"Brought the rugrats in with you today huh?" A JIVE receptionist, Marcia, smiled at McKayla as she headed toward the lobby.

Dorian and Joliet were trailing behind her. Joliet in baby pink rainboots up to her knees and Dorian slowly stomping along, clearly absored in boredom.

"Had too. Justin's gone, and I fired the last sitter. Plus, I didn't know they were going to keep me here for so long. Rob told me it would be in and out, five minutes."

"Nothing around here is five minutes."

"I know that now."

"When does Justin get back?" Marcia asked, shifting through a few folders on her desk.

"Not for another week," McKayla pouted. "He's doing some cameo in a movie in Dallas, and then William Rast is showing at New York's fashion week so...."

"Sounds like a busy boy."

"Absolutely. Come on Little Loves." McKayla extended a hand in the general direction of her children.

"Where you running off too?"

"I wanna try to stop by the studio and pick up the mixed copy of a song I did last night, before I have to rush Joliet to her ballet class."

"Busy Mom."

"Is there any other kind? I'll see you later." McKayla held the door for Dorian and Joliet. The kids stepped through the doorway, but paused under the overhang, looking out at the rain infront of them.

"Zip up your jacket baby," she told Dorian, kneeling down to zip up Joliet's pink princess rain coat.

Lifting Joliet into her arms, she tookd Dorian's hand and rushed across the parkinglot to their car. She unlocked the doors with the remote on her keys, and Dorian ran to his side while McKayla began to put Joliet in her carseat on the other side.

"All buckled up?" She asked Dorian.

He nodded, all ready engrossed in his Gameboy. McKayla moved up to the drivers seat, opening the door and hopping it.

"Whew." It really was pouring out there. The echo of rain drops on the pavement was almost overwhelming, her windshield so flooded she could hardly see.

"I don't know guys, maybe we should head home. I could get that CD tomorrow and you can go to ballet next week."

"Mommy, Cinderella. Cinderella, Mommy" Joliet replied, sticking her feet up in the air.

McKayla reached forward, turning on the Cinderella sing-along CD. Disney music floated in through the speakers, silencing Joliet's requests.

"If we don't go to ballet, she's gonna cry," Dorian informed.

"Really? Thanks," McKayla smirked.

Turning around, she checked both the seat belts on her kids before putting the car in reverse and backing out.

"Seatbelt, Mom," Dorian looked up.

"I know, I know. Just one second." She put the car into drive and headed for the driveway exit.

"Bye-bye," Joliet waved at the JIVE building as they drove off.

The small SUV exited the parking lot and turned onto the busy street, coming to a stop at a red light.

"Seatbelt, Mom," Dorian said sternly.

McKayla smirked, pulling the belt over her shoulder.

"Yes yes, seatbelt. Thank you."

Dorian relaxed back into his seat, assured that his Mother was safe, and resumed his video game. Joliet gabbed on happily about the buildings and trucks they passed as they headed down the street. That girl was always going on about something. Princes, elephants, castles, bacon. She loved bacon, she was definately Justin's child. McKayla squinted at the windshield infront of her, watching the wipers work double time in an attempt to keep the glass clear. It wasn't really working. She hated the rain, especially driving in it. It made everything ten times more dangerous and gave her the chills. But she'd made this drive a hundred and one times. It was fine.

"Mom! Hey Mom, I made it to level nine." Dorian announced, leaning forward to show her the Gameboy screen.

"That's great baby," McKayla replied, tilting her head to see if she could get a better view through the falling water. There was a green light at the intersection ahead, but all of the cars infront of her still had break lights. What was the hold up?

"Not even Dad could get to level nine. He didn't make it passed level seven. Look!" Dorian offered her the Gameboy again.

The cars finally began to move and McKayla let the car infront of her get a little bit of distance ahead before she stepped on the gas. Glancing down she looked at the flashing screen, and all of the points Dorian had accumulated.

"That's great baby," she smiled.

When her vision returned to the windshield a split second later, her jaw dropped and her eyes went wide. The light was yellow, turning red, and again all she saw infront of her were brake lights. Her foot pressed down on the brake petal, and the tires jerked to a stop. With the mixture of water and oil covering the concrete, the tires continued to slide forward, and the distance between her SUV and the car infront of her began to close. Instinctively her arm reached back, pressing Dorian back into his seat. Joliet let out a frightened cry from her carseat. Trying to avoid an accident, McKayla turned the wheel to the left, steering the car into the bushes that acted as a center divide. But even still the car continued to move, sliding on the water.

"Mom!"

McKayla barely heard her sons' voice as the vehicle moved through the bushes, spinning in half a circle and out into the lanes of the opposite direction. The cars of the oncoming traffic swirved left and right as the misguided SUV spun through their lanes, eventually losing balance. McKayla's arms raised to cover her face as the car tipped onto it's right side, the windows all around them shattering against the pavement. They skidded to a hault in the far right lane, at the entrance to an AM/PM gas station. The only noise coming from the car was the singing of Cinderella sounding from the stereo and the scrapping of the windshield wipers on the glass.

 * * *

"Whatever man. I say sports are all about entertainment, and if Barry Bonds needs steroids to entertain me, let that man have his steroids," Justin threw a card on the table, a lit blunt dangling from his lips.

"Why would anyone want to take steroids? You know they shrink your thing up." Trace looked on the from the hotelroom bed.

"All the money that man has in the bank, he doesn't need a thing, period," Eric commented. He wore a green polkertable vizor, and all the chips sat stacked in a tower infront of him.

"Ofcourse he still needs one. He's a man ain't he?"

"Yeah, but you think a woman is gonna turn him down? She's not thinking about whether or not he can do anything for her in the sack. She's thinking about how he could pay off her mortgage if she plays it right."

Justin laughed, setting his cards down when the tune of his cellphone sounded through the air. He got up from his seat, smacking Trace on the back of the head on his way by.

"What it do?" He questioned, answering the call and putting it to his ear. Eric and Trace continued on with their debate, somehow having moved into whether or not Viagra should be used by men in their 20's.

"Uhh... is this Mr. Justin Timberlake?" a young woman asked.

Justin's eyes narrowed with suspition. Had some fan gotten his number again?

"Maybe. Why?"

"This is Dr. Sawyers at Summit Medical Center. I'm sorry to inform you that there's been an accident."

"What kind of accident?"

"First I need to confirm that this is infact Justin Timber-."

"Yeah, yeah, it's me," he said, his patience wearing thin.

Eric and Trace, engrossed in their argument, had let their voices rise, and Justin shushed them loudly, tossing a pillow at the card game.

"What happened?"

"We admitted two minors Dorian and Joliet Timberlake, and one adult, McKayla Malone."

Justin's face drained of color with each passing word, and his mind began to race. Admitted to the hospital? What were they all doing in the hospital? Were they hurt badly? Would they be all right? Visions of their faces, memories, flashed through his mind.

The day Joliet had turned one years old. The first time he'd held Dorian in his arms. McKayla, sleeping peacefully in their bed on their honeymoon. The day Joliet had awoken him by standing at the foot of his bed, pulling her dress of her head, and proudly announcing 'ta-da!' in her diaper. The day Dorian had gone to school and informed his teachers that his Dad had taught him all the bad words, and then began to name the words off. "Shit, fucker, damn, bitch" etc. McKayla laying on the couch, stomach swollen to maximum capacity, pregnant with his child.

"Admitted them for what? What kind of accident?"

Hearing the words, the two other men quieted down and listened in.

"There was a car accident earlier today, at the corner of Van Ness and Grand. Your wife's SUV was overturned. Emergency responce units were able to remove them from the vehicle and bring them here. Your son and daughter are fine and ready to be released. Can you come get them?"

"No." No, he couldn't. He was in Texas, they were in LA.

"What about McKayla?" He asked.

"Your wife is in stable condition. She does have a fractured collar bone, a few cracked ribs, and some bumps and bruises."

"But she's okay?"

When the doctor paused, he grew nervous.

"What?"

"So far, McKayla has failed to regain conciousness."

"What do you mean? She hasn't woken up?"

"She lost consiousness at the scene." The woman explained, "We need her to wake up before we know if she's had an significant head injuries."

Justin pulled the phone from his ear, lowering his head into his hands before running them over his face. He returned the reciever to his ear when he heard her begin to speak again.

"But Dorian and Joliet are fine. We need you to specify someone to take custody of them, since you're absent."

Justin blinked, unable to comprehend an answer. Accident. Car overturned. McKayla not awake. His chest tightened and his could feel the water building up in his eyes. His hands began to shake.

"Mr. Timberlake?"

"Yeah. Uhh... I guess... they'll be going with a relative. Joey Fatone."

Joey was in town, and had kept the kids several times before.

"All right. Mr. Timberlake, will you be able to come in to the hospital? We need someone here to represent McKayla."

"I'll be there in a few hours."

"All right. And just to warn you Mr. Timberlake, there is quite a bit of press outside."

The call ended with a click and Justin sat motionless on the bed.

"Dude, are you all right? What happened?" Trace asked, concern on his face.

"Turn on the TV," Justin told them. "The news."

Confused, Eric lifted the remote from the table and turned the television on to Channel 2.

"... It is believed but not confirmed by authorities that her two children, seven-year old Dorian and three-year old Joliet were in the backseat of the vehicle when the accident occured. This gentlemen next to me, saw the accident take place. Your name sir?" The blonde reporter held the microphone infront of him.

"Ryan Burrows."

"Mr. Burrows, can you explain what you saw?"

"Yeah. We were in the turn lane over there, waiting to turn left onto Van Ness. I was in the car behind her. Anyway, we were moving, and then the light changed, so we all stepped on the brake. Next thing I know her car is jerking around, she veered off to the left, and into those bushes in the middle. Her brake lights were on, I think she was trying to stop it. But it was so wet from the rain. The car started turning, in the bushes, and they came flying out this side, backwards. The cars coming this way were trying to stop, and her car kept sliding backwards, and it tipped over, onto it's uh... right side."

"Thank you Mr. Burrows. This is Tisha Lewis, who was also a witness to the accident. Ms. Lewis, what did you see?"

"I was coming this way up Grand and all of a sudden I just seen this SUV come out of the bushes, and I could see there was people in it, but I didn't know how many. It was all happening in slow motion, and it fell over on it's side and kept sliding back into that driveway over there. Everyone stopped and we were just in shock. It was horrible. When I got out of my car to see if anyone was hurt I could hear crying from the car."

"How long did it take for police to arrive?"

"They got here quick because the security guard in the AM/PM called. They came with all these ambulances and fire trucks and stuff. I heard they were afraid because the car was leaking gas or something, so they wanted to get them out really fast."

"How many people were in the vehicle?"

"I think there was three, but I don't know."

"Was McKayla concious when emergency crews pulled her from the vehicle?"

"I don't think so. They pulled her out first, and she wasn't moving at all. They put her in an ambulance and rushed off."

"Thank you Ms. Lewis."

The picture on the screen changed and the men in the hotel could see the car. It laid on it's side, the back end badly damaged from all of the debree it'd hit. The windows were broken, doors dented. It was completely, unargueably totalled. Police men and fire fighters walked around it, observing, filling out paperwork, and wrapping yellow 'caution' tape around poles and trees to keep people away.

"Once again, it has been confirmed that McKayla Malone-Timberlake was in a car accident around 5pm this evening. She was rushed to Summit Medical Center in Los Angeles, her condition is unknown but bystanders confirm that she was infact unresponsive when emergence responce teams pulled her from the vehicle. It is uncomfired that her young children, seven and three-years old were in the backseat. There was crying heard from the vehicle, but the children were not seen...."

Justin's concentration on the program infront of him was interupted by the singing of his cellphone.

"Hello?"

"Justin? I just heard what happened. Is everything okay?" Joey asked.

"I... I don't know. I just heard from the hospital a few minutes."

"Just now? Man..."

"Yeah... you'd think if a man's entire family was hospitalized they'd let you know alittle sooner. This happened more than four hours ago."

"So Dorian and Jolie were in the car?"

"Yeah. But they're okay. Can you get them for me, they're at the hospital? They need someone to watch them until I get back into town. I have to find a flight." Justin turned to Trace, who got the message and picked up his cellphone, dialing the airline.

"Yeah sure man, whatever I can do to help."

"They're at Summit. I already told the hospital it was okay to release them to you."

"Did they say anything about McKayla? Is she okay?"

Justin let out a sigh.

"Not good Joe..."

 * * *

"Patient? Be patient? What do you mean be patient? My wife is laying in a hospital bed, don't tell me to be patient!"

"Mr. Timberlake, there's nothing I can do. We're trying to find a space for you, but all our flights until tomorrow have been completely booked. I understand that this is a stressful situation, and we're doing everthing we can."

Justin's eyes narrowed on the once bubbily airline representative.

"Stressful situation huh? Let me tell you something. I will come back there and-."

Trace cut off Justin's comment, pulling his friend away from the counter and over to a group of chairs.

"Calm down man."

Justin turned to look at him and Trace held up his hands.

"You're right. Bad choice of words. I'm sorry."

Justin let out a huff, pacing the floor with his hands on his lips. They'd been sitting at this terminal for an hour, waiting for this lousy airline to find one seat headed towards LA. One friggin' seat and they couldn't find it. He was never flying with them again.

"All I'm saying is that scaring the five-foot-two stewardess isn't going to help."

She had looked pretty frightened.

"Well keeping me locked here in Dallas isn't helping either, Trace. Jesus! I could rent a car and be there faster."

Trace let out a sigh.

"We're just going to have to wait for the jet," he said.

"The jet?"

The jet was on the grounds in LA, they'd flown commercial out here. By the time the crew was alerted, the plane was pulled out of the hanger, fueled up, and inspected for flight it'd be morning anyway. Then they had to wait the hours for it to get there, then turn around and head back to California. They were better off waiting for the airline.

"That's going to take forever."

"Well unless you've had an epiphany, it's our last option."

Justin grunted, looking back at the ticket counter. Three people were gathered around a computer.

"Do it," Justin said.

They'd take whichever one worked out first.

With the airline working on finding a flight, and Trace preparing the jet, Justin was taken to a celebrity suite, hidden away from the other passengers. He sat in private, with Eric at the door, watching news coverage on TV. Ofcourse none of them knew any details. McKayla's condition was carefully kept underwraps by the hospital, but he did see Joey being snuck in and out of the backdoor, so he knew his children were safe.

When he'd called for an update on McKayla's condition, Dr. Sawyer had been unavailable. McKayla's Mother Lorraine kept calling, his own Mother kept calling. Lorraine was the least amount of distance from McKayla out of them all, but she was in Northern California, still a good six hour drive away. His body was now overcome with worry, mind racing with possibilities. Her injuries were minor, compared to the damage done to the car. It looked like no one should have walked away from it. But then why wouldn't she be waking up? What if she slipped into a coma or something? What if she woke up for five minutes and he wasn't there?

"Justin," Eric's voice interupted his thoughts. "Another airline found a flight. If we leave now we can-."

Before he finished his sentence Justin had left his seat and was sprinting out the door. Eric grabbed Justin's forgotten jacket and carry-on and chased after him.

 * * *

"Where's my Mom?" Dorian asked again.

The little boy sat on the sofa infront of the television, the theme song to a cartoon playing in the background. He had a little bandage on his forehead over his eye from when the windows had broken, and a bruise on his calf from knocking against the door, but otherwise he was fine.

"She's still with the doctor's."

"Where's my Dad?"

"He's on his way. I talked to him, and he said he wanted you to be asleep when he gets here." Joey said.

"No," Dorian folded his arms over his chest.

It was well into the wee hours of the morning, and Joliet had long since fallen asleep and been placed in bed with Brianna. The events of the day had been far to stressful on her little body for her to deny her exhaustion. Dorian, older and more stubborn, was steadily fighting his. He refused to sleep until he'd seen his father's face and knew his mother was in safe hands.

"Come on Dorian, you have to be tired. I'll wake you when your Dad gets here."

"No."

And so they sat, for the next hour and a half. Dorian kept his mind occupied with a Sylvestor and Tweety marathon on TV, and Joey dozed off and on beside him, trying his best to stay awake. Finally headlights flashed through the windows and Dorian jumped from his spot on the couch. He stood there, listening intently for a voice, or laugh, or anything letting him know who it was that had pulled up. A knock sounded softly on the door and Dorian shook Joey's arm.

"Huh? What?" Joey's voice was groggy.

"There's someone at the door. I think it's my Dad," Dorian said, shaking his arm again.

The knock sounded again and Joey stood up. Dorian watched his Uncle move to the foyer, and listened as the door opened.

"Hey man."

"Hey. You look like shit."

"So do you."

Dorian headed for the door, his face lighting up when he saw his tired father standing in the doorway.

"Daddy!" He yelled, launching himself at Justin.

Justin dropped to his knees, opening his arms to his son. Boy was he a sight for sore eyes. The little boy held onto his Dad, finally feeling a little bit of comfort. In a way, Justin felt the same.

"Oh, it's good to see you. Why aren't you in bed little man?" Justin asked, lifting Dorian off the ground and carrying him into the familyroom.

Joey turned off the television and sat in a chair close by while Justin took a seat on the couch, Dorian in his lap.

"Not tired," Dorian surpressed a yawn.

"Not tired? I'm tired, how come you're not tired?"

Dorian shrugged. Justin ran a hand over his son's hair, inspecting the little bandage.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," Dorian nodded. "When we turned, the car went like this," he jerked in Justin's arms, "and I went forward like that," he flung himself into Justin's chest, "but Mom pushed me back in my seat."

Justin nodded along.

"She's a good Mom," he concluded.

"Yeah." Dorian's eyes lowered, inspecting a button on Justin's shirt. "Where is she?"

"Mommy?"

Dorian nodded.

"She's at the hospital, with the doctors. I have to go get her."

"Why didn't she come home with me and Jolie? She could have come with us."

"They weren't done looking at her yet. You guys are little, so you got done faster. Mommy's older, so she took longer. I'm gonna go pick her up myself."

Dorian continued to inspect the button.

"Mommy's fine bud. Don't worry about it, okay? She'll be home really soon."

"When are you going to go get her?"

"When I leave here. But I can't leave until you're asleep. So you better go to bed soon."

"Okay."

"Ready to go now?"

Dorian nodded before climbing off of Justin's lap and heading for the stairs. Justin followed behind him silently, mouthing a thankful prayer to himself. He stayed with Dorian until the little boy fell asleep, and then went into Brianna's room. Jolie was breathing deeply in the bed next to her, a pacifier in her mouth. Justin knelt down next to her, gently running a hand over her black hair. The little girl's eyes cracked open and big brown eyes stared back at him. But they quickly closed again, and she went back to sleep.

Feeling a presence in the room, Justin turned to see Joey and Kelly standing a few feet behind him. Turning back to Jolie, Justin slowly lifted the blanket, revealing her borrowed "My Little Pony" nightgown.

"Is she hurt?" He whispered.

Joey shook his head.

"She's perfectly fine. Her carseat was on the opposite end that hit the ground."

Now satisfied, having inspected her tiny body for himself, Justin lowered the covers back over her. Putting a hand over his mouth he pushed back the emotions.

"I've never been so scared in my life. When I got that phone call... I didn't know what I was going to do."

Joey let out a soft sigh, putting an arm around Kelly's shoulders. Justin stood from place on the floor.

"I have to go see Kay," he said, walking over to face the couple. "Is it okay if they--."

"You don't have to ask," Kelly interupted. "They can stay as long as you need them too."

Justin nodded solemly, heading towards the stairs.

 * * *

The rain had finally let up, leaving the ground shiny and the air crisp. Since equipment was no longer in danger of being damaged, reporters and news crews swarmed on the hospital, blocking the front doors. Justin and Eric were ushered in the backdoor and led up a back flight of stairs to McKayla's floor. Hospital security was waiting for them when they got there, ushering them into a private waiting room. When Justin stepped in, Lorraine was all ready there waiting. The woman rose from her seat and offered her son-in-law a hug.

"Where are the kids?" She asked.

"With the Fatone's. Have you heard anything?" Justin asked.

Lorraine nodded. "She's awake."

"She is? When did she wake up?"

"About an hour again," a woman wearing a white coat stepped into the room. He assumed it was Dr. Sawyer.

"She's not displaying any immediate symptoms that would lead us to believe there's been any damage, but we ran x-rays to be on the safe side. We should get the results soon."

"Where is she? Can I see her?"

"Ofcourse." Dr. Sawyer smiled.

Leaving Eric with Lorraine, Justin followed the doctor down a hall and around a few corners. Everything was white, and sterile. The reflection of the bright lights above them beamed off the tiled floor.

"She's a little out of it," Dr. Sawyer turned to him at the door of room 402. "It's just the medication. She should be fine in a few hours. I'll let you know when the results come back."

When the doctor stepped away Justin looked at the white door infront of him. The silence was almost defining as he subconciously grinded his back teeth. Reaching for the handle, he turned the knob and stepped inside. First evident was that ever present beep that you hear in movies. Like a constant annoying tick that you were desperate to hear because it meant someone still had a fighting chance. When he stepped around the door, McKayla came into view. She was laying peacefully in the bed, her head turned to the side. When the door closed behind him she didn't even flinch, and it made Justin sick to his stomach. She looked so fragile, and broken. He could make out a deep bruise on her temple.

He moved closer to her, leaning down slightly to look at her face. She had a nice cut on her lip as well. His hands reached out, but he had to stop himself and consider where to touch her. Her body was covered by a hospital gown and thin white and cream blankets. With the collarbone and cracked ribs and whatnot, he didn't know where he could put his hands that wouldn't hurt her. Finally he just took one of her hands in his own and kissed the back of it. It took a moment for her eyes to flutter open and rest on him. She looked drowsy, like she'd been trapped in a deep sleep she couldn't get out of.

"Randall," her voice came out as a whisper softer than the wind.

"Hi baby," he whispered back, brushing the back of his hand across her cheek.

"Kids," her dry lips parted again. "Jolie... Dorie?"

"They're fine. They're with Kelly and Joey. I saw them a little bit ago."

Her heavy eyes stared back at him, nodding slightly. Then her eyes began to tear up. She squeezed his hand, and her lips pouted.

"I'm sorry, Randall," she cried. "I'm so sorry."

Justin shook his head immediately, laying his head on the pillow next to her.

"Shhh shhh. No, baby, no. You have nothing to be sorry about, you didn't do anything wrong. The kids are fine. You're going to be just fine, and that's all that matters. Don't worry. Don't worry about anything."

McKayla nodded, her tears wetting her cheeks. Justin wiped them away, watching over her carefully as he pulled a chair closer and sat by her side.

"How do you feel?"

"Like I was in a car that flipped over."

"That's a pretty accurate way to describe it."

McKayla sighed, turning her head to look up at the lights on the ceiling.

"What's wrong with me? Why do I feel so--?"

"It's the medication they gave you right before the x-rays," Justin explained. "It's gonna make you feel yucky, but it will go away."

McKayla remained silent, listening to his voice and thanking God that he was here and everthing was over. Leaning his forehead against her hand, Justin let out a sigh. This was the first time in hours he felt his shoulders relax and release some of the built up tension.

"I was so scared Kay," he confessed suddenly. "For a minute there, I thought I might lose you."

Her eyes searched her husbands face as she looked everywhere but at her.

"I don't ever want to be afraid like that again."

A soft knock was at the door and Justin looked up to see Dr. Sawyer stepping into the room.

"Sorry to interupt, but I have some good news."

"Well, we could use some of that. Let's hear it."

"I got McKayla's test x-rays back. Everything looks fine, no damage whatsoever. We're going to keep you over night, give you a chance to rest. You'll still have some pain from that broken collar bone and the ribs, but in the morning you'll feel much better, and you can take her home."

Justin smiled, his body now fully at ease.

"I have some stuff here that's gonna make you sleepy," Dr. Sawyer walked over to her IV as she spoke. "We want you to get some sleep so you can get back to life as soon as possible."

"I don't know, this five star treatment is kind of nice," McKayla joked.

It was half-hearted, Justin could tell. She was keeping up with the public persona of her, happy-go-lucky, perky, and light hearted. She was joking like everything was fine, but her fingers were trembling against his.

"I'm sure Mr. Timberlake will give you terrific treatment at home," Sawyer smiled, injecting the medicine into the IV. "Now get some rest, a nurse with be in to check on you later."

When the doctor left McKayla let out a deep sigh, clenching her jaw and closing her eyes. Then she relaxed herself, trying to let the tension go with it. Her hands were still shaking though.

"It's okay," he told her.

She stared up at the lights again, her eyes red and glossy.

"I was so scared, Randall," she whispered. "When I couldn't stop that car I just kept thinking, 'my babies. my babies are here.' I didn't know what to do."

"It happens. The roads get slick, it mixes with the oil and grease from other cars. Then when you start spinning, you're just out of control. I'm just glad you all had your seatbelts on."

"Yeah," she agreed. Seatbelts. If not for Dorian she wouldn't have been wearing hers. She had to remember to thank that kid, after she hugged the life out of him and smothered him with kisses.

"What do we do now?"

Justin sighed, reaching out to toy with her hair.

"We get a new car, for your assistant to drive while she's running all your errands, because you're not leaving the house again."

She smirked briefly and he smiled proudly. If only she knew he was being serious.

"I'm glad you're here."

Justin tilted his head, giving her a look that clearly suggested she was out of her mind.

"Where the hell else would I be?"

McKayla shook her head with a shrug. She let out a deep yawn, the new drugs already kicking in.

"Nowhere, that's where." He brushed her hair away from her face and watched as her eyes slid closed. "I'll always be right here. Right here with you."