Chapter 30

( 1 week later )

“So what did you think, Kerr?” Pharrell asked, turning around from the control board to look at her.

“It sounded amazing.  I can’t believe you guys have done all of this in a little over a month.” she smiled.

Over the last week Kerrigan had been at the studio with Justin every day.  She had initially been amazed when they played everything for her.  She couldn’t believe that they had accomplished that much, in such a short amount of time.  And further more she couldn’t believe the stuff they had come up with.

Kerrigan already knew that Justin’s album was going to be amazing.  It was filled with so many different emotions.  She wasn’t blind to the fact that some of the songs on the album had been written about Britney, but they had turned out amazing.  And she figured it was a great form of therapy for Justin.  These were thoughts and feelings that he’d been needing to get out for a while, so she was just happy that he’d been able to get them out so creatively.

“Well, J had a lot of stuff pre-written, so that really helped.  We just had to come up with the beats and melodies.” Pharrell grinned.

“And that’s what you guys do best.” Kerrigan smiled.

Just then Justin burst through the door from the sound room.  “I think that was it.  What did you think man?  Was that kick ass or what?” Justin said excitedly.

“That was definitely it.” Pharrell agreed.

Justin nodded and then turned his attention to Kerrigan, who was lounging on the sofa.  “What did you think, Kerr?”

“Well, I was just telling Pharrell that I’m amazed ya’ll did all of that in a month.  Everything I’ve heard so far I’ve loved.  This record is gonna be amazing, J.”

Justin walked over to the sofa.  He picked Kerrigan’s feet up and sat down placing them down in his lap.  “I think so too.  I’m so excited about this whole thing.  Did I tell you that Brian McKnight is going to collaborate with me on a song?”

Kerrigan’s head shot up.  “NO!  You didn’t tell me THAT!” she exclaimed.  “I love Brian McKnight!  When is this taking place?”

Justin grinned.  He knew that would get her attention.  “Next Monday.  He flies in next Monday.”

“You’re going to introduce me right?”

“Introduce you?  You met him last year at Challenge.”

“So it’s been a whole year.  He probably wont remember me.” she argued.

“I don’t think he could forget you, Kerr.  I mean you did after all spill your beer on him.” Justin reminded.

Pharrell started laughing.  “You spilt your beer on Brian McKnight?”

“It was an accident!” Kerrigan said, as she glared at Justin for bringing it up.

Justin just grinned at her and then turned his attention to Pharrell.  “Yeah, I brought him up to her so I could introduce them, and she had her back to us.  I tapped her on her shoulder and when she turned around and seen him standing there she literally jumped, spilling her beer down the front of his shirt.” he laughed at the memory.

“That wasn’t funny, J.  I made such an ass out of myself.” Kerrigan said, as she punched Justin in his arm.

Justin rubbed his arm.  “It was more than funny, Kerr.  It was hilarious!”

Kerrigan rolled her eyes at him.  “Whatever!”

Justin looked over at Pharrell and the two just chuckled at her.

A few minutes later the door opened.  Trace and Chad strolled in carrying a couple bags of food.  They had run out to get lunch for everyone.

Justin patted Kerrigan on the legs so she would move them so he could get up and went to help the guys with the food.  Or more accurately to find HIS food.  He’d been bitching all afternoon about how he was starving before Trace finally volunteered to go get something and took Chad with him to help.

Kerrigan slowly sat up on the sofa feeling rather queasy.  She had been fine until the guys walked in with the food, but as soon as she smelled the hamburgers and fries she had immediately gotten nauseous.

Justin turned around to hand Kerrigan her food.  “Here’s your food, Kerr!” he said, attempting to hand her the burger and fries.   But she was staring at the floor in somewhat of a daze.  “Kerrigan?  Don’t you want your food?” he questioned.

Kerrigan looked up at Justin’s outstretched hand, which held her food and immediately covered her mouth, shaking her head vigorously.

Trace laughed at her.  “What’s wrong, Kerr.  You on some new diet or something.  I thought you loved greasy hamburgers and fries.”

At Trace’s words Kerrigan jumped up from the sofa and ran out of the room, still holding her hand over her mouth.

The guys all looked at each other oddly.  “What was that about?” Chad asked.

“She looked green.” Pharrell stated.

“She mentioned this morning that she wasn’t feeling too good.  She didn’t even eat breakfast.” Justin stated.

“You think she’s coming down with something?” Trace asked.

Justin shrugged.  “Possibly.”

Meanwhile, Kerrigan was just down the hall in the restroom heaving her guts out.  She didn’t know what had come over her all of the sudden, but as soon as she smelled the food she became really sick to her stomach.  She’d been slightly nauseous all day long.  Thinking about it she had been that way a lot lately, but she had never actually gotten sick.

Once she was sure there was nothing else to come up and she felt somewhat better she made her way over to the sink to rinse her mouth out and then splash some cold water on her face.  She was sweating profusely and felt extremely light headed.

As she made her way back towards the studio the guys were in, the light headedness increased and Kerrigan had to lean against the wall for support.  She didn’t know what was wrong, all she knew was that she needed Justin.  She had to get to Justin, he would know what to do.

Stumbling through the studio door the guys looked up at her.  She was standing in the doorway, slightly swaying back and forth.

“Are you ok, Kerrigan?” Justin asked, growing concerned.  She was extremely pale and her face was glistening in sweat.

“J, I don’t feel so good.” she muttered softly.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, as he got up from the sofa to make his way over to her.

“I just feel….” but her words were cut off as she fell forward to the floor.

“KERRIGAN!” Justin yelled as he rushed over to her side, the others quickly following.

Justin flipped Kerrigan over to her back, she had passed out.  “Kerrigan?  Kerrigan wake up.” he pleaded, slightly shaking her.

“What the hell happened?” Trace asked frantically.

“I don’t know!” Justin replied, still trying to revive Kerrigan’s motionless body before him.

“Should I call an ambulance?” Pharrell asked, kneeling beside her as well.

“Yeah.  Tell them to hurry.”  Justin instructed.

Trace rushed out of the room and down the hall to the bathroom to grab a wet towel.  Returning to the room he kneeled down beside her and began to blot her face with the towel.  “Kerrigan, sweetie can you hear me?  You need to wake up.”

“Dude, what the hell made her pass out like that?” Chad asked from behind Justin.

“I have no clue!” Justin replied, still attempting to wake her but it was no use.

Justin and Trace continued to try and wake Kerrigan until the paramedics arrived.  She was still unconscious and the guys were terrified.  As far as they knew Kerrigan was in perfect health.  She’d never passed out before.  And they’d never seen the flue cause anyone to pass out like that.  At least not pass out and stay out.

Kerrigan was rushed to the local hospital, the guys following closely behind in their own vehicles.  Trace had called Mike and told him to meet them there, as he hadn’t gone to the studio with them that day.

Once they were at the hospital, they were shown to a private waiting area as to not be disturbed by anyone while they waited on word about Kerrigan’s condition.

Chad and Pharrell felt awful.  Neither of them knew what to do or say and it was obvious that both Trace and Justin were extremely worried about her.  They had known that the guys were particularly close to the girl, but the way the two were pacing around the room was enough to make them dizzy.

And both Chad and Pharrell really liked Kerrigan so they were both concerned as well.  She had been nothing but nice to them and was a lot of fun to hang out with.  Her witty comebacks were a match for their own witty statements.  She fit in perfectly with them and could understand why she was such good friends with Justin and Trace.

It just didn’t make sense to any of them.  She had been fine that morning.  She hadn’t been pale.  She had been joking around and laughing with everyone.  She had been completely and utterly fine.  And then out of no where she all of the sudden has some kind of spell and then passes out on them.  She was too young to have any kind of serious health concerns, or so they hoped.

A couple of hours later, after continued badgering from Justin and Trace to be informed about her condition.  And even more nervous pacing and bickering between the two worried friends a Doctor finally appeared in the room, clutching a clipboard in his right hand.

“You’re here for Kerrigan Wallace?” he asked, looking around at the men seated in the room.

Justin and Trace both jumped to their feet, saying “YES.” simultaneously.

The Doctor nodded and walked further into the room.  “I’m Doctor Scott.  I’m the Physician that was on call in the ER this evening.  And I’m also the one that’s been treating Miss Wallace.”

Justin walked over to the Doctor and reached to shake his hand.  “Thank you sir.  I’m Justin Timberlake and Kerrigan is a dear friend to us.  Please tell me what’s wrong with her.  Is she ok?  What made her pass out like that?”

“I understand your concern Mr. Timberlake and I assure you that your friend has received the best treatment possible.  But unfortunately I cannot disclose any medical information to you, as you’re not family.”  Justin was about to argue with him, when the Doctor continued.  “However, I  can assure you that your friend is fine.  She’s resting right now in a private room.  She’ll be released shortly, we just wanted to get some fluids into her, as she was slightly dehydrated.  But as for any other Medical information I cannot disclose that.  Miss Wallace will have to inform you of that information.”

Trace spoke up this time.  “OK.  So where is she?  Can we see her?”

“Yes you can see her, but only two of you at a time.  So you decide amongst yourselves who it’ll be and I’ll take you to her now.  She was asking for a Justin and Trace.  I’m assuming that would be you two gentlemen?”

“Yeah, that’s us.” Justin answered.

“Ok, so do you two want to be the first to go back and see her.” Dr. Scott, asked.

“Yeah, we’ll go first.” Trace said, already heading for the door.

Dr. Scott nodded and lead Justin and Trace out of the room.  They walked down the long winding hallway, following him until Dr. Scott came to a stop outside of a closed door.  “She’s just inside here.  Like I said she’s resting so try not to get her too excited.  Once the bag of fluids we have on her runs out, we’ll get the release papers and she’ll be able to go home.”

Justin and Trace nodded and then watched as Dr. Scott walked off down the hallway.  Not being able to wait any longer, Justin rushed into the room, Trace following close behind him.

Kerrigan looked over at the two standing just inside the doorway.  “They finally let you back here?” she questioned.

“Yeah.” Justin said, moving closer to her.  He was so relieved to see her awake and sitting up.  When he had seen her laying on the floor in the studio passed out and pale as could be, his heart had risen in his throat.  He was so scared that he couldn’t think straight.  He didn’t know what to do.

“They wouldn’t tell us what was wrong.” Trace said, as he moved to the other side of the bed and sat down in a chair.  “How are you feeling?”

“I’ve felt better.” she stated.  “Kinda like I’ve been hit by a truck.  But I will say that I feel a lot better now than when I first woke up.”

“That’s good.” Trace nodded, unsure of what else to say.

Just stood there for a moment in silence.  He was just staring at her.  Silently thanking God that she was ok.  He didn’t know what he would have done if something would have happened to her.  That was something he didn’t want to even think about.

Finally, his curiosity getting the best of him and seeing as Kerrigan wasn’t offering up any explanations Justin decided to ask the question that he knew was on both his and Trace’s mind.  “So what did the Doctors say?  What’s wrong?”

Kerrigan looked up and met Justin’s eyes, and he couldn’t help but notice the fear in them.  Which caused him to grow extremely nervous and worried.  Whatever they had told her couldn’t be good, or she wouldn’t look so completely terrified.

When she didn’t say anything he urged her on.  He needed to know.  “Kerrigan?  What did they say?” he asked again.

Kerrigan sighed, looking down at her clasped hands before looking back up to meet Justin’s concerned eyes.  “I’m pregnant.”