Jamie sat on the bed without moving for a few more moments. She starred at some unknown spot on the floor and Chris waited for some sort of reaction. When she didn’t give one, he sighed heavily and walked towards the door.
“I give up James…I don’t know what to do anymore.” Jamie glanced up at him as he walked out the door and still she hadn’t moved or spoken a word.
Jamie didn’t know what to do. She knew she needed to apologize to Justin, but what would she say? And what was she going to do if he turned her away? Sighing she stood up and decided that she needed to talk to him.
Jamie started down the hall way and stopped in front of Justin’s door. Her hand was poised and ready to knock but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. She turned and walked away, only to stop mid-stride and hurry back to the door.
This show of pacing went on for half a minute before she decided that she couldn’t take this right now. She started slowly down the hallway in the direction of the elevator when a door opened and someone softly called her name.
“James…” Justin stood in the frame of his doorway, eyes red from crying. He looked like hell warmed over and it hurt Jamie to know that she was the cause of all this pain.
“Justin…”
The two stood there for what seemed like hours before Justin couldn’t take it anymore and he rushed forward in Jamie’s direction. He wrapped her tightly in his arms and the two of them stood there in the hallway, crying.
A few minutes later Andy cleared his throat from behind the couple and nodded to Jamie.
“It’s time to leave, sweetie.” Jamie looked back up and Justin and knew that she couldn’t leave him there alone.
“Justin, I want you to come to the airport with me, if you can.” Justin looked down and her and gave a small smile.
“Of course I can.” He started back into his room to grab a sweatshirt when Chris’ voice stopped him.
“Justin, pack a bag…you’re going back to Orlando tonight.” The two stood there and stared at him, not knowing where he was going with this. “You heard me, fro boy….pack a bag.”
“Chris, we have a concert tomorrow…and a sound check tonight. I’d love to go back but we both know that that’s impractical.” Chris shook his head.
“Oh, ye of little faith. Justin…we have just a sound check tonight. You’ve done that millions of times, and the tech people know what they’re doing. You can go back to Florida tonight, and just catch a plane tomorrow afternoon so you’re back here by 7 at the absolute latest.”
Justin and Jamie looked at each other before she nodded eagerly to him and urged him towards his door. “Hurry up and pack Justin…we’ve only got a half an hour to get to the airport.” He smiled weakly at her and ran into his room. He started throwing clothes into a back pack, and five minutes later they were getting into the van that was taking them to the air port.
The ride was silent for the most part. A million thoughts were running through both of their heads, and no one knew just what to say.
Jamie felt horrible for being so mean to Justin, but she felt that her actions were justified. Her father had just died, and she was all the way across the country. She knew deep inside that it wasn’t Justin’s fault, but she wasn’t ready to admit that yet, and the part that was ready, was still fixated on the fact that her father was gone.
Justin just didn’t know what to say. He knew that saying he was sorry would just open up a can of worms. He didn’t want to start anything, especially because he had very little time with Jamie, and he wanted to try and make amends. He knew that she needed his support right now, and he wasn’t going to mess that up.
As the silence stretched the tension in the vehicle mounted. Andy turned around a few times to glance at his passengers, wondering if they were sleeping or just really silent.
“Are you two alive back there?” He chuckled at his own joke but the other two didn’t seem to think it was funny.
“We’re alive Andy…” Justin answered as he looked over at Jamie. Her eyes were fixated on the window and Justin wished that she would talk to him. He knew that she had to be the one to make the first move, she had to willingly start the conversation, or it would go no where.
Jamie knew that she was being watched, and she also knew that Justin was waiting on her to say something, but she didn’t know just what to say at the moment. She didn’t feel the need to apologize just yet, but she knew that she was going to have to apologize sometime in the future, just not now. She shifted in her seat, being well aware of the man next to her. She could hear him breathing, and feel the heat of his body next to hers, and it was starting to unnerve her.
“So…Justin…how is the tour going?” After Jamie let those words slip she felt that she should slap herself. For one thing, she was on tour with him, so she knew exactly how it was going, and for another, it felt to strange to be talking to him like this. This environment wasn’t comfortable at all…and she didn’t like it.
“Um…It’s…ah…going good, I guess.” Justin was glad that Jamie was at least attempting to have a conversation, but he wondered why she asked such an obvious question.
“I’m sorry…that was a stupid thing to ask…I just don’t know what you want me to say.” She turned her head so Justin couldn’t see her face, but he touched her chin with his fingers and turned her back towards him.
“You don’t have to say anything James…It’s me that should be saying something. I’m so sorry about everything. I’m sorry about everything I’ve put you through, and I wish there was some way I could make it all right again.” He stopped to take a breath and collect his thoughts before he continued. It was a bit nerve wracking to have her piercing blue eyes watch him so closely.
“I feel like this whole ordeal is my fault, in a way. I mean, I know I didn’t have anything to do with your father’s death, but I feel like it’s because of me that you weren’t with him. If I didn’t take you on tour with me, if I didn’t ask you to travel across the country for me, you would have been with him when he needed you the most…”
Those were the words that Jamie thought she’d wanted to him to say, but hearing them come out of Justin’s mouth they sounded all wrong.
“Justin, stop. Please….don’t feel like this is your fault. Yes, you asked me to come with you…but I was the one that made the decision. I was the one that decided that I wanted to be with you, and I can’t put any of the blame on you, because you didn’t know this was going to happen.” Tears started to form in her eyes and Justin wondered if it would be OK to hold her.
“James?” He lightly touched her shoulder and she leaned into his embrace, crying her tears into his chest while his strong arms wrapped protectively around her.
The plane ride was quiet. Jamie slept most of the way, confessing that she hadn’t been sleeping much in the past few days. Justin felt horrible, wishing there were some way he could make it up to her, but he had no idea where to start.
They reached Orlando around 2pm, and both decided to go back to Justin’s and rest a bit before the went to the hospital. Dr. Mason had called while they were on the plane and left a message on Justin’s phone, asking them to come in some time after 5pm. The plan was to rest for a while, grab a bite to eat and then head on over to the hospital.
The two threw their bags down in the foyer of Justin’s house and headed inside. Justin went into the kitchen to grab something to drink, and Jamie went into the living room to crash on the couch. A few minutes later Justin returned with two bottles of water. He passed one to Jamie and sat down in the recliner opposite the couch that Jamie was on.
“So James, what do you want to eat?” Justin sipped his water and watched the girl across the room. She looked so tired, and Justin hated seeing her this way. She was usually so full of life, and now she seemed empty.
“I don’t know…something simple. What do you have here?”
“Hmm…Not much. I didn’t go food shopping because I knew we were leaving, so I think there are a few more bottles of water, an old box of crackers, and maybe a can of cranberry sauce.” Jamie laughed for the first time in weeks and it made Justin’s heart sore to see her smile.
“That’s health food right there…no wonder you’re so skinny!” She giggled some more before composing herself and suggesting they order something.
“I can do that. I’ll call Andy and have him get us something, and he can come eat here too.” Jamie agreed and they decided on pizza. It was simple, fast and everybody liked it.
Things seemed so uncomplicated as they sat in Justin’s living room and ate pizza. Jamie almost forgot the real reason they were in Orlando, and Justin started to see signs of the girl he fell in love with.
Jamie had forgotten what it felt like to laugh until it hurt, to smile just because, to be happy. She had become caught up in the turmoil of her life that she failed to see the people around her. She had felt alone, but deep in her heart she knew that wasn’t true. She was surrounded by people that loved her unconditionally and had taken her in like family right away.
It was going to take all the strength she had to get past her father’s death, because before Justin and the other guys, he was her life. She had grown up knowing only him as a pillar for support and love, and she missed him. Knowing that she was never again going to speak to him, to see him smile, to hear his laughter… it broke her heart. But she knew that she wasn’t going to be alone in this. Looking across the room at the man that had stolen her heart, she knew that it was going to be OK…it may take a while, but it was going to be OK.
Jamie grasped Justin’s hand tightly as they entered the hospital. Jamie hated hospitals. The smell, the stark, white of everything, and the presence of death enveloped her until she felt suffocated.
“I hate these places.” She whispered harshly into Justin’s ear and his grip on her tightened.
“Me too, James, me too.” They made their way to the front desk, and the nurse pointed them in the direction of Dr. Mason’s office.
They were greeted at the door of the office by a tall, lanky man with bright green eyes. He smiled at them and motioned for them to come inside.
“Hello Ms. Tanning, Mr. Timberlake. I’m sorry we have to meet under such conditions.” He shook their hands and then took a seat behind his desk. “Now, I asked you here because I wanted to answer any questions you might have had, and I wanted to discuss arrangements.”
Jamie only nodded, not knowing what to say. She had many questions, but she didn’t know where to start. Both men noticed her silence, and the doctor decided to start.
“I have a few questions for you myself, if that’s ok?” Both nodded and he continued. “I sent many letters to the address given to me by Mr. Tanning. They were to an office in Orlando, but I was promised that they would be forwarded to the tour. I also made many phone calls where I was also promised that the messages would be given directly to you, Ms. Tanning. I received only one reply.”
“No…no, I didn’t get any letters, or message.” Jamie had started to cry, and Justin held her hand tightly.
“Dr. Mason…who was it that you tried to contact?” Justin asked the doctor, who then looked through some papers on his desk.
“First I tried the tour manager, Johnny Wright, but was informed that he was on vacation. So I called someone by the name of Grace Freeman. I was told that she was the new manager for the tour. I didn’t get to speak directly to her, which worried me, but then man that I spoke to assured me he would get the messages through.”
Justin started to feel uneasy about this whole thing, and he was almost afraid to ask the next question.
“Who was the man that you talked to?”
“He told me his name was Dave Malloy. He told me that he was the manager for the tour, and when I questioned him about Ms. Freeman, he said that she was his assistant.”
Both Jamie and Justin felt a sudden chill in the room. Something wasn’t right with this situation.
“You said that you received one reply, what was the reply?” Justin noticed that the Doctor’s face had gone pale as he started to answer the next question.
“I spoke on the phone to a woman; I assumed it was you Ms. Tanning. She had given me all the relevant information. I had asked about Mr. Tanning, and him being on a breathing machine. After the surgery we put him on a ventilator, but after two weeks there was no improvement. He couldn’t function on his own. So I called to ask what Jamie wanted to happen, and the woman I spoke to told me to release him from the hospital. I explained that his chance of survival was very slim outside of our care, but she was adamant.”
An eerie silence settled over the room. Justin tried to understand what he had just heard, but it wasn’t making sense.
“Dr. Mason, we never received any call about Jamie’s father. Aren’t there regulations against taking orders over phones? I mean, you couldn’t know if it was really Jamie or not.”
The Doctor nodded his head in agreement. “Yes, there are regulations, laws, and the like. Since Jamie didn’t speak to us in person or fill out any of the necessary paperwork taking control over Mr. Tanning’s condition, he became a ward of the state and it was the doctor’s decision from there on out. We kept him the life support as long as we could, hoping that the surgery could repair the damage to his heart, but the procedure failed. I’m so sorry.”
Jamie broke down sobbing and she fell out of chair to the floor. Justin rushed over to her and picked her up into his arms. She was shaking so badly that Justin could hardly hold onto her. He looked at the doctor for some sort of help, but he too was at a loss. There was nothing that could be done now, Jamie’s father was gone.
Two hours later, Justin and Jamie sat in his living room again. She hadn’t said a word since they left the doctor’s office and it was beginning to scare Justin. He didn’t know what to say to comfort her. She had just discovered that her father had died because someone else had stopped the letters and calls. On top of that someone pretending to be Jamie had told the doctors to. It gave him the creeps to think that there was someone out there evil enough to commit such a deed.
Justin had called the guys and told them what had happened. He also tried to find out if there was a way that he could stay in Orlando longer, but it was too late to cancel the show. He knew that he was going to have to go back, but he didn’t know if he was going to be able to leave Jamie here alone.
“James?” He looked down at the girl in his arms. Her crying had slowed a little, and she had fallen asleep. He carried her upstairs and placed her in the guest bedroom. Justin watched her for a while, making sure that she was fully asleep.
After showering and changing, Justin went back into the guest room to see Jamie tossing and turning violently in her bed.
“James…Jamie…wake up!” She had started kicking and screaming when he touched her and it took a few minutes before she woke up and calmed down a little. “Jamie? What happened?”
“Oh God…” She started to cry again, clinging to Justin for support. “Justin, it was horrible…I was…I was in a room with my father and there was someone else there and they just killed him…and then they started to come after me.” He could barely make out what she was saying through her sobs, but he got the idea and he held her closely.
“Shhh… It’s OK James. It was only a dream, it’s over now.” He could feel her shaking and he knew that this was hardly over. This nightmare had just started.
