Only Time Will Tell | by BrandyRae

Prologue 

Amanda gave her cell phone a curious glimpse as she recognized the West Coast area code on the LED display. There were only two people that would call her from Southern California. One being her father, the other being his attorney. Neither of which she wished to talk to, especially during dinner. So instead of answering, she silenced the ringer and slipped it back into her purse.

“Who was it?” JC asked curiously, sitting beside her at the round table.

“No one worthy of interrupting dinner,” Amanda answered quietly.

“Was it your dad?” he continued quietly, his voice nearly a whisper as he leaned in close to her ear.

Amanda failed to respond, substituting the look instead. JC new the look. That I-really-don’t-want-to-talk-about-this-right-now look.

With an uneasiness settling somewhere between her stomach and her throat, Amanda tried to finish her meal, but all the while, she knew that a call from whoever that had been, couldn’t be good. And she knew they’d be calling back. She could only put them off for so long.

Forty five minutes later, as their small group of friends headed out of the restaurant and towards their cars, it came again. Instantly her nerves kicked in as she heard her phone chirping inside her purse.

“Babe, just answer it. What if it’s important?” JC said softly.

Amanda glanced at JC, then at Chris – who’d been quietly giving Amanda’s cousin the eye for the past five minutes – and then finally at Terra, who was in a heated debated with Tyler, JC’s brother. It had been an interesting evening, it didn’t look like that was about to change.

With a deep sigh she reached into her brown leather handbag and grabbed her cell. “Hello?” she answered with a bit of irritation as she stepped away from the group.

“Amanda, it’s Henry Billows. I’m sorry to bother you at such a late hour, but I’ve got something that I need to discuss with you and it’s rather important.”

Henry Billows had been Jonathan Ballard’s attorney since Amanda was old enough to remember. Mr. Billows had to be in his sixties by now, but his voice was still the same as it had always been, low and husky, and very formal. There’d really been no need for him to introduce himself because Amanda had known right away it was him.

“It’s not really a good time Mr. Billows. You know, it’s like nine o‘clock here?” Amanda replied.

“Yes, and I apologize. I wouldn’t have bothered you if it wasn’t important.”

JC KEPT A CAREFUL eye on Amanda as she slowly stepped away from him in the parking lot. News from her father was never handled very well. Three months had passed since he’d been sent to federal prison, but Amanda still had a hard time dealing with anything or anyone that had to do with him.

JC didn’t blame her one bit. How was she supposed to feel? She was the daughter of a white-collar criminal whose case had been highly publicized and Amanda had been caught right in the middle of it.

Half-following the conversation that Tyler and Terra were carrying on, JC finally gave his brother a soft shove in the shoulder when he realized his younger sibling had carried on about college football for long enough. Besides, Chris looked like he was ready to explode any second and tackle him to the pavement, which wouldn’t have been too surprising, but with the obvious crush Chris had on Terra, it wouldn’t have looked very good if he was actually trying to be serious about the whole thing.

“What was that for?” Tyler asked with an annoyed smirk.

“Ty, that’s enough.” JC remarked, barely catching Amanda’s expression from the corner of his eye, he turned to look quickly, just in time to see her collapse onto the ground, her head smacking down on the hard asphalt.

Immediately he raced to her side, the other’s following quickly behind him. Lifting her head off the ground, he instantly realized she’d suffered a pretty good-sized gash and was bleeding all over the place. It wasn’t gushing, but it wasn’t trickling either.

“Here use this,” Terra said, handing JC her sweater. Folding it underneath Amanda’s head, he pulled her into his arms, speaking her name repeatedly and brushing a hand down her cheek.

Instinctively, Terra had picked up the phone and was now shouting at whoever was on the other line while Chris had instinctively dialed 911.

Slowly Amanda’s eyes opened. “Baby, are you okay?” JC asked softly, “You passed out.”

Sirens poured from down the street as Amanda peered up at JC with hazy eyes. "I – I – "

“It’s okay, don’t speak. Just lie still,” he told her.

“You’re fuckin’ kidding me!” Terra gasped loudly and all eyes suddenly turned to her. She slapped a hand to her face, realizing her language had been inappropriate. “Excuse my french Mr. Billows, but that was the last thing I expected to hear.”

JC’s ears perked up as he listened. What the hell had been so shocking it would cause Amanda to faint?

Terra turned off the phone and kneeled down beside her cousin. “Don’t worry Manda, it’s gonna be okay,” she spoke softly, reaching for one of her hands.

“Uh,” Amanda groaned, trying to reach towards the back of her head. “I think I hit my head.”

“The ambulance is pulling up now. They’ll look at it,” JC assured her as he held her arm gently and returned it to her side. “Just lie still.”

Amanda had hit her head alright, but he wasn’t about to tell her that she had cracked it open. He looked across at Terra with worry in his eyes and discreetly she nodded her head in agreement. It was obvious she wasn’t happy about whatever news Amanda had just received, but he knew he couldn’t ask.

As the paramedics hoisted her onto the gurney, a small crowd began to hover around. It wasn’t exactly the ideal circumstances. JC handed Tyler the keys to his car and asked quietly if he’d follow them to the hospital. “I’ll ride with her,” he told his brother.

“Yeah, I’ll meet you there,” Tyler agreed.

JC climbed into the back of the ambulance with Amanda and immediately they began asking him questions. Questions he could hardly think to answer, but he tried his best.

“Can you sit up for me Amanda?” one of the men asked her.

“Yeah, I think so.” She groaned, slowly rising from her lying down position as the man applied some sort of gauze to the back of her head.

“It looks like you’re going to need stitches, but you should be fine,” he told her.

Stitches? JC thought. That means needle. You can handle this Chasez, it’s for Amanda. You have to.

“Have you ever fainted before?” the paramedic asked.

“No, not that I remember,” Amanda answered, her eyes suddenly dropping to her lap as if she had just remembered what it was that had caused her to faint in the first place. There was a hurt in her eyes that JC could spot a mile away, and that hurt made him want to reach for her and scoop her into his arms, to tell her he’d make it all go away, but he couldn’t do that right now. The men were still fussing with her head and he’d rather not know exactly what it was they were doing. He’d never been good with that sort of thing.

“TERRA..." CHRIS SPOKE AS he sped to the hospital in his PT Cruiser, following behind Tyler in JC’s SUV, “I know it’s none of my business, but what the heck did that guy tell her to make her just collapse like that?”

Amanda’s cousin knew it wasn’t her place to say. Terra was still in quite a bit of shock herself, she could only imagine what Amanda was feeling. If it would’ve been her, she’d have fainted, too.

“It’s not really my place to say. I mean, it’s kind of personal – well, sort of – and it just wouldn’t be right. I mean, I’m sure you’ll find out soon enough. It’s not really something she’ll be able to hide.” Terra glanced over at Chris and realized that she had only confused the hell out of him.

“Yeah, I don’t mean to pry, but I just can’t imagine what would be so bad.”

“Yeah, well when you do find out you’ll understand,” Terra remarked.

The two made it to the hospital and met up with Tyler in the parking lot. “They’re already inside,” he told them.

“Should we go in?” she asked, and then second guessed her question, looking at Chris beside her. “Wait? Should you go in there? I mean, is it safe?”

“Last time I checked hospitals were considered safe,” he answered with his normal sarcasm.

“Right. But, you know… are you going to get attacked or something? I mean, you don’t have to stay. I’ll catch a ride with JC and Amanda. Actually, you guys could both go. There’s no need for you to wait here. I’m sure she’s fine.”

“My brother might need moral support. He’s not good with needles and blood and things,” Tyler explained.

“I don’t really have anything better to do,” Chris added.

“Okay, well let’s get inside then.” Terra led the way towards the emergency room doors with Chris and Tyler following closely on her heels. With no sight of either Amanda or JC, Terra immediately made way to the front desk. “Amanda Ballard? She just came through with the paramedics.”

“Yes,” the middle-aged woman answered, “she’s being seen now. You can wait for her in the waiting room.”

“Is there any way I can go back there with her?” Terra asked, “I’m her cousin.”

“She already has someone with her,” the nurse answered, and then hesitated in thought. “Okay, go ahead, I’ll buzz you back.”

“Thanks,” Terra smiled.

Terra stood in front of the large double doors as a loud buzz informed her that it was safe to walk through. “She’s in the second room on the right,” the nurse called to her.

“Okay.”

The second door on the right was open, so Terra stepped through knocking lightly against the frame to alert the couple she was there. She found Amanda sitting on the edge of the cot with JC hugging her tenderly. Not a lot had changed with them since Terra had first seen them together nearly four months earlier. It was obvious they were crazy about each other, but normally they weren’t overly gushy in front of other people, just flirtatious and cute. Terra didn’t mind that at all, but every once in a while she’d catch one of those private moments that was meant for just the two of them and she realized how incredibly lucky they both were to have found each other.

She also realized it made her just a tad bit envious.

JC stepped away as he realized Terra’s entrance, instead resting a comforting hand on Amanda’s shoulder.

“The doctor will be here in a minute to stitch up my head,” Amanda informed.

“Oh, so you need stitches then?”

“Guess so,” Amanda answered, “JC’s more worried about it than I am because he hates needles.”

“I am not worried about it,” JC argued. Terra noticed the look he gave her. It was obvious that was something he hadn’t wanted her to share. Although, Terra was already aware of that fact thanks to Tyler.

“If you want I’ll stay with her and you can go out in the waiting room,” Terra volunteered.

“Babe, why don’t you?” Amanda added. “I don’t want YOU to faint this time.”

“I’ll be fine,” he defended.

“But really, I’d like to talk to Terra for a minute anyway,” Amanda explained.

“Oh.” JC’s eyes swirled with disappointment, but Terra could understand completely why Amanda wouldn’t be ready to let JC in on the little bit of information she’d just received. It was something that was going to change Amanda’s whole life, and that meant JC’s life, too.