scowled. “I haven't been myself lately. I don't know what got into me.” He hadn't meant to snap, but it was eating him up inside that Justin, his best friend, wouldn't even look at him.

        “I'm proud of you for ending things with Amy,” Chris put in, putting a comforting hand on JC's shoulder. “You did the right thing, man.”
 
        “I know.” JC nodded. “It was stupid even getting involved with her in the first place.”
 
        “No shit,” Justin muttered.

        That was the first time he'd said a word since JC had walked into the studio this morning. But Justin still refused to even look at JC.

        “What do you want me to say, Justin?” JC snapped. “If I could take it all back, I would. I never would have left with Amy that night at the club. What can I do to make you look at me? You can't even stand to look at me, can you? You're so ashamed of me. Believe me, you're not the only one. How do you think I feel? I cheated on my wife. I lost the best thing that ever happened to me.”
 
        Suddenly, Justin looked up and glanced over at JC. “I just don't understand how you could be so stupid!”
 
        “Believe me, I don't know either. The doctor's told me that Anna wasn't going to make it through the week. I rushed out of there as soon as possible, and went to the closest club. I didn't know what else to do. I felt so lost. But now, I wish I could go back. I wish I had gone to Anna's room instead of the club. I should have been there comforting her, telling her that everything would be okay. That she was going to fine. But I can't go back, Justin. I can't go back!”

         JC had never been so ashamed of his actions, because normally his actions had never resorted to anything this bad. He usually was able to control his emotions, and approach his problems with ease. But not this time. Not when his wife's life had been in the balance.

        “Are you going to go and try to work things out with Anna?” Joey asked.

        “I think she would just slam the door in my face if I tried,” JC said. “Maybe I'll wait it out a while, then try to talk to her.”

         “Why did you send the divorce papers if you wanted her back?” Lance asked.

        “I don't know,” JC admitted. “But I'm not letting her go without a fight.” He was up off the chair and heading towards the door when it hit him what he had to do.

        “Where are you going?” Justin called just as JC turned the knob.

        “To get my wife back,” was the reply they received before they heard the door slam.

---