Next Monday..
"Ugh..."
She looked and felt like...well...shit.
Used tissues were cluttered the nightstand and on the floor beside her bed, a few were scattered around her. A cough that sounding more like a dying, hacking horse erupted the silence of the room every few minutes and the annoying sniff of a clogged nose would echo.
Liz took in a deep breath through her mouth because her nose was so stuffed up she couldn't breathe. "ohhh, this suckks."
She found it quite humorous that the doctor, was the one that was sick. But she couldn't find the energy to laugh. She rolled over on her back with a pitiful light cough before curling her hand into a fist and holding it over her mouth, right in time for her 1 minute long coughing fit to begin.
She groaned when she was done and turned her head to look at the clock. It was 7 am. Work was at 8.
"No, nuh uh..there's no way." And with that she rolled over and closed her eyes, trying to block out the pounding migraine her sinuses were causing her.
---------
"I still cant believe you are here."
With a roll of her eyes and a sigh she tried to get her point across. "It's not that exciting, jeez."
"Yes it is. I've, I've missed you."
Her face turned to that of disgust. "ahh, don't be mushy with me Timberlake."
"I'm glad you are here though. Now I have someone to talk to." Justin smiled brightly and leaned back in his recliner, putting his feet on the coffee table in front of him.
She looked at her watch and then back up to him. "Well you have about 5 hours to do all the talking you need so get crackin bud."
He groaned. "Brownie..."
"My last name isn't Brown anymore." Patty narrowed her eyes at him and flashing him her hand adored with a diamond ring.
"Fine then, Bassie..." Justin grin, mischievously, chuckling at her annoyed expression.
She crossed her arms over her chest and gave him an unenthused face. "Shut up. I'm only in Memphis for today so if you need to talk to me, go at it."
Justin was glad she had surprised him with a visit. She was just in town for a few days and most of them were going to spent business related, but it was good to be able to talk to her face to face. He scratched his head and then grabbed on to the back of the chair, with his elbows pointing to the ceiling. "Well...first off I gotta ask you this. If you were me, would you go with Hunter to see Britney when she plays at the coliseum next week?"
She nodded slowly and made cringing face. "Oooo..."
"Yeah, major oooo." Justin mocked.
"Hmm, I'm not you, I don't have to make that decision." She said trying to get out of having to decide for him.
Justin sighed and spoke a little quieter. "I don't want to see her, AT ALL." Justin's arms dropped back into his lap and his bottom lip protruded a little further out than the other.
Patty leaned forward a little bit, knowing there was more to that statement. "But.."
Justin raised his eyes from his tennis shoes perched on the table in front of him and met her own eyes. "But Hunter needs to see her, he's starting to question why a mommy doesn't live here."
"Is he still sick?" Patty asked, sensing Justin's sadness and wanting to change the subject.
"No, I went online after freaking out about him being sick and went to his baby chatroom or something, and this Dr. girl gave me a real clever trick that actually worked."
"Awesome. Getting messed up with the Internet again eh Juju?" She smiled secretively at him.
"Huh?"
She giggled. "You know, hitting the keyboard once again?"
Justin's eyebrows bunched together and he gave her a weird look. "Patty what are you on?"
"Ya know? Getting another Internet chick?"
His head raised and lowered in realization and a nod. "Oh...no..what do you mean by that?"
"Don't tell me you don't remember that girl.."
He looked down at his shirt and picked off imaginary pieces of lint, so he wouldn't have to look at her. "I really don't want to talk about how many times I've fucked up my life Patricia."
She knew immediately somethign was up.
"Justin, calm down. I just, are you ok?" She lowered her head, trying to get him to look her in the face. They were a few feet a part with her on the couch and him in the recliner, but it seemed like he was about to go back into his shell, and that was the last thing she wanted right now.
"No, I'm not. For almost 3 damn years I've sat here pinning away, thinking about how many times I've screwed up. I don't need YOU reminding me."
She was almost frightened by his dark eyes and hard expression. She had never seen Justin get angry over this before. It was almost a welcome change even though she didn't like the way he was looking at her like she had just committed the worst crime. "Justin, I was just kidding around. Where is all this anger coming from?"
He shook his head and rubbed his hands over his face, before dropping him by his sides and looking up at the ceiling, like he could find all his answers there. "I don't know. I'm, I'm not sad anymore Patty. It's weird, it's like a light switch flipped in me. I'm never sad, when I think about..this whole thing, I just get really pissed off."
"Well that's ok, Justin. Just don't keep all this to yourself, ok?"
He chuckled lightly and rolled his eyes. "Yes, mom."
She smiled and changed the subject. "Hush...you excited about getting in the studio again?"
"I'm kinda scared."
"WHAT? YOU?" She exclaimed.
"Yeah, I mean. It's been so long. The last time I was there was, well about 2 months before Hunter was born."
She nodded at him with a confident smile. "You'll be fine."
He shook his head at her. "You don't know that."
"Yeah, I do. You're Justin Timberlake, I've seen you worked up, worked down, sad, tired, excited, worried, terrified and you go through all those situations and come back better than before, always mastering whatever it was that was in your way. You're...a piece of work, timberflakey."
"Aww, thanks..hey. I'm not flaky." He glared at her, but his lips were in a grin.
"timbershaky?"
"No." He growled.
"Timberachey?"
"Shut up, Bassie."
She bit her lip and thought, and then it came to her. "Timbernakey?"
Justin moaned. "I've got to get new friends."
-----
It was quite a humorous picture. She was sitting there, slumped on the edge of the couch, her permanent habitat of tissues surrounding her, her eyes closed, her mouth open and her nose struggling to breathe. She managed a slight moan as she let the vapors from the humidifier hit her face and soothe her aching sinuses.
The truth was she was bored out of her mind. She was use to always being on the go, always at work or thinking about work, and now, she had nothing to do. She had taken a sick day and was now doing a wonderful job of being sick. But she wasn't one for soap operas or talk shows, and Food Network was playing a marathon of Martha's Kitchen. She was afraid if she spent all day watching that she would end up becoming obsessive compulsive about making the perfect cup of Campbell's soup.
"Uhhh Nooo." She moaned when the shrill of the phone woke her up from her humidified daze. She put her fingers in her ears, closed her eyes and waited for the answering machine to pick up. She finally took her fingers out of her ears with a sigh.
"Dearest sister...this is Sara. Are you alive? Ohh that's right, you work at the hospital 24/7. Nevermind. I'm just checking in with you. Lisa says hey and so does Bobby. Rachel said she might be coming through Memphis sometime soon. She's still traveling with that band. Whatever. Kimmie said she'll call you and mom's worried about you, as always. Call everyone, as soon as you get this. Miss you Lizzie and hope everything is going well. Love ya girl. Bye."
Liz rolled off the couch and towards the kitchen. She should have picked up the phone but she was just too lazy. She past the blinking answering machine and made her way to the stove to heat up some water to make hot tea.
A few minutes later with a mug of scolding hot liquid in her hands and a blanket around her shoulders, she sat down in front of her computer to check her mail.
She sipped the liquid and heard the phrase "you've got mail" and rolled her eyes. That little voice could be quite annoying sometimes. She scanned all of her emails. Some from her sisters, one or two from Jamie about his latest love adventures, and a lot from many of the online doctor magazines she subscribed to.
But then there was one that she had never seen before. The screen name, seemed familiar but, she couldn't quite place it. She double clicked the email and read.
Subj: Thanks
Date: 2/16/2008 12:46:50 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From: LakeJ0321
To: Drliztn
Well Dr. Liz, you sure do know what you are talking about. I tried the orange juice and Tylenol thing and it worked wonders. Hunter is almost back to his 100% now, which well for a 5 year old that can be kinda hard to handle. I just thought I'd drop you a line and say thank you.
That night I think you helped me more so than you did my son. I was freaking out to say the least and some how your advice seemed to calm me down. So thanks, from the both of us.
Take Care
-LakeJ
--------
"Fishy..."
Patty groaned. "No, its Bassie."
Hunter shook his head at her. "Like a fish...see..." His sucked the sides of his lips into his mouth so his top and bottom lips swished together and he crossed his eyes, making a fish face and then bursting into giggles.
Patty looked up at Justin as he crossed the den and went towards his computer. "Justin, why did you have to start calling me Bassie?"
He stopped and shrugged. "You said it yourself, you're last name isn't Brown anymore."
She looked back at Hunter who was still doing the fish face. "What have you been teaching your son?"
"Talent. That could get him on star search." Justin said confidently.
She nodded as he plopped down in his computer chair and spun it around to face the screen. "Too bad that show was canceled like 15 years ago."
"Yeah..."
She managed to laugh at the small boy in front of her, in so many way he was exactly like his father. "Ya know, Hunter could have actually won something in honor of the Timberlake name on that show, unlike a certain cowboy I know."
Justin looked over his shoulder at her and glared. "Hey, I was...charming..."
She nodded. "With your big hat and buckle and that shirt..ohh..."
He turned back around when he saw she was covering her mouth trying not to laugh too loud. "Patty. Shut it."
Patty turned to Hunter and said thoughtfully. "See Hunter, when you are grumpy like your daddy no one likes you."
He just giggled, pointed to Patty and made a fish face. "Hehe..fishy."
Justin smiled at his reflection in the computer screen. Patty had been there for more of the day and his spirits had been surprisingly up all day. And now that Hunter was home from daycare, life was just fine. He looked at the computer screen and checked his mail. With an amused smile he double clicked on a email, that he really didn't expect he would be getting.
Subj: Re: Thanks
Date: 2/18/2008 1:22:03 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From: Drliztn
To: LakeJ0321
Lake J,
I'm glad your son is doing much better. That trick isn't something very medical. In fact, my mom use to do that with me when I was a kid, and when I use to baby-sit for my niece when she was little I had to use that trick on her. So, the advice wasn't very technical but I'm glad it worked anyway.
And about you being a little freaked out. It's definitely understandable. I couldn't imagine raising a kid by myself. It's sometimes hard enough on my having to deal with children that are always sick and suffering, but I know if they were actually one of my own I probably couldn't handle it. No matter what you think, you are a great father. I mean, so what if you are a little confused and lost about what exactly to do? You aren't perfect, no one is. You obviously love your son tremendously and that's the best thing you can do.
Listen to me, ramble and ramble. I'm usually not like this. It must be the Nyquil talking. See, while your son gets better, the old doctor in fact GETS SICK.
Kinda ironic huh?
Have a nice day...and I'll just sit in front of my humidifier looking like a junkie that is in need of a fix.
-Liz
He smiled and signed off AOL. He was getting better. He was getting happier, and right now, with his sons giggles and his close friend's laughter in his ears he couldn't of think of anything better.
Life WAS just fine.