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Sinking Companion by justified115
Number of reviews: 42
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AUTHOR'S NOTE: Before you read the chapter, I just wanted to let everyone reading know that, I decided to change to Point of View to first person. This meaning, now instead of it being in 3rd person, I'm writing it all from Laney's mind, and how she feels about it all. This will definitely help me get deeper into her emotions, especially being she's the main character in the story. I think I'll be finishing the story like this, in this POV, because it's a lot easier. It may be more difficult at first read, since you've been reading it differently beforehand, but after a while, you'll get used to it. Please let me know what you think of the POV change, or anything. Feedback is great so far, and I appreciate all of your comments. Keep 'em coming though. Even if you've written a review once, write one again for a different chapter or email me. Justified115@cox.net . You may wanna subject the title Sinking Companion or something, just so I don't delete it, but enjoy the chapter, and I'll try and update more soon. :)
Chapter 4
The stiffness in my shoulders was unbearable as I sat up from the hospital chair. You’d think that they’d order Lazy Boys or something to keep overnight visitors comfy, but they give us these lousy metal things.
“Ugh” I moaned, stretching my arms above my head, surveying the scene. Justin was still lying on the bed, the bruises and scars fading ever so slowly. It had been 3 days since the accident, and the doctors kept telling me he would wake up soon. Well he better, because I’m getting sick of hospital, the same clothes, and uncomfortable metal chairs.
The curtains had been opened, and Laney’s book she was reading was still open to its current page from last night.
“Must’ve fallen asleep reading.” I muttered. I leaned back in the chair again, and sighed. I was not someone who enjoyed being limited to a chair all day. Sure, a granted few trips home to grab a book or a trip here or there to the cafeteria or ladies’ room, but mainly, I had been leashed to this chair. Any extra space in the hospital room was filled up with letter, cards, flowers, teddy bears, baby blue t-shirts, Carmello candy bars, thongs, videos, posters, anything. Anything a teenage girl would have free time to make, to deliver to her favorite pop star. I was actually very tempted to read some of the letters, even though I knew it was violating Justin’s privacy, what else did I have to do? My boss had given me some time off, to be here, anytime I turned on the TV, all I heard about was Justin. The whole world was coping with the damage to their favorite NSYNC member, crying, hoping, wishing, and praying for him to be all right. Some even sleeping outside the hospital, hoping to get a glance, or any notification that he was breathing, and here I was, bored out of my mind, with the man right in front of me. Maybe I should consider myself lucky?
I was interrupted from my thoughts, as a nurse appeared through the doorway.
“Good morning, dear.” The nurse said, happily moving around the room.
“Hi.” I replied, trying my best to match her enthusiasm. I must be a bad actor, because she turned to look at me.
“Well, then didn’t sound very good. Are you feeling okay, sweetie? Do you need anything?”
I shook my head tiredly.
“No, I’m fine. I’m just tired. Being trapped in this room for 72 hours isn’t my idea of the comfiest place in the world.” I said, laughing lightly.
She cracked a smile, and motioned me towards the door.
“Why don’t you go home for a while? I’m sure the doctors will...”
“No, I can’t.” I replied in a hurry. “When he wakes up, I want to be here.
“I know you do sweetheart. If we get any signs of him waking up, we’ll give you a call. We have your cell phone number on his contact sheet now, and I know your brother wouldn’t want you to be miserable here, so go home for a while and relax, and come back later this afternoon. Everything will be fine.” the nurse said.
I laughed at her comment about Justin not wanting to be miserable here. He’d probably laugh his butt off watching me trying to sleep in that horrid chair.
Before I knew it, the nurse had slowly moved my giggling self outside the room, and shut the door. When I heard the door click close, I shook my head, not believing that she had kicked me out of my brother’s room.
With my sudden freedom, I made my way towards the elevator, stepping in when a door quickly opened. Thankfully, no one was in the elevator with me. I hate being in an elevator with someone. It’s awkward and uncomfortable. You never know if they’re a small talk kind of person, or the snobby kind who dislikes anyone who rides an elevator with them. Probably like me. I sighed to myself, watching the floor levels slowly tick down, until it finally landed on lobby. As the door opened, I stepped out, and walked towards the entrance. I fished around in my pocket for keys, hoping I hadn’t left them in the room. I found them in the front part of my jeans, and continued walking. The minute I walked outside, I was bombarded by girls, left and right.
“Laney!?! How’s Justin? Is he dead? Why are you leaving him, you bitch? You should be in there with him? I’m sorry Laney! Did he get my letter? Can you tell us something? Are you his girlfriend? Where are the guys? When will he be released? Will he perform again?”
Lord, did these girls ever shut up? I spent a minute letting them know Justin was going okay, and hopefully, if all went well, Justin would be back home in a few days. Slowly, the amount of girls began to fade, and as the minutes ticked by, my arms were full of gifts and letters I had promised to deliver to the one and only.
As I was walking to my car, I heard my name faintly being called. I turned around to see a girl around my age jogging towards me with an envelope in her hand.
“Hello” I greeted her as friendly as possible, as she stopped in front of me.
“I’m sorry to bother you, but between all the girls, I couldn’t get this to you.” She held out the white envelope.
I stared at it for a minute, before reaching out and softly taking it from her grip.
“I assume this is for Justin.” I joked.
“Yeah, it is.” She smiled sheepishly.
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll make sure he gets it.” I nodded, giving her a brief smile.
Before I could turn away, she stopped me.
“Wait…” she looked down, sighed, and looked back up at me, “If Justin doesn’t read it, or he doesn’t get it, will you just tell him that- you know what? Nevermind. If you could just try and get him the letter, I would appreciate it more than you could ever know.”
“He’ll definitely get it. I’ll make it my mission.” I replied, noticing how important this was to the girl.
“Thank you so much.” She said, sounding sincerely grateful.
“You’re welcome…” I trailed off, not knowing her name.
“Angela.”
“You’re welcome Angela. I’ll pass on your wishes as well.”
“Once again, thank you so much.” She said quietly, giving me a genuine smile, before slowly turning around, and making her way back towards the entrance. I watched her for a few seconds, before turning towards my car opening the door, and putting all the gifts in the backseat. As the letter I was just given, fell out of the pile, I grabbed it, and looked at it. Justin’s name was written in neat cursive on the front of a plain white envelope. The letter suddenly became important to me. Normally, I felt useless delivering gifts to my brother from girls, but this note seemed so important to her. Not that other people seemed less significant, but this girl intrigued me in a way, that I felt it was my duty to deliver this to Justin. Like I was an important part in someone’s life. It seemed odd, but I couldn’t help but feel excited to give the letter to Justin.
As I opened the door to the house, I felt cold. The house had been so unoccupied over the last few days. No one using the TV, the oven, the shower, the heat not being on, couches not being used. Things seemed so empty. It was like a different house. All the lights were off, but light from the sun was pouring in through the windows, creating streaks of light here and there. I threw her keys on the counter as I entered the kitchen. A light flashing by the phone told me there were messages waiting to be listened to. Not bothering to answer them, I walked straight to the refrigerator.
Just as I had expected, it was empty except for a half carton of milk, lettuce, and some beer in the back.
“What a great time to have no food.” I mumbled, closing the door, and walking towards the stairs. What was I supposed to do here? Watch T.V.? Eat? Sleep? Daydream?
The shrill of the phone broke my thoughts, and I desperately reached to answer, wishing for a person to talk to.
“Hello?”
“Laney? You’re home?!?” Chris shouted, excitedly.
“That would be the reason I answered the phone Christopher.” I answered, wisely.
“Ouch… feisty.” Chris laughed, “I guess the solemn aura of the hospital didn’t calm your communication reflexes.”
“That made absolutely no sense, Chris. But I won’t blame you, assuming probably you had too much sugar, even this early in the day.”
“You’re assumptions would be accurate Missy.”
“Not that I figured any less.”
“All right, all right, enough about me and my fabulousness,” I rolled my eyes, “How are you sweets?”
“Me? I’m good. Majorly exhausted, stiff from hospital chairs, stinky from hospital smells, annoyed from hospital nurses, and stressed from hospital events. But I’m good.” I replied, sounding as passionate as possible. Chris let out a hearty laugh.
“Oh my dear, you need to get out. I’m assuming before my blessed call, you were staring at the emptiness of your home, wondering what exactly to do.” Chris sad confidently.
“Your assumptions are accurate.” I mimicked.
“I would’ve have figured so. But, back to the most important thing, I’m picking you up in 5 minutes.”
“Why?” I asked.
“So smart, yet so naïve. I’m taking you out to lunch you crazy dork.”
“I would not be calling me the dork.” I replied, “You’re the one who’s 13 years older than me, yet proceeds to act 13 years younger than me.”
“Hey, no one ever said 30 year olds, had to act 30.” He replied modestly.
“But you’re almost 33.”
“Hey, you know what, I’m trying to do something nice, and here you are insulting me to no end.”
“I do it in good fun.” I answered.
“I’ll remember that.” Chris said, mischievously.
“I don’t even wanna know.” I laughed.
“Well change, wash, clean, eat, dress, do something, and I’ll be there in 5.”
“But aren’t you taking me to eat?” I asked, though I knew the answer.
“You can never eat enough. Be ready, girlie.” He said, before hanging up.
I stared at the phone for a few seconds, before laughing genuinely, and putting the phone back on the hook.
“So, how’ve you been?” Chris asked me, as he took a bite of his hamburger.
“You asked me that like three times already Chris.” I said, giving him a look.
“But out of those three times, you haven’t given me a real answer.” He replied seriously.
Truthfully, I didn’t know how to answer him. How had I been? Was I sad? Normal? Stressed? Happy? It was a question I couldn’t answer.
“You know Chris, I really don’t know. I have these feelings and thoughts that I can’t get out of my head, these fears that no matter how much I think about them, they won’t go away. I sat in that hospital for basically three days straight, and haven’t come to any realization, or conclusion about anything. I’m just a mixture of depression, right now.” I joked, trying to lighten the sad mood I had set.
“It’s not easy for anyone, Lane” Chris said softly, “We all want him to wake up, get better, and be Justin again. As much as we find him annoying sometimes, he’s just someone we really can’t live without. And I know, you think he totally despises you, but I’m telling you, he really does love you.”
I snorted, and looked at him.
“You’re nuts right? Chris, I can’t even tell how much I wanna scream with laughter when you tell me that.”
“I know you do,” Chris said, smiling, “but every time we’re in the studio, it takes him a while to get fully ready to go. Normally, he’s upset about something, mainly you guys fighting. He really doesn’t like it. As much as it seems, he likes pestering you, he does it because he doesn’t want to show you how he really feels.”
“That doesn’t make sense, Chris. He’s an emotional person; he shouldn’t have a problem with that.” I said, thoroughly confused. Did he really feel that way? I thought back to all the moments we’ve had together since mom and dad died, and none of them seem happy. There weren’t many times that Justin and I had actually had fun together. It saddened me to think that way, but it was true.
“Laney, he’s your older brother. Older brothers don’t like appearing weaker or fragile compared to their younger sisters. He is an emotional guy, and you’re a strong, non-emotional girl. He doesn’t want to cry in front of you, or seem vulnerable to you. He thinks he needs to be bigger and better than that.”
“But he doesn’t.” I replied, suddenly upset at the way I had been acting over the years. I had never been happy with the way our relationship was, but it had never actually made me sad. Sad to the point, where I almost felt that I wanted to start my life over again.
“I know that, you know that, and the guys know that, but he doesn’t.” Chris stated, a matter-of-factly.
I smiled at him, trying my best not to look miserable. Guilt washed over me, and a sense of panic arose in my mind. What if he never woke up? What if I never had the chance to apologize? Or make things right? I rubbed my eyes, and suddenly lost my appetite. A sudden ringing in my pocket broke the silence that had fallen over the table. I sighed, before noticing the unfamiliar number on the Caller I.D.
“Hello?” I said, skeptically.
“Ms. Timberlake?” a woman’s voice asked me.
“Yes, that’s me.” An unexpected feeling of déjà vu swept over me. This was how the hospital had called. This was just like when they told me Justin was hurt. What was the matter, were they calling to tell me something bad?
“Is it about Justin? Is he OK?” I asked, not even bothering to check who the person was. Chris looked up at me abruptly, suddenly interested in my conversation.
“He’s fine.” The woman replied, calmly.
“Then what’s the matter?” I asked, becoming annoyed.
“He’s awake.”
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