It had begun raining a few hours later and Justin found himself pulled up into the parking lot of the hospital, wondering if he could really face his friend. He took a deep breath in and shut off the engine, before finally getting up the courage and getting out of the car.
“Shit,” he grumbled to himself as his cell phone fell from his lap and out onto the pavement. He bent over and picked it up shakily, forgetting why it had been in his lap in the first place. He had been forgetting quite a few things recently, ever since hearing the news that JC had woken up, and he couldn’t figure out why.
Nerves probably, he told himself and began walking slowly towards the main entrance without being spotted. Ever since JC had woken up, there had been a huge media buzz surrounding the hospital, and the last thing he or anyone else wanted was for the attention to be turned to him, like always. He sighed in relief as he made it into the hospital without a hitch.
“Mr Timberlake?” Justin groaned inwardly as he headed for the elevators and heard his name being called. He rolled his eyes but stopped, as he slowly turned around to face who ever it was calling him.
“Yes?” he asked with a bit of agitation to his voice as he noticed the two officers walking towards him.
“Can we talk to you for a minute?” the female officer asked and Justin sighed again shaking his head.
“Actually I don’t have the time, you must have heard Jayce just woke up and I was…” he began but the officer cut him off with a firm look and a shake of her head.
“I don’t think it wise for you to go up there,” she stated and Justin looked at her, placing a hand on his hip in anger.
“And why would you think that?” he asked and noticed the officer straighten up. “As I last recall I was his friend, you don’t have a say in what…”
“Why did you not report the miscarriage to the authorities?” the officer cut in and Justin looked at her in shock. His mouth fell open, and he rubbed his forehead in confusion wondering how the hell she had found out.
“What are you talking about?” he asked, his mind racing with possibilities as to who might have told.
“You know what I’m talking about,” the officer said taking a step closer and crossing her arms over her chest. “So I’m going to ask you again Mr Timberlake, why did you not inform authorities about the miscarriage?”
“Fuck,” Justin muttered and tried to focus on the question she posed as so many questions clogged his mind, “How did you find out?”
“Miss Chasez, the victim’s sister informed us,” the officer replied, still waiting for a reply to her prior question.
“I should have guessed,” he answered, knowing that Madeline would be too scared to inform anyone about that. “Well, there’s something you should know about that.”
“And what is that?” the officer asked, “Mr Timberlake you know it is a criminal offence not to report such an incident to the authorities.”
“I didn’t know I had to tell the cops my private business,” Justin snapped back and the officer shook her head.
“You don’t, but seeing as the circumstances to the miscarriage were as they were…” the officer began and Justin interrupted her wanting to get her facts straight.
“It was an accident okay?” he stated and looked at her, “And right after it happened I felt like shit and proved it to her. She didn’t see the need to call any cops.”
“You both should have called the authorities, no matter what,” the officer said sternly and Justin noticed the look of disarray in her eyes. “I know you both got over it…”
“We never got over it,” Justin snapped cutting her off, “I never got over it.”
“What I’m trying to say…” the officer tried again but Justin shook his head to signal her to stop.
“Things were hard for us all back then, and even though we LOOK as if we’ve gotten over it we haven’t okay? Just because we didn’t file a report doesn’t mean shit,” Justin said angrily, feeling his blood beginning to boil.
“Then what did it mean to you? Not filing the report when it was due?” she asked and Justin shrugged.
“It meant Maddie forgave me okay? That’s all that it meant,” he said and he heaved a heavy sigh. The officer looked at him and shook her head.
“Are you sure?” the officer asked, Justin nodded and knew she had a hidden question in there. She was asking him if he had an ulterior motive for hiding what they did.
“Yeah,” he answered, and then added quickly, “That and that she forgave me.”
“Justin!” Justin groaned and leaned against the wall on his way to see his friend, and turned his head to face the voice.
“Johnny,” he acknowledged and leaned his head back; closing his eyes, knowing what Johnny wanted to say. “Did the cops talk to you yet?”
“Well actually they cornered Maddie and informed her of what they knew,” Johnny answered approaching him and stopping a few feet from him, “She’s a mess.”
“Shit,” Justin grumbled and re-opened his eyes to look at Johnny, “What about Jayce?”
“He’s pissed as well,” Johnny replied crossing his arms over his chest, “They think you spilt the beans.” Justin looked at Johnny in bewilderment and shook his head.
“Why would I do that?” Justin asked and ran a hand over his face as he pushed himself off the wall, “It was as hard for me as well as for them. I wouldn’t want to re-open old wounds.”
“I know, so you didn’t say anything?” Johnny asked and Justin shook his head in confirmation, “So who did then?”
“I was told Heather did,” Justin told him and took a step closer, “Can I go see Jayce now?”
“I don’t know if that’s wise,” Johnny said shaking his head and looking over his shoulder.
“I’ve been hearing that a lot,” Justin agreed and folded his arms across his chest, “Is he really that mad at me?”
“Yeah he is,” Johnny responded, “Sorry Kid, I know it’s not your fault.”
“It’s alright,” Justin grumbled and looked behind him, “But I think I’m still gonna go ahead and see him, there are things….”
“Alight then,” Johnny nodded knowing that anything he said would not dissuade Justin. “Go ahead kid, good luck.”
Justin looked at Johnny and smiled, “Thanks Johnny. I’m gonna need it.”
