“He thinks you hate him Josh,” Madeline said quietly looking at JC, the image of Justin not believing a word she had said earlier still etched in her mind.

            “I don’t hate him,” JC replied not looking at her, “I’m just…”
            “Just what?” she asked and crossed her arms over her chest. He glared at her and shook his head. “Josh..”

            “Why are you protecting him Maddie?” JC asked angrily, finally looking at her, “All of a sudden you’re his number one fan again?”

            “It’s not like that Josh,” she replied with thin lips.

            “Then what is it like?” he wanted to know. She looked at him hard and opened her mouth to answer.

            “Mr Chasez?”

            “Yeah?” JC looked up and saw a blue suited officer standing by the door, watching the pair. He took a deep breath in and closed his eyes before opening them again to speak.

            “I’m Sergeant Sandy Sullivan. Can we have a word with you about the accident?” the officer asked stepping further into the room. JC sighed and nodded slowly. “We heard you were up to talking with us.”
            “Yeah sure,” he nodded and looked at Madeline, “Come on in. What did you wanna know?”

            “Um, Mr Chasez we have evidence to believe that you saw who was driving the car that hit you. Is that true?” she asked, taking a step forward. JC sighed again and nodded slowly.

            “I can’t believe you,” Madeline snapped and shook her head at him. He opened his mouth to respond but she gave an annoyed pout before turning on her heel and storming out of the room furiously, not giving him a change to respond.

            “Shit,” he muttered, forgetting that the officers were still in the room as well.

            “Is everything alright?” the officer asked with a concerned look on her face. JC looked up and smiled, nodding quickly.

            “Uh, yeah everything’s fine,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck and looking at the officer, “So what did you want to know?”

            She shifted uneasily on her feet and pulled out a pen and paper before speaking slowly, “Uh, Mr Chasez, did you really see who was driving the car that hit you?”

            “Maddie?” Madeline looked up from her chair in the waiting room and saw Roy standing before her looking very worn out, but happy.

            “Yeah?” she asked yawning slightly and rubbing at the sleep in her eyes.

            “Are you alright?” he asked and sat down beside her, patting her back gently, “The cops have gone, you can go back in to see Josh.”

            “Thanks,” she nodded but refused to smile. She looked up and noticed the look of sadness return to Roy’s eyes.

            “You guys need to solve this,” he said without knowing her unspoken concerns or worries. “He needs it.”
            “But Roy…” she began and Roy shook his head, a frown settled onto his face.

            “No Maddie. I know what Josh has done isn’t right, but he had a reason to act the way he did, even you know that,” Roy interrupted. She sighed heavily and leaned back against the chair.

            “I know, but Roy…” she began but stopped, opening her eyes and looking towards the room.

            “Maddie, you need to talk to him. Fix this before it’s too late,” Roy said softly, “He really cares about you Maddie, he’s only looking out for you.”

            “I know,” Madeline smiled knowing Roy was right, “He was just looking out for me.”

            “And he still is,” Roy nodded, “It’s not your problem how he and Justin treat each other Maddie, not anymore.”

            Madeline took a deep breath in and walked into the room, placing her head down and waiting for him to say something.

            “Maddie?” JC asked his voice soft as he saw her enter, “Come sit with me.” She looked up and smiled slightly and nodded, walking over to the bed and sitting down beside him, wrapping her arms around his neck as she gently leaned against him.

            “I’m sorry,” she mumbled against his neck. He sighed and wrapped his arms around her waist, kissing the top of her head before answering.

            “It’s okay,” he said, not wanting to argue with her any further, “I just wanted to know...”

            “I don’t know why,” she mumbled and looked up into his eyes, “I guess after all that’s happened I still may have a little bit of a soft spot for him. I know you don’t hate him.”

            “I don’t,” he answered honestly and a flash of disappointment at her words flashed in his eyes. “I just didn’t know how to act around him, after everything...”

            “I know, but you don’t have to worry about me,” she whispered and kissed his chin lightly, “He’s sorry for what happened Josh.”

            “How can you be so sure?” JC asked, pulling her closer to him as if he let her go she might disappear.

            “I saw it in his eyes,” she said softly and looked him in the eye, “You trust my judgement right?” He smiled at her and nodded, leaning closer so their foreheads were touching.

            “Of course I do,” he whispered and let his lips fall gently on hers, “You know I do.” She sighed and closed her eyes for a moment, devouring the moment, before she opened her eyes and pulled back.

            “What did the cops want?” she asked curiously. He looked at her and hesitated for a while, then allowed a weary smile to form on his lips.

            “They just wanted to know if I had seen who was driving the car,” he said after a short pause.

            “And did you?” she asked, hoping that he had so he would confirm she was just seeing things that night. He nodded slowly and looked at her with deep eyes.

            “Yeah I did,” he replied quietly, “But Maddie…”

            “What did you tell them Josh? Did you tell them who was driving?” she asked, he closed his eyes and pulled away from her. She allowed her arms to fall from his neck and to her sides with a heavy sigh.

            “Yeah,” he said and looked at her, “I did.”