Leilei left five hours ago with AJ and I'm worried. I'm a natural born worrier. She hasn't texted me or called since and it's now going on seven. I hope she's ok. I grab my cell and head to my studio to finalize a few tracks for an artist I've been working with. I check to make sure I parked her car behind the Beemer and put the keys for my jeep in my pocket, just in case she calls. I put my cell in the sweatshirt pocket and begin to work. A couple hours pass by and my cell starts ringing like crazy. "Hello?"
"JC?" It's her, I hear slamming on a door and Nick telling her to open it.
"Need me to come get you?"
"Bring Aaron too."
"What happened?"
He slams on the door and he stops. She suddenly screams at the top of her lungs and the phone drops. I patch Aaron in via three way. "Hey, JC!"
"Dude, Leilei needs us now."
Aaron is silent for a minute and we hear her screaming for him to stop, not to do it, and for help. "That fucker. I'll be at his house in fifteen."
"Meet you there. Staying on the line?"
"Yeah, on speaker. Phone silence."
We start phone silence listening to what sounded like her getting beaten, screaming and Nick yelling at her. Fifteen minutes of this is killing me and I swear if Aaron doesn't snap, I promise I will. He pulls up as I do and uses his key to get us inside. We bolt up the stairs, forming the plan as we go, to the master bedroom. "I'll take Nick and you get Leilei," Aaron says.
I nod and hear Nick screaming at her about her not leaving him. Aaron counts down, kicks the door open and I grab him. "Go, get her out of here. Go, Leilei!" She won't leave. Nick shoves me and she runs, Aaron pulling her. I tackle Nick, knocking him to the floor. He quickly rolls over and punches me in the face, causing me to get off him to tend to it. Before I know it, Leilei is screaming again for help. I yell to Aaron. "Call AJ NOW!" I run down the stairs after Nick, who's backed Leilei into a corner. She's crouched to the floor in the corner, trying to face it in order to protect herself. He grabs her by the jaw, forcing her to stand up and I stop because if I tackle him I know I would run the risk of hurting her. She's crying profusely and is scared as he pulls her in front of him. "You're a coward."
"You meddle too much in shit that doesn't concern you."
I see AJ's Range Rover pull up out front and him dart up the driveway, in the house through the garage door. "Nick! If you're a real man, let her go and beat on me!"
"AJ, stay out of it, man," Nick dismisses him.
"No. She's like a sister to me." He looks at me and sees how scared I am for her. "I think you're a shitty boyfriend for her and would rather see her with JC!"
"Fuck you!"
"Look at what you did to Leilei! She's got a busted lip, a black eye, scared of you and crying! This isn't a good relationship!"
He whispers something in her ear and keep his eyes focused on the three of us. She's mouthing 'please help, God, help me'. I have never seen her so scared and I fear for her life, wondering how many times he's done this to her. She's stopped fighting and stands there, crying with her hands pinned to her side by his arm. Every time she would start to slide to the floor, he'd pull her back up to her feet using his arm. Aaron, AJ and I look at each other, silently forming a plan.
"Come on, Nick. You always taught me to respect women. You're not respecting her, so why should I respect women?"
"I taught you some bad habits and this isn't one."
Aaron and AJ tear him down. He lets her drop to the floor and I signal her to crawl to me. He kicks her side as she gets onto all fours, causing her to drop to the floor and us to hear a crack. He broke a bone, one of hers. She crawls over to me and I pick her up, cradling her body in my arms. He catches a glimpse of me holding her and starts at me. I run for the nearest corner, put her down in front of me and let his fists barrage me because I use my body as a shield to protect her. I feel him get pulled away. "Go! Get her out of here!" Aaron screams at me.
"NOW!" AJ orders me.
I pick her up and run for the jeep, putting her in the passenger seat. I head for Cedar Sinai ER. Her breathing is irregular and she's barely conscious. "Leilei, stay with me, please," I beg her. She whimpers in response, her head lolling to face me. I dial Cedar Sinai ER and alert them of our arrival. "Hi, this is JC Chasez and my friend just got beat by her boyfriend."
"What do you mean, Mr. Chasez?"
"He punched, kicked and just beat her. Her breathing is irregular, her lips are busted, black eye, bloody, she might have some broken ribs, I think."
"Why do you think that?"
"I heard a sickening crack when he kicked her."
"How did that happen?"
"She was trying to crawl over to me."
"What relation are you to her?"
"None, I'm just a very concerned friend."
"Do you know her basic information?"
"Her name is Leilei Dale. She's 27, born May 5, 1984."
"Do you know who her primary physician is?"
"I have no clue."
"How long until you arrive?"
"Ten minutes." I look at her. "Stay with me, Leilei," I plead, fighting back the tears and knowing she can't give up. He can't win, she has to fight.
I hear the nurse typing in the information. "You should be in view of the hospital. There is a gurney and a team of emergency staff waiting outside for you by the emergency doors. What vehicle are you driving?"
"1993 black jeep."
"How close are you?"
"I'm pulling up, I see the staff." I pull into a parking spot, turn off my jeep, yank the key out of the ignition, stuff them in my pocket, hang up my cell and run around to the passenger side.
I grab her, run to the emergency team and place her on the gurney. "Mr. Chasez?"
"Yes, this is Leilei Dale. She needs care right now."
"You need medical attention."
"Her first. Can I stay with her?"
"Yes. You can have all your injuries checked while you stay with her. Who did this to her?"
"Her boyfriend, Nick Carter." I'm answering these questions as we run down a hall to a private room in the back corner of the ER.
"You look like you took a beating as well."
"I did. I fought him and defended her after she crawled to me."
We enter the room and a female nurse strips her to her bra and underwear, to put a gown on her. I hold her hand, sitting in a chair beside the bed. I'm in the ER with her and I realize that my left side hurts. I hold it with my right hand, keeping my left on her hand. "Mr. Chasez, can we examine her injuries in private?" I nod and wait outside for about twenty minutes, leaning against the wall by her room door. "This isn't her first time being here and she should be fine after we tape her ribs and give her medication for pain and to regulate her breathing."
"Thanks."
"Do you want to remain with her while we examine the extent of your injuries and get films of both of your chests?"
I walk back into the room. "Yes, please." A nurse comes in and assesses my lip, eye, hands and tenderness on my torso. I hiss when she touches the left side of my chest. "Damn, that hurts."
"How did you get these injuries?" the nurse asks me.
My eyes never leave Leilei's still body, she lays there unconscious on the bed in front of me. She has a thin tube for oxygen under her nose and a mask for her meds covering her nose and mouth. The meds are to open her airways again. "Defending her."
"You must really care."
The doctor comes in and says that we have to go to radiology for the chest films. The meds have done their job and her O2 levels are up to 97, making it safe to do the x-rays. They do mine first, keeping her in my line of sight and then hers. They walk us back to the room and a little while later, she wakes up. "Hey, Leilei."
"Hey," she says weakly. She looks like hell and I feel so fucking bad.
"How do you feel?"
"Dizzy and lightheaded."
"Probably because they gave you pain meds."
"Which hospital is this?"
"Sinai. What happened?"
"I told him that I knew when I got home and he said we should talk about it. I sat on the bed with him and when I told him what I knew, he swung. It knocked me off the bed and I scrambled to the bathroom to call you. I remember calling you, but after he got the door open... I don't remember anything."
"Aaron and I listened to him hit you for fifteen minutes over the phone, tried to get you out of there, you froze until he got one good hook before you ran, he cornered you and we called in AJ. I brought you here," I tell her as the whole thing plays in my head.
"Thanks." She looks like she's about to fall asleep. I look at her O2 level and hit the nurses' button.
"What do you need?"
"You said something about her oxygen level being under 76 or something," I say, pointing to the screen. It's blinking '65' and I'm scared.
"Dr. Andrews! We need to tube her! Mr. Chasez, stand back against that wall," she instructs me, indicating the wall near the door. I do as she tells me and cross my arms over my chest, fearing for her life as they put a breathing tube in her throat. Her level goes up to 79 after a few seconds. They order CAT scans and CT scans, whatever those fucking things are. She's unconscious again.
My cell phone ringing pulls me out of my thoughts. "What hospital?"
"Who is this?" I'm half-spaced.
"Aaron."
"Sinai."
"How is she?"
"Not good."
I hear him hit something. "Dammit! Have you left her side?"
"No."
"What happened?"
"Breathing tube and x-rays. Pain and breathing meds."
"You sound like you're in shock."
"Scared to lose her."
"She has to pull through."
"She woke up for a few minutes and then her O2 dropped."
"Let them know I'm coming and I probably have to show ID," Aaron tells me.
"Yeah, I will," I tell him as I hang up. "Nurse?"
"Yes, Mr. Chasez?"
"I need to write a list of names that can see her, could you make sure that security and whoever else may need it gets it?"
"Sure."
"I need pen and paper, please." She nods, leaves the room to get what I asked and encourages me to page the nurses' station so one of them can get the list. My phone rings again. "Hello?"
"What are you doing tonight?"
"Lance, I'm not in the mood to go out." I feel like shit.
"What happened?"
"Leilei is in the hospital."
"What happened?" Lance asks, concerned.
"Nick," I tell him, getting mad all over again.
"What does he have to do with it?"
"He did it to her!" I scream.
The doctor comes in. "Mr. Chasez, she has a broken rib resting against her right lung and we need to take care of that before we can do the CAT and CT scans."
"What are the scans for?"
"To check the extent of damage in her head."
"What about right now?"
"She appears to be in a coma or severe shock."
"Who signs the papers?"
"She doesn't have anyone listed, so we need a family member's consent to follow through."
"The closest fam-" I think for a second and hope I'm right. "Lance, please tell me Darren is visiting."
"Yes, we can be there in fifteen."
"Hurry!" I hang up and Darren will rush to her side, he always has. "Her cousin, Darren Dale will be here shortly."
I hold her hand as I sit beside her bed. I watch her take a breath in and out with help from a machine, not sure of how long. "JC, we got here as fast as we could. Darren's talking with the doctor." He looks over me quickly. "You look like hell."
"Nick got me too. He decked me when I pinned him and used me as a punching bag while I tried to protect her." I refuse to look away from Leilei, feeling responsible for what happened.
"I-I don't know what to say." He never did like fighting.
"Mr. Chasez, Darren has said that you and James will be left to make the remaining decisions regarding Leilei's medical care."
"Thanks." She squeezes my hand and looks at me. "Doctor, I think she was in shock."
He looks at her and smiles. "Leilei, you have a broken rib pressing on your lung and we need to perform minor surgery to prevent any further damage. Do you consent to it?"
She nods and grabs for the pen. I hand her a notepad and she writes 'How soon?', flipping it to show the doctor.
"We want to do it in the next hour." He hands her the form and she signs it. She wants wants the tube taken out and the doc explains he plans on taking it out after she wakes up after surgery.
Turns out I have fractured and bruised ribs, other than some minor cuts and scrapes. I'll be fine and as long as I help her fight, she will be better than before. I sit in the waiting room and try to be calm, patient. I'm scared shitless. My cell phone rings and it's Justin. "Justin."
"Jace, what happened?"
"It's Leilei."
"Where are you?"
"Sinai, surgical waiting floor."
"Be there in half or less." He hangs up before I can get another word out. About twenty minutes later, I hear Justin at the nurses' station. "Leilei Dale, she's here with Joshua Chasez. She's in surgery."
"Mr. Chasez is in the waiting room. Three doors down on your left," the station nurse informs him.
"Thanks," I hear him respond, on autopilot. He looks at me and we hug. "How much longer?"
"Should be soon," I tell him, reaching for my left side.
"What happened to you?"
"Same thing that happened to her-Nick Carter," I answer, it dripping with venom.
"You have never been so pissed. You're seething." He looks unsure of what to do.
"Mr. Chasez, Leilei is in recovery. She requested before surgery that you be there when she wakes up. No more than two visitors at the same time."
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