Only in Your Dreams Chapter 11
With all the noise going on below their window, it was no wonder that Lance and Joey were awakened. Joey slowly opened his eyes as he heard the screams of a woman mixed with the howls of protest from JC and the shouts of laughter from the others drifting up through the half opened window. Who had a woman here? Joey looked over at Lance, who was lying in the bed next to his and saw that he had not yet stirred from his sleep. Joey quietly got out of his bed, slightly stumbling as he made his way over to the window and opened it all the way. He stuck his head out the window to see what was going on below him and saw that Justin and Chris were rubbing their wet heads against a screaming woman and a yelling JC. He was able to just catch a glimpse of the woman�s face�it was Jan�Justin�s aunt had made it and he hadn�t even know it. Jan was just about the coolest woman Joey knew. For someone who had been through so much, Jan never seemed to get down about much. Inwardly, Joey wished that he could be more like Jan in those respects. Maybe Jan could help him out with his nightmares�nah�she was probably here to watch out for Justin. Oh well. Joey was suddenly brought out of his thoughts by a voice in the room.
�What�s with all that noise?�
Lance�s voice startled Joey, causing him to bang the top of his head against the window. He grabbed at the back of his head, moaning before pulling his head back into the room.
�Sorry man. I didn�t mean to startle you.�
�It�s okay. I guess we�re even now,� said Joey with a smile as he continued to rub his head.
Lance gave a slight chuckle as he also rubbed the back of his head where he had hit it on the frame of Joey�s bed the night before. Joey saw what Lance was doing and instantly felt guilt over the previous night�s incident. Somehow, he would make it up to Lance. Lance�s voice again brought Joey out of his thoughts.
�What�s going on down there?�
�Huh?�
�What�s going on down there?� Lance gave Joey a concerned look that Joey ignored as he answered his question.
�Somebody is having too much fun down there,� said Joey with a wide grin on his face before turning around to stick his head out of the window once again. �Come here, you gotta see this,� he spoke over his shoulder as he wildly gestured for Lance to join him.
�What is it?� Lance asked trying to squeeze in beside Joey in an effort to see what was happening as the shrieks of Jan and the wild laughter of Justin, Chris, and JC reached his ears.
�Man-wich time, man,� Joey said with delight.
�Who�s the sandwich material?� Lance couldn�t really tell from the angle that he was looking from who the tall red head woman was. �Who�s the girl?�
�Man, that�s no girl. That�s Justin�s Aunt Jan.�
�Jan? When did she get here?� Lance tried to pull Joey out of the way to get a better look, but Joey was not about to budge from his prime position.
�Your guess is as good as mine man,� Joey said with a grin and a shrug before again sticking his head out the window.
�Hey! Can�t a couple of guys get any rest around here without some people causing problems,� bellowed Joey, causing Lance to grimace and turn away in pain. Immediately, the noise died down as four heads looked up at where Joey had been just a second ago. They seemed to speak to each other before Justin took off back into the house.
�Uh, sorry man,� said Joey when he realized his mistake and watched Lance holding his head in his hands.
�Uh huh,� was all that Lance could manage to say as he returned to his bed and sat down heavily. He took a few breaths before looking up with a start at Joey�s concerned face not a foot away from his own.
�What do you want?� Lance practically growled.
�Can I get you something?� asked Joey, standing up when he saw the look of irritation on Lance�s face. He was getting off to a rocky start in the making amends department.
�How about filling my glass up with water. I could really use one of those pain pills right about now.�
Joey took a quick glance around the room only to find that there were no longer any glasses in the room.
�I�ll have to go get you one. I guess someone came in and took the dishes out while we slept.�
�Okay.�
�Be right back.� Joey took one more look at Lance sitting on the bed in obvious pain, before he made his way to the door.
Lance lay back on his bed, hoping that the room would stop its spinning and that the little drumming man with the really big sticks in his head would go away. He suddenly groaned out loud when he remembered that he couldn�t take any kind of medications without first eating something. �Ugh�I don�t know about food right now,� he said as his stomach was still doing a slight roll from the pain that he was experiencing from Joey�s bellowing.
Joey took off at a slow trot out of the room and down the hall, where a very wet Justin met him.
�Where are you going? You�re supposed to be in bed resting,� Justin said in an accusing manner.
The look on Joey�s face was one of a young child who had just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Justin had to quickly hide the half smile on his face before Joey caught him with it but he didn�t have anything to worry about since Joey did not look at Justin. Instead, Joey kept his gaze down on the carpeted floor, absent-mindedly stroking it with his foot as he spoke.
�Uh, Lance needs to take a pain pill and I�m getting him a glass of water.�
�I�ll get it. Go on back to bed.�
Joey looked up to see Justin standing in front of him, feet firmly planted and arms crossed against his chest.
�Aw, come on Justin,� Joey pleaded. �It was me who gave him the headache and all. Give me a chance to start making things right, okay?�
�I�m sorry man. Really, I am, but Dr. Shannon said that you guys have to stay in bed. You can start making it up to him tomorrow.
�But�� Joey started to whine, but stopped when he saw the determined look on Justin�s face and how he was pointing back toward the opened bedroom door. Joey heaved a great sigh as he gave in without a word, dropping his head and turning on his heels. He slowly walked back into the bedroom, with shoulders drooped as Justin turned around and headed back down the stairs to the kitchen. In a few minutes he returned to Joey and Lance�s bedroom to find Joey sitting up in bed reading a comic book while Lance seemed to be asleep.
�He just fell asleep,� whispered Joey as he gestured toward Lance without looking up from his comic book.
�I�ll just put this down here then. Jan is here,� whispered Justin.
�Yeah. I saw or rather heard that,� said Joey with a quiet laugh as he laid the comic book on his lap and readjusted his pillows behind his back.
�Uh�when did Jan get�man, I cant� get these pillows the way I want them,� Joey complained quietly.
�Here, let me help you.� Justin quickly helped Joey to fluff up his pillows and then sit back against them.
�Better?�
�Yeah. Thanks. When did Jan get in?�
�She got here around 10 this morning.�
�I guess you guys have been keeping her pretty entertained all day then. I wish someone could have woken us up or something and told us. I really do enjoy being around Jan. She�s the greatest.�
�I know that she�d appreciate hearing that,� said Justin quietly. It made him happy knowing how well Jan seemed to fit into the group whenever she was able to visit. �Uh, Jan pretty much kept herself company today. When she got here, JC and Chris were already asleep in the living room. And then, she tricked me into taking a nap when she started telling me the more boring highlights of her trip.�
Joey grinned at the thought of Jan being up to her old tricks with her nephew.
�We all just woke up about 30 minutes ago and you caught the tail end of something that Chris started and I ended.�
Justin then quietly told Joey about what had happened in the kitchen. Joey could barely keep from laughing out loud at the picture in his head of Chris actually thinking that he could carry Justin into the pool. Justin smiled as he watched Joey�s eyes light up when he heard of the dunking of both he and Chris and the man-wich attack that Jan and JC both got. This was the old Joey...the Joey that he and the others desperately wanted back.
�Listen, before I go change out of these wet clothes, Jan wants to know if you guys are up to some company coming up here for supper?�
Joey looked over at Lance and then stifled a yawn himself. �I don�t think so. Lance still has a pretty bad headache and falling asleep again is probably the best thing for him to do right now. Why don�t you just bring up supper and we�ll visit later.�
Justin nodded and then sat down at the end of Joey�s bed. �Did you sleep okay?�
�Yeah, I guess. That shot Dr. Shannon gave me really knocked me for a loop. I hope the pills aren�t that powerful.�
�Man, you should have seen it. One minute you�re awake and the next you�re out like a light. It was a little scary.�
Joey raised his eyebrows. �Really? I�m not even sure if I remember all of Dr. Shannon�s visit.�
�Yeah, he said that you were pretty exhausted to begin with and the shot just seemed to finish you off. I bet the pills will probably do almost the same thing, but maybe not so fast.�
Joey looked back down at his comic book and then back up at Justin with a wan smile. �Well I guess I can handle 2 more days of the meds if�well, you know��
Justin nodded as he rose up from the bed and then turned around to leave.
�I guess I�ll go change into something a little less wet before supper. I�ll tell Jan that you�ll take a rain check on the company thing, but I bet she�ll come up with your supper when it�s ready. �
�What�s for supper anyway? I don�t think I�ve ever smelled anything like it before.�
The look on Justin�s face made Joey quickly rethink his question.
�What I meant to say was�I don�t think�I�ve ever�smelled�anything�that�good�before?�
The look on Justin�s face was somewhat better than the first, causing Joey to breath a sigh of relief as he waited for his answer.
�It�s Aunt Jan�s chili.�
�Chili in August?�
�Man, you hang around Chris too much. He said the same thing.�
�Well, great minds think alike.� Joey could hear Chris making the same remark in his head and grinned at the thought.
�Joey?
�Yeah?�
�Stuff it.�
Joey threw his pillow at Justin who quickly returned the favor.
�Do you two think you could let me get just a little rest here? My head is really killing me,� moaned Lance as he turned from his back over to his stomach, pulling the covers so far over his head that only a few tufts of blond hair showed.
�Sorry man. I brought you a glass of water so you can take another pain pill,� said Justin sitting down beside Lance.
�Thanks, but I think I need to eat something before I take anything. Is supper almost ready?�
�Just a few more minutes.�
�Good,� Lance mumbled into his pillow before drifting off once again to sleep.
�I think I want to get cleaned up before I eat,� said Joey getting up from the bed and stumbling a bit. This suddenly dampened the good mood that he had just been in and made him remember what had been happening. Inwardly, Joey growled to himself as Justin quickly made it to his side to keep him from falling down completely.
�Where are you going Joey?� asked Justin
�My room to get some clothes and then the bathroom to shower,� he said in an irritated manner. Joey hated having to depend on anyone at that moment. He knew that Justin was only trying to help, but the whole nightmare situation was getting pretty old and starting to get to him. Joey attempted to jerk his elbow from Justin�s grasp and gasped when it didn�t work. He looked at Justin and saw the hurt but also determination on his face. Joey lowered his head and rubbed his face with his free arm.
�I�m sorry man. I guess I�m not a real happy camper right now.�
�I�we all�let us help,� stammered Justin. He was a little confused by the sudden change in Joey�s demeanor. He decided to try a different tactic. �I know that you hate not being Mr. Independent right now, you�ll have your chance to help out someday when one of us is down.�
Joey just nodded before pointing toward the door.
�Okay�let�s go then. But you�re not getting in the shower with me�this time,� Joey said with a grin on his face before placing his free hand over Justin�s hand on his arm. He looked at Justin and began batting his eyelashes.
�Oooh�you are so gross Joey!� exclaimed Justin as he slapped at the hand rubbing his own. �Yuck! You are one sick puppy!�
�Only sick with puppy love for you J.�
�Gross. How can you even say that kind of stuff man? It�s gotta be the drugs.� Justin screwed up his face in disgust as he tried to steer Joey toward the door. With the commotion that they were now making, both boys ended up being hit with a pillow thrown by Lance.
�Just get out of here,� he growled before laying back down.
�Man, touchy, touchy,� whispered Joey just loud enough for Lance to hear. �I wonder what�s got his panties in a wad?� he added as he picked up the thrown pillow and tossed it back at the still figure on the bed before Justin could stop him.
�Do you have a death wish or what?� Justin hissed as he pushed Joey out the door and into the hallway.
Justin could tell that things might be getting back to normal with Joey. This was the old Joey that everyone loved. But, at the same time, Justin felt a hint of doubt tapping him on the shoulder, reminding him that things sometimes had to get worse before they got any better.