JUSTIN

It’s been 8 hours since I laid Arianna on the gurney and watched them take her into the emergency room and then to emergency surgery. They refuse to tell us anything. I am sitting here waiting with Chase, Tabbetha, and James. We are all taking our turns at pacing a hole into the floor and demanding information from the nurses and doctors. They continue to tell us that only immediate family gets information which equals none of us gets information. This is bullshit!!

The only thing that made matters worse is that around hour three, someone must have recognized me and called the stupid press. The room was swarmed with cameras and people asking endless questions – inconsiderate pricks! I can only imagine what pictures of me in bloody clothes looking distraught cost. They finally kicked out the press and moved us to a private waiting area.

We sit and wait and pace and wait and yell and scream and wait. I am tired of waiting. Why does this have to be the one place where my name and status will not get me anything I want. I am finally at my breaking point when I scream out and throw a chair across the room, startling everyone.

“That’ll help.” James rolls his eyes. “Do you feel better now?” He is such a sarcastic ass.

“Well if you had gotten there sooner,” I yell at him. “What the hell were you doing? Contemplating which ‘cool tough boy’ outfit to wear or maybe which car is cooler to drive?”

“I believe I’m the one who saved her life!” He exclaims loudly.

“So you say. I believe her being in surgery leaves that up in the air and left to be decided.” I say through gritted teeth.

“Who are you to say anything, Mr. Hide-Away?”

“THAT’S ENOUGH!!!” Tabbetha screams out between her sobs, startling us into silence. “I’ve had enough from you two. My best friend is on her deathbed, and you two are arguing over who is the damn hero. Fuck off!” Tabbetha is pissed and I don’t blame her.

I sit down beside her and try to console her while Chase is off trying to find someone willing to give information. He finally returns with Sam, one of their cop friends.

“Hey,” he greets Tabbetha with a sigh. he squats down in front of her, “how you holding up, sweetie?” He asks sincerely.

I’d be better if these two asses would stop trying to compare dick sizes and I knew information on my best friend. Can you help?” She asks showing a slight hope in her eyes.

“I’m going to try to help.” He tells her and stands up to look at all of us. “It’s a huge criminal investigation now, and it’s all over the TV.” He looks more towards me. I knew my celebrity status would end up blowing this up. “Not looking good for you, man.” He tells me what I already assumed. He tells me about the media frenzy and some of the stories they have come up with. Some include me being becoming a member of a gang, one is me being chased by the mob, and several similar ones.

Sam must go back out to join some fellow police officers and detectives while we continue to wait. It is well into the 10th hour when a doctor finally comes into our waiting area.

“You all here for Arianna Lombardi?” He asks and we all jump to our feel and nod. “Technically I am not allowed to tell any of you anything, but Officer Sam Hudgens assures me that you are all basically family and she doesn’t have any family that will be here.” He tells us and then goes on to explain the extent of her injuries. “She was shot six times. It is a miracle she even made it here still alive with the damage done and the amount of blood loss and all. Luckily the bullets missed most major arteries and we were able to stop the bleeding for now. She is in ICU on a breathing machine and some IVs. She’s very lucky. We will have to keep a close watch over her for internal injuries or bleeding and make sure we got everything. We are still trying to give her a blood transfusion and after that because of the circumstances we are giving her an extremely private room in ICU and will allow all of you see her as soon as we finish but there will be strict rules.” He informs us.

“Please only two at a time. You need to let her rest and do not overwhelm her. We don’t know the exact amount of damage and I’m afraid a lot of stress will cause it to get worse. I’ll let you know when we get her into a room.” The doctor leaves.

Shortly after Sam returns looking a little stressed himself. “Oh, thank you so much, Sam. They finally talked to us and will let us see her.” Tabbetha jumps up and hugs him.

“Don’t get too excited. The neighbors called the police because they heard what they think were gunshots, and the department sent out some units to check out the scene. They took a report of the scene and are expecting me to get statements from everyone involved.” He is not looking too happy when he turns to James. “I know this has to do with you two, so do you have a story to tell me?”

“Yeah. Arianna was at home with her scrawny boyfriend here, Justin Timberlake,” he starts. not resisting his need to insult me in the process, the jealous bastard. “Out of nowhere there was shooting. They tried to call 911 but they couldn’t get to a phone. Three guys actually busted in and kept shooting. Arianna tried to get a gun from them and they shot her several times. Justin somehow was able to get away and I had made plans to come over and hang out but when I got there, I saw the house a mess; windows busted, door broken, etc.” He continued with his story. “I was worried so I ran inside and found the three guys dead and Arianna on the floor. I located Justin and on our way here he told me their boss came in and shot them. The boss man thought she was dead, and apparently they were supposed to just kidnap her for ransom from Justin.” James gives her his explanation and I actually almost started seeing it happen this way. He is very convincing.

“What about the man that was found shot outside the house?” Sam questions. I’d forgotten all about this man.

“Who knows? It was outside the house. How should they know?” James questions.

Sam is about to ask another question when the doctor comes in. “We have her in a room but she is still asleep. We don’t know when she will wake up.” He informs us. We all jump up ready to hear anything he had to say. “So which two will be going to see her first?” He asks looking at each of us.

I almost demanded it to be me, but I figure Tabbetha or Chase or even James (as much as I hate to admit it) have more of a right to go first. They have known her longer and are much closer to her at the moment. I start to back away with my head down.

“Me and Justin are going.” My head snaps up when I hear Tabbetha’s answer.

“I… I don’t want… I don’t think I should get to go first.” I tell her still shocked they would let me.

James is not happy at all. “He’s right. He shouldn’t get to so I’ll go,” he declares moving towards the door, but Chase grabs his arm.

“I believe Tabbetha and Justin will be first.” He tells him and his tone and look leave no room for argument.

James jerks his arm away and storms out. I’m pretty sure he would have hit Chase if he wasn’t scared of Arianna.

“Let’s go see our girl,” Tabbetha smiles weakly as she holds her hand out to me.

I look over at Chase to see if he truly is okay with me going before him. He nods at me with a small smile. I grab her hand and we follow the doctor down several hallways and eventually come to a stop in front of a shut door.

“Again she’s not awake and I don’t suggest you try anything to change that” The doctor warns us.

We nod and go inside. My breath catches when I see her lying there in the middle of the room. She is so pale. She has tubes in her mouth, helping her breathe. IVs are in both arms, slightly bloody gauze all over, and that annoying loud beeping that seemed to echo throughout the room.

Tabbetha lets go of my hand to bring her own to her face to wipe the fresh tears that are falling. She walks over to Arianna’s side and stands over her. “Oh Arianna! Why do you have to be so stubborn and stupid? You act like such a boy sometimes.” I hear her try to joke to he friend. “Just so you know, I consider you owe me one now. I believe Chase was planning on purposing before your dumb ass got shot and the phone call interrupted. I believe a honeymoon to wherever I want with all expenses paid will do.” Tabbetha begins to sob.

“Maybe I should go get Chase,” I whisper as I move away towards the door.

“No, please don’t.” She jumps up. “You should be here. You mean a lot to her. Even if she won’t admit it, in the short amount of time you’ve been here, you have become something special to all of us, especially Arianna. Please stay. I’m going to go get Chase myself. Take your time. We are going to go talk to Sam.” She tells me before she leaves.

She leaves the room and makes sure the door closes behind her. I slowly make my way to her the chair that was against the wall. The beeping of the machines seem to match each of my steps – slow and steady. I pull the chair over to the bed and sit down. I grab her hand, careful not to mess any of the tubes and wires up. I pull it up to my lips and kiss the back of it and then I lean my head down and place my forehead on her hand now. A few minutes pass before I lift my head up and tears are running down my face. “Arianna, I don’t know what to say. I thought I knew what I was getting myself into, but I was wrong. I care so much about you, and I don’t know what to do. I… I can’t stand the thought that I may possibly lose you so soon after… so after I realized that… that I love you.” I am quiet for a moment. I cannot believe I just said that out loud, but I have no desire to take it back, just the wish that she was awake to hear it.