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The first thing she was aware of as she regained consciousness was the pain in her shoulder. To her it felt as if some wild animal were chewing on it with sharp teeth and a large appetite. The second thing she noticed were the smells. Clean and streal. A hospital. She was in a hospital.

But Why?

She sat for a second, not bothering to open her eyes as she waited for the days events to come back to her. Had it even been a day? Or had a week gone by? Slowly she began remembering. First her dream, then the panic as she knew she had to find the young man, and finally she remembered being shot. She was shot, not him. He was still alive. She opened her eyes to view a white ceiling. She closed them once more before opening them a second time. Turning her head to the right she noticed a small table. On that small table was a large vase filled with just about every type of flower she could think of in ever color flowers came in. Before she could question who had sent them, a voice from the door way made her turn her head.

"Your awake!� Standing in the door was a friendly looking older nurse. Her brown hair was pulled up in a neat bun and a pair of glasses sat on her nose. She quickly made her way over to Cassie and began to do whatever it was she needed to do, trying to keep a conversation as she did. �Well, it�s nice to see that you�ve come out of it. A gunshot wound! How did you manage to get tangled in something like that? No matter, how do you feel sweetie? You know that their are five young men out there who have been waiting for you to wake up.� The nurse continued to talk cheerily, but Cassie interrupted her.

�How long have I been here?� She asked. The nurse stoped for a moment. seemingly startled that she had spoken.

�Oh, only a day and a half.� She awnsered as she shinned a light into Cassie�s eye.

�Who are the flowers from?� Was Cassie�s next quesion. The nurse smiled as she clicked off the tiny light.

�From the young men who are have been here everyday since they day you were brought in. And can I say that they are a hansome group! If only I were twenty years younger...� Cassie furrowed her brow. She couldn�t think of one single person who would leave her flowers of any kind that even came close to fitting the kind nurses description. Yet she had flowers, and they weren�t from just one single person, they were from five. A few moments later the nurse had finished what she had to do and was patting Cassie on the arm. �...send them in?� Cassie turned her face to the nurses.

�What?�

�I asked if you would like for me to send them in? They been waiting for you to wake up.�

�Oh. Uhhh.... sure.� Cassie replied as she glanced over to study the flowers. She didn�t notice the nurse leave, to busy with her thoughts. Who were the men that had waited for her to wake up? WHY were they here in the first place? Could one of these men be the gun holder and the rest his friends, angry with her for saving the young man? No, if that were the case they probably wouldn�t have sent her flowers. The sound of voices comming down the hall made her turn her attention from her thoughts and towards the door. Withen moments she would meet the five mystery men.

She took a deep breath and waited.

The first man who appeared wasn�t so very tall, maybe only a few inches taller then her own height. His brown hair was spiked up and his goatee was neatly trimmed. His eyes, she noticed, were brown and reminded her of a puppy�s. His lips were curved into a small smile. The second man to enter her room was the man who�s life she had saved. Now, without the hat to hide his hair, she could see the mass of curls that covered his head. Eyes the color of a clear sky looked her over nervously. He offered her a half-grin before the next man entered. Black hair, styled in a way that made Cassie think of Barbie�s boyfriend Ken, accented a pair of serious looking deep blue eyes on a handsomely chiseled face. He nodded his head and was the first to speak.

�Hello.� The voice that came from the man�s mouth was smooth and Cassie could have sworn that she had heard it somewhere before then. Her attention was drawn away from Ken by the entrance of spiky haired blonde. The eyes of this man where of a color that she had never seen. A yellow-green that made her think of a cat. His face was a cherubic one and he looked at her inquisitively. The last man to enter the room was an obvious Italian. Chocolate brown eyes smiled at her. Brown hair was spiked up like the man before him. Cassie looked at them as a group, as the nurse had said, they were a handsome group. A throat was cleared and all attention was turned to the man who had originally spoke.

�Hello.� He said again. Cassie smiled at him.

�I believe that you said that earlier, sir.� The small group chuckled.

�So I did.� He smiled down at her as he spoke. Cassie then turned serious.

�Why?� She met the curly haired man�s eyes.

�You saved my life.� His voice, too, was familiar to Cassie�s ears. If only she knew where she had heard it..... �If not for you, I would probably be dead. I owe you a lot.�

�WE owe you a lot.� The first man placed a hand on the curly headed man�s shoulder. �Like Justin said, if it wasn�t for you....� he trailed off.

�We would have to change our name to just Sync.� It was the brown haired man, but not the Italian.
Sync? Cassie thought. Why does that sound so familiar?

�Forget that Chris.� It was the first speaker again. �There wouldn�t even BE a Sync. Not without Justin.� Cassie coughed lightly, drawing the attention of the men.

�Uhh sorry but, I don�t know any of your names.� Maybe if she could get their names, she would know why they seemed so familiar to her when she knew she had never met them before in her life. Looks of surprise passed over their faces at the statement. Immediately she felt embarrassed. �Should I?� Perhaps she was had a case of amnesia....

�No. We�re sorry, I�m Jc.�

�Justin.�

�Chris Kirkpatrick, at your service.� The man who had made the comment about being called �Sync�.

�Joey Fatone.� The Italian introduced himself with a flirty sort of smile.

�Lance.� The deep voice of the cat-eyed man caused goosebumps to appear on Cassie�s arm. She waited a second, letting the names sink into her memory. A second later it was almost as if a light bulb was clicked on in her head. Nsync. Famous pop group. She kept her face as neutral as possible as this revelation was made. Apparently, they were still able to pick up on her shock.

�So you know who we are?� Lance stated and she nodded.

�Yes. Nsync.� She admitted. �I will admit that you all seemed familiar, but...�

�Well now that you know us, we seem to be at a disadvantage. What�s your name, lovely?� Oh yes, Cassie had heard about Joey being a flirt.

�Cassandra Kawabouski.� She shrugged as best she could. �Or just Cassie.�

�That�s a nice name.� Joey smiled at her and the rest of the group rolled their eyes.

�Give it a rest, man.� Lance patted Joey on the shoulder.

�Sheesh Joe!! She�s not even out of the hospital and you�ve already hit on her!� Chris exclaimed. Cassie couldn�t help but grin at the antics of the group. Just like she had seen on Tv and read about in papers and magazines. She turned her head and her eyes immediately settled on the flowers.

�Thank you all for the flowers. Their lovely.� She faced them once again. �I don�t think I�ve ever seen a lovelier bouquet.� 4

�It�s nothing. We can never thank you enough for what you�ve done.� Jc seemed to be the main speaker for the group. Cassie blushed as the others nodded their agreement.

�Well. It was nothing. Anyone would ha- �

�Cassie, there is no way that was nothing.� It was Lance who spoke this time. �Heck, you saved Justin�s life. You got shot for him.� She knew that her face was red. She couldn�t met their faces so instead she concentrated on picking at her nails. A hand came into her view and her face was lifted up.

�Cassandra Kawabouski, there is nothing in this world we can ever do to make you see how grateful we are.� Jc�s voice was serious and the emotion behind his eyes was almost more then Cassie could take.

�I know.� Her voice came out strained and she swallowed thickly before turning her head to look at someone else.

�Excuse me, but it�s time for all of Miss. Kawabouski�s visitors to leave. She needs her rest.� It was the kind old nurse again. Nsync nodded and turned to Cassie.

�We�ll be here tomorrow to sign you out.� Justin told her. Cassie nodded. Everyone was still for a moment before Jc leaned over and pulled her into a hug as best he could.

�Thank you so much.� He whispered in her ear before letting go. Following his lead the four other men each gave her a hug of their own, all whispered their thanks in her ear.

�All right all right, out! Shoo!! the nurse shooed them out playfully.� As soon as they left the room, she turned towards Cassie, a large grin on her face. �What did I say? Handsome, aren�t they?� Once again the nurse didn�t give her time to awnser as she pressed a button causing the hospital bed to lay flat. �Try to sleep deary, you need your rest before your discharged tomorrow.� Cassie obeyed, closing her eyes as she yawned. She couldn�t believe how tired she suddenly felt. The nurse left, Cassie once again oblivious as sleep closed around her. Luckily, she didn�t dream.