Chapter 42

( Following afternoon )

“Your Mom and Dad are gonna meet us at the house.  They got in early this morning.” Justin said as he and Trace assisted Kerrigan out of the hospital.  Following behind Mike and Frank as they lead the way through the slew of people that had gathered outside the hospital.

The press had somehow found out that Justin Timberlake was holding vigil at the local hospital, which lead to mobs of fans and reporters hanging around.  Hoping to catch just a glimpse of the super star.  And possibly a story on why he was there.

“Ok.” Kerrigan replied softly.

She’d hardly spoken at all since receiving the news the day before. Both Trace and Justin were extremely worried about her, neither were sure what to do or say to help her feel better.  The Doctor had told them to just give her time and space, that she would have to deal with it on her own.  To just be as supportive as possible and to be there if she sought them out for help.  And that was what they intended to do.

As the trio pushed through the crowd of people, Justin could hear the reporters yelling out questions like “Who’s the girl?”  “What happened?”  “Is this your new girlfriend, Justin.”  He also heard the fans yelling their normal confessions of love and adoration, but then he also heard some of the other fans that had apparently recognized Kerrigan yelling out questions of concern.  “Kerrigan, what happened?”  “Kerrigan, are you ok?”  “Justin, what happened to Kerrigan?”

It broke Justin’s heart because he knew if he could hear the screams that Kerrigan could as well, and it probably only upset her more.  Although, you couldn’t tell from looking at her.  She still had this vacant look in her eyes.  She stared ahead of them at Mike’s back and walked on with Justin and Trace at her side.  Seemingly oblivious to the chaos that was going on around her. But Justin knew she could hear them, even if she didn’t acknowledge it, he still knew.

Once they reached Justin’s BMW that was parked at the pickup curb, Trace quickly climbed into the backseat and then turned to help Kerrigan in.  Justin stood behind her trying to block her from all of the flashings from the cameras.  Once she was in, he climbed into the backseat as well.  Mike closed the back door and he and Frank climbed into the front seat and quickly drove off.

The car was silent.  No one said anything about the fuss at the hospital.  No one said anything about anything.  They didn’t know what to say, so they just said nothing at all.

They drove in silence for a few more minutes before Mike spoke up from the driver’s seat.  “J, you’re almost out of gas.  Do you want to stop so we can fill the tank up?”

Justin looked over at Kerrigan.  “Do you mind stopping?”

She gave him her best smile, trying to be strong and not let the guys know how much she was dying inside.  “It’s fine Justin.  Stop, I don’t care.”

Justin nodded and then told Mike to go ahead and stop wherever.

A couple minutes later Mike pulled into a gas station.  Kerrigan looked around, the place was pretty deserted, so she turned to Justin.  “Do you think you could run in and get me some ice cream?  Some cookie dough?” she asked.

Justin smiled, at least she was craving her normal stuff.  Granted she only pigged out on it when she was depressed, but at least it was something.  “Sure.” he said, as he climbed out of the car.

Mike who was standing on the other side of the car looked over at Justin.  “Where do you think you’re going?”

“Kerrigan, wants some ice cream, so I’m gonna run in and get her some.” Justin replied as he started to head towards the building.

Just then a couple of teenage girls came walking around the side of the building and went inside.  “I think I should go in.” Mike stated, seeing the girls.  “You pump the gas and stay by the car, that way if anyone sees you Frank is near by.  She want her normal, cookie dough?” he asked.

Justin groaned, he wanted to go in and get the ice cream for Kerrigan, but he knew it would do no good to argue with Mike.  “Fine.  Whatever.” he said, throwing his hands up in the air, walking around to where Mike was standing.  “Yeah, she wants cookie dough.”

Mike gave Justin a grin, happy that the boy wasn’t going to argue with him and then headed off towards the store.

Justin stood there for a moment and then proceeded to remove the nozzle and pump the gas.  He was thoroughly annoyed.  He missed doing simple things like running into the store and getting something for his friend.  It was moments like this that he really hated being who he was, but there was always other times that more than made up for it.

Justin drifted off in thought as he stood there pumping the gas.  He was thinking about everything that had happened over the last few days, from getting the call from Chris, to the argument he and Trace had had with Kerrigan, to finding her the way they did in her apartment.

He wasn’t sure how they were going to get through this, but he knew they’d find a way.  He was more concerned about Kerrigan and her well being than anything else.  His album would have to wait, she came first.  She needed time to heal and grieve.  And he was going to be there for her every step of the way.

Justin was pulled from his thoughts however when the noise of a loud stereo caught his attention.  He looked over to the front of the gas station to see a red truck had pulled up, it was the source of the loud music.  But the music blaring from the open windows on the truck were not the reason behind the scowl now present on Justin’s face.

It was Cody’s truck.  And if it was Cody’s truck, then that meant Cody was in it.

The police were looking for him and apparently Cody had no idea or he most likely wouldn’t be out in public the way he was.  Or perhaps he was just that stupid.  Whatever the case, there he was, climbing out of the cab of his truck, not a worry in the world.

Immediately Justin’s anger consumed him, but he didn’t want to draw attention to himself.  He instinctively wanted to protect Kerrigan and if they could go unnoticed that would be the best thing for the moment.  Justin knew he would get his shot at Cody eventually.  And when he did he would definitely make up for lost time.

Unfortunately for Justin, Cody happened to look around the parking lot and seen Justin standing there.  He stood there watching Justin for a moment.  He’d heard on the news and read in the paper that he’d been at the hospital all night long.  No one seemed to know why he was at the hospital, just that he was there.  But Cody knew.

His eyes scanned the black BMW that Justin was standing next too.  He could see figures in the car, but couldn’t tell who was in it.  But it didn’t really take a rocket scientist to figure it out.  He already knew who was in the vehicle and he wanted to talk to her.

Walking towards the car Cody noticed Justin glaring at him, but he thought very little of it.  He didn’t think Justin was stupid enough to try something in public.  He was a celebrity and the last thing he needed was his face plastered all over the covers of every paper in the country for getting into a brawl in the parking lot of a gas station.

With that thought in mind, Cody trudged forward.  He was set on talking to Kerrigan and taking her back home with him.  He didn’t care what Justin or anyone had to say about the matter.  Kerrigan was his and she was going to be leaving with him.

As he drew closer he locked eyes with Justin.  Cody could see the hatred and anger that lingered there, but it didn’t faze him in the least.  If anything it only pushed him forward.  He smiled at Justin wickedly before calling out to him.  “Yo Justin, is Kerrigan in the car?”

Justin glared at him harder, he couldn’t believe the balls Cody had.  Was he really stupid enough to approach him after what he had done?  Who did he think he was?  And was he insane actually ASKING if Kerrigan was in the car?  If he thought he was getting anywhere near Kerrigan he had another thought coming.

“I think you need to turn around and head back over to your truck.” Justin growled angrily.

Cody merely laughed at him.  “Why’s that?  I wanna talk to my girlfriend.”

The gas pump was forgotten as Justin moved away from the car and started walking towards Cody.  “She’s not your girlfriend you mother fucker and I suggest you get the hell out of here.”

“I appreciate the suggestion, but like I said I wanna talk to my girlfriend.” Cody retorted.

Justin met Cody head on, stopping in front of him.  Crossing is arms over his chest, daring Cody to move any closer to the car.  “I said she’s NOT your girlfriend.  You’re not going anywhere near her, let alone talking to her.  Now get the fuck away.”

Cody moved to go around Justin, but was quickly halted when Justin grabbed him by his arm.  “I’m not joking, Cody.  If it weren’t for the fact that she was in the car right now I’d already be beating the shit out of your ass.  But she’s been through enough already.  So I suggest you turn around and go the other direction.  And do it now before I change my mind.”

“So she is in the car?” Cody replied, ignoring Justin’s threats.

“Dude, I’m not playing around.”

“I’m not scared of you, Justin.  Threaten me all you want.  I know you’re not about to attack me in the middle of this lot.  You’re smarter than that.” Cody scoffed.

“You’d be surprised how quickly I can lose sight of things like that when it comes to the people I care about.  And I care about Kerrigan and you’re not getting anywhere near her.  I don’t care what I have to do to stop you.”

Cody jerked his arm away from Justin.  “I’m going to talk to her Justin, weather you like it or not.  She’s my girlfriend and she loves me.”

“You’re right maybe she does love you, but she’s not your girlfriend anymore.  I’ll never let you around her again.  EVER!  Now I’m gonna say this again, get the hell away.”

Cody rolled his eyes at Justin and proceeded to push past him, but Justin quickly jerked Cody back around forcefully.  “I’m not playing man.  Stay away.  I’ll fucking kill you if you go near her again.  Do you hear me?  What you did to her will seem like child’s play by the time I’m done with your ass.”

“I didn’t do shit to her.” Cody scoffed.  “Nothing that she didn’t ask for at least.”

Justin was consumed by rage and aggressively shoved Cody backwards.  “DIDN’T DO ANYTHING TO HER?” he yelled.  “You beat the shit out of her!  YOU FUCKING RAPED HER!”

Seeing Justin shove Cody, Frank quickly got out of the car from where he, Trace and Kerrigan had been watching the events unfold.  They had noticed Cody the moment Justin walked away from the car towards him.

Trace was sitting with his arms protectively wrapped around Kerrigan in the backseat, as she stared out the front window at the two men arguing.

Rushing over to where Justin and Cody were standing Frank, quickly pulled Justin away.  “Not here, J.” he told him.

“Yeah, listen to your bodyguard man.” Cody said, as he attempted to go around Justin and Frank, but was once again halted.  Only this time it was by Mike.

“I don’t think so man.  You’re not getting anywhere near that car and if you try to I’ll break your scrawny neck.” Mike said menacingly.

“You people cannot keep me away from her.  She’s mine!  Do you hear me?  Mine!  And I will see her and I will talk to her and we WILL be together!” Cody yelled.

“Not as long as I’m around.” Justin stated, standing his ground.

“Did you call the cops?” Frank asked, looking over at Mike.

“Yup.  I asked the attendant to.  They’re on their way.” he answered.

“The cops?  Please!  I haven’t done anything, you can’t just call the cops on me for trying to go talk to my girlfriend.” Cody scoffed.

“In case you’re unaware Cody, the police have been looking for you since last night.” Justin sneered, still not moving from his spot even though Mike and Frank were there.

“Looking for me?  Why?  I didn’t do shit!” Cody threw his arms up in the air.  “What, did you make up a bunch of shit?”

Justin glared at him, he couldn’t believe Cody was denying what he’d done.  It only proved to anger him further that the guy was acting as if the hell he’d put Kerrigan through was nothing.  “Beating her senseless is nothing?  Raping her is nothing?  KILLING YOUR OWN CHILD IS NOTHING?”  Justin yelled, moving forward towards Cody a bit.

“Justin…” Mike stated in warning, as he reached out his arm to halt his steps.

“What do you mean kill my own child?  What the hell are you talking about?” Cody questioned.  He knew he had beaten Kerrigan pretty badly, at least from what he could remember.  But he had no idea what Justin was talking about, killing his own child?

“Did you think you could beat the shit out of her like that when she’s pregnant and NOT hurt the baby?  Are you really that fucking stupid?  I mean it’s pretty obvious you’re a fucking moron but come on man, even I gave you more credit than that!” Justin retorted angrily.

Cody stood there in shock for a minute.  He knew Justin wouldn’t lie about something like that.  He wouldn’t tell him that Kerrigan had lost their child if she really hadn’t.  Justin cared too much about Kerrigan to ever be so cruel as to say something like that, but Cody didn’t understand.

He knew that he’d been really rough with her the night before.  He’d gotten way out of hand.  But he couldn’t even fathom the idea that he had hurt her so badly that he’d actually caused her to lose their child.

“I need to talk to her.” Cody said desperately, trying to push past the three men.

“You’re not going anywhere near her.  You’ve done enough!” Justin said, pushing Cody backwards.

“Damn it, I need to talk to her!” Cody continued to try to push past them.

“I SAID YOU’RE NOT GOING NEAR HER!” Justin yelled, as he once again shoved Cody backwards.

Cody attempted to swing on Justin, but was quickly restrained by Mike and Frank.  “Let me go!” he growled at them.  “I need to talk to her!”

“Talk to the police when they get here.” Mike told him.

Cody looked from each man to the next, seeing he wasn’t going to get free from the two large men he looked towards the car where he was sure Kerrigan was watching.  “KERRIGAN!  KERRIGAN, I NEED TO TALK TO YOU!  I’M SORRY.  I LOVE YOU.  PLEASE COME OUT HERE AND TALK TO ME!” he yelled across the parking lot.

Justin lunged forward and shoved Cody.  “Shut the fuck up!  Don’t tell her you love her.  If you loved her you wouldn’t have hurt her the way you did!”

Ignoring Justin’s words, Cody continued to yell across the lot as he struggled to get free from the men.  “KERRIGAN!  PLEASE, I NEED TO TALK TO YOU!”

Trace’s grasp on Kerrigan tightened as he felt her tremble in his arms, as silent sobs overtook her body.  “Ignore him, Kerr.  Just block out his voice.” he told her.

But Kerrigan said nothing in response, all she could do was cry.

Cry for all the pain she had been put through by a man that was standing in a parking lot, proclaiming his love for her.  A love that didn’t exist.  A love that had tore her apart and killed an even greater part of her.  A love that she never should have let herself feel.