The  US Leg of the tour had taken off like wild fire, and was vastly approaching the end. After that there was the European leg. Which would take all summer. Thank God they were in LA for the last few nights of the tour. All the guys were tired and needed a much deserved break. There would be one, a 7 day stretch to let them catch their breath before heading off to England and Scotland. 

Michael and Lance were already at home with the twins, as was Justin with Jess and his boys. JC and Jen were heading out in the morning to FLorida to visit family. And Chris was on a plane back to Nashville to spend some time with NAsh and Karly before picking back up in New York. Joey and his wife Kendra and their menagerie were on their way to Florida in a few days, but were currently in the condo that Joey had bought during the pandemic In LA.

******

Joey sat up on the side of the bed, Looking at the clock on his phone. It read, 3:30am...Ken felt the bed shift and turned over.

" Babe, You ok?" She wondered out loud. He shook his head yes, and stood up  heading for the only light in the room that came from the bathroom door. 

" I'm Fine. " He said as he moved away from the bed.

She rolled back over and closed her eyes. A few seconds later, she heard a loud thud. She shot up out of the bed. " Joe?"She said into the darkness of their bedroom. No response. She got up and ran to the bathroom door, pushing it open. He opened just inches away from his head. 

There he laid on the floor in front of her on his side. He was already grey. She automatically went into. Nurse mode, Dropping to her knees and turning him onto his back." Joey....Wake up. " She shook his shoulders, no response. She checked his carotid for a pulse. Nothing. 

On Auto pilot she called 911.

" 911 what's your emergency?" The dispatcher asked into the phone.

" My Husband passed out , He has no pulse or respirations. I think He may have had a heart attack. "

" There is a unit in route now. 3 minutes out." The dispatcher replied. 

" Please hurry. " Kendra screamed into the phone, dropping it on the floor still on and starting compressions on him. " Xander!!!" She screamed, and her son appeared in the doorway of the bathroom. " Mom....What the hell is... Joey?" 

" Stay by the door and let the paramedics in when they get here."  Kendra ordered, Giving Joey rescue breaths between compressions. Xander did what he was asked to do, and went into the living room and turned on the lights. Minutes later the there was a knock on the door. He answered it and let the paramedics into the condo. 

" My mom and stepdad are in the bathroom." he said leading them into the. Master bedroom .

There they took out their gear and began to work on Joey. He was still pale, but no longer grey. After intubating him and oontinuing compressions for a few minutes they finally got a rhythm, and loaded him onto the gurney. 

" Where are you taking him?" Kendra asked, 

" Ceaders Mamn." The lead paramedic replied, as they rolled the gurney out of the bathroom and into the living room. Where Kaden had been woken up by the commotion..He screamed," No Where is JOEY going?" And ran up to the gurney. He gripped Joey's hand.  

" Kade, We have to let them take him to the hospital."  Xander said, removing  Kaden from their path so they could take Joey to the ambulence

It was then that Kendra heard the baby's screams from their bedroom. She had completly forgotten about Dante. She ran back into the bedroom and picked him up out of his crib. Holding him close to her body.

" Mom,come on, get dressed. I'm driving to the hospital."  Xander said, shattering what little train of thought she had left at this point. . They all threw on some clothes and grabbed Dante's diaper bag . 

********

The ride to the Emergency room was silent. Dante was lauded back to sleep by the movement of the SUV on the highway. 

" Go see about Joe. " Xander said to his mother, " I've got Kade and Dante." He said getting out of the driver's seat and closing the door. Kendra got out of the car and ran for the doors of the ER. The  unit clrrk led her to the information desk. 

" Can I help you?"  A girl with short red hair, dressed in bright pink scrubs , asked Kendra. 

" My husband was just brought in. "

" Name?"

" Fatone. Joseph. " Kendra replied. None of this could be real. She was dreaming this. 

" Manm?"

" Yes?

" They have already moved your husband upstairs to the ICU. They would like  you to go to the  waiting room up there. It's on the sixth floor. You can use the elevators right there. " The girl in the pink scrubs said, Pointing to a bank of elevators . 

" My Kids.."

" I'l let them know."

" Thank you. " She said, and sprinted over to the elevators. Pushing the number 6 and it talking a thousand years for the elevator doors to open.  She got on the elevator, which was full. Getting off on the 6th floor, she followed the signs to what looked like the Cardiac ICU.

She walked up to the nurses station, and was greeted by a nurse named Lettie,.

" Can I help you?" She asked.

" My husband was just brought in through the ER. They told me downstairs that he was here."

" Mr Fatone?" Lettie asked. 

" Yes. " Kendra shook her head at the nurse. 

" I'll get Dr Emerson, he wanted to speak to you." She said, " You can have a seat over there in the waiting room."

"OK." She said, not knowing what else to do. She went over to the waiting area and plopped down onto  a chair. Please God, Let him be ok.

" Mrs. Fatone?" An older man in  white lab coat and dark blue scrubs said, breaking her train of thought. She looked up at him.

'That's me."

" I'm DR Emerson. I'm the cardiologist on your husband's case. We are prepping him for surgery right now. He had an occluded LAD. It was almost 100 % . Right at 95%. We can not stent it. He needs a bypass, Right now. Do we have your consent. "

" Yes. Do whatever you have to do to save him." She said. Still reeling from what he had just said. 

" This surgery may be to much for him. "

" What?"

" This heart attack was a Widowmaker. Not many survive surgery. I just want you to be prepared . " Dr Emerson said, looking at her with sad eyes. " Even with Surgery he has a 35% chance of survival if he makes it through ." 

" He could die?"

" I will do everything in my power to make sure that doesn't happen. But, You need to notify the family, Have people close. " He said, " I will call you when the surgery is over."

" How long?"

" Three or four hours, Maybe more. I will know more once I get in there."

" Thank you." She said, as Dr Emerson turned and walked away from her. Sounds faded out, and she could feel the tears start to run down her cheeks. She sat there silently and cried.

This is where Xander found her 20 minutes later. Pushing the stroller, Kaden following behind.

"Mama? Is he ok?"

She shook her head no. " He is getting prepped for surgery,....They said he could die."

" He is too stubborn for that Mama. " Xander said, sitting down next to his mom. He rubbed his hand up and down her back. " He would tell you that it ain't over til the fat lady sings and you know it."

" I know." She said, trying to get her composure where it needed to be, but failing miserably.

Standing from the chair she said, " I need to make a phone call."

" I've got the boys, go make your call." Xander tried to reassure her. 

She nodded, and walked away from them and over by a bank of windows. Scrolling through her phone she found the number she wanted. Hitting the button and waiting for the ring to go through , She prayed. Please Pick up.

On the third ring, Lance's face, rough with sleep picked up the FaceTime call.

"Ken, It's five in the morning. What's going on?" He asked, as he sat up on the edge of his bed.His brain registered the look on her face. Not liking this at all , he repeated himself." What's wrong?"

" Lance....Joey...." She said, her voice as barely above a whisper. A fresh torrent of tears hit her about that time. " He...." she croaked. Lance was surprised by her demeanor. She was not much of a crier. 

" Kendra, What's wrong with Joey?" he asked, now on high alert. Michael sat up in the bed. Listening intently to his husbanf's conversation.

" He's in the hospital." Kendra said, finally able to speak. " Lance, it's bad."

" Why?" Was all Lance could manage.

" " He...He had a heart attack."

" A heart attack? " Lance repeated. His mind was on Autopilot. 

" They are prepping him for bypass surgery now. The....The cardiologist said ...He may not make it off the table."

" Where are you?"

" Cedars."

" Do his Mom and Dad know?"

" No . You were the first person I called." She said shaking her head from side to side. 

" Sit tight, We'll be there soon."  He said,, Standing up and starting to throw on some clothes. hanging up the call with her, He looked over at Michael who was sitting there stunned by the news. 

" I have to go."

"I'm calling Allison right now. She is right around the corner. There is no way in hell I'm letting you go over there alone."

Phyllis greeted her daughter in law with a smile on face time. 

" Hey Kenny. " 

Kendra swallowed hard and tried to keep what little composure she had left intact. " Hi." She managed to croak. She has no idea how she was gonna tell his mother. She was about to fall apart herself. 

Phyllis did not like the way that her daughter in law looked. Concerned. " Honey, what's wrong? Is it the baby?"

" No, Ma. He's fine. " She managed, then the tears began to roll down her cheeks. She took in a ragged breath and just started babbling." Joe....he....Phyllis....He had a heart attack."

" Oh my God. Not my Joey.." ALl the color drained out of her face... She sat down hard on one of the lounge chairs on the back deck. 

" Ma..Listen to me. They have him in the OR right now. The cardiologist said that he may not make it off the table. "

Kendra could here Joe Sr. In the background.Then she saw his face on the screen as he took the phone from his wife. 

" Honey, what's going on? Ma is beside herself. She can't even talk."

" You need to get to California as soon as you can. Joey needs you."

" He had a heart attack Joe. " Phyllis said in the background." She said that my baby might die."

" Kenny, we will be there on the first flight out. " Joe stated, and they spoke for a few more moments and then he hung up the call. 

Only for her phone to go off again. This time it was AJ.

" Ken, is what I just heard true?"

' How did you..." She asked floored that the news had traveled that fast. She only prayed that it hadn't leaked to the media yet. 

" Lance called me. Ate you and the boys ok? Where are you?"

" Cedars." She said, running her hand over her face. " AJ. He was dead. I found him in the bathroom. I did CPR on him until the paramedics got there."

" I'll be there in 20 minutes."

******

Her phone went off again. This time being JC. 

" Ken, I'm outside. Where are you guys?"

' 6th floor waiting room. "

Five minutes later, JC found them in the waiting area. Xander had just gotten Dante to go back to sleep, and Kaden was sitting on one of the couches playing on his phone. His mom was sitting  facing the windows along one wall, staring out them amisly. 

He walked up to her and put his hand on her shoulder. She looked up to find JC and Jen standing there. "Ken, what happened?"

Kenny sat there gathering her thoughts, then started to speak.

" He woke up around 3:30 this morning and went to the bathroom, and then I heard a thud. When I opened the door, he was on the floor. He was grey. He wasn't breathing . I called 911 and did CPR on him until they got there. The rest I don't really remember except for Dante  screaming." Wringing her hands, she said quietly." He was dead, Josh."

She sat there stoically, tears trickling down her cheeks. JC sat down next to her and put his arm around her shoulders. " You kept him alive, He is here in this hospital because you knew what to do to save him. Now the doctors are doing what they can to save him. "

" What if it wasn't enough?" her words echoed between them. He had no idea how to answer her. 

" Has anyone told Kelly? Or the girls?"

" No.  I haven't even let Chris or Justin Know what's going on. Lance called you. Because he was the only one I called except Joe Sr. And Phyllis." 

" Go call Kelly. I will let Justin and Chris know. "

" Thank you."

" We're family." He grinned at her, and she walked away from them, dialing Kelly's number as she walked down the hallway.

******

Kelly's bright voice came through the phone, and into her ear. " Hey there girl. You're ears must be burning/ Kloey was asking me about her dad. She said tht she can't get him to answer his phone."

A sob came up in her throat that she could not stop.She tried to clear her throat to no avail.

" Kendra, are you ok?"

" Kelly Listen to me."

" What's wrong?"

" Joey had a heart attack this morning, He's in surgery right now. They said that they don't know if he will make it through the surgery."

There was silence on the other end of the line. Then what sounded like muffled crying.

" What?"

" You and the girls need to be here in case this all goes south." Kendra said, then she completly lost it. After a few moments, both of them sniffing and wiping at their faces with the backs of their hands.

" Ken , are you sure? This can't be real. Not Joey." Kelly mumbled, trying to hide the fact that she was still crying.

" I wish that it wasn't true.Please Kel, This is as bad as it gets. get yourself and the girls out here. So that they can see their Dad."

" I'll let you know the flight info. Keep me in the loop."

" I will."

********

Lance and Michael showed up about this same time that she got off the phone with Kelly. 

Lance approached her and said," Kenny?" She turned and looked up at him. he held his arms open and she gladly fell into them. His hear broke for her . He was in a pretty bad state himself. 

" You ok?" He asked, letting his grip on her loosen up a little where he could see her face. 

" I just told Kelly. I can't do this anymore. ....I can't tell anyone else. ......I can't tell anyone else that I may loose him. " 

" Give me a list of people to call , I'll call anyone that needs to be notified. "

" Mulvi and Johnny...... "  She repeated, obviously on auto pilot.

" Done." Michael said, 

" Thank you."

" Have you heard anything yet?" Lance asked her.  She sat down on a nearby chair. 

" No. They said it would be at least three or four hours, maybe longer. " No longer able to handle this anymore, she began to hyperventilate.

" Honey, It's ok." Lance said, sitting down next to her . 

" No It's not. How do I do this Lance? " She tried to suck in a deep breath. " " How..:"

" I don't know" He said his own emotions about to get the better of him.