Chris was excited. His birthday was coming up in just one day. He had no idea what the hell he was going to do after the show to celebrate, but it didn't stop him from being excited. He jumped down from his bunk and quietly made his way to the back of the bus where he could indulge in some video games before he and the guys hit rehearsals. He wasn't particularly excited about being up so early, but at least there was entertainment to help him get over it. He opened the door and saw that Justin was already ten steps ahead of him.
"Oh, what the hell? What are you doing up?" Chris asked.
"Playing video games.....Chris?" Justin replied sarcastically.
"Don't be a smart ass, throw me in before the other banshee wakes up," Chris said as he looked for a controller.
"The banshee is already up, you dick, but I'm going back to sleep," JC called from his bunk. Chris just laughed and shook his head.
"I should put his hand in a cup full of water, man that'd be freakin' awesome," Chris teased. He looked up and saw JC's middle finger shoot up from under his blanket and laughed.
"Oh, hey, don't forget you and Lance have to go make that stop before rehearsals today," JC called.
"Holy shit, is that today? Man, the days are starting to run together," Chris said.
Chris felt like what JC said slapped him smooth across the face. He completely forgot about his visit to the hospital today. Someone wrote into the groups' fan club and it got some attention so they were going to go meet the lucky fan. The letter didn't say much about who was in the hospital, but it touched them enough to arrange a special meeting. He placed the controller onto a chair and went to in the bathroom to get ready. He knew that Lance had to be halfway done getting ready. Looking at his watch, he threw the clothes he took off, onto his bunk then grabbed his cellphone.
"Smell you later, losers," Chris bade. He got sarcastic groans in return as he left the bus. Chris could've put two and two together once he realized that the bus was usually moving when he woke up in the morning. Today they made it back to Florida just in time for rehearsals.
Chris saw the limo waiting and he was surprised. He thought it was a bit extravagant just for a visit to the hospital. He thought the idea of a surprise visit was to be as discreet as possible. But apparently, they needed to show up in a limo to a really well-known hospital. If the limo wasn't already there, he would've just asked for something less attention-grabbing.
"Wow, you're ready on time?" Chris turned around and saw Lance standing beside him.
"I'm always ready. I didn't even see you standing there," Chris replied.
"What's with the limo?" Lance asked.
"I was wondering the same thing, but we have no other car so let's go before we're late," Chris replied as he opened the limo door. They were in the parking lot of the arena in Lakeland where they did most of their rehearsals after a few weeks at Johnny's compound. He wasn't sure how much time they had with their guest, but he hoped it was enough. A short visit to the hospital for someone who was eager to meet him and Lance, seemed pretty lame.
Chris took in the surroundings of how beautiful Florida actually was. Sure it was hot and humid, but what Florida had to offer in terms of sight and leisure outweighed the weather. He was informed that they'd be going to Osceola County. He loved going to Osceola, for some reason he felt like no one knew him there and he could roam around by himself. Chris felt the elbow of his best friend jam into his side and he jumped.
"Ouch! What'd I do?" Chris asked.
"I didn't know we were going to a cancer center," Lance replied.
"What?"
Chris moved across to the other side and looked out the window. Osceola Cancer Center. He didn't know they were going to be meeting a cancer patient. Moreover, he really hoped they had a great deal amount of time with her. Cancer, wow. No matter how many times he heard the word, the reaction never got old.
Chris and Lance got out of the limo and made that long walk across the pavement into the cancer center. The sun shone down on a place where, to Chris, it would always be raining. This wasn't new to Chris, visiting hospitals and the like, but he was extremely nervous. Before entering the room, Chris and Lance had to sit in a certain waiting room for close family and friends. Chris bounced his leg up and down, wondering how long it would take to meet this fan.
"Dude, calm down, you're freaking me out!" Lance whispered.
"So you're nervous, too?" Chris asked, trying not to bite his nail.
"Yeah, crazy nervous. I don't even know why, we've done stuff like this before," Lance replied.
"Sorry for buggin' you out bro, but I feel the exact same way," Chris said.
The door swung open and both Chris and Lance's eyes shot upward, wide open. A male doctor emerged from the inside the room. He was in his early 40's, about 5'10, dark hair, and he wore thinly framed glasses. He was definitely every woman's dream guy.
"You must be Chris and Lance; I'm Dr. Wells. I believe we have a person in here waiting for you. Why don't you come on in?" the doctor said.
Chris stood up and looked at Lance for him to go first. Lance smiled and went inside first. As Chris entered the room, he came into an exuberant atmosphere. The room was filled with tons of sun shining through the white curtains. There were two women inside the room, one sitting down and one laying in bed. The woman sitting down was a bit older than the doctor, late 40's maybe, and she had black hair, cut into a bob. The one on the bed was a young woman, she looked just about 24 years old. She had long, dark brown hair cascading around her face and a bright smile plastered upon her face.
"Surprise Fallyn," said the older woman.
Chris watched as tears streamed down the girl's face, in complete shock as he and Lance stood there. Chris walked over to hug her and Lance followed, both of them formally introducing themselves properly. Chris thought she was quite gorgeous. She had a smile that illuminated him on the inside.
"I'm Fallyn and this is my mother, Felicia. Wow, I can't believe you guys are here."
Chris and Lance greeted her mother and pulled up chairs so they could sit down right at Fallyn's bedside.
"We got your mother's letter through the fan club and we just had to come see you," Lance said.
"I appreciate it, so much, you don't know. Thank you," Fallyn said, finally calming herself down.
"It's no problem, thank you for wanting to see us," Chris joked. Fallyn laughed and Chris' heart warmed.
"Well, I'm gonna let you enjoy your guests, sweetie. I have to go take your brothers and sister to school. Thank you guys for coming, hopefully we'll meet again," said Felicia as she gave her daughter a hug.
"You're very welcome," Chris replied.
After Felicia exited the room, Fallyn sat up in her bed.
"So, let's level with each other. How in the HELL did my mom get you guys here? She didn't beg you or anything did she?" asked Fallyn. Chris looked to his right, Lance smiled and shook his head.
"No, we seriously read the letter. Actually, Lance has it with him, right?" Chris responded, grabbing for the letter and handing it to her. They watched as she read it. It was obvious that she was touched by her mother's gesture.
"Wow....that was....my mom is the best. I know you guys have a show coming up so I'm really sorry if I interrupted a rehearsal or anything," she apologized.
"No, no, it's fine. Trust me if it weren't for the fans we wouldn't even have rehearsals. But enough about us, tell us about you," Chris said.
Chris caught the look Lance was giving him, but he ignored it. He really didn't want to shift the attention away from her. He was curious to know more about her.
"Fallyn Everett. I'm gonna be 25 real soon.....uh, I like apples, I guess?" she smiled. Chris chuckled. She made him laugh.
"How soon?" Lance asked.
"Like on October 17th, tomorrow, soon," Fallyn replied, smiling widely.
"Seriously? You're an honorary member of the awesome club, welcome."
"Oh why thank you, its always been my life dream to be apart of Chris' Awesome Club. Screw Harvard," she laughed.
Chris chuckled softly. "What kind of cancer are you diagnosed with?" Lance nudged him in his side. "If you don't mind me asking," Chris finished, gritting his teeth.
"Oh no, don't worry, I'm fine with answering. I was diagnosed with breast cancer last year. It's a rare case since I'm so young, but it does happen," she replied.
Chris and Lance were both silent. You could hear a piece of thread hit the floor, because it was so quiet. Both Chris and Lance knew exactly what was going on in the other's brain. They were completely taken aback. Breast cancer. She was so young and from just meeting her, a very fun and sweet young woman. Lance cleared his throat.
"I'm sorry, Fallyn, it's just.....we....," he began.
"Guys, come on, don't be Sally sad-faces. I'm gonna make it through this, y'all mark my words," she responded, smiling.
Chris smiled back at her. She was being very optimistic. Chris believed she would make it through.
They got to spend almost two full hours with Fallyn and once the ice was broken, they conversed like they knew her and got to know her very well. Chris liked that Fallyn was a strong person and didn't let her situation get to her. He wanted to make sure that she got something special for her birthday, but he wasn't sure what. She explained that she would be at the center for her birthday due to them running so many tests. And even then, she still had a smile across her face.
As they said their goodbye's, Chris and Lance let all the silence from the center to the limo do all the talking. Chris didn't want Lance to snap because of how he asked Fallyn about her diagnosis. But it w--
"I can't believe you just up and asked her like that," Lance said.
It was right on time.
"I was nervous, it kind of spilled out of my mouth before I could catch it," Chris replied.
"Chris you are so not slick and I'm gonna stop you before you hurt her or you get hurt," Lance said.
"Dude, what the hell are you talking about?" Chris asked him. I couldn't have been that obvious for him to try and ruin this for me.
"Chris I'm talking about you getting attached to this girl, emotionally attached. I can't let you do that and you know why," Lance said.
"Lance, I don't know what you're talking about and even if I WAS attached, I hardly think that's any of your business," Chris snapped.
He opened the passenger door and sat up front next to the driver. Chris was angry. He's supposed to back me on this, no matter what the situation is. I was trying to be polite and get to know her. What was wrong with that? Chris thought about it as they made their way back to Lakeland. Chris couldn't deny the instant attraction he had toward her the second he saw her smile. It took him by surprise when she opened up and he realized just how much they had in common. To Chris, what she was diagnosed with didn't dictate her who she was. There was so much more to her he wanted to find out. And he was going to.
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"How was the hospital surprise?" asked Justin.
"It was great, actually. I had fun meeting her," Chris replied.
"Which hospital were you guys at?" JC asked as he walked up the stage.
"Osceola Cancer Center," Lance chimed in.
"Cancer center?" Joey repeated.
"Yep. She has a rare case of breast cancer. She's gonna be 25 on lover boy's birthday," Lance replied. Chris glared at Lance and shook his head.
"Lover boy? .......Do we even wanna know?" asked JC.
"No, you don't," Chris replied as he walked backstage. He was positive that Lance was not too far behind him and the other three were completely clueless as to what was going on.
"Chris! Chris wait up man, come on!" Lance called.
Chris stopped and pivoted toward Lance. "Was it even necessary to do that?"
"Chris, why are you getting so mad for? It was just a joke. You mess with us all the time, I thought you'd understand," Lance responded.
"Well this is nothing to joke about!"
Lance stepped back, in awe. Chris himself, felt the exact same way. He couldn't believe where all this raging emotion was coming from. Chris shifted his weight from foot to foot, unable to look Lance in the eye.
"Dude.....I know you're confused right now, but don't dig a deeper hole. I know that's conflicting with how you're feeling, bu--"
"Lance, I already told you it's nothing," Chris spoke.
"Chris, what if you did start something with her and something terrible happens? Then what, Chris? I'm only trying to save you from doing something that might leave a scar on your heart."
"What am I supposed to do Lance? How am I supposed to tell my heart that it picked the wrong girl?" Chris asked.
Chris sighed heavily and passed his fingers through his hair as he sat down on a step. Chris knew that Lance meant well and didn't want him to get hurt, but it didn't stop Chris from feeling defensive.
"Chris, I know what it's like to want someone that's almost untouchable. Fallyn is a wonderful girl, but be mindful of what you're trying to get yourself into. Come on, let's go get this rehearsing done," Lance said.
Chris stood up and followed Lance back to the stage. Be mindful of what I'm getting into. What AM I getting into? Chris wanted the opportunity to get to know her better. He didn't mention it, but when Lance left the room ahead of him, they exchanged numbers. It wasn't intended for romantic reasons, but only so Chris could get into direct contact with her once he decided what he'd give her for her birthday. In the meantime, he had to focus on the task at hand. At least his heart was right in choosing music.
Story Tags: chris lance
