Chapter 6.
Justin.
I remember that for some reason my legs went weak and I couldn't stand up properly. I heard voices as they officer explained the situation to me and soon people were calling my name. I don't know why but they had suddenly realized that I was going into shock and I heard someone running to my aid before pulling me up and letting me lean on them for support.
"It's okay J," Trace's voice came from beside me and I took a deep breath in. "Just lean on me for a sec while you get your bearings back." I nodded and looked at Johnny.
"Where is she?" I asked, getting ready to get up and go to her. Johnny looked at me confused for a moment before speaking.
"She's on route..." he began and I cut him off.
"Where is she?" I repeated with anger in both my eyes and my voice.
"She's.... I'll find out where they're taking her then you can go there ok?" Johnny said and I sighed heavily, giving in. I don't know what was coming over me, but I had this sudden urge to just... to just be with her. I needed to make sure she was okay.
"Okay," I breathed and looked at Trace who was looking pale and worried, he seemed to noticed and snapped out of it, pulling me towards the car that had pulled up onto the tarmac waiting to take us to the hospital.
"Come on sit down," Trace ordered me and helped me into the car as Tiny pulled the door open looking worried. I obeyed and sat inside, waiting for Trace to climb in beside me as Tiny shut the door and talked to Johnny briefly. It wasn't long before my bodyguard came back and got in the front seat, telling the driver to take us to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
I must have looked like a raging lunatic when I rushed into the hospital with Trace and Tiny huffing behind me. I didn't know why I was acting the way I was, I mean I didn't even really love Jen.
"Hi my name s Justin Timberlake and my wife..." I rambled to the receptionist as I reached the desk. The woman, a lady in her mid-forties, looked up at me and nodded.
"Okay and her name is?" she asked me and I totally flaked.
"Jennifer, uh..." I didn't even remember if she took my name when we signed the papers. My mind drew a complete blank, luckily Trace stepped in.
"Jennifer Hudson," Trace said coming up beside me and gripping my shoulder. "She was in an automobile accident and there were two other women with her? We were told this is where they brought them."
"Right," the woman nodded and typed up something in her computer. I tapped my fingers nervously on the counter top.
"Is she okay?" I asked the lady who smiled at me and gestured to a waiting room near-by.
"Look sir if you can just take your seat..." she began but I cut her off.
"Is she okay?" I repeated and the woman let out a frustrated sigh.
" Look sir, if you can just take a seat I'll get a doctor to come speak with you. Jennifer Hudson did you say?" She asked calmly and Trace nodded.
"Yes," Trace spoke and looked at me. "Let's go sit down."
"No I want to know..." I began but Trace cut me off yanking me violently away from the desk and thanking the woman, allowing Tiny to usher us into the small waiting room.
"J," Trace warned and pushed me into a seat. "She said she'll get a doctor to come and talk to us okay? She doesn't know anything, so have patience."
"Patience?" I asked glaring at him and noticed he too wasn't really patient, he was worried about Kia. "Trace my wife was just...."
"I know okay?" Trace snapped back and ran a hand through his hair, "But we don't even know if the ambulance has arrived yet ok?"
"Shit," I grumbled and pressed my head into my hands and taking in deep breaths not realizing how much this was scaring me. "Shit."
"It's gonna be okay kid," Tiny's voice came from somewhere next to me and I felt the couch move as the two of them sat down on either side of me. "Johnny's on his way, he just has to call Marcus and tell him the situation."
"I don't care if he's on the moon," I muttered and looked up at my bodyguard, "Has someone called her family?"
"Johnny's gonna ask Marcus to do that," Tiny replied and patted my shoulder, "Just calm down ok?"
"Maybe I should call them. I mean after all she is my responsibility. Shit, where's my phone?" I asked and began patting my pockets aimlessly for my cell when Trace stopped me, placing a hand on my arm.
"J stop. You heard Tiny ok? Marcus is gonna call them," Trace said and held my arm so I had to stop.
"But I promised that I would always look after her. I mean when we took our vows..." I babbled and Trace shook his head as if reminding me.
"You didn't take vows remember?" Trace said and I sighed dejectedly, "You just singed a piece of paper."
"Yeah but still..." I began and sighed again. "She's my wife Trace."
"I know," Trace replied and patted my arm just as the door opened and Johnny rushed in with Marcus right behind him.
"Kid," Johnny said as he entered and looked at Marcus, "Have you heard anything?" I shook my head and looked at Marcus.
"Have you called Darnell?" I asked, asking about Jen's mom. Marcus gave me a weary smile and nodded before taking a seat beside Johnny opposite me.
"Yes and they're on the next flight out," he replied and gave me a concerned look, "Don't worry ok? How you holding up?"
"I'm..." I began but a doctor interrupted and walked in. I jumped to my feet anxiously and began bombarding him with questions. "Is she ok? What happened? Can I see her? What about Kia and Crystal?" I was wired on nerves and the doctor, a young woman in her twenties, gave me a sympathetic look before speaking.
"I presume you are here for Miss Jennifer Hudson?" she asked and I scowled.
"Jennifer Timberlake," I corrected and the doctor nodded before continuing.
"Right and you must be Mr Timberlake?" she asked me and I nodded, "Well there's nothing to worry about alright? Mrs Timberlake will be fine. Just a sprained foot and a few bumps on her head, nothing major."
"Can I see her?" I asked and the doctor smiled.
"She's unconscious right now, which is normal," the doctor added quickly seeing my reaction, "But yes you can go see her but one at a time okay? I'll get the nurse to come and take you to her."
"Thank you," I breathed in a sigh of relief and felt Tiny pat my shoulder, "What about her two friends?"
"Well.." the doctor began not knowing where to begin but Trace cut in.
"Yeah are they okay?" he had a worried tone in his voice, and for the first time I noticed it and felt terrible at my behavior of only thinking about myself.
"Look," Johnny stepped up and placed a hand on both my shoulder and Trace's, "Why doesn't Justin go see Jen, Tiny can go with him, and you Marcus and I will go find out about Kia and Crystal okay?"
"Alright," Trace gulped on a bit of air and looked at me, "Ok J?"
"Ok," I nodded and looked at Tiny before back at Trace, "You come find me once you find out yeah?"
"Yeah," Trace nodded and reached over to give me a brotherly hug, "And I'm gonna call your mom too and let her know to come over."
"Thanks," I smiled halfly at him and turned to Tiny, "Let's go find my wife."
We finally found the room in which Jen was located, and as I entered it again my legs went weak. She was lying in the bed, her leg and head bandaged up and she looked so helpless. I let out a small whimper and walked forward slowly.
"I'll leave you guys alone," Tiny whispered in my ear and backed out of the room leaving me alone with Jen's sleeping figure. I took in a deep breath and walked a bit further into the room, taking a seat beside the bed and gingerly reaching for her hand that was resting by her side.
The room was eerily quiet as I sat there holding her hand, and trying to calm down my heart beat. I was still wired on nerves and lack of sleep. I looked at the clock on the wall which read 1am and with my free hand rubbed the sleep from my eyes although I didn't really feel at all tired.
I don't know what came over me, but as I removed my hand from my eyes I could feel myself tearing up and I managed to suppress a sob. For some reason my body was reacting in a way I wasn't expecting it to and it seemed as if my heart was agreeing with it. I wanted so badly not to feel this way, because I knew from past experience that if I had let myself feel like this for any woman it would just end in heart break. But it was not going to happen. My heart had a mind of it's own. Even though I told myself over and over again that I should be happy because now I could get out of this ridiculous contract, my heart wouldn't let me. Maybe it was because on some level, I knew that if I did, I wouldn't be able to live with myself.
It would be something done for selfish reasons and for once since I met Jen, I wanted to do something for her, not for me. She had offered to help me out, just because she wanted to. She unselfishly had put aside her own life in order to help me with mine, even though she had never met me.
And now as she lay her fighting for that life, I wanted to do the same for her. I wanted to unselfishly help her in anyway I could, just to show my thanks because it was then that I realized that I never really told her how much I appreciated her signing that contact for me.
I found myself smiling at that thought, and watched as her chest rose and fell with each breath she took. She didn't look so bad now, in fact she looked gorgeous, with her full lips slightly parted and her mass of brown curls pushed off her face. In fact she looked perfect, almost angelic. I reached over and pushed away a strand of hair that had fallen loose from above the bandage and stopped mid-way as the door to the room slowly opened.
"Justin?" It was Kia, and I looked up at her as she stood in the doorway with a sad smile on her face. "What are you... I thought you were in Australia."
"I was..." I began and licked my lips wondering how to answer as she walked into the room, arm in a sling, "But I heard about the accident right before take off and well..."
"Well I'm glad you came," Kia cut me off and took a seat on the other side of the bed before looking at me, "I didn't expect you to come."
"Why not?" I asked a bit shocked, but I knew the answer. She sighed and took Jen's other hand gently. "You shouldn't answer that. How's Crystal?"
"She's... I don't know," Kia replied after a breath of silence and looked up at me, I could see the tears in her eyes, "They're saying she got it the worst. They don't think she'll make it through the night."
"Oh," I replied and looked down at Jen's hand that was still laced with mine, "I'm sorry. But you know she could..."
"No she can't," Kia sighed and shook her head sadly, "She's lost too much blood. What with the baby being born and the internal injuries. I'm just scared how to tell Jen when she wakes up."
"Look," I said and looked up at her, noticing she was squeezing Jen's other hand tightly, "Don't worry about it ok? I'll tell Jen when and if we have to alright? Right now all you gotta do is pray that your friends both get better."
She looked at me, confused at where my sudden concern for anyone but myself had come from and nodded with a deep sigh.
"Ok," she whispered and looked away from me. I smiled at her with comfort before speaking.
"Did you find Trace? He was worried about you," I told her. This caused a slight smile to appear on her lips but it disappeared quickly as she thought of the situation.
"No," she shook her head, "As soon as I was able to I went to see Crystal then I came to find Jen."
"Oh well..." I began and again she cut me off.
"I wanted to tell her about Crystal before anyone else did," Kia said as if I hadn't spoken at all the whole time and I soon realized what she wanted. I nodded and let go of Jen's hand, standing up slowly.
"Why don't I go find Trace?" I asked her, "It'll give you guys some time alone." She looked at me and smiled appreciatively.
"Thanks," she whispered and I nodded giving her what I could of another smile before answering.
"No problems. I'll tell Trace where to find you," I said and began backing out of the room, not waiting for her reply as I shut the door behind me.
As I closed the door to the room I found the hallway empty and sighed with relief. I figures Tiny had gone to either get a cup of coffee or go find Trace, either way if he needed me he could call me. I walked away from the room, heading down aimless corridors of the large medical center, hearing and smelling all sort of things. In one room I remember passing a woman and three kids, while in another two old men.
It was strange being in a hospital, since I hardly ever visited one, the last time I remember being there was to visit Lance when he had his heart surgery. But this was very different. This was something I hadn't even fathomed happening.
I walked a while longer before I stopped, and glanced up at where I was. I seemed to somehow have found myself in the maternity wing of the hospital, outside the nursery door. I sighed and rubbed my eyes, trying to remove the sleep from them and knocked on the door. A young woman with red hair opened it and looked at me with shocked surprise.
"Yes?" she asked, and I shoved my hand in my pockets, rocking back and forth on the balls of my feet.
"Uh hi," I smiled at her shyly and looked over her shoulder, she blocked my view and gave me a weary look. "Look I know I'm not allowed to be here but..."
"Are you a father?" she asked curiously and I looked at her before answering.
"Uh yeah sort of," I replied, not knowing what I was telling her. She looked me over once more before deciding to believe me and nodded, stepping aside to come in.
"Well this is the boys side," she gestured to her right, "And the girls are at the far side of the room." She pointed to where a few cribs were lined up against the wall, draped with pink blankets. I nodded and looked around, pretending to search for my child.
"Great," I said and stood there for a moment while she looked at me.
"What's the name?" she asked causing me to look back at her quickly.
"Uh Jones," I said remembering Crystal's last name for some odd reason and removing my hands from my pockets. The woman smiled at me, and walked to the side of the room where the baby girls were, motioning me to follow and I did.
"Well Mr Jones," she smiled and reached one of the cribs and leaning over it to pull out a baby, "You came just in time. I was just about to feed her. Usually we take the babies to get breast fed before putting them down, but in this case...well you know what happened." The woman gave me a sad look and I looked at her confused.
"Actually.." I began but she interrupted me by passing the tiny baby into my arms.
"Here, why don't you hold her?" the nurse asked as I readjusted the little girl in my arms, "That way you can get in some practice before you take her home."
"What?" I asked with surprise, looking up at the woman as she spoke. She looked back at me with a smile.
"You know with feeding?" the woman laughed
slightly and shook her head at me as if I'd lost it, "Let me just get the bottle and then we can start okay? I'll be back in a moment." I opened my mouth to protest and explain, but before I could she backed out of the room, exiting from a door just to the right and leaving me alone with a small baby in my arms.
I looked down at the little one and wondered what I was supposed to do. I looked at the crib and saw a name printed in small, neat writing at the head. SARA JONES. I finally figured it out, this was Crystal's baby.
I looked back at the baby and she looked up at me, her little hands wrapping around on of my fingers as she softly whimpered in my arms.
"Woah," I told her as I could sense what was coming, "Don't cry Sara honey. Everything's gonna be ok, alright?" She stopped whimpering and just gazed up at me in silence, and before I knew what I was doing I was singing to her.
It wasn't much, just an old song my mother used to sing to me when I was a baby. But as the words filled the room, I began to feel my heart swell up with pride and in that moment I knew what it felt like to be a father.
All of a sudden I so desperately wanted a child of my own. And not any child, one with Jen. Someone I could sing to at night and someone I could teach things to. Someone we could both raise. I knew that this was a wild dream and probably something hitched on my lack of sleep, but at that moment it was what I wanted. I wanted to change my life so I could be a good father to my future kids.
It was in this moment of realization that something happened. A change took place in my heart, and I knew, I just knew that the little girl I was holding was going to need me in the future. I don't know what it was, and I didn't know that in a few more minutes I would soon find out but I knew. I knew that this child was going to be part of my life forever.
"J?" Trace's shocked voice rung through the room and snapped me out of my mantra. I looked up, and saw him standing by the door with a shocked expression on his face.
"Hey T," I whispered and motioned for him to come in as I readjusted Sara so I had her against my chest. "This is Sara."
"What the hell are you doing?" he asked in a matching whisper as he walked towards us and shook his head, "I've been looking all over for you."
"You have?" I asked, not remembering hearing my cell go off.
"Yeah. I came to Jen's room and Kia said you'd taken off," Trace replied, eyeing me with the baby.
"Oh," I replied and looked around, "Well I was just about to help feed her..."
"Well that's great and all..." Trace began reaching over and taking the baby from me as if he was afraid I would drop her. "But Jen woke up."
"What?" I asked, suddenly forgetting Sara and focusing all my attention on Trace as he placed her back in her crib and stood up.
"Yeah, which is the other reason I came to find you," Trace replied and wiped his hands on his jeans. "She was muttering your name and..." Those last few words sent shakes through me, and without even replying or taking another look towards the crib at baby Sara where only a minute ago I wanted to keep her, I bolted out of the room with Trace close at my heels.
"Jen?" I asked as I rushed into the room, pushing aside doctors and nurses just so I could get to her. I reached the side of her bed and engulfed her in a hug. "Shit I was so worried."
Instantly she pulled away from me, and gave me a confused look before looking at Kia then back at me and speaking.
"You worried?" she asked in suprise and raised an eyebrow. I could tell she had been awake for a while now. I pulled up a near-by chair and sat down on it, taking her hand in mine and looking directly at her, ignoring everyone else.
"Yeah. I just... shit I just thought you weren't going to wake up," I told her, feeling my heart beat pick up again. She smiled wearily at me before looking back at Kia who nodded in confirmation.
"Justin," she began and tried to pull her hand away but I held on tight, "We need to talk." I sighed and nodded, as the doctor brushed past us and checked up on her.
"I know," I whispered and looked down at the sheets of the bed, "I'm really sorry Jen, I mean for everything I put you through. I was a real ass." I looked up at that moment, being shocked by my own confession as she was. She looked at me with more shock.
"I..." she began and her voice trailed off, "I don't know what to say."
"Don't say anything ok?" I told her and looked over at Kia who nodded and began hustling the doctor out of the room complaining about her arm to give us more privacy. "All I care about right now is that you're awake and get better."
"Well.." she began and without knowing it I reached forward and pushed a strand of hair from her eyes gently, and then before I knew it I was leaning over and kissing her. This time it was a real kiss.
"Oh gross." We pulled apart instantly and looked to the doorway where I saw a younger version of Jen standing with her hands in the air and a disgusted look on her face causing Jen to laugh.
"Jules," Jen laughed and gave her a smile, "Justin this is my sister Julia."
"Hi," I smiled and stood up, glancing at Jen who seemed to have brushed off the kiss. Julia laughed and took a step forward, holding out her hand to me.
"Glad to finally meet you Justin," Julia smiled and shook my hand before looking at her sister. "We just got in, how's my sis doing?"
"Great," I replied and glanced at Jen again, "She woke up about half an hour ago so you're just on time."
"Great!" Julia smiled and I stepped aside to let her hug Jen as my cell decided to vibrate right at that moment.
"Uh, I'll let you guys have a few moments alone," I mumbled and backed out of the room and heard them chatter, not noticing as I exited the room.
Jennifer.
Blurry, that's all I could see. It was blurry. Reds and blues. My leg was killing me and my head felt like it was hit with a bat.
"Where's Crystal and Kia?" I asked hazily.
"Jenny? Jenny?" Someone was calling me it sounded like Crystal. "Jenny I need you to be there for Sara." I was in an all white room with no doors no windows.
"Crystal! where are you? I can't see you! What do you mean take care of Sara?" I called out and felt someone touch my arm.
"Miss Hudson can you hear me, Miss Hudson?" A voice asked and I nodded wearily.
"Yes."
"Do you feel any pain?" the voice asked again.
"Yes in my leg and head," I replied sleepily, "Where's Crystal and Kia?"
"Miss Hudson need you to stay with me okay?" The voice said again, "You're going to be okay."
I closed my eyes, the voices faded and I dreamed. I dreamed about my family missed them so much, especially my grandmother. There wasn't a day that goes by that I don't think about her. I remember the first time I knew that I wanted to sing, just seeing her singing in church. Then oddly I dreamt about Justin and our situation or what I thought it would it would be like....
*Dream*
"Justin hunny have you seen my shoes?" I asked Justin.
"No baby I haven't seen them," Justin replied with a smile and I smiled back.
We were on our way to dinner, and were in New York for the Sex and the City premier and heading over to Justin's restaurant. Sara was whimpering.
"Sar-Sar what's wrong babe?" I asked picking her up from her basinet, she was wearing her cute mint green footy pajamas. Justin came over with the special blanket he had made for her and a bottle, wrapping the blanket over her.
"Guys are you ready?" Trace asked. I handed Sara to Justin and looked around me.
"Yeah, let me find my shoes and purse," I said looking in my suite case as Justin sang softly to calm Sara down.
"Jenny, I found your shoes," Kia said getting up from the floor near the couch.
"Thank you girl," I said as she handed me the shoes.
"So are you ready now?" Trace asked annoyed, with a hand on his hip.
"Yes ass were ready," Justin laughed, giving Lynn Sara and kissing her forehead. "Take care of her momma."
"I will. You guys just go have fun. We will be fine. Right Sara?" Lynn said looking at a sleeping Sara. Lynn decided to come along with us to New York because she'd been so busy with work that she hadn't had the chance to see Sara as much as she would like.
"Ok bye Lynn," I said kissing her on the cheek and kissed Sara on the forehead.
"Bye," Lynn called after us as the four of us headed out the door.
"Jen. I miss you all I need for you is to wake up."
"Jenny. Jenny."
I blinked and opened my eyes. "Justin? Crystal? Kia?"
"Jenny? You're awake," Kia said with tears in her eyes as she saw me wake up.
"Kia?" I said reaching over to grab and looked around the room. "Where's Crystal?" But before she could answered Trace walked into the room.
"Jen your awake how do you feel?" he asked rushing to my bedside giving me a hug, "Kia I think we need to call a doctor."
"I'm fine. My leg is busted and my head feels like hell but I'm ok," I told them laughing trying to lighten up the mood. They both looked at me before Trace spoke.
"Uh, I'm going to go get Justin I'll be back," he said and walked round the bed to kiss Kia on the lips. "I'll call a doctor ok?"
Kia nodded, "Okay." Trace turned to face me and gave me a smile.
"See ya in a bit Jen," he said and I watched him till he left the room.
"What was that?" I asked leaning back in the bed with an arched eyebrow as soon as he'd left. Kia shrugged and looked away for a moment.
"Trace and I decided to take our relationship further. But anyway enough about me I need to talk to you," she said getting serious and I knew it was bad.
"Talk to me about what?" I asked, but before she could say anything else the doctor and nurse walked in.
"Mrs Timberlake you're awake how are you feeling?" the doctor asked checking my heart and head. I found myself jumping when she addressed me as Mrs Timberlake and not Miss Hudson.
"My head still hearts but my leg isn't in pain as much," I said inhaling and exhaling.
"How long has she been up?" The doctor turned to Kia.
"About 15 minutes? She was a little groggy but alert," Kia said rubbing my hand that she had been holding since I woke up.
"Jen?" Justin said rushing into the room pushing the nurse aside and engulfed me in a hug I was shocked because hours ago at least I think it was hours ago he said I was a hoe. "Shit I was so worried."
Instantly I pulled away from him, and gave him a confused look before looking at Kia then back at Justin and speaking.
"You worried?" I asked in suprise and raised an eyebrow. Justin pulled up a near-by chair and sat down on it, taking my hand in his and looking directly into my eyes, ignoring everyone else.
"Yeah. I just... shit I just thought you weren't going to wake up," he said. I smiled at him before looking back at Kia who nodded. Justin and I had a lot to talk about.
"Justin," I began and tried to pull my hand away from his grip, "We need to talk." He gave me a small sigh as the doctor brushed past him to check my pulse.
"I know," he whispered and looked down at the sheets of the bed, "I'm really sorry Jen, I mean for everything I put you through. I was a real ass."
I just stared at him as the words came out of his mouth. Was I hearing things? I must have taken a harder hit to the head than I thought.
"I..." I began but my voice trailed off, "I don't know what to say."
"Don't say anything ok?" he asked and looked over at Kia who nodded and grabbed the doctor's arm.
"Doc?" Kia asked and gave me a wink behind the doctor's back ,"My arm's been a bit sore can you check it out for me?"
"Uh..." the doctor said and looked at me and Justin before sighing with a nod, "Alright. I'll be back." And they left the room, Justin sighed and looked back at me.
"All I care about right now is that you're awake and get better," he finished.
"Well.." I began but before I could finish he leaned over and brushed a strand of hair out of my eyes and placed his lips on mine, I felt a tingle go through my body as a mixture of shock and pleasure. This kiss was different from the ones before, this one he meant. But the sensation was short lived.
"Oh gross." We pulled apart instantly and looked to the doorway where I saw my sister Julia standing with her hands in the air and a disgusted look on her face causing me to laugh.
"Jules," I laughed and gave her a smile, "Justin this is my sister Julia."
"Hi," he smiled and stood up, glancing at me. I sighed and tried to push the kiss out of my mind for the moment as Julia laughed and took a step forward, holding out her hand to Justin and sizing him up.
"Glad to finally meet you Justin," Julia smiled and shook his hand before looking at me. "We just got in, how's my sis doing?"
"Great," Justin replied and glanced at me again, "She woke up about half an hour ago so you're just on time."
"Great!" Julia smiled and he stepped aside to let Julia hug me. I smiled as I hugged my sister back, glad to have someone familiar around.
"Uh, I'll let you guys have a few moments alone," Justin mumbled and backed away out of the room. Julia laughed and pulled away from me, waiting for Justin to leave before she spoke.
"So," she said and sat down on Justin's vacated chair, "Tell me what's it like sleeping with Mr. Sexy Back?"
Author's Chapter Notes:
Chapter 6 is here! YAY!! Please let us know what you think!!
Story Tags: Be the first to add a tag to this story
