| Chapter Four |
Alexis arose that morning clear headed and ready to begin the day, although the actual day didn�t match her mood. The day was cloudy and it was expected to rain. Something that didn�t bother Alexis too much, for she was used to that back home. The dark clouds hung overhead waiting to spill it�s contents on all the people below, and as usual it would wait for the perfect moment, like as you�re getting out of your car and walking inside your workplace. Alexis walked in the hospital with varied parts of her body dry while others were soaked. She ignored the shiver she suddenly felt as she walked through the halls and made her way to her office, where she would reside and see patients and work on charts for the next few hours. She sat there and did the job she loved to do. The one she had trained, and was educated on for so many years, of course she wasn�t bored of this, it was too soon, but her mind was elsewhere. Her mind was still on yesterday, was still wondering what JC was really thinking, what she was thinking and feeling, and it would come back on the thought, that like before, she would become a puppet. One who would do what the man asks, which is all she knows, her only point of reference being David. But she also knows that she can be stronger then that, she can push away and break free if needed, but how long would that take? What is needed to make her give off that explosion and set free? It might take a while for her to become that puppet, but once she is� But she also thought about her first reaction with JC, it was out of character; she was firm with him. This gave her the strength to explore what could happen without the worry of stumbling into the routine she knew. �Knock, knock.� Alexis threw her pen half way across the room and jumped at least a foot back. �Well I see I have a thing for scarring you, that can�t be good.� �Oh Greg hi, yeah I guess you do..� �Wait let me guess, deep into your work huh?� �Something like that.� Alexis told him not wanting or feeling the need to tell the truth. �I was wondering if you wanted to join me for lunch in the cafeteria today, not such a good day to go out, plus you don�t get much time around here.� He asked this as he stood at the doorway; he seemed to be in a hurry and had no time to even walk in. �Lunch, yeah sure.� Alexis answered him not really thinking it meant much. She had become to see Greg as a friend more then anything. �Ok,� he said with a big smile. �12:30 sound ok?� �Yeah that�s fine.� Alexis said as she turned around in her chair and picked up her pen. �Well I have to go now, duty calls, see ya then.� �Ok see you, bye.� Alexis called off to him as he left lighting up the hallway with his smile as he walked. She looked down at the papers in front of her and noticed they were done as well as were her appointments for the morning. As she looked at another paper on her desk titled �to do� the next thing on it was visit Mrs. Chasez, as Dr. Kendrick had suggested. Alexis lazily got up from her seat and began her journey. As she approached the room she saw three huge men standing outside the door, much like the one she had seen outside of her own office when JC was there. She recognized one of them as being Mike. Once she got near, the men got closer together and blocked the door. She smiled at Mike and said hello. �It�s ok guys, go ahead Dr., oh and nice seeing you again.� �Thanks, you too.� Alexis looked at the men with strange faces as she passed by them. She grabbed the doorknob and opened the door not ready or expecting what she was about to see inside. �Oh, I�m sorry am I interrupting here?� �Who�s there?� Mrs. Chasez asked trying to look around the people in the room towards the door. �Oh, umm...hello Dr.,� She said awkwardly not knowing what to say to the girl. She didn�t want to be rude or tell this Dr. what she thought of her in front of all these people. �Come in.� She said not too enthusiastically. Alexis was a little stunned, she moved in carefully and stood right by the door. �I�m guessing no formal introductions are needed, am I correct?� Mrs. Chasez asked. �Well if you�re asking if I know who they are, well yes pretty much, I think.� Alexis stopped, swallowed hard and smiled to the 5 men in front of her. �I do know I have your CD and like your music. And this would explain why I saw more teenage girls around the hospital today.� �Yes, that would be our doing, hi, I�m Lance.� He extended his hand and Alexis accepted it. �Hi I�m Chris, who are you?� Alexis laughed at the way he said this and the truthfulness in his words. �Dr. Gray, or Alexis is fine. �Oh Dr�.ohhhhh�the psychiatrist�� Chris said eyeing JC, and hiding nothing in the process. Joey tried to cover up quickly �I�m the only one left, last as usual, I�m Joey.� He said as he too shook her hand. �Hi.� Alexis couldn�t help but giggle at the whole situation. �And you, it seems like I�ve stolen their attention away from you I�m sorry.� She said talking to Tyler. �Yeah well I can understand why.� Tyler said. Alexis blushed slightly. �How are you doing Tyler?� �Well considering, I�m not doing too bad.� �That�s good to hear, and it must feel great to have so many people here to see you.� �Yeah I guess it is.� He said this with his head down, staring at his hands. �Don�t sound too excited there Ty, but don�t worry you won�t be seeing us for much longer right now.� Chris told him. �We have a group meeting down at the studio in about half an hour.� Lance informed them. �But we�ll be back, but not all at once, don�t think this hospital can handle that.� Joey said. �No, we don�t want screaming girls around here getting themselves hurt.� Alexis said. �But hey think about it they won�t have to go far for medical attention.� Chris said laughing. �Christopher!� Mrs. Chasez said �I�m sorry JC�s mommy.� Chris said with his head down and hands folded in front of him. �Ok well we�re outta here, see ya later Ty.� Justin said. �Bye Alexis, good seeing you again.� �You too Justin, bye.� Alexis said with a smile. Everyone said good-bye as they walked out the door, each a few minutes behind the other so they wouldn�t cause a scene. JC was the last one left. �Ok I�ll be back right after the meeting, it shouldn�t take that long. Love ya bro.� Tyler just nodded; he didn�t make eye contact with his brother once since Alexis had been in the room. It seemed as though he was avoiding him as much as he could. JC gave a kiss to his mom and turned to exit the room. �I�ll be seeing you later as well Dr.� �I guess I�ll just have to take your word on that.� Alexis said as she gave him a smile and let her eyes follow him out of the room. Her attention slowly came back to the two people still in the room who were now staring at her. She smiled nervously at them, pondering what to do or say next. . �Well umm... Mrs. Chasez I�ll be leaving you and your son alone now, if you need me you know where to find me and it was nice meeting you Tyler. I wish you nothing but the best.� Alexis began to walk out, she knew Mrs. Chasez didn't want to talk her, really wanted nothing to do with her, she could tell by the look on her face. Alexis wanted to get out of the room as quickly as she could. �Hold on Tyler, I�ll be right back.� Mrs. Chasez said as she followed Alexis out of the room. �Dr., Alexis hold on.� Alexis was half way down the hall when she heard her name being called, she turned around and walked back to meet the calling person. �I�m guessing you came by here today to check on me, to see how I was holding up, and that�s very nice, really is it. But as you can see I�m doing much better, my son is awake and alert, he will begin therapy soon and we will be leaving here within the week. Everything is good now.� �That is all great to hear Mrs. Chasez. And yes I did come to see how you were.� Alexis paused for a moment to think and to reflect on what she knew and had observed inside the room. �I hope by my asking this next question I�m not stepping over any boundaries, but have you talked to Tyler about the accident, and how you feel? Have you talked to him about how he feels and what he might feel towards his brother? Because the trip that caused him this pain was for his brother. I noticed the way he acted towards JC, and I don�t know, it seemed strange. I know this is a lot for you to handle right now and I hope I�m not bringing you down in any way, I�m just telling you these are things that you will gradually need to talk about. Actually the sooner these feelings are let out the better the entire healing process will be.� Mrs. Chasez just stood there taking in all Alexis had said and hearing the truth in it. She didn�t want to be hearing all of this right now, especially the part about Tyler possibly having ill feelings towards JC. Alexis saw this on her face, maybe it wasn�t such a great idea to have laid all that on her, but it had to be said. Mrs. Chasez had noticed that Tyler hadn�t talked to his brother much, had rather, well ignored him in a way and kept with the rest of the family for the few hours that he had been awake. But she didn�t want to believe it, it couldn�t be. �I�m sorry Mrs. Chasez�.� �Don�t be sorry, you are a doctor and you were giving advice. I think I know my sons and I will handle the situation. Now if you will excuse me I must be getting back to my son. Good bye.� She turned around abruptly and headed back to room 3637. How could she possibly know what's going on? She thought to herself. She doesn't know us. But deep down Mrs. Chasez knew that Alexis was 100% right, she just wasn't ready to deal with it. Alexis watched Mrs. Chasez walk away and wondered whether she should have said those things or not. The words had obviously affected her. Alexis only hoped she had really gotten through, because the way Mrs. Chasez had responded implied she had heard the words but didn't want to believe them. Alexis looked down at her watch and saw that is was almost 12:30. �Lunch, Greg.� She said aloud and headed towards the cafeteria. Once she was down there she looked around for him and noticed he was sitting at the table that she herself often sat at just to stare out the window. She casually walked over and sat down in the chair across from him. �Hey, right on time.� He told her as he stared into her eyes. �Yeah, well since I don�t like waiting for people I figure why should I keep them waiting.� Alexis felt awkward around him for the first time, she felt as though she was under his direct stare. �Would you like to go get something to eat or are you not hungry?� Greg asked. �No I definitely want to eat.� She said laughing. They both got up and were back at the table minutes later with lunch. They ate in silence much of the time, Greg not knowing what to say and Alexis�s mind wandering off elsewhere as it usually did. Half way through their meal Greg finally spoke. �So how has your day been?� �Not bad, the usual. Some appointments and paper work. But it�s fun I enjoy it.� �I hope I�ll be saying the same thing when I become a full doctor, because right now it isn�t that fun.� �Yeah I know what you mean.� Alexis said as she took a sip of her coke �Yep just two years of schooling then another two of residency, oh yeah the time is just gonna fly by.� He said sarcastically. Their conversation came to a sudden stop as they both finished up their lunch. Alexis sat there staring off into space as Greg tried not to make it too obvious that he couldn�t take his eyes off her. Alexis thought about her life back home, and how happy she was now. David also entered her mind and she realized that she hadn�t heard from him since she left, and for that she was grateful. Their conversation picked up a bit and before they knew it an hour had passed by and Greg was getting paged to go. �I was hoping they had forgotten about me.� Greg said as he looked down at his pager and began to stand up. He smiled at Alexis. �They never do, have fun.� �Oh but of course.� Greg was getting nervous now he didn�t know whether to just leave or bend down and give her a kiss on the cheek. He was very hesitant but finally he bent down to where she was still sitting and gave her a light kiss on the cheek. Alexis who was totally not expecting that smiled slightly and said good-bye. Greg walked out of there feeling as though he was carrying the world on his shoulders. For such a small step that wasn�t mutual he was feeling rather cocky at the moment. He was a shy guy when it came to things like this and to do this meant a lot. He was being pushed by friends who knew him well to get out there and meet people, and he was taking their advice. Except he only found one person and was sticking to that one, sticking like glue, that was his motto. Not a very good one and one that had gotten him in trouble along the way. Greg turned the corner and almost ran into a guy who had been standing there trying to get a good view of the table Greg was just sitting at. �Oh, I�m sorry man didn�t see you there.� Greg said as he stopped for a second to apologize. He looked at the stranger carefully, as though he had seen him before. �Yeah, it�s ok,� the man replied still staring in the same direction. Greg just shook his head and continued walking. The man carefully made his way towards the table Alexis was still sitting at. He took one step closer and was standing right in front of her. �Oh, JC, hi.� She said nervously. �I didn�t even notice you.� She tried looking over his shoulder in the direction Greg had left in. JC casually sat down in the chair across from her. �That guy you were sitting with is gone, that is who you are looking for isn�t it?� He said with a grin on his face. �Umm.. yeah sort of, he�s a friend I met here�� She went to continue but JC caught her off. �No need for explanations.� �I wasn�t giving one, just stating the facts. Didn�t you guys have a meeting today?� �Yeah we did, one of those post tour meetings, lots of fun, and short that�s the best part.� �I see.� Alexis looked down at her watch and saw she still had about 10 minutes until her appoint with Michael that afternoon, so she leaned back in the chair and got comfortable. �You�re new in town right?� �Yeah I am, but I don�t remember telling you that.� �Let�s just call it a lucky guess, anyway I was wondering if you wanted to join the rest of the guys and I tonight on a little outing. You know dinner then to a club. �As long as you promise me I won�t be the only girl between 5 guys.� Alexis said with a smile. JC laughed. �I think I can promise you that, Joey always brings someone along and Chris will be with his girlfriend.� �Ok then, sure I�d love to go with you guys.� �Great, just give me your number and I�ll pick you up at 8 for dinner first, don�t worry they�ll be there too.� �Should there have been a reason for me to worry?� JC gave an evil grin that was unmistakable. It made Alexis practically melt in her chair. �No not at all.� Alexis began to write her number on a napkin that was near by. Michael who was watching them from a distance stared at Alexis with burning eyes, eyes that he thought were looking at her with love, but hatred and jealousy was what stared through them. For what he thought was his was being taken away. When he saw Alexis getting up and saying good-bye he quickly ran away toward her office. �Ok then JC I�ll see you tonight.� Alexis said sweetly. �See you then, bye.� He watched her walk away; the way her hips moved from side to side, the way her hair flowed down her back perfectly. A smile crept across his face just at the site of this. He shook his head to clear his thoughts when he felt a hand touch his shoulder. �You got it bad don�t you?� Mike asked JC. �Is it that obvious?� �Ha, wait till you really get to know the girl.� �I�m working on that Mike, I�m working on it,� he said as he stood up and headed towards Tyler�s room. �Now if I can only forget how and why I first met her.� �If that will make you like her more then I�m scared and I will tell you not to forget. But I don�t get it, what�s the big deal? So she�s a psychiatrist and she went to go see your mom, it�s called doing her job and trying to help.� �Either way it�s still insulting, we are all perfectly fine. It was Tyler who needed medical attention and he got it.� He paused for a second before continuing. �It�s funny how I�m still going after her though, there�s just something about her Mike.� *********************************************************************** �Great another appointment with Michael.� Alexis thought to herself as she walked through the corridors. �That boy has really been scarring me, the way he looks at me and smiles, oh god. With that kids problem I think this crush he has on me might be more to him. I need to find out�.� Her thoughts were cut off when she saw Michael standing at her door waiting. She looked down at her watch and noticed that he was there a little early. �Michael, you�re here early.� He was leaning his head against the wall, Alexis really couldn�t see his face too well, but she did get a glimpse of his eyes. His eyes looked bitter, hatred seemed to pore out of them. She quickly veered her attention elsewhere. Michael looked up at her now. His expression changed he had a smile on and his eyes had changed slightly. �Hey Doc, I guess I just couldn�t wait to see you.� She smiled lightly still disturbed from what she had just seen and sensed. She walked over to the door, unlocked it and stepped in, Michael followed behind her. He sat down in his regular chair and got comfortable as Alexis grabbed his folder and sat down herself. �Let�s just begin shall we?� �Sure.� �Tell me about your ex-girlfriend.� �The one I almost killed myself over?� �Yeah that�s the one.� One thing Alexis had learned about him was that he was very straightforward which in essence made her job that much easier. She had learned a lot about him in the short amount of time that she had been talking to him. His home life was the perfect example of a dysfunctional family. Beginning with the fact of catching his father cheating on his mother then being forced to keep it a secret to the later events of watching his mother get beaten by his father. During these times Michael never received the love and attention he needed, that any child would need to grow up. Finally his mother separated from his father, and Michael seemed to get less attention and love, as his mother would go off and not come back for days. Michael would still attend school regularly and try to hide his depression by lashing out at whoever got in his way. It wasn�t till a teacher sat him down and talked to him and tried to get him the help he needed. At this time his mother tried to take a more active role in his life, but now it was really too late, the damage had been done. This was around the time he found this girl, the one who cared for him and gave him something he never had, some attention and a little bit of love and he latched onto that for dear life. That was the last thing Alexis had learned from Michael, now it was time to continue and learn more. �What do you want to know?� Michael asked lazily. �Everything, everything that happened that made you do what you did.� Michael stretched out his arms, slid down in the chair and put his hands behind his head. �This girl was different, she was special to me. She gave me something no one else ever had, and I loved her, I truly did. I have liked a lot of other girls in my past, but she, she was so different.� Michael seemed spaced out as he talked staring at a corner of the ceiling. �She gave back so much more then those others have, but then one day it all slipped away from me, just like that.� He snapped his fingers for effect, never taking his eyes away from that one spot. �It hit me real hard, it was as though I had nothing left, nothing at all. She was my world, and all I had in it. The way I looked at it I had nothing to live for.� �What about the bridges you and your mother were trying to repair, the relationship you two are trying to get back, wasn�t that worth living for?� �Yeah I had thought about that, but then she came home drunk one day and completely off the wall, so that was my sign, I had nothing left.� Alexis shifted in her chair to get comfortable. �You said it all slipped away, what do you mean by that?� �She left me Doc., just like that she fell out of love, that is if she was ever in love with me to begin with, I�m still not sure. While still going out with me she made ties with the new kid in school, then once she had him, she let me go. Just like that, like throwing away an old pair of shoes.� �Don�t compare yourself to that, it was her mistake and her loss. I know for a fact that the time you were with her you had changed for the better, you weren�t depressed you were doing well in school, look at the time you had with her as a step in recuperating and making yourself a better person. She brought all that out in you and now it�s your job to keep that out in the open.� �But look at what happened to me as soon as she let me go, I tried to commit suicide. And I swear I hate that kid who took her away.� �That�s understandable, for you to dislike the guy. But maybe she just wasn�t the one for you and she realized before you did. I�m not denying that at one point she did love you, because I�m sure she did. But you have to realize these things happen, people lose interest, and move on, and they might regret it and they might not. I know it all hit you hard and I understand why, and I�m here to help you figure it all out and make sure it never happens again.� Michael looked at her and gave Alexis that grin that he was now famous for. �You sure that�s all you�re here for?� He thought to himself. �Because I can think of a few other reasons.� Alexis knew this kid was desperately crying out for love and attention and he would get it from where ever he could. He could even mistake a situation like this for something it wasn�t. Chapter Five |