| "You can see her now." The doctor looked them over as all three stood. "Are you all family?" "Just me." Joey put a hand to his chest to illustrate his point. "Then you will be the only one allowed in the room." An apologetic tone took the doctor's voice. "He is going in." Joey pointed to Justin, still looking at the doctor. "It's not allowed.." The doctor started but was interrupted. "She will not get better till she sees this boy." Joey pleaded, pulling Justin closer with one arm. "Right this way." The doctor turned around and led them to her room. "She is unconcious right now. She was in a very bad accident. She has a few broken bones and got twenty three stitches. The reason she was in surgery when you got here is because a piece of broken bone ruptured her splien. The loss of blood made her heart fail. We went in and repaired the cut and she went through extensive x-ray to search for more bone." He stopped and pointed at a door. "Right in there." Lucy sat outside the door and let the men go in by themselves. She knew Joey cared for her but she also knew she would never compare to Tiffany in his eyes. She understood why though. She was his only family. The guys walked into her room and each grabbed a hand. Justin was speechless. Through the bandages and scratches she looked so angelic. Joey took the liberty of speaking first. "Tiffany, Taffy, you can't leave us. We love you so much. I can't believe this happened. My god, Taffy, I should have been there. I should have never let you leave Texas, I should have kept you there with me. But I guess you would have never met this wonderful guy here. He loves you like no other. Taffy, we'd go crazy if you left us. We'd make sure we were next door to each other at the mental ward though." He half chuckled through his tears, looking to Justin to make sure he was holding up. "I'm gunna leave ya'll alone now, I am sure Lucy is worried sick. I love you. I'll be back." Justin cried into her hand for a few minutes before even knowing what to say. "I love you, angel. You can't blame your brother for this though. The only person you can blame is me. You asked me to go with you, and I said no. Angel, don't leave me. I won't be able to function if you leave. I love you more than anything. What am I saying? You are going to be fine. You are the strongest person I know. You can get through anything. Angel, you can. Can't you?" He put his lips on her hand for a brief second, then turned his head to rest on her hand. He sat with her for a while, not sure how long it had been. Joey and Lucy entered the room at one point, but he wasn't sure when or for how long. Joey handed him a sandwhich, and he took a bite then set it aside. Joey looked down at Justin's red puffy eyes, and wondered what he would do had it been Lucy and not Tiffany. "She's going to be okay." Justin's shaky voice hit him and he looked over to her. "I know, buddy. She's tough." Joey tried to convince Justin as well as himself. "I found this in the stuff from her car." "That's her favorite book." Joey looked at the copy of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie in Justin's hands. "Dad used to read it to her every night before bed when we were younger. I remember listening to his voice travel into my room. She really loved it when he read it. He probably read it every night until she was like thirteen." "She never told me that. I knew it was her favorite book, but that explains it." He said looking down at the cover as tears clouded his vision. "I think if she were to pass, I would carry a picture of the puzzle we did together in my car. She let me in on one of her and her daddy's pastimes. She trusted me. That means more to me than anything else we did together." "I would have to carry a picture of the first car we ever worked on together. She was so happy when she worked on cars. It made her feel independent to work on her own car. We used to talk for hours under the hood of this sixty nine Chevy pick up. She wouldn't let Dad help. She wanted it to be mine and her thing. And we did it. She sold it after our parents passed. She felt so guilty for not letting Dad help. We had some of the best times working on that truck." The doctor walked in and silently checked her vitals, then turned back to them when he had reached the doorway. "She should be awake shortly." He tried desperately to at least bring a little cheer to thier somber faces. They sat for a few minutes more quietly until Justin felt her hand flinch. "Joey, Joey, she moved. Her hand." He stood up and pointed to her hand. Joey stared at it as it flinched agian. He grabbed Justin in a hug, then both men looked down at Tiffany as she slowly opened her eyes. She looked up at Joey and Justin, then around the room. "Where am I?" She knew she wasn't in her bedroom, or anywhere familiar for that matter. "In the hospital." They both replied, looking to one another, then back down at her. "I think it's coming back to me." "Oh, Taffy we were so worried." Joey started, as Justin took her hand in his, too happy to talk. "You gave us one hell of a scare. I am going to leave you two alone. I have some calls to make. Everyone is very worried about you." He walked out of the room and grabbed Lucy, swinging her in circles. "I love you, angel. I was so worried. This had me thinking about the future. What would I have done if I couldn't wake up to your sweet face every morning? If I couldn't hold you as I fell asleep everynight? Angel, I love you more than you will ever know. You are everything to me. And you always will be. No matter what I may say or do. You are my lifeline, angel." He tried to express it all at once, then had to stop for a breath. "I love you, too baby. Don't cry, I'm fine." She attempted to wipe his eyes, but in the end he had to do it because her IV tugged and she quickly replaced her hand. He carefully leaned down to place a kiss on her lips and she felt his tremble against hers. "I'm fine, baby." "I know, you just scared me." He ran his hand over her hair, letting one of the curls wrap around his finger. "I love you. You should have seen Joey in the car on the way over here. He told Lucy if you passed he'd go crazy. He told her to give half his money to charity then keep the other half and the music shop." "Oh no, that's hilarious." "I yelled at the information lady, I need to apologize to her. Maybe I'll send her flowers. She had to put up with me and Joey." "Poor thing." She pointed to the desk next to her bed which contained a phone, prompting him to call. He ordered the flowers to be delivered along with a card to read: Thank you for putting up with us. We are sorry for any stress we gave you. -Visitors in room 405 Joey and Lucy walked in and sat on one side of the bed. Justin told him he sent the flowers and they both agreed it was a good idea. They all talked for a while until the doctor came to tell them Tiffany would be able to leave in two days. As long as her observation went ok. "Do the kids know what happened?" She turned her head to face Lucy, fearful moving anything else would result in pain. "No not yet." "Don't tell them, just tell them I am taking the week off. I'll be back next week." "No you won't you are getting as much rest as the doctor orders. And you tell the kids." Justin interrupted, then hushed her when she tried to speak agian. "You will be lucky if you go back to work in a month." "Ok, daddy." |
| Chapter Two |
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