Justin's eyes closed as the word 'bad' repeated itself over and over in his brain. "What's wrong?" he managed to get out before opening his eyes and looking up at the doctor.

"She has some internal bleeding that we didn't catch before. It's probably from her seatbelt..but there is a surgery that we can do which will stop it."

"I understand that internal bleeding is bad, but what makes the situation so bad if you can do surgery to stop it?" Cait asked as she stood up and looked at the doctor with tears in her eyes.

The man sighed before rubbing his temples. "Her body is extremely weak, and we're not sure if she can go through the surgery...we don't know how much blood has managed to be leaked out into her system, so we can't wait and give her time to rebuild up some strength. If we do the surgery..she could make it just fine, but there's also that chance that her body couldn't take it and..."

"And she could die," Ashley whispered before closing his eyes and praying that she would make it through.

"Exactly. Now I have to go inform her parents so they can make the decision," the man said before stepping around the three of them and walking towards the waiting room where everyone was.

Cait looked at Justin before throwing her arms around him and hugging him tightly. "She's going to be fine, Justin," she said, trying her best to make her voice seem strong and positive.

Ashley walked away from the two of them, totally in shock from the news he had just heard. His eyes looked down the corridor that he was now standing in, and connected with Jenn's. She walked over to him and hugged him, not saying a word, just letting him know that she was there.

"How did you find out about this?" he managed to ask as he reached up and wiped away a few tears that were rolling down his face.

"Cait called me and asked if I could come down here...Ashley..I'm sorry that you're having to go through this."

Ashley just looked at her before taking her hand and leading her towards the waiting room so he could hear what the final decision would be. They must have walked in after the doctor had explained everything because her parents were talking among themselves. The two of them walked over to stand beside Dan and Cait before Ashley looked at them. "Have they reached a decision on if they're going to do the surgery or not?"

"They'll have to..otherwise, its definite that she'll die..but atleast with the surgery she has a chance at making it," Dan said before tightening his arms tighter around Cait.

Justin looked over at the new girl in the room before closing his eyes to push away any thoughts that weren't related to Whitney. He looked at her parents before clearing his throat and speaking softly to them. "I'm hoping that you'll go through with this surgery..its the only chance she has."

"Of course we're going to..we've already told the doctor to do it," her father said before patting Justin on the back. "She loves you, Justin..and when she pulls through this, I expect to see a wedding band on her finger within the next few months."

Justin chuckled softly before nodding his head. "That's definitely going to happen."


As the seconds passed, Justin became fidgety as he waited with everyone else for some type of news as to how the surgery was going. His eyes looked at the clock before he shook his head and bounced his knee up and down, which was something he did when he was nervous or upset.

"Chill, Justin," JC said as he reached over and clamped his hand on Justin's knee to stop it from moving. "Driving everyone crazy isn't going to help matters."

"Sorry," Justin mumbled before reaching over and grabbing a magazine, not paying any attention to which one it was. He slipped it open, and froze when he came to a picture of himself and Whitney, smiling happily at the camera. His finger delicately traced the outline of her face before letting his eyes drift over so he could read the article associated with it.

Justin Timberlake and Whitney Littleton..the relationship most celebrities dream about having. Their relationship has been received well by fans and the press, allowing them to be totally open in public. Of course there are those stubborn few who still have hopes of him being 'theirs' but for the most part, people are happy that their 'guy' is happy.

"Its been great knowing that his fans have accepted me," Whitney told us recently when she stopped by our office with Justin for a photo shoot. "Its great when they see that he's a normal person that just wants to be happy like everyone else."

Justin stopped reading when he felt JC's hand reach over and tap him on the shoulder. Justin looked up and froze when he saw the doctor standing in the door way with an expression on his face that was unreadable.

"How did it go?" Whitney's Mom asked, as she gripped her husband's hand.

"Well," the doctor began as he scratched his head. "She made it through the surgery, but her body is extremely weak at this point. She's lost a lot of blood, and we're having to put some back into her. We've done everything that we can, and its now up to God and her to see if she is going to pull through this."

"Can I see her?" Justin asked as the doctor turned to leave the room.

"Only one visitor at a time, and don't make a lot of noise..she may be unconscious but it still affects her."

Justin looked over at her parents and smiled gratefully when they nodded their heads, signaling that it was OK for him to go in first. When he reached the room that she had been moved in, he found the doctor waiting outside the door talking to one of the nurses. "Is everything OK?"

The doctor looked up before nodding his head. "We were just discussing her vital signs..her temperature has went up a little but that's to be expected just because she came back from surgery."

"Oh..is it still OK if I go in there?"

"Yes..Justin," he said before placing his hand on the young man's shoulder. "She looks pretty bad right now, but we've been monitoring her vitals and everytime that you go in there, her heartbeat grows stronger."

Justin smiled slightly before walking into the room and stopping when he saw all the new monitors that had been added. Her face was slightly flushed and her breathing wasn't as strong as it had been before. "Hunnie...I'm proud of you," he whispered to her as he gently took her hand and looked at her face.

"When you get out of here...I'm gonna take you home and baby you. I know Sandy must miss you...we're going to start a family together, full of little kids running around that have my good looks, and your beautiful smile," he said, chuckling softly as he reached up and touched her cheek. "OK...they can turn out just like you and they'd be perfect."

"You can't leave me now..I made a promise to your dad that we're getting married as soon as you're one hundred percent better..and you know how your father is..he always gets what he wants. You took his attitude but you've got something about you that adds sparkle to that attitude..Whitney," he said as he leaned forward and kissed her lips lightly. "I can't imagine living life without getting to witness that sparkle every day of my life."

Justin's attention was immediately taken from her lying there, to the monitors that began beeping all around him. No sooner had the beeping begun, had the doctor and nurses rushed in the room, pushing him out of the way so they could see what was wrong.

"Her blood pressure just dropped tremendously."

"Her temperature is 100.8," a tall nurse told the doctor before looking over at the other monitor and sighing. "Its going down even more."

The doctor nodded his head before jerking his head up when the heart monitor started going flat line. He immediately started CPR as Justin's face grew pale. "What's wrong?" he asked hurriedly, wanting desperately to help her, but knew nothing he could do.

"Her body is shutting down..we need you to clear the room," one nurse informed him as she took his hand and lead his shocked body out of the door, shutting it so Justin couldn't enter. All he could do was stand there and watch as they furiously tried to help her in any way that they knew how. He slid down the wall, sobbing out all his hurt, anger, love, and confusion as all of her family and friends rushed down the hall towards him. His eyes looked up and connected with her mother's a split second before she burst into tears and screamed.

Justin sensed someone beside him and he turned to see JC with tears running down his face, dealing with the same pain as everyone else. "I love her," Justin sobbed as his mother crouched down in front of him and put her arms around him so he could cry on her shoulder. "I love her," he repeated again as his body shook with every sob.

The door open, and the doctor stood before them with sadness on his face. "We did all we could do."

"No...don't..." her mother sobbed as her husband wrapped his arms around his wife, trying to be strong for her, but in the same time wanting to grieve for the loss of his little girl.

"I'm here if any of you need anything, and any of the nurses will be glad to talk with you if you need to talk. Once again, I'm so sorry for your loss."

Cait cried on Dan's shoulder as everything sunk in. She could feel the sadness and hurt in the hospital at that moment as it ate at every soul that stood in its walls. "This can't be happening," she said between sobs as she felt Dan's own tears falling onto her shoulders.

Ashley looked at the two of them before leaning against the wall for support. Jenn looked at him, waiting for him to give her a silent sign that it would be OK to comfort him. His eyes connected with hers before letting the tears finally fall. She hadn't met the young woman who had just passed away, but she felt saddened by everything.

None of them were feeling the pain that Justin was at that moment. The moment the doctor had confirmed everything, a part of him had left his body, never to return because she held it. His one true love was now gone from his life, and he didn't know what he could do to ever replace her..he didn't want to replace her, he wanted her back. He stood up on shaky legs, and pushed the door open, never catching anyone's attention. As he walked over to the bed, and stood before her lifeless body, he felt even more pain starting to develop

He leaned over and kissed her still warm lips before taking her hand. "Please be my guardian angel," he whispered as he looked at her, half wanting her to open her eyes and smile at him, letting him know that everything was all right. He gave her one more kiss before sitting down on the stool, and crying into the bed that held the body of his soul mate, his reason for living..his love.

CHAPTER NINETEEN