“Maddie?” Madeline looked up from where she was sitting and found a smile form on her face as Johnny stepped into the room.

            “Johnny,” she whispered and stood up to hug him, “I didn’t think you were coming.” Johnny chuckled under his breath and looked at her.

            “Of course I was,” he smiled and looked over to the bed, “How is he? Holding up alright?”
            “The nurses and doctors say he’s improving,” Madeline replied. Johnny smiled, noticing the twinkle of hope in her eyes as she spoke.

            “Let’s hope he is,” he answered and pulled her over to the chairs to sit down, “How are you doing?”

            “I’m doing okay,” she nodded in all honesty and looked down to her feet, “I’m sorry for all the trouble I’ve…”

            “Nonsense,” Johnny stated cutting her off and hearing none of it, “You’ve caused no such trouble at all, so don’t go thinking that alright? Have you seen Justin?”

            “Yeah,” she nodded again and looked up, “He came in here a few hours ago, but I haven’t seen him since. We kindda had a fight.”

            “Ahhh I see,” Johnny said in understanding and placed a hand on her shoulder, “Was it about…”

            “Yeah it was,” she replied and looked up at him, “There’s something I need to tell you Johnny.” Johnny’s brow furrowed and looked at her in confusion.

            “What is it Maddie?” he inquired; she sighed and ran a hand through her hair before continuing.

            “I’ve made a decision about talking to the cops about certain things,” she began and Johnny shook his head.

            “Maddie, you can’t. You know it would…” Johnny tried but she shook her head.

            “No Johnny I need to. It’s for the best, I talked to Roy and he’s agreed,” Madeline said with a sigh, “I’m going to tell the cops the truth Johnny.”

            Justin paced back and forth and waited for his friend to come home, checking his watch every two minutes. He hadn’t seen Trace for a good day or so and was becoming worried especially after the fight they had.

            He sighed in content as his friend’s car pulled up and parked itself in the driveway and his friend stepped out of the car. Justin waved to Trace, but Trace just ignored him as he walked up the steps and towards the front door.

            “What do you want J?” Trace asked, his tone was slightly cold and Justin flinched at the sound of it.

            “I just wanted to come by and uh, apologize,” Justin muttered glancing down at his shoes as Trace turned to face him.

            “Well it took you long enough,” Trace snapped and sighed heavily “So you wanna come in or what?” Justin looked up and smiled at his friend, but Trace turned around and walked inside without waiting for Justin to respond. Justin sighed and followed him in.

            “So you still mad at me?” Justin asked walking behind Trace as they walked into the kitchen and Trace pulled two beers from the fridge, handing one to Justin.

            “It depends, are you still calling me a lair about talking to the cops about Elisha?” Trace asked with a raised eyebrow. Justin really wanted to answer that with a yes, but thought better against it, knowing he needed his friend by his side at this time.

            “No sorry about that,” he grumbled and Trace grinned in acceptance as he took the beer, “I’ve just been really stressed about this whole Mads and Jayce shit.”

            “Yeah I can see that,” Trace agreed and took a sip of his beer, “And I’m sorry for throwing all those accusations your way.”

            “It’s alright,” Justin sighed and closed his eyes as he let the cool liquid run down his throat, “I guess I kindda deserve it.”

            “No you don’t man,” Trace replied and sat down opposite him on one of the bar stools,  “It’s just that everything is a bit haywire right now, and the cops will find anyone that has a good reason to wanna hurt Jayce and pin this on them.”

            “Yeah like me,” Justin said with a sigh. Trace shook his head and looked at Justin.

            “No, not like you,” he began and Justin looked at him perplexed for a minute, “You don’t have a reason to want Jayce dead.” Justin laughed at that and shook his head at Trace.

            “Yeah I do,” he said, “According to the cops, I’m all bitter about Jayce fucking my girl.”

            “And who wouldn’t be?” Trace asked and Justin acknowledged this, “I mean come on. In all honesty J, anyone who would be okay with that would be fucked up in the head. You’re still upset and you have a right to be.”

            “Yeah but it’s been over five years,” Justin pointed out and Trace nodded.

            “Yeah, and sometimes it takes five years to fix things like this,” Trace said with a smile, “So maybe now is a good time you start fixing those things.”

            They were called a few hours later, and all congregated in Justin’s living room with sombre faces as Johnny stood in front of them with a weaning smile.

            “So how you guys all holding up?” Johnny asked eyeing each one of them, each looking as bad as the next.

            “We’re cool,” Chris shrugged and ran a hand through his hair glancing at Justin with curiosity. “What I want to know is how the kid is doing.”

            “Alright,’ Johnny nodded and everyone turned to face Justin, “How you holding up kid?” Justin looked up with wide eyes and shrugged.

            “I’ve been better,” he mumbled and cast his gaze back down, “They’re saying I did it.”

            “But you didn’t do it, right J?” Lance asked, Justin shook his head but doubted if they believed him.

            “Good and we believe you,” Johnny assured him and began pacing again. “So I had a chat with Maddie.” Everyone, including Justin, looked up at Johnny with worried expressions as he continued, “And she wants to go public with the cops about, well about everything.”

            “What?” Justin asked, his voice was throaty and raw. “But I thought we agreed… you didn’t agree to it did you Johnny?”

            “I gave her the go ahead,” Johnny confirmed and noticed all the downfallen faces, “It’s her life too and if she feels the need to confess then let her. If you guys have any qualms then settle them with her ok?”

            “But Johnny,” Justin whined and ran a hand through his hair, “It’s just that we promised that.. Shit.”

            “Yeah, shit is right,” Chris agreed and gave Johnny a worried expression, “If this gets out you know it won’t look good for the kid right?”

            “I know,” Johnny nodded and looked at Chris, “And I’ve thought about that.”

            “And?” Lance pressed. Johnny pressed his lips together in thought before speaking.

            “And we’ll just have to come up with a damn good back-up story for when it does,” Johnny replied, they all nodded knowing this is all that they could do.

            “Alright,” Chris agreed but Justin looked at him with a lost expression, “He’s right J.”

            “But…” Justin stuttered and looked around the room until his eyes rested on Joey who hadn’t said much this whole time and was lost in thought, “Joe?”

            “What? Oh, sorry kid but I’m afraid I agree Johnny’s right,” Joey smiled reassuringly at Justin, “But I promise we’ll come up with a good back up story for you ok? We won’t let you fall like that.”

            Sandy sighed as she rubbed her tired eyes, walking slowly back into the hospital after Dale. They had left only a few hours before only to be called back with a request that Miss James wished to speak with them.

            “So did they say what she wanted to talk to us about?” Dale asked looking over his shoulder at Sandy. Sandy shook her head and sighed.

            “Nope, only that it was urgent,” she yawned and pulled the hair out of her face as they stepped on to the elevator, not missing the glance Dale shot her way, “What?”

            “I just find it a bit odd that all of a sudden she wants to talk,” Dale replied pressing the button going up to the third floor, “Doesn’t it all seem a bit odd to you?”

            “Not really,” Sandy yawned again and stretched her arms, “I mean the sister did tell me she would eventually speak, just in her own time. And now is as good a time as any.”

            “I guess you’re right,” Dale shrugged and sighed as the elevator reached the third floor and the doors opened, “let’s go find Miss James.’

            The two officers stepped out of the elevator and headed right for room number 202 with a quick pace, hoping to find Madeline there so they could get the information they needed from her. They reached the room and Sandy smiled gratefully as the door opened and Madeline stepped out.

            “Miss James,” Sandy called to her and she looked up. Madeline smiled weakly and shut the door behind her, walking up to the officers.

            “Good morning officers,” she said softly, avoiding any eye contact with them. “How can I help you?”

            “Uh, we just dropped by because our supervisor said you called in a request to speak with us about the case?” Dale asked cutting in before Sandy could speak. Madeline looked up at the two and nodded solemnly.

            “Yes that’s right,” she said and looked over her shoulder slightly.

            “Well then,” Sandy began re-taking control of the situation, “Can we begin?” Madeline nodded and led them over to a group of chairs that were situated on the opposite wall and sat in one of them.

            “Of course,” she said, “What do you want to know?”

            “For starters Miss James,” Sandy began but stopped herself as she noticed Dales harsh look, “I mean, can we ask about what happened between you and Mr Timberlake to make him so angry at you and your fiancée?”

            “Well…” Madeline began and fidgeted with the hem of her skirt. “It’s a long story.”

            “We have time Miss James,” Sandy reassured her sitting down. Madeline looked up at Sandy and smiled appreciatively.

            “Thanks for being so understanding,” she whispered and took a deep breath in, “Well…”

            “Maddie?” They were interrupted by an older man, with worried line etched into his features.

            “Yes Roy?” Madeline asked and noticed the concern on the older man’s face. “What is it? Is everything alright?”

            The older man shook his head and looked over his shoulder to room 202, “I think you better get back to the room.”

            “Why? What happened?” Madeline asked in a shaky voice standing up beside him. The man smiled weakly and placed an arm around her shoulder, gently pulling her away from the officers.

            “Miss James,” Sandy called as the older man whispered something into Madeline’s ear, “If we could have a moment.”

            Madeline nodded at the older man and turned to face the officers, “Can we do this another time?”

            “Miss James, I’m afraid there is no...” Sandy began but stopped herself short as she noticed what was happening. She had been so engulfed in getting her information she hadn’t noticed the bustle of doctors and nurses going in and out of the room. “Oh.”

            “Yeah,” Madeline smiled and looked over her shoulder momentarily, “He’s just woken up.’