Only in Your Dreams Chapter 9
It was actually quiet in the usually boisterous house. Joey was completely out due to the sedative that Dr. Shannon had administered. Lance was also sleeping peacefully due to the pain medication that the doctor gave him for the headaches and soreness that he was feeling from the previous night�s events. Periodically, Justin, JC or Chris would look in on the sleeping pair. JC and Chris were semi-napping on the couches in the living room when Justin took his turn to check on the two sleeping men upstairs.
�You guys should see it. They haven�t moved�� Justin discovered that he was talking to himself when he saw both JC and Chris asleep on the couch. Chris was half-sitting, half-lying down at one end of the couch. JC was curled up into a tight ball at the other end. �Well, I�m glad that some people find it so easy to sleep around here,� he mumbled, feeling a tad bit sorry for himself. That feeling didn�t last too long though. As Justin was walking into the kitchen for a snack the front gate buzzer sounded on a nearby wall pad. Justin excitedly ran around the counter to the pad and pushed a button to speak into the speaker/microphone. �Hello?�
�Justin is that you?�
�Aunt Jan?�
�Well, who else would it be sweetheart?�
Justin chuckled at the remark and quickly pushed another button that opened the gate so that Jan could drive up to the house.
�See you in a minute JJ.�
�Can�t wait!�
�Oh, I bet you can�t.� Justin laughed out loud with that last remark. His Aunt Jan was a riot and that was exactly what he needed right now�and so did the others for that matter. They just didn�t know it at the moment because, as Justin made his way back through the living room to the front door, he saw that his exchange with Jan had not awakened Chris or JC at all. He didn�t want to waste his time in even trying to do that now himself, so he left his friends alone and continued making his way to the front door. Once there, he quickly opened the door and saw that Jan was just driving up to the house in her black mustang convertible. Justin�s joy of seeing his aunt became tangled with all the fears and other emotions that he had been feeling in the last 24 plus hours. He made his way to the driver�s side of the car and just stood there looking down at his aunt with a smile, tinged with sadness. His Aunt Jan�s long red hair was run through the back of a baseball cap. Her blue eyes were hidden behind a pair of sunglasses, but Justin knew that they were probably as bright as the smile on her face at that moment.
�Justin! It�s so good to see you!� Jan could see that something just wasn�t right with the expressions running across her nephew�s face. What was that she saw�fear�no�sadness�uh oh�tears! �Justin, baby, what�s the matter. I came 1000 miles for that electric smile of yours.� She tried to sound light and without too much concern as she quickly opened her car door and stood up. Before she could step away from the car she was enveloped into a hug by a very teary eyed young man.
�I�m so glad you�re here Aunt Jan,� was his muffled reply since had had buried his face into her shoulder. Jan could feel Justin begin to shudder against her. This was getting a little scary. What could be wrong? She knew Lynn was okay�she had just spoken to her on her cell phone not 15 minutes ago�so was Aunt Dora. Could it be one of the boys? Lynn had not mentioned anything besides them being tired. Lynn just felt through women�s intuition and not, to mention, her mother radar that the boy�s needed an extra hand and that Jan�s driving instead of flying would give the boys a little freedom before the cavalry would arrive.
�Sweetheart�what�s wrong? Baby�you�re starting to scare Aunt Jan here��
�I�m sorry�just hold me for a minute�I need someone to just hold me,� was the only reply she would get for the next several minutes. Right now, Jan was Justin�s link to his mom. In his mind, his mom was holding him and that was what he needed most at that moment. Jan could feel Justin sobbing against her shoulder. Justin�s hug felt more like a death grip, but she did not complain. She just waited patiently in silence for Justin to finish. She ran one hand over his tight curls as she rubbed his back in circular motions with the other hand. Finally, when Jan felt Justin�s sobs turn into quiet hiccups, she knew it was time to find out what was going on.
�Why don�t you sit down for me,� Jan said as she guided Justin into the driver�s seat of her car. Justin sat down and lowered his head as he rubbed his hands across his face then lifted the bottom of his t-shirt up to his face and swiped at his stray tears and running nose. Jan quickly went around the front of the car, opened the passenger side door and lowered herself into the seat. Justin brought his legs inside the car and quietly rested his head on the steering wheel.
�I�m sorry. I didn�t mean to fall apart like that.�
�Justin�please�don�t apologize.� Jan tried to get Justin to look up from the steering wheel, but failed so she continued, �apparently you needed to do just that sweetheart.�
With still no reaction from Justin, Jan lifted his chin up from the steering wheel and turned his head until he was looking into her eyes.
�Please tell me what�s going on. Your mom said that everyone was tired and that I could check in on you if I was in the neighborhood.�
Justin gave a weak grin as he sniffled. �Aunt Jan, you live 1000 miles away. You�ve got to be kidding about the neighborhood bit.�
�Well, since you�ve seen right through me, I actually have tickets to Disney World and visiting you and the rest of the gang is just an afterthought.� That got a laugh out of Justin as he reached for Jan�s as she ruffled his curls. He took her hand in both of his as he spoke.
�My mistake Aunt Jan. I thought you were here to visit your favorite nephew.�
�Now, now. You�re my only nephew by blood but I do have 4 more nephews that are just dying to take your place in that house so you�ve got some competition little man.�
Justin smiled sadly at the joke and then began to tear up again. �Oh Aunt Jan�I�m so scared.�
�Why don�t you tell me all about it J.� Justin nodded his head and again rested his forehead against the steering wheel all the while holding Jan�s hand in a firm grip. After a moment or too of what seemed to Jan, Justin gathering his thoughts, he slowly sat back and rested his head against the back of the seat. In a small voice Justin told Jan of Joey�s nightmares and how scared he and the others had been to see Lance unconscious on the floor last night and then to have Joey faint twice on top of that. �I thought was Lance dead when I got to him,� Justin said with a shudder as the memory flashed through his mind. �And when Joey fainted twice�I wanted to join him Jan�I was so scared to see my friends hurt like that and I couldn�t do anything about it. Thank goodness I wasn�t by myself�� His grip on her hand tightened at those disturbing images flashing through his mind.
�But they�re both okay now Justin,� she said in an effort to calm down the young man as she watched tears silently track down his face again. �Yeah, the doctor said that he�d be okay with lots of rest for the next day or two.� Justin stared out through the windshield in front of him before Jan broke the silence once again. �What else happened Justin?� Jan kept a neutral face as she listened to Justin continue with the entire ordeal from beginning to end. She decided that it would be best to allow Justin to completely finish before asking any questions. Jan watched so many emotions play across the face of the young man sitting beside her. Jan could not help but think that Justin was just too young to have experienced the things going on around him. And, if he was this upset, she could just imagine how upset the rest of the group was. They were closer than just friends�they were brothers in the truest sense of the word. Jan could feel tears beginning to fill her eyes at the thought of their distress, but she could not indulge herself in shedding any tears for now. She knew that she had five distraught young men to care for. She would have her turn to cry later. All of these thoughts flew through her mind as she continued to listen to Justin, all the while holding his hand or just putting her arm around his shoulder until he had finally finished speaking. Jan gave Justin a moment to collect himself before she began speaking.
�I need to ask some questions, okay Justin?� She received a nodded response.
�When did the doctor leave?�
�About 30 minutes ago.�
�Did he leave a phone number or anything that we could use to get in touch with him?�
�Yes ma�am.�
�Where are JC, Joey, Chris, and Lance?�
�JC and Chris are asleep in the living room. Joey and Lance are asleep in Lance�s room.�
�That�s good. Rest is what you all need right now.�
Jan watched as Justin nodded his head and yawned.
�Didn�t get much sleep last night sweetie?�
Justin shook his head no as the yawn continued. Once the yawn was finished, Justin was able to answer the question.
�Chris and I stayed up last night watching Lance. JC thought we should wake him up during the night to make sure he was okay so we just stayed up and talked. JC stayed with Joey and they both got about 4 hours of sleep or so.�
�Well, let�s get my bags and go inside to check on everyone, okay?�
�Alright.� Just reached for the keys in the ignition, swung his legs out of the already open car door and slowly stood up. Jan thought he seemed to be on autopilot as he walked around to the trunk of the car and unlocked it. Jan joined him and together they gathered her bags and closed the trunk. Jan wasn�t happy that Justin had made no effort to kid her about packing enough for a small army instead of one person. It was a running joke that she and Lynn had with Justin. Each time one of the women would pack to go somewhere, Justin made sure that he would tease them for packing everything�including the kitchen sink. �He just needs some rest,� she silently reassured herself as she followed Justin into the house, closing the door behind her. She stayed close behind Justin as he made his way through the house into the living room. She stopped long enough to look over the back of the couch to see Chris and JC sound asleep. Their positions looked awkward, but their faces were so relaxed�almost boyish. She would get them up and into their beds after getting Justin to lie down. Justin had already made his way up the stairs and was waiting for Jan outside Joey and Lance�s room. �Joey and Lance are in here,� he whispered at Jan. She stopped in front of the open door and saw that both young men were sound asleep. She quietly put her bags down and entered the room to better check on her �nephews.� All of the boys had a special spot in her heart and Jan could not help but feel a lump in her throat as she looked down at Lance sleeping peacefully on his back with his mouth slightly opened, softly snoring. Jan winced when she saw the dark, black blue bruise on Lance�s jaw. She carefully pushed stray strands of hair away from his face without his even stirring. Next, she turned to Joey who was lying on his stomach facing toward Lance. She again found stray hairs that needed to be brushed away from one of her boy�s faces and this was done gently. Joey also did not stir from his sleep. Whatever the doctor had given both boys was apparently doing a great job. She slowly walked out the door to rejoin Justin who had already taken the rest of her bags to Lynn�s room.
�Thanks Justy. Why don�t you lay down for awhile and talk to me while I get settled in.�
Justin sat down onto his mother�s bed. �It wouldn�t be fair for me to go to sleep and leave you all alone after you drove all that way to see us.� Justin knew that Dr. Shannon had wanted him and the others to rest but he felt too guilty to do so. He just couldn�t bring himself to sleep knowing that his aunt had come such a great distance and had to be tired herself.
Jan shrugged her shoulders and decided to go ahead with the old trusty plan B that she had used on many occasions when Justin was younger and refused to go down for a nap. With her back turned to Justin, he was not able to see the conniving grin on her face.
�Let me tell you about my trip.�
�Sure Aunt Jan.�
Jan began by telling of her phone conversation with Justin�s mom the previous afternoon.
�It was so funny J. I was thinking about your mom when she called. She called me from the airplane. She was tickled pink to get to do that. We talked a little about her trip to San Diego and the treatments that Aunt Dora would be taking. Then, Lynn mentioned that she had noticed how tired all of you boys looked these past few weeks since your tour ended. What really made her call me all along was how tired Lance looked. She really feels responsible for not only you, which is obvious, but for the others as well. Their families are scattered all over and she just wants to take care of all five of you. Well, her concern was enough for me to pack up in about 30 minutes and hit the road.�
All this time as Jan unpacked her bags into empty dresser drawers and the closet, she noticed that Justin had said nothing at all. She stopped long enough to glance over her shoulder to see that Justin had shifted from a sitting position on the bed to a half reclining one. She kept up her monologue by talking about all the highway construction she had encountered on Interstate 10 in Louisiana. �I do believe there is just as much construction going on there as there is in Houston,� she said in mock exasperation. �Still no comment from the peanut gallery�, she thought. Without looking over her shoulder again, she knew that Justin had once again changed position by the rustling of the bedspread. Jan decided to go for the big guns and talked about every little town that she remembered driving through and how fascinating some of the town names were. She also spoke of how beautiful the scenery was in Alabama and how she decided to head northeast for awhile, completely out of the way, but it was just too beautiful to not go a little off the track for a while. That was why she had chosen to stay in Anniston that night. The view during her drive early that morning had not made her disappointed in her choosing to divert her travel. Jan decided to glance over her shoulder again to see how well her audience of one was holding up. She was not disappointed to find that Justin was now on his side, curled up around a pillow and sound asleep. Jan listened to Justin�s deep, even breaths as she stepped closer to the sleeping young man. His face had such a mature look to it when awake. Now, it seemed to Jan that Justin�s face resembled many of the school pictures from such a short time ago�where exactly had the time gone? Carefully, Jan pulled a light coverlet up over Justin�s form and bending over, she lightly brushed her lips against his cheek before returning to her unpacking. Once she had finished, she freshened up in Lynn�s bathroom and then left the bedroom to go downstairs. Stealing one more glance at Justin�s sleeping form, she very quietly closed the door behind her.
As Jan walked down the hall, she re-entered the room that Lance and Joey were sharing. Neither boy had moved since her last visit. She quietly gathered up empty plates, coffee cups and water glasses and placed them on a tray that she found on a dresser before leaving the slumbering pair. Jan descended the stairs and made her way to the kitchen to put the items on the tray into the dishwasher. Seeing that the machine was already full of dirty dishes, she decided to run it in preparation for tonight�s addition to the pile. While the machine ran, Jan made her way back into the living room to check on the last pair of sleeping beauties. She walked around to the front of the couch and saw that JC was now the sole owner. He had stretched out, full length on the couch and had managed to pull over his body one of the two or three blankets that were usually draped over the back of the couch. Jan looked down on the floor to see that Chris had also made use of one of the blankets and was curled up in a tight ball on the floor with a pillow under his head and what looked like a pillow in his arms that was barely peaking out from under the covers. Leave it to Chris to find any surface worthy enough to sleep on. �How in the world can he do that,� Jan wondered. �I�m only 3 or 4 years older and there is no way that I could do that without being completely stove up.� Jan just grinned at the pair. She happened to look at the coffee table and noticed a business card lying there with Dr. Shannon�s name and phone numbers of various kinds. She picked up the card and decided to take advantage of this quiet time to call the good doctor and ask some questions of her own. She walked back into the kitchen and picked up the portable phone, then headed out the patio doors. She made her way past the poolside to sit under one of the many giant shade trees that were in the back yard. After getting comfortable, Jan dialed the number and waited for someone to answer the phone.
�Dr. Shannon�s office. This is Liz. How may I help you?�
�Hi Liz. My name is Jan Scott. Dr. Shannon made a house call this morning to my nephew�s home and I was wondering if I could speak to him about his visit.
�Oh, Ms Scott, Dr. Shannon was expecting to hear from you sometime today.�
�Oh really?�
�Yes. He�s with a patient right now and can call right back.�
�If it�s all the same, I�ll wait on hold. Everyone is asleep here and I don�t want a ringing phone to disturb them.�
�That�s fine Ms. Scott. The doctor should be only a few more minutes.�
�Thank you.�
With that, Jan was put on hold. She heard easy listening music playing on the phone. �Oh, I hate that kind of music,� she said out loud as she rolled her eyes. �It�s usually so mamby-pamby.� Just as Jan was about to roll her eyes again, she suddenly recognized the tune that was playing. �No�it couldn�t be�no way�nuh-uh�uh-huh�it is!� Jan began laughing as she realized that the song was �Tearing Up My Heart.� The boys would just die knowing that one of their songs had already become elevator music. Once she had caught her breath, Jan began to quietly sing along with the music and did not notice when she was no longer on hold until she heard a male sounding chuckle on the other end.
�I see that the talent runs in the family,� Dr. Shannon said with another chuckle.
�Well, it had to come from somewhere, didn�t it?� Jan asked with amusement in her voice.
�Yes it did.� There was a pause before the doctor continued. �Hi. You must be Justin�s Aunt Jan.�
�Yes. And you are Dr. Shannon.�
�Yes. I�m glad that you had a safe trip.�
�Thank you.�
�How can I help you Ms. Scott?�
�I�m calling about your visit here this morning. When I arrived, the only one awake was Justin, but that didn�t last too long. He went into some detail about the visit, but he was more concerned about last night�s goings on to really go into it that much.�
�I completely understand and I�m glad that you called. But before we start with your questions I have one of my own.�
�Okay?�
�How long do you plan to make your stay?�
�Why is that?�
�The boys need someone who can keep them in line with the bed rest that I�m prescribing for Joey and Lance. The other boys also need someone to remind them to slow down and will sit on them if necessary to make sure that they do and I understand that Justin�s mother may have an extended stay in San Diego.�
�Well, that�s why I hired on here in the first place,� said Jan with a smile in her voice. The doctor laughed at her remark and added, �I hear that the pay isn�t that great, but I know the company is pretty good.� It was Jan�s turn to laugh before she continued with her explanation about the visit. �Justin�s mother is in San Diego with our Aunt Dora. Dora was recently widowed and diagnosed with cancer. She has no children and Lynn is out there with her to help her out. I�ll make my trip later.� She heard the doctor saying, �Well, that�s too bad and I hope her treatments go well,� before she continued. �Justin�s mother, Lynn, and I are working as a tag team of sort right now while she is in San Diego. She noticed how tired the boys looked and asked me to come out here and keep an eye on things. I�ll be able to do what needs to be done for as long as it takes. I�m taking this year off from teaching so there�s no hurry for me to return for the start of school and it won�t be any problem to stay here as long as it takes to make sure that the boys will be okay.�
That�s good to hear. Now, where would you like me to start?�
�You can start by telling me about Lance and Joey�s conditions.�
Dr. Shannon spent the next 10 minutes or more talking about Lance�s concussion and necessary treatments of complete bed rest for the next 24 � 48 hours and the pain medication for the aches and pains that he would be experiencing at least for the next 3 days. He then moved on to Joey and his sleep deficit and how the sedative that he had administered would aid him in recovering, along with the same medication to be taken orally for the next 2 days. He spoke of the recurring fainting spells and how he speculated that a less than nutritious diet and lack of sleep caused by the nightmares was probably the culprit. He ended by saying that Joey was to also have complete bed rest for the same amount of time as Lance. As for the others, they all needed to catch up on their rest by getting to bed earlier and at least spending the next 24 � 48 hours at home away from all other responsibilities.
�I understand that they are all under much pressure by the industry that they have chosen to work in. I�m just very concerned about the possibility of potential burn out and the chance that Joey might actually faint at a very inappropriate time�let�s say while driving for instance.�
�I completely agree with you Dr. Shannon. I�ll do my best to keep the boys in line.�
�I want to see both Lance and Joey on Tuesday. We can make it well after hours so that we�ll have privacy and they can use the back entrance.�
�Sounds good doctor.�
�Alright. I�ll see you then at about 8:00 here in my office Tuesday night.�
�I�ll be sure to call you if something unavoidable comes up and we need to reschedule.�
�Sounds like a plan Ms. Scott.�
�Okay, see you then.�
�Bye.�
Lynn cut off the phone and sat under the tree for the next few minutes going over the conversation with Dr. Shannon. She was apprehensive about the possibility of Joey having another fainting spell during her watch. She knew what to do, but until faced with that situation, she just couldn�t be sure of exactly what she would do if he did happen to faint. With a slight shudder, Jan remained sitting as she began thinking of Dora and what she was facing as a widow. Jan herself had lost her own husband about 2 years ago due to a car accident. She felt like she had come a long way since she had lost Mike. She missed so many things about him that she couldn�t decide what she missed the most. Waking up beside him in the morning always gave her a thrill�just watching the sunlight play across his face on a lazy Saturday morning when they weren�t in a rush to get to work during the week or get to church on Sunday. The way her clothes smelled in the morning after hugging him before leaving for work�his aftershave always left its imprint on her collar where she could just catch the scent when she moved a certain way. What she regretted most though about Mike�s death was that they had not been able to have children and she had nothing living that the two of them had created together�she had no living part of Mike for herself. �Can�t start feeling sorry for myself now,� Jan said as she stood up. �I�ve got five young men who need my help and one mother 3000 miles away depending on me to give it.� With that, she headed back into the house. After putting the phone up in the kitchen, Jan checked on the still sleeping crew. After making sure that everyone was still resting comfortably, Jan settled herself down in a recliner in the living room with the latest John Grisham novel that she had brought with her and read well into the afternoon without hearing a peep from any one of the boys.