Several hours later, just before dawn, somewhere just beyond consciousness a voice started to echo in his mind.

“If you can hear me…I’m just going to take your helmet off…”

The voice was calm, soothing, almost angelic, but when he opened his mouth to respond the words wouldn’t come.  Instead, a low moan cut through the quiet causing the person next to him to stir.

“Justin?” a familiar voice replied.

It wasn’t the same voice from his dream but he knew it well.  In fact, upon hearing her voice his eyes started to flutter open.  White walls, one window, a slow, steady beep echoing through the room.  This was NOT his apartment.

“Mom?” He croaked.

His whole body hurt, and not just the dull ache he was accustomed to after performing.  His body hurt so much that even breathing was painful.  In fact, his body hurt more with every breath he took in.

“Shh.  Just rest.  You need to rest. I am just going to step out for a moment and get the doctor.” His mom replied.

The word “doctor.”  It was as if the word ignited his memory again.

“My name is Dr. Hunter…Dr. Chloe Hunter…”

Suddenly, the memory of the accident came flooding back to him.  He’d gone out for a drive, on his motorcycle, trying to clear his head and just relax.  The last few weeks had been physically, mentally and emotionally draining.  He just wanted to escape for an hour.  Apparently one hour of freedom was too much to ask for.  He never saw the car coming.  All he heard was the sound of crunching metal and in the next instant his bike was knocked out from beneath him and then everything went black. 

Minutes later his mother and several other people dressed in white lab coats entered the room.  Obviously, he was in the hospital but he had no recollection of how he’d gotten there. 

“Good to see you awake Mr. Timberlake.  My name is Dr. Ferguson.”

Justin simply nodded.  He didn’t know how else to respond and given that he’d just had vocal chord surgery the week prior speaking was still difficult.

The doctor took his gesture as permission to continue.

“You’re a very lucky man Mr. Timberlake.  You had a guardian angel watching over you this morning.”

Justin’s Mom cracked a smile and nodded.  “He does.  His sister, Laura.  She died when he was 16.”

The doctor nodded then stuttered a bit.  “Umm…actually, I was talking about the doctor that saved his life at the scene.”

Justin’s eyes widened.  He’d thought it was a dream, but apparently the voice he heard belonged to an actual living, breathing person.

“Dr. Hunter?” Justin croaked hoarsely.

“You remember?” the doctor asked surprised.

Justin nodded.  “Just her voice.”

The doctor nodded again then cracked a tiny smile.  “Yes.  Dr. Chloe Hunter was first on scene.  Actually, she was in the accident as well, but her injuries were minor.  She placed the chest tube that saved your life.”

Chest tube?! A chest tube would explain why it hurt so much to breathe.  Not to mention it sounded awful.

“So how is he? When can he go home?” Lynn Harless interjected.

Two hospital stays in less than two weeks.  Needless to say, Lyn Harless was ready to get her son home so he could rest and recover properly. 

“Well, as I said, a chest tube was placed on the scene.  Your left lung collapsed as a result of the trauma of hitting the pavement at high speed.  In addition, you have 3 broken ribs and a moderate concussion.  I’d like to keep you here until tomorrow just to make sure there are no complications.  Then, so long as everything goes well you can go home tomorrow afternoon.”

“How long until he is fully recovered?” Lyn continued.

“6-8 weeks.” The doctor replied bluntly

“And Dr. Hunter, when do I see her?” Justin managed to whisper.

The doctor couldn’t help but chuckle just the slightest. 

“Umm…well, I couldn’t say.  She actually doesn’t work at this hospital.  As I understand it, she works up the road at Mt. Sinai.  She was coming off shift when the car hit her that caused her to hit you.”

Justin’s eyes went wide.  It was not at all what he’d expected.  Truthfully, he didn’t really know what he’d expected but it wasn’t that.  To hear that this woman, regardless of who she was and what she did had gone out of her way to save his life was more than he could emotionally handle at the moment.

Swallowing back tears and the incredible lump in his throat Justin nodded at the doctor.

The doctor caught his expression but said nothing on the subject.  Instead, he kept to the facts.  His patient had been through a lot over the past few weeks and therefore, his emotions were definitely warranted.

“Your MRI and CT scans came back clear.  There is no evidence of any other internal injuries.”

“Thank you, Doctor Ferguson.” Lyn replied breathing a silent sigh of relief.

Dr. Ferguson smiled and nodded.  “Any other questions?”

“No. Thank you.” Justin whispered.

He was still trying to process it all.  Putting his tour on hold, vocal chord surgery, the accident, his new injuries and THAT voice.  It was all a bit overwhelming.

Dr. Ferguson nodded again.  “Then, I will leave you to rest.  Don’t hesitate to reach out if anything changes or you have any questions.”

**

A few miles away, in an apartment in Greenwich village the pitter patter of feet cut through the otherwise quiet apartment.

“Oof!” Chloe exclaimed as small body jumped on top of her.

“Mommy! Wake up! Uncle Adam made pancakes!” a tiny voice exclaimed.

Chloe exhaled deeply then forced her eyes open.  Her eyes felt heavy.  Truthfully, her entire body felt heavy.  She felt as if she’d been hit by a semi.   True, it had been a Mercedes and not a semi but that didn’t change the fact that she felt terrible.  Her neck, back and shoulders were screaming at her, making movement incredibly difficult.

After a few moments she finally pushed herself up to sit only to be greeted by a pair of hazel eyes smiling back at her.  Hazel eyes, long lashes, a cute smile and dirty blonde hair pulled back in a messy braid.  She was all the best and worst parts of her parents but she was also Chloe’s entire world.

“Pancakes, huh?” Chloe said smiling as she struggled to appear unaffected.

Whiplash had definitely settled in, and the adrenaline rush that had warded off any pain was definitely gone now.  Her body was screaming at her.

“Chocolate chip pancakes!” The little girl responded.

Then the little girl noticed her face.

“Mommy, what happened? Are you ok?”

Chloe forced a smile then reached up, wrapped her arms around the little girl and pulled her into her lap.

“Mommy is fine.  I promise.”

“But your face is blue and puffy.”

Chloe forced a weak smile.  She could only imagine what her face looked like.

“Just a few cuts and bruises.  They look bad but I promise they will heal just fine.”

“Do they hurt?” the little girl continued.

Chloe shook her head.  “A little bit.”

It was a lie.  Her face stung more than she wanted to admit but she was not about to divulge that information to an almost six -year-old.  This AMAZING little girl had been through more than her share of bad in the past year.  She deserved a break, even if it was just a small one.

“So, tell me more about these pancakes.” Chloe said, changing the subject quickly.

“Uncle Adam made chocolate chip pancakes.  He said we were celebrating because you FINALLY have a Saturday off.”

Chloe laughed slightly, then tried not to wince.  Laughing made EVERYTHING hurt more.

“Oh really? That’s what he said?” Chloe asked grinning.

“Yup!” the little girl replied grinning.

“Well, then, let’s go see about these pancakes.” Chloe said as she pushed the bed covers off her.

Inwardly, Chloe took a deep breath then groaned quietly as she started to stand.  Her whole body was waging a war against her. 

“C’mon Mommy…” the little girl exclaimed as she went running down the hall towards the kitchen.

A couple minutes later Chloe stumbled into the kitchen to find her daughter sitting at the kitchen counter happily chowing down on a plateful of chocolate chip pancakes.  Next to her, standing at the counter dressed in a pair of a flannel pants and a muscle shirt, holding a cup of coffee was Chloe’s older brother; Adam.

Adam was her rock.  Adam was quite possibly the ONLY reason she’d made it through the last year with her sanity intact.  When things had gone pear shaped with her ex, Adam stepped up and stepped in as the uncle, brother and protector she needed.

Adam looked up at the sound of footsteps in the hallway and immediately his eyes went wide.

“What happened to you?” Adam asked.

His protective “big brother” side had immediately kicked in to high gear.  His sister looked like she’d been in a battle with freight train and lost.  There were at least a hundred different scenarios running through his mind and each one he liked less than the one before.

Chloe shrugged and reached for a cup.  If she was going to function at all coffee was definitely needed.

“Just a little fender bender.  Nothing serious.  It looks worse than it is.”

Chloe knew her brother was worried.  It was all over his face but given the circumstances there wasn’t a lot she could tell him. 

“A fender bender? That looks a bit more serious than a fender bender.” Adam replied.

Chloe gave him a look. 

He knew that look.  It was the “I don’t want to talk about it” look.  However, he was her big brother and therefore, she was going to talk about it at some point.  He shot a look right back at her but she pretended like she didn’t see it.  Instead, she diverted her attention to her coffee cup and the TV in the kitchen.  The sound on the TV was turned down and her daughter was preoccupied with her pancakes so there was little chance she was paying attention but that didn’t change Chloe’s reaction.

Her eyes went wide as she looked at the screen.  The pictures flashing before her eyes were all too familiar. 

“What are you watching?” Chloe asked nervously.

Adam looked up at the screen and shrugged.  “The news.  It’s on every channel.  They are saying JT was in a motorcycle accident last night.”

Chloe sighed inwardly.  So much for discretion she thought.  Truthfully, there were probably at least a dozen people that could have leaked the story, most of them medical personnel, which in truth, made her sick to her stomach but she was going to take comfort in knowing it wasn’t her.

“Oh.” Chloe replied.

“Yeah…what’s even crazier is that if I didn’t know any better, I’d say the other vehicle involved looked a lot like yours but there are probably hundreds of cars that look like yours in the city. I mean, what are the chances that two different Red Honda CRV’s would be in an accident on the same night?” Adam said before taking a sip of his coffee.

Chloe gave her older brother a pointed look.

Immediately upon seeing her expression coffee shot out his mouth and nose as he choked on the hot drink.

“Eww! Uncle Adam! That’s gross!”

Chloe handed her brother a napkin and tried not to smirk.  “You’re right Gabby, that is gross and messy! Uncle Adam better clean that up.”

“Chloe! Stop!” Adam sputtered.

“Stop what? I didn’t say anything.” Chloe shot back.

“You didn’t have to.  Your face said it all.  You don’t mean to tell me you…”

“Again, I didn’t say anything.” Chloe replied seriously.

Adam looked to his niece then back to his sister.  This was not a conversation for little ears.

“Gabby, why don’t you go watch cartoons in the living room for a bit while your Mommy and I clean up the kitchen.  Then we can go to the park like we talked about.”

Gabby grinned, set her fork down then jumped down from her stool.  “OK!”

“Go wash your hands first!” Chloe called after her daughter as she ran down the hall.

“Ok!” Gabby shouted back.

Once he was certain his niece was out of hearing range Adam turned on his sister. 

“SO, let me get this straight, you hit Justin Timberlake with your car last night?” Adam growled.

Chloe gave her brother a dirty look.  “No! Not exactly.”

“Then what…exactly?”

Chloe sighed then sank onto the stool next to her.  “A Mercedes CLS hit me, then I hit Mr. Timberlake, then the Mercedes fled the scene.”

“You saved his life, didn’t you?” Adam continued.

Chloe gave her brother yet another look.  “You know I can’t answer that.  Doctor- patient confidentiality.”

Adam sighed then sat down on the stool next to her.  “Ok, you can’t answer that question.  That’s fair, but tell me this, is he as hot up close as he is from the nosebleed seats?”

Chloe snorted.  “Really Adam?”

“What?! He is HOT! I know you think so, or am I just imagining all those posters you had all over your walls as a kid?”

Chloe blushed then giggled slightly and winced a bit.  “Fine! Yes, he was hot but I really wasn’t focused on that, I was concentrated on helping him.”

“Is he going to be ok? Were his injuries severe?”

Chloe cracked a sad smile.  “Again, you know I can’t answer that, at least not the part about his injuries but yes, I think he’s going to be fine.”

Adam nodded then took another sip of his coffee.  “He’s lucky you were there.”

Chloe shook her head.  “I was just in the right place at the right time.”

Adam grinned.  “Well, I think there are a LOT of people that are going to be thankful you were when they find out.”

Chloe’s eyes went wide as saucers.  “NO ONE is going to find out it was me.”

Adam laughed. “Sure, keep telling yourself that.”

“I’m not telling anyone…aside from you, and you’re not going to tell anyone so I don’t see how anyone is going to find out.” Chloe argued.

Adam chuckled and shook his head.  “You’re right, I won’t tell anyone, but I guarantee it’s going to get out.  Stuff like that always gets out and it’s Justin Timberlake.  Tell me how people aren’t going to find out about that?”

Chloe didn’t want to admit that he had a valid point.  She just hoped he was wrong. 

“Didn’t you mention taking Gabby to the park?” Chloe asked, abruptly changing the subject.

Adam smiled.  “I did, but you don’t have to come.  I can take her.  I can only imagine how you feel after working a full shift and being in a car accident.”

Truthfully, she felt horrible but it was rare she got an entire Saturday off to spend with her daughter so she wasn’t going to waste this opportunity by staying in bed all day. 

“No. I’ll come.  Just give me ten minutes to get dressed.”

Adam nodded.  “Take your time.  We are in no rush.  I’ll pour you some more coffee to go and get you some Advil.”

Chloe smiled.  “Thank you.”

“I’m your big brother.  It’s in my job description.”

Chloe nodded.  “Again, thank you.”

Adam looked at her worriedly.  He could tell she was struggling but was trying to put on a brave face for Gabby.  She’d been doing it for over a year now.

“What about tomorrow?” Adam asked.

“What about it?” Chloe answered.

“Aren’t you scheduled to work tomorrow?”

Chloe nodded and forced a somewhat crooked smile.  “I am but I am going to call Dr. Ross and ask him to switch with me.  He owes me.”

“Good.” Adam replied, appearing to be satisfied with her response.

They spent most of the morning in the park then stopped for lunch at Gabby’s favorite pizza place on the way home.  After that they had a princess movie marathon on the couch and Adam made spaghetti for dinner.  On Sunday, just as she suspected, Chloe’s whiplash was worse than the day before.  She could barely move but yet again, Adam was there to save the day.  He and Gabby made her breakfast and brought it to her in bed.  Then she and Gabby watched another princess movie in bed while Adam took care of the dishes, laundry and grocery shopping for the week.

That night after Gabby had gone to bed Adam came into Chloe’s room carrying two glasses of wine.  He set himself down on the bed next to her then handed her a glass.

“You’re a rockstar, you do know that, right?” Adam said smiling.

Chloe smiled back and shook her head.  “No, you’re the rockstar.  I really don’t know what Gabby and I would do without you.”

“You don’t have to worry about that. I’m not going anywhere.  As I’ve said before, this arrangement works for me too.  My commute to work is great. I don’t have to worry about the neighborhood being sketchy.  I’m saving money by splitting the cost of this place with you and I get the bonus of peace of mind knowing you and Gabby are ok.  Not to mention the quality of the eye candy in the Village is far superior to where I used to live.”

Chloe snorted. “Eye candy? Really Adam?”

“What?! Am I wrong?”

Chloe just giggled and shook her head before taking a sip of her wine.  “I don’t know. I don’t have time for that sort of thing.”

Adam made a face.  “Well, maybe you should make time.  It’s been almost a year Chloe.  You deserve to move on.  You deserve to be happy. I promise you, not every guy is going to be like Eddy.”

Chloe sighed.  “Eddy gave me Gabby.”

Adam nodded.  “And that was the ONE thing he did right.  You gave him every opportunity to change, to be better because you’re a good person, a good wife and an AMAZING mother but in the end…”

Chloe sighed again.  “I know, I know, and if I had to do it all over again I would, but that doesn’t change the fact that I’m not ready…and let’s be real here…my track record for picking guys isn’t the best.”

Adam grinned.  “Well, you didn’t have me around before.  I’ll screen them for you.  Besides, after Eddy it’s not like I am going to just let anyone date my sister.  They have to prove themselves worthy first.”

Chloe laughed.  “Worthy?”

“Hell yeah!  You’re intelligent, talented, attractive, kind, passionate…I could go on and on.”

“Don’t let me stop you.” Chloe giggled.

“I’m being serious…you deserve a guy that is going to treat you like the queen you are.”

Chloe blushed a bit and nodded.  “Did you have someone in mind?”

Adam grinned devilishly.  “Justin Timberlake isn’t a bad option.”

Chloe laughed and swatted at her brother playfully.  “Stop!”

Adam continued to grin at his sister.  “What? He’s intelligent, talented, attractive, obviously passionate…should I keep going?”

Chloe just laughed and shook her head.  “It’s not going to happen.  In fact, I’ll probably never see him again, at least not that close.”

“Don’t be so sure.”

Chloe couldn’t help but smirk at her older brother.  “Do you know something I don’t?”

This time it was Adam who laughed and shook his head.  “No.  I just have this hunch that once the blue-eyed crooner from Memphis finds out that a Good Samaritan saved his life, he’s going to come looking for them.”

“He’s a busy man.”

“Not right now he’s not.  He’s recovering from vocal chord surgery…and a car accident.  I think he’s got some free time.”

“I think you’re delusional.” Chloe teased.

Adam chuckled.  “No. I’m optimistic.  You should try it sometime.”