Lisa staggered backwards as she began to hyperventilate. Her gasps and sobs combined as she fell into the wall before sinking onto the tiled floor. She curled into a ball as she tried to get control of herself. She shook off the hand that latched onto her shoulder, but then thought again and grabbed it back.
“Wait, is JC going to be alright?” She clutched at the hand like it was a lifeline.
The hand belonged to a woman in a white coat with a stitched name on the pocket of Dr. Bailey. “You must be who I talked to over the phone. Let’s discuss this in a more private location. Can you stand?”
Lisa felt as if she had aged 50 years from the time she had entered the hospital. With the doctors help, she managed to get and stay on her feet. The doctor led her to a room just across the hall she hadn’t noticed before. It was an empty waiting room for the families of the patients on the floor. It had comfortable looking couches and chairs and a large television that the doctor immediately turned off as Lisa sank into the closest chair.
“Now you are Josh’s assistant, is that correct?” Dr. Bailey pulled another chair up close to where Lisa sat.
“He goes by JC, actually, or Jace.” She took a deep breath, still trying to get a hold of her emotions. “I was his assistant, I just quit a few days ago.”
“But you are still his emergency contact; does he have any family close by? A wife? Or someone else to make medical decisions for him?”
She shook her head, “He’s not married, his parents and sister live in Chicago, and his brother is in Europe right now. But I have power of attorney and medical power of attorney for him. Please Dr. Bailey, will JC be okay?”
“Well, Ms…”
“Lisa.”
“Well, Lisa, JC has sustained some pretty serious injuries. Right now we are the most concerned about his brain swelling. He wasn’t wearing a seat belt and was thrown from the vehicle. He has multiple cuts from the glass fragments. He also has several broken bones.”
“His spine? Will he be able to walk again?”
“We will run some tests when he wakes up, right now the next 24 hours are crucial.”
“And if he doesn’t wake up in the next 24 hours?”
“We will cross that bridge when we get there. It’s important that we keep everything positive within JC hearing, people in comas can hear what is going on around them. Talk to JC. Would you like to see him now?”
Lisa sniffed and nodded, but before she rose she asked one last question, not wanting to hear the wrong answer. “Is JC going to live?”
The doctor hesitated long enough for Lisa to become very afraid. “We are doing everything that we can.”
Steeling herself at the door, Lisa walked into JC’s hospital room behind the doctor. Once again, tears poured down her cheeks and she couldn’t stop the sobs. The doctor checked his pupils and his iv before patting her on the shoulder and leaving them alone.
Lisa stood at the door, not daring to enter further until she had herself under better control. JC lay in the hospital bed as still and as pale as she had ever seen him. What little she could see of his face was swollen, the rest was covered in bandages as white as his face. He had a tube down his throat as he was unable to breathe on his own. There were so many wires attached to his chest and head. She cringed as she saw the iv stuck in the back of his hand. Poor JC had never liked needles and this one served a purpose just to keep him alive.
The arm that did not have the iv in was wrapped in a splint up to his elbow while there also appeared to be another on his right ankle and leg. There was a sheet that came up to his waist. And there were more bandages around his chest, Lisa presumed that meant that JC had broken ribs as well.
The breathing machine showed his oxygen levels and another tracked his heart beat. They both hummed softly in the background. Trying to distract herself, Lisa looked around at the stark whiteness of the room, his one window overlooked the parking lot.
Lisa prayed silently as she forced herself to stop crying, this wasn’t doing JC any good. Moving over next to the bed, Lisa tried to figure out the best place to touch him that wouldn’t cause him more pain. His arms were lying by his sides so she settled on lightly gripping the fingers on his hand and rubbing a thumb over his knuckles, trying not to jostle the iv.
“JC…you know you’re going to have to wake up soon, don’t you? I know you don’t want the cavalry to arrive and sit by your side so why don’t you do us all a favor and open those beautiful blue eyes…” Hoping against hope for a response, but none came. He was as still as ever, the rising and falling of his chest came from the breathing machine.
“You know you didn’t have to go to this kind of extreme just to get me to come see you, I’m sorry for ignoring you these past couple of days, but I think we both needed some space from the situation. What am I going to tell your mom and dad, did you think of that? You’re just pretending to sleep just so you don’t have to listen to a lecture.”
She sat in the chair next to the bed for a few silent moments, counting the seconds between the breaths. “Are you sure you won’t wake up and save me from having to explain this to your mom?” She waited. “Okay, but once she gets done with you then it’s my turn and don’t forget about your brothers.”
Giving one last caress to his fingers, she stood, “I’ll be right across the hall making a couple of phone calls so if you need anything…I’ll be right back, JC.”
Softly closing the door behind her, she headed into the waiting room, grateful it was empty for the time being. In just a few hours, she knew it would be filled to capacity with friends and family. Giving into her tears, she sat and cried for who knows how long before forcing herself to calm down. It wouldn’t do her or anyone she was calling any good to listen to her cry over the phone; there would be time enough for that later when they were all together.
Her mind was filled with how was she going to explain this to his mom first of all and then to his brothers? Best to get it over with and get the support that JC needed here as soon as possible.
The phone rang as she first tried JC’s parents house, hoping they were both at home and able to get on the next flight out. Lisa didn’t want to be responsible for making any of JC’s medical decisions by herself, even if she had the signing authority to keep him on the breathing machine forever. She knew JC wouldn’t want to live like a vegetable – wait - why was she thinking these thoughts? JC was going to wake up and be the same strong, virile man he had always been.
“Good evening, Lisa, you’re working late tonight aren’t you?” Lisa hadn’t thought about the time change in calling his parents. Evidently, JC hadn’t yet told them that she had quit her job.
Lisa spoke, her voice rough from the crying she had been doing, “Karen, I’m sorry that I have to call you like this, but JC has been in a car accident.”
“What kind of car accident? Is he alright?” Karen yelled for Roy in the background and Lisa could hear that Karen hit the speakerphone button so Roy could listen as well.
“Jace is in critical condition, he has some broken bones, a lot of cuts, but they are saying the next 24 hours in the most crucial…Roy, Karen…he hasn’t regained consciousness since it happened.”
“Oh, my baby,” Karen cried in the phone.
“Which hospital?” Roy asked tersely and at the reply, he immediately said they would call her back once they got their flight information.
“One down,” she said to herself as she looked through her contacts for the next number. This call would be just as hard. Justin and JC had always been closer than brothers.
“Hey girl, have you come to your senses and decided to come work for me yet?” Justin teased as he answered the phone, not knowing his world was about to come crashing down.
“Oh Justin,” she said with a sob. “JC’s been hurt.”
“What? What happened? Did he stub his toe? Lisa you know you don’t have to back to work for him any more.”
“He’s been in a car accident and it’s not looking good, Justin.” She ran a hand through her hair.
Swear words came through the phone line. “How bad is he?”
Sniffing, “It’s bad, really bad. I just called his parents and they will be on the first flight out, Justin, he hasn’t regained consciousness.”
“Are you with him now?” Lisa could hear doors slamming in the background.
“Across the hall, listen, can you call the other guys and let them know. I don’t want to leave him alone too long. We are in Memorial Hospital, room 620. Are you coming?”
“I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“Justin, please hurry, he doesn’t look the same, this is not JC. I don’t know what I’ll do if we lose him.”
Sternly, Justin remarked, “We are not even going to think like that. Get those thoughts right out of your head!”
Shaking herself, “You’re right, I’d better go, I need to get back to sit with him. Drive carefully.”
One last call to make and it would be a quick one.
“Hey, how is he?” Kelly answered.
“It’s really bad, Kel, can you come? Quick? And bring Joey?”
“I’m leaving right now? Where?”
“Memorial, 620.”
“On my way.”
Lisa ended the call and headed back to sit with JC. This would be a draining experience on all of them.
***
She wasn’t sure how long it took the first people to arrive. While she waited, she sat there and lightly caressed his fingers and pleaded with him to wake up. Silent now, she simply sat back in the chair next to the bed and alternated between watching his face and the monitors to see if she could find any change.
The horrified gasps from the door startled her into turning to view Justin, Chris, Lance and Joey standing there speechless. She tried to lightly push them out of the door frame but none would move. “Guys we need to step across the hall and I’ll try and explain everything. We can’t talk here.” She turned back to JC and spoke like they were just running to the store and nothing was wrong. “JC, the guys are here, we are just going to step across the hall, I’ll be right back, okay?”
More forceful now, she finally shoved hard enough to make them move. There were many other people in the waiting room now, all friends and family of the 4 men who had just arrived. They were there to support them and be there for JC and whatever his family might need. The fearful faces turned to look at the group who trooped in. They all fell silent and waited for Lisa to speak.
Before she could speak though, Dr. Bailey strode through the open door, closing it behind her. Her eyes searched the room, until they fell on Lisa. “Is everyone here for JC?”
Lisa nodded against her tears, her hand was held tightly in Justin’s and Kelly’s arm was wrapped around her shoulders.
The doctor proceeded to explain what was going on, but went into a little more detail about the accident. JC had been driving on his way to the studio when a car ran a red light and slammed directly into the drivers side door, causing JC’s severe injuries. The other driver had been drunk at the time.
The doctor also informed them that the hospital was now surrounded by media who had found out about the accident. “I understand that you all want to be here to support JC, but security is understaffed and cannot handle everything for all of you.” Her sympathetic eyes drifted across the members of NSync. “Perhaps it would be better for everyone involved for you to stagger your visits and never be here at the same time.”
Almost in unison, the four men spoke their vehement denial. Then Joey’s voice rang out in authority. “We aren’t leaving, we are here for JC. We will pull our own security in in any case.”
“In that case, do you have someone to handle a statement or would you like the hospital to do so?” The men looked at each other and nodded to one of the others sitting in the room. That person walked to a corner to call their press secretary.
Dr. Bailey stood to exit, but turned back before she could. “I understand you all want to be with JC, but please limit the number of people in his room. Remember he can hear everything that you say, so no negative comments. Are there any further questions?” Hearing none, she took her leave and left them alone.
The four men stood in sync, betraying the many hours they had spent together over the years, and surrounded Lisa as they went to their bedside vigil.
