| It was thier first day off in too long as far as they were concerned, and everyone was excited to have the freedom of the city at thier fingertips. The guys were standing outside in the hotel's back parking lot, comparing plans for the day. "I was going to ask Jaden if she'd like to do something." Justin said as the men's faces dropped. "I think she may have plans." Chris said pointing to where she was walking toward them, with a man who had his arm around her waist. All the men were shocked, over the last few days Justin and Jaden had been inseperable. They had been convinced they were an item. "Hi guys." She greeted a nervous smile taking her lips. "What are you doing today?" JC asked, hoping it was an old friend, or even a family member that had met up with her. "We are going to see a movie, you know The Way of the Gun, where the girl..." Her eyes pleaded with Justin to understand. Finding he was a lost cause, she turned to JC, trying to get the hint across. "What else are you doing?" Joey asked, thinking he was getting the hint, but wanting to be certain. "Uumm, we are..." she needed another way to tell them without coming out and directly saying it. "I'm not sure, but you shouldn't wait up, I may be in very late." She was almost in tears, and Justin thought she deserved it, after the past few days he wouldn't have paraded a girl around in front of her. "Well, let me get your birthday present first, you guys help me." Joey pulled Chris, Lance, and JC with him, leaving Justin to keep the conversation rolling. "Your birthday?" Justin asked, knowing he hadn't heard anything about it before. "Of course, my birthday. What are you doing today, Justin?" She tried to keep the conversation light. "I have no idea. I was thinking we could do something, but apparently you have plans." Justin paused for effect. "Maybe I'll go to a club, see what comes up." She wanted to tell him that it wasn't what he thought, but the cold steel of the blade pushed against her back, made her rethink. "Sounds like fun, I'm sure you'll have fun." Justin squinted his eyes as it all slowly unfolded. Jaden's eyes went blank, as she held her lip in between her teeth to keep the screams in her throat. Justin fell to his knees just before she did. JC and Joey jumped onto the man's back, holding him down after the blow to the head made him land there. Justin tore at Jaden's jacket trying to pull it from her body to see the incision in her back. Finally giving up on getting the jacket off, he leaned towards her ear. "Jaden, hey, talk to me." He put his hands on the side of her face, steading her. "I'm sorry." The tears started to fall and she blinked to stop them. "No, I'm sorry, Jaden, talk to me some more." Chris ran for a phone to call an ambulance. "It hurts. Justin, it hurts." He kissed each of her eyelids, then rested his head beside hers. "I know, the guys are getting help. So when is your birthday?" "Uuumm September....first." She squeezed his knee to keep from crying out. "Really, I didn't think it was today. What's your favorite holiday?" He tried to keep her talking. "Christmas, my Dad used to.." She was lifted off Justin and put on a stretcher before she could finish. Justin rushed to John, pulling him toward a car. He pushed John to drive so fast he made it to the hospital before anyone else. JC, Johnny, Lance, Joey, Chris, and other various members of the crew came running into the waiting room. Lance thrust a change of clothes at Justin, causing Justin to look down at his blood soaked mid section for the first time. "Come get me if anything happens." He ordered as he jogged to the nearest bathroom to change. "I have to call her Dad." Johnny informed before pulling a cell phone from his pocket and walking to a quiet corner of the room. "I'm going to check on Justin." Joey stood and walked to the bathroom Justin had walked into minutes before. "Hey." Justin threw his dirty clothes into the trash can, then walked to the sink to wash his hands. "You okay?" Joey put a hand on his shoulder, hoping to comfort him. "No, Joey I was mad at her. I was thinking about how I wasn't going to talk to her and make her call me sir again. And she wasn't even in the wrong at all." Justin checked his arms and face for any traces of blood, then turned to Joey. "You wouldn't get it, you actually knew what was going on." Justin threw a wad of wet paper towels he had been using at the trash can and left. Justin threw himself into the chair next to Lance, wondering why he would have doubted Jaden. "How you doing?" Lance turned to Justin, after a few seconds he thought Justin wouldn't answer. "Not too good." Justin rubbed his eyebrows, keeping the tears from falling. "Hey, she'll be okay." "Hope so." Justin stood to walk over to Johnny getting directly behind him. "I'm sorry, yeah, no I'll call you when I hear, I'm sure she won't mind, yeah, I sure will, bye." "Johnny, can I use your cell phone?" Justin tapped his shoulder as he asked. Johnny turned to him, with a look he had never seen on Johnny's face. "Yeah, I am going to get something to drink." Johnny thrust his cell phone into Justin's hands, and walked past him. Justin returned to Lance's side when he was done, feeling slightly better by his mother's comforting words. She had asked to speak to Lance, so Justin tossed the phone in his lap, then left to look for Johnny. Justin wandered into the cafeteria to find Johnny sitting alone in the back corner table. He poured himself a cup of coffee, paid the woman, then made his way to Johnny's table. "Hey, you feel okay?" Justin slid into the booth. "Yeah, fine, just a little upset." "I understand, you are a lot closer to her than I was, so I can only imagine how you feel." Justin took a sip of his coffee to allow Johnny a chance to talk. "Yeah, look, I need a little time alone. Why don't you run upstairs and see if there's any news?" Johnny stood to walk out a side door, leaving Justin no other choice but to go back to the dreary waiting room. "You find Johnny?" Chris cornered him near the elevator, to have a conversation with him without the other guys butting in. "Yeah, he wanted some time alone." "So, you feeling any better?" "Yeah, I am fine, I talked to my mother, she really helped." Justin tried to brush past him, he was tired of everyone asking him how he was, Jaden was the one in the hospital. "Justin, we would have all done the same thing." Chris put his hand on Justin's shoulder, then retreated when he saw JC come up for his turn. "Is Johnny okay?" "Yeah, just wants some time to himself." JC and Justin both joined the rest of the guys to hear what the doctor coming toward them would have to say. "You here with Jaden?" He waited for them to all nod their heads, then continued. "She is fine, she had some stitches, a little bit of blood, and should recover fully. She will be able to see you in a few more minutes." They thanked the doctor then watched him walk back into the patient area. "I'm going to get Johnny. He'll want to know." Joey ran to the elevator. "He's outside, by the cafeteria." Justin informed him, then fell into a chair. |
| Chapter Thirteen |