Lance held his front door open, allowing Vanessa to walk in ahead of him. He'd just picked her up from the hotel she was staying at, but instead of taking her out for dinner again, he'd decided to go back to his place and cook for her. He stepped in behind her, closing the door before leading the wall down the short hall and into the kitchen. Once there, he wasted no time as he made his way to the fridge. It was already getting kind of late and he wasn't entirely sure how the meal would turn out.

Vanessa took a seat on one of the barstools on the other side of the island, a small smile playing on her lips as she watched him. "You don't have to go to all this trouble."

"It's no trouble," Lance assured her, giving her a smile of his own. "I actually like to cook."

"Are you any good at it?"

Lance glanced up from his place at the stove where he was sprinkling seasonings on the chicken he'd just put in a pan and laughed. "I'm no Emeril, but I'm not horrible. I get pointers from my mom when I go home."

"I bet your mom's a great cook," Vanessa said.

Lance couldn't help the happy sigh that escaped his lips at just the thought of the many delicious home cooked meals she'd perfected over the years. It was one of his favorite parts about going home.

"She is," he said finally.

There was a beat of silence before Vanessa asked, "You want any help? I'm not exactly skilled in the kitchen, but you'll have someone else to blame if it doesn't turn out good."

Lance could hear the slight teasing undertone to her words and he stuck his tongue out playfully at her. "You just sit there and relax. I'm going to impress you with my mad cooking skills."

Vanessa smiled. "Good luck. I'm pretty hard to impress."

The good natured expression on her face told Lance she meant it to be mostly joking, but he got the feeling it was true. He didn't feel intimidated by it though; she obviously liked him or she wouldn't be spending so much of her vacation with him. Besides, it was probably a good thing considering the kind of life he led - it said she likely wouldn't get caught up in the constant attention of the media and other celebrities. The idea that she could be more stable than his prior relationships excited him.

Lance put the lid on the pan to cover the chicken and moved on to prepping the rest of the meal. He pulled out lettuce and several vegetables to make a salad, placing them on the island. After grabbing a knife, he stood across from Vanessa and began to cut the various ingredients.

"Thanks again for being so cool about rescheduling," Lance said, glancing up at her briefly before quickly turning his focus back to what he was doing. He didn't want to slice a finger off.

She shrugged casually. "It was fine. I had something I had to care of anyway."

"Oh yeah?" Lance raised eyebrow. "Care to share?"

Vanessa gave him a smile, but it almost seemed forced. "Not really."

Lance frowned. "Why don't you want to talk to me?"

They hadn't known each other long so it was natural not to know much about each other, but he felt like she knew far more about him than he did about her. In the several dates they'd had over the last few days, they'd spent a lot of time talking about him and his life and not much about hers. He loved that she was so willing to listen to him and see past the celebrity status, but he wanted to get to know her just as much.

"I talk to you," she said. Lance just looked at her, and she sighed. "I told you all you need to know. I don't like talking about myself, especially about my past."

Lance put the knife down so he could give her his full attention. "I'm not asking you to talk about something that'll make you uncomfortable, but I feel like you haven't told me anything substantial."

Vanessa's eyes narrowed. "Is that so?" She leaned in closer, and Lance almost took a step back at the anger he saw reflected in her eyes. It was a side of her he hadn't seen yet. "I told you about my mother dying, how I inherited her shop, why I refuse to take off my pearl necklace. And none of that is substantial enough for you?"

She sounded half demanding, half exasperated. There was something very fierce about the way she looked when she was angry and Lance unexpectedly found himself turned on by it. He forced the feelings away though as he focused on what she was saying. The last thing he'd meant to do was make her angry.

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "It just feels like you've got my whole life story and I've only got a small taste of what yours has been like."

"Is it really important you get the full story right now?" She reached out a hand and ran a long finger down his arm, goose bumps following the soft caress. "I thought we were going to have a long time to learn about each other."

Lance felt his heart skip a beat. He hadn't bridge the topic of her leaving yet and his desire to try to work out a long distance relationship, but it seemed like she had been thinking along the same lines as him.

She continued, "As long you want me to stick around."

"Why wouldn't I?" he asked.

She just shrugged again. "Just seemed like your friends don't like me much, and I know how much you're influenced by them."

Lance thought back to the barbeque yesterday, trying to recall if there'd been anything said or done that would give Vanessa the impression the guys didn't like her. Nothing came to mind.

He took her hand in his and looked her in the eye as he said, "They like you. First meetings are always awkward, but it went well. Trust me, if they didn't like you, you'd know it."

Vanessa didn't seem reassured by his words. "I don't know. I got a weird vibe from Kim and Kelly. I'm pretty sure they don't like me, and I'm sure Justin and Joey will follow suit."

"Oh come on. It wasn't that bad," Lance said. "You make me happy which automatically puts you in their good graces."

"How do you know? They hardly said two words to us or even seemed to acknowledge that you had brought a date."

She was exaggerating just a bit. The guys had talked to them, but admittedly, they hadn't asked much about Vanessa - not like they all had when Justin had first introduced Kim to them and the same with Joey and Kelly. But JC's sudden departure had disrupted the easygoing nature of the get-together.

"They were distracted. Worried about JC," Lance defended.

Vanessa straightened so she was standing tall and looked him in the eye. "And that doesn't bother you? You're there for all of them and yet they can't be there for you?"

Lance shook his head, feeling a bit of anger rise up in him. "They are there for me. They're just worried about JC. I'm worried about him."

"Okay, fine. I get that. But they can't say something about the fact that you're happy after being miserable for weeks?" She looked at him expectantly, obviously thinking there was nothing he could say to counter that.

But he knew exactly what to say. "We don't need to come right out and say those kinds of things. We notice the differences in each other as soon as they happen. It's impossible not to with how much time we spend together."

Even though they hadn't come right out and said anything, Lance knew they'd recognized the change in him the other night at dinner to celebrate Kelly being pregnant. The mood had been light and it went without saying that they were happy for him. After living together so closely the last couple years, words weren't always necessary. At least not for them to know how each other were feeling.

And he didn't know why Vanessa was trying to make it seem like they didn't care about him, but it wouldn't be tolerated. They'd been through too much to let a girl get between them, and despite his connection with Vanessa, he would have no problem giving her the boot if she was trying to mess with their friendship.

Vanessa came around the island and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him towards her. "I'm sorry," she said, like she knew exactly where his thoughts had taken him. "I like you a lot and I just want to make sure you're not being taken advantage of."

"You don't have to worry about that. Not with the guys." He moaned low in his throat as she pressed her lips to the side of his neck just under his jaw, the sensation sending a pleased chill down his spine. "But I guess I can forgive you," he said, kind of breathlessly as she pressed several kisses along his jaw line.

She paused with her lips just inches from his own and stared into his green eyes with her smoky gray ones. "Thank you," she said and then their lips met in a sensual kiss.

That one kiss quickly led to a make-out session that carried on for at least a minute. Time seemed to stop as Lance got lost in the feelings and sensations she was evoking. It was those feelings that prompted him to make the suggestion he did when they pulled apart for air.

"Why don't we forget dinner and head upstairs?"

"I don't think so."

Lance frowned at her. "Why not?"

"I only sleep with guys I know are going to stick around. Once you sleep with me, you're mine." She gave him a seductive smile. "You should take some time to decide if that's what you want."

Lance looked at her. She seemed like such a confident woman, but clearly she wasn't ready to take that step yet. He didn't need to think about it - he knew what he wanted and she was it. But he would wait until she sorted through her feelings and could accept that he wasn't going anywhere.

"Okay," he said, giving her a kiss before releasing her and turning back towards the island to finish prepping their dinner.

***********

JC lied in bed, staring up at the ceiling as he idly wondered why he'd been sleeping so much. He'd gone to bed fairly early the night before and yet he'd still managed to sleep through the morning, getting up late into the morning. Sure, it wasn't unusual for him to sleep a lot after a tour was over, but they were now three weeks into their vacation. He was normally well rested by this point and yet he still got at least ten hours or more a night regardless of when he went to bed. But then, he'd always loved his sleep.

It was going on noon now and he'd been up for a half hour already, but he couldn't seem to motivate himself to get out of bed. Sheila wasn't curled up beside him for once, which was rather odd just because she'd been by his side every morning when he woke up. But he knew she'd likely grown tired of waiting for him and went downstairs, no doubt to bug Chris and make him feed her.

His phone rang and he felt a big of déjà vu as he remembered how it'd woken him yesterday morning. He reached out a lazy arm and grabbed it off the nightstand, hitting a button before bringing it to his ear.

"Hello?" he said, and immediately had a thought that he should've glanced at the caller id. It was there so he wouldn't have to wonder who was calling.

But he found out a second later anyway as Joey's voice came through the connection loud and clear. "Hey, Jace. What are you up to today?"

JC shrugged even though he knew Joey couldn't see him. "Not much. Just hanging."

"I was hoping you'd say that. I'm on my way over to your house. I should be there in a bit, so I want you to hop your lazy ass in the shower and get ready."

JC didn't bother to ask how Joey knew he wasn't dressed yet; it was no secret it often took him most of the day to summon the energy to do something while on vacation. So what he said instead was, "Where you taking me?"

"To see Justin. Kim's gone to take her shift across town and she thinks J will be released in a couple hours, so he's going to need someone to give him a ride."

"She call to tell you that?" JC asked.

"Nah, Justin did. Apparently he's climbing the walls and demanded someone come entertain him until he was released."

JC laughed. "That sounds like him."

"Yeah so I'm picking you up. I'm not going to suffer alone, listening to him whine for the next few hours," Joey said, and laughed a bit himself. "So get ready. I'll be there soon."

"Okay, see you in a bit," JC said and hung up the phone. He put it back on the nightstand next to the alarm clock.

With a small groan, JC pushed himself out of bed and no sooner was he on his feet than the doorbell rang. He sighed, figuring that could only be one person. Joey was never very good at estimating times. Sometimes he'd show up later than you expected and other times, like now, he'd show up early.

For a second JC thought about letting Chris get it, but as he stood there for a second listening, he realized he couldn't seem to hear the TV or anything that would indicate that he was there. So as the doorbell rang a second time, JC propelled himself out of his room and down the stairs. When he reached the front door, he unlocked it before opening it, knowing who was on the other side. So when the person on the other side wasn't Joey, he was more than surprised.

"Hello," the man greeted, giving JC what was meant to be a friendly smile.

JC stared at the man cautiously, standing in the doorway with one hand hanging onto the door. The man standing in front of him looked to be in his forties or fifties with dark hair and dark brown eyes. He looked vaguely familiar for some reason, like JC had seen him somewhere before. But he couldn't place the man.

"Do I know you?" JC asked.

The man just continued to smile at him. "Chris didn't tell you? I'm his-"

Just then Chris came up, interrupting the man as he called out, "JC, who's at the door?"

JC glanced over his shoulder at Chris who was just on his left and shrugged. "Some guy. He says he knows you."

Chris stepped closer so he could look over JC's shoulder and his easy going expression immediately hardened. "JC, go upstairs. I'll handle this."

JC frowned. Chris's tone made it clear there was no room to argue, but he didn't get it. Why did he have to go upstairs? Who was this guy? What the hell was going on?

"Chris..." JC started to protest.

"Damn it, JC. Go!" Chris commanded, though his eyes never left those of the mystery man standing on the porch.

JC balked at that. "This is my house and you can't-"

JC's words were cut off as the man suddenly launched himself at him, roughly shoving him backwards into his house and causing Chris, who was behind him, to stumble as well. The man took advantage of JC's surprise to throw him up against the wall. JC winced as the back of his head snapped back, banging into the unyielding surface, but he quickly pushed back against the man. But all his resistance was immediately halted when there was a telltale click before a small handgun was pointed at him.

"Leave him out of this, Robert," Chris said, taking a step towards them. "He's got nothing to do with this."

Robert spared Chris a brief glance before pulled back the hammer on the gun. "Take one more step and I'll shoot."

Chris instantly stopped where he was. "You're not going to shoot anyone."

Robert let out a short laugh. "C'mon, let's not fool ourselves. You don't know me any better than I know you."

JC found himself unable to look at the man holding the gun on him any longer and instead focused on Chris. He was more confused than ever, having absolutely no idea what was going on. There'd been some suspicion that Chris was going through something, but this was certainly the last thing JC had expected. Though he didn't even know what this was. He just wanted out of there and desperately wished he'd just listened to Chris.

"And yet you still feel you're obligated to my money," Chris said.

Robert glared at Chris. "I'm not going to argue with you about this anymore. You give me the money I want or I'll take my payment out of your friend."

The gun was shoved into JC's stomach and he flinched. He was even more determined not to look at the man behind the gun, keeping his eyes trained on Chris. Chris, for his part, easily picked up on his anxiety and gave him a look that was meant to be reassuring.

"All right, take it easy. Jesus," Chris said, putting up his hands, clearly trying to placate the man. "I'll give you your damn money. Just let me get my checkbook."

JC's eyes widened slightly, afraid of what might happen if Chris left him alone with this man, but Chris just gave him another calming look. Chris walked out of the foyer and JC reluctantly looked back at Robert. The gun was still fixed on him, the muzzle pressed against his stomach.

"As soon as Chris gives me what I want, I'll be gone," Robert said.

JC said nothing, just averted his eyes as he let out a shaky breath. His heart was racing and his thoughts were going a mile a minute. He felt adrenaline coursing through his body, but it was unlike how he felt during and after their concerts. This adrenaline rush wasn't welcome and actually made him feel ill as it mixed with his anxiety.

Chris returned then, carrying his checkbook and he flipped it open before holding it against the wall to write out the check. "Make it twenty thousand," Robert told him.

Chris glanced briefly at him and JC before he filled out the rest of the check. He tore it out of his book and handed it to Robert. "Now get the hell out of here," he practically growled.

"Gladly," Robert said, and just like that, the gun was removed from JC's stomach as the man turned and walked out the door.

As soon as he was gone, JC felt such an overwhelming sense of relief that his legs crumbled and he slid down the wall until his butt hit the floor. Chris rushed over to him and put a hand on his shoulder as his eyes carefully scanned JC's body.

"You okay?" he asked.

JC nodded. "Yeah," he said shakily. He took a breath to try to compose himself a bit more and looked up at Chris. "What the hell was all that about?"

"Hey, Jace. You...whoa, what's going on here?"

As one, JC and Chris looked over to the open door and saw Joey standing there. JC had forgotten in the chaos of the unexpected guest that Joey was coming to pick him up, but it was a good thing he hadn't shown up while Robert was still there.

"I'll explain in a second," Chris said. He got to his feet and pulled out his cell phone, moving away from them.

Joey crouched in front of JC, a worried expression on his face. "What happened, JC?"

JC shook his head slowly. He wasn't really sure. "Some guy showed up demanding money from Chris. He had a gun."

"What?" Joey exclaimed, his eyes widening. He seemed to look at JC closer then. "You're okay, right? Nothing happened?"

"I'm fine," JC said. "Just really confused. I have no idea who the guy even was."

"He's my father."

JC and Joey both startled slightly at Chris's voice, neither of them having heard Chris end his phone call and come back over to them. But the surprise at his sudden appearance was nothing compared to the revelation that the man that'd just been there, the man that'd just held a gun on JC, was Chris's father. It didn't explain why he wanted money from Chris, but at least JC knew now why the man had seemed so familiar - he'd recognized some of Chris's features in the man's own face.

"Your father?" Joey repeated, standing up. JC got to his feet as well. "I didn't know you were in contact with him."

"I'm not. Not really," Chris said and stepped into the living room, leaving them no choice but to follow. He threw himself into an armchair with a heavy sigh while JC and Joey sat on the couch. "He approached me at our last concert, demanding money."

"Why?" JC asked.

Chris shrugged. "He thinks I owe him some of my money because I never would've met Lou and you guys if he hadn't allowed me to live with him and go to college."

"That's ridiculous," Joey said.

JC agreed. What Robert provided Chris with was what any good parent would do - give their child the opportunity to go to school and provide them a place to call home while they did so without expecting anything in return. He didn't know much about Chris's father, but he knew that he hadn't been around much while Chris had grown up, struggling to help his mother raise his sisters. So obviously Robert couldn't be classified as a good parent, especially not now that he was trying to capitalize on his son's success.

"So he wants to be reimbursed for your tuition?" JC asked. "Or more than that."

"Well, considering I already paid him back for college, he obviously wants more than that," Chris said.

"And you gave it to him."

Chris fixed JC with a look. "He had a gun on you. I wasn't exactly going to say no and piss him off and have him do something rash." He paused. "Besides, he's not going to be able to cash it."

"How come?" Joey asked.

"Because I called my bank and told them not to release the money when he tries to cash it."

Joey raised an eyebrow. "You can do that?"

"Sure," Chris said with a nod. "I'm the account holder after all. It's my money so I can do what I want with it. But it's only temporary. If they don't get some kind of confirmation from the police about the situation in the next twenty-four hours, then they'll lift the freeze regardless of what I want."

"So wait a minute," JC told him, his mind having just made a connection while Chris and Joey were talking. He looked over at Chris. "He approached you at the end of the tour and has been demanding money and basically harassing you for weeks now, and you didn't get the police involved? What the hell, Chris?"

"I was trying to keep it on the down-low. The last thing we needed was for the press to find out about this. They'd have a field day," Chris said. "Besides, I didn't want to worry you." His eyes flickered from JC to Joey. "Any of you."

JC rubbed his forehead, unable to believe Chris had kept something so big from them for weeks. And they had a problem with him not talking? Please.

"Does Johnny know about this?" JC asked.

"Of course," Chris said immediately. "C'mon, I'm not that stupid. He's known from the beginning. Though, I haven't updated him in a couple days."

Chris was trying to play that off as no big deal, but JC had a feeling there was something more to it. "Something else happened, didn't it?" JC asked. "Something you should've told him about."

"It's nothing. No big deal."

JC wasn't sure if Chris was trying to downplay it because that was what he did or if he was trying not to get him worked up, but regardless, it pissed JC off. "Damn it, Chris!" he exclaimed. "We're involved now, so just tell us what happened."

Chris stared at him, but JC didn't shrink back from his stare, meeting his challenging gaze with his own. He thought that Chris wasn't going to say anything, but finally after a few seconds, Chris sighed.

"He broke into my apartment."

"Jesus, Chris," JC breathed. Chris didn't give any details, but JC's mind raced with all possibilities of what could've happened, especially now that he knew Robert had a gun.

"He didn't have a gun," Chris said as if he could read his mind. "We just got into a bit of a fight and he left."

JC couldn't deny the relief he felt at hearing that.

"That was the phone call you got at Justin's yesterday, right?" Joey asked. "Why you had to take off so suddenly?"

Chris nodded. "Yeah. Apparently, he'd been hanging around my place for a few hours and my neighbors called my landlord to complain."

"So your coming here had nothing to do with hounding me?" JC asked.

"Nah," Chris denied. His lips quirked. "It was just an added bonus."

Joey's phone rang then and he pulled it out of his pocket to look at the display. "It's Justin," he told them and then answered it.

JC nearly groaned. He'd forgotten that Joey and he were supposed to be at the hospital by now to keep Justin amused until he released, and of course Justin had the best timing. And from what JC could make out from Joey's side of the conversation, their youngest friend was growing very impatient, which led to him being very demanding.

"All right, Justin. I'll be there in ten, okay?" Joey said and then hung up. He sighed, looking over at JC. "You wanna throw some clothes on and we can go?"

"Actually he should probably stay here," Chris cut in before JC could say anything. He glanced at him. "The police will probably want to get your statement about what happened."

JC nodded. "Okay." He looked back at Joey. "Go take care of Justin. Give us a call when he's released, all right?"

"Will do," Joey said, rising from the couch. "See you guys later."

They heard the front door open and close and then Chris turned to him. "You wanna get a shower and we'll head down to the police station?"

"Sure," JC agreed. "I'll be ready in like ten minutes, okay?"

Chris shrugged. "No rush."

JC said nothing, just got up from the couch and began to make his way to the bathroom attached to his bedroom upstairs. Chris might not be in a rush to go to the police, but JC wanted to get it over with. The sooner they got this taken care, the sooner Chris could relax and regain the distance between himself and his biological father.

***********

"And you just left? Without getting the full story?" Justin asked, looking at Joey incredulously.

Joey had just finished telling Justin everything that he'd learned back at JC's house about Chris and his biological father. It'd taken a while to explain everything because Justin had kept interrupting him with numerous questions, obviously surprised and confused...and rightly so. They'd all gotten the feeling that something had been up with Chris the last couple weeks, but they hadn't expected anything like this.

"Well, someone was demanding I come entertain him," Joey said dryly.

Justin rolled his eyes. "Well obviously I didn't mean you should do it if something big was going down."

"It's fine. Chris seemed to have everything under control, and I'm sure we'll hear about it later."

At least Joey hoped Chris had everything under control. He had to admit he about had a heart attack when JC had mentioned that a mysterious man had just been there and had had a gun. In that brief moment, his mind had run wild with the various scenes he could've walked in on. And to find out it'd been Chris's father that'd been the one to threaten them like that...that'd been a real shock.

Joey had heard Chris complain about his father on occasion back when they'd worked together at Universal and even then Chris had never really given specifics. And Chris certainly hadn't mentioned him since the five of them had gotten together and signed with Lou, going to Germany to jumpstart their careers. JC and Justin had certainly been as surprised as Joey to hear about Robert surfacing and making such a forceful presence in Chris's life.

"They better call me," Justin mumbled then. "I hate being out of the loop."

Joey had to laugh at that. "If anyone's out of the loop on this one, it's Lance. Not you."

"Are you going to tell him?"

"Eh, I don't know. Chris'll probably tell him."

"He probably would've already known by now if he hadn't been all wrapped up in his new girlfriend," Justin said.

Joey considered that and figured Justin may have a point. It'd been Justin and Lance that had first brought up how Chris's behavior had been a little off since they'd finished the tour - that none of them had really talked to him much. At least not as much as they had everyone else. But then Vanessa came into the picture and Lance had been distracted, not seeming to come around as much.

"You don't like Vanessa now?" Joey asked, having picked up on the almost spiteful undertone to Justin's words.

"I didn't say that," Justin objected. "Kim's the one that doesn't like her. She's been harping on her."

Joey frowned. "Really? Kelly seemed like her. She said Vanessa seemed shy and a bit uncomfortable, but she thought she was good for Lance. A nice classy girl for him."

"Classy?" Justin raised an eyebrow.

Joey just shrugged. "It was because of the way she was dressed or her pearl necklace or something. I don't know."

"Well Kim hasn't been very specific on the reasons why she doesn't like Vanessa. She just says it's a feeling she gets."

"And what do you think?" Joey asked.

"Well she didn't exactly make a great first impression, but she didn't make a bad one either. So she seems all right to me."

Joey wasn't surprised by that or the fact that Justin was basically unaffected by his girlfriend's opinion. He'd always been pretty accepting of new people that entered their lives for however brief a time, only projecting negative feelings towards them when they did something he felt was deserving of his rejection. And no one had much influence over his opinions anymore - not even JC. Justin had grown to be as assertive in his decisions and strongly devoted to his opinions as the rest of them, which resulted in one or more of them butting heads with him on occasion.

The doctor Joey had met yesterday, Doctor Buchanan, walked in then, greeting them as he grabbed the chart at the end of Justin's bed and began to flip through it. "How you doing today, Justin?"

"Good," Justin said. "Can I go home now?"

Doctor Buchanan looked up from the clipboard to give Justin a small smirk. "Let's see if your body confirms what you're telling me first," he said, closing the clipboard and hanging it off the foot of the bed.

Joey watched as the doctor approached Justin, getting within a foot of him before pulling a penlight out of his lab coat pocket. He shined the small light into Justin's eyes and immediately Justin began to squint and lean away from the offending light.

"How long have you had that headache?" the doctor asked as he removed the penlight and returned it to his pocket.

"A couple hours," Justin said with a shrug.

"And how bad is it? On a scale of one to ten with ten being the worst."

Justin was silent for a moment like he was reluctant to admit it, but he finally said, "Eight, but it's steadily growing to a nine."

"Anything else accompanying the headache? Nausea? Light sensitivity? Anything like that?" Doctor Buchanan asked.

"My vision's kind of hazy, and I am feeling kind of nauseous."

Joey reached out and gently smacked Justin on the arm. "Why didn't you say anything?"

At the same time, Joey was berating himself for not noticing. He'd been so distracted when he'd come in from what'd he found out about Chris's father that he hadn't bothered to look that closely, but now it was painfully obvious that the signs that Justin wasn't as well as he wanted them to believe were there.

His eyes were a vibrant blue - a hue they only took on when he was in pain. His skin was also flush, which just made the slowly fading red streaks on his arm that much more prominent. They were all things Joey should've noticed right away and ones he knew without a doubt that JC would've immediately picked up on.

Justin sighed. "I didn't think it was a big deal."

Joey looked at the doctor. "Is it? A big deal, I mean."

"It's hard to say without running a few tests."

"But it's probably just a migraine, right?" Justin said more than asked. Joey knew how anxious he was to get home and likely wanted the doctor to tell him it wasn't serious so he could do just that.

But the doctor's next words threw the likelihood of that happening out the window. "Yes, it could. There are cases where people with severe migraines have their optic nerve temporarily affected, but you have no record of migraines in your medical history so it's pretty slim that's the explanation here."

"Do you think his infection has gotten worse?" Joey asked.

The doctor let out his own sigh. "It's kind of hard to say. The lines on his arm are fading and his fever is down from where it was when he was brought in yesterday. But the persistent nausea, the headache, and the way the optic nerve is affected...I'd say he's developed Bartonella henselae."

Justin glanced at Joey and he could easily read Justin's nervousness. "What is that?" Justin asked.

"It's another type of infection. It's transmitted through a cat's saliva, especially when a bite is involved and can bring about any number of flu-like symptoms including nausea," Doctor Buchanan explained. "Typically it goes away on its own, but this doesn't seem like a typical case."

Joey frowned. "And why not?"

"Because it normally takes a week or so from the time of transmission for symptoms to occur. I've never heard of it appearing so quickly," the doctor said. "And the fact that the optic nerve is affected...it's usually a sign that the infection is further progressed."

"So how do you treat it?"

"With a strong antibiotic." Doctor Buchanan paused. "But let's run a few tests first to make sure this is what it really is. Then we'll go from there."

Joey nodded. "Thanks, Doctor."

Doctor Buchanan nodded and left to order a new batch of tests. Joey looked over at Justin and saw that his forehead was creased, but whether it was from pain or worry or both, he wasn't sure. He reached out and put a comforting hand on Justin's arm, squeezing gently.

"Don't worry, man. We'll get this figured out and you'll be out of here in no time."

Justin groaned as he let his head fall back against the pillows. "I'm gonna kill JC's cat."