Denise sat up in the bed, and looked around the room. It was filled with almost every type of flower that you could imagine, and she smiled. She knew that the majority of them were probably from Justin, and that made her smile even brighter. To say that she felt better would be lying big time. Everything that she could imagined hurt on her...that was all but one place. Her heart was definately the healthiest thing on her, and she wouldn't trade in the feelings that it was producing for anything. Her head was screaming that she could be careful about trusting the feelings in her heart, but her heart was contradicting her head and saying that it had all the answers. She was so confused. Her thoughts kept switching places, but she knew that she was definately going to follow her heart on this one. Her head and her heart weren't the only things that were switching places. Love and lust where beginning to swap. That wasn't to say that she wasn't in love with Justin, but she had lust for him. That lust was finally falling into its place in love. She laid her head back on the pillow and closed her eyes. They weren't closed for long, because the sound of Justin opening the door to her room brought them out of any closure that they were in. "Hey," she said, softly.
He walked over to her and kissed her lips tenderly. "How do you feel?"
"I feel like hell, but other than that I feel great...just like I could run a damn marathon or something."
He chuckled as he grasped her smaller hand in his larger one. "Atleast you haven't lost your sense of humor through all of this."
She sighed. "I just feel so weird. Its like something big happened to me while I was unconcious..I just can't place what it is."
He reached up to brush her hair back. "Don't wear yourself out trying to figure it out...I'm sure it was just a state of...umm..weirdness that you were going through."
"You're a lot of help, but I really want to know what it is. I know something happened. Believe me, Justin, I will figure out what it is. Trust me on that..."
He leaned forward and kissed her lips. "I believe you. You need to get some rest though so that you can get out of this horrible place. I remember being in here, and I happen to know that the food isn't all that great...."
"I'm not majorly concerned with the food, Justin. I'm more into just getting treatment. This isn't a restaurant."
He chuckled softly before reaching over to kiss her once more. "I'm going to leave so that you can get some sleep."
"I love you, Justin."
"I love you, Denise," he said, making his way towards the door. Once he was there, he threw one more glance in her direction before opening the door and walking out. He walked out into the hall and smiled when he saw the guys all huddled in the room that they had called home for the past several days. "Hey guys," he said, walking all the way into the room.
"Hey," Lance said, looking up at the tv. "Johnny called and said he wants us back on the promotional tour in three days."
"If she's still in here, then I'm not going," Justin said stubbornly.
"I know and that's what I told him. He said that if he had to, he'd make us come and leave you here, saying that you had business to take care of that was important. He says that he's glad Denise is ok."
Justin chuckled softly. "So you laid the law down for me, Lance? Stephanie has taught you well."
From the other side of the room, Stephanie laughed as she looked up from the magazine she was reading. "It was hard teaching him. But after weeks of hard work, he finally knows that he needs to learn when to be the tough guy and then when he needs to be sensible."
Whitney chuckled. "I went through that phase with JC. I do have to say that he was a fast learner," she said, throwing a wink at him.
Justin let out a soft laugh. "Are you guys staying here tonight, or are you heading back to the hotel?"
"Since she's doing good, I think we're going to head back to the hotel so we can get rested up. I'm not even going to suggest you coming back, because I know you'll be stubborn and say no," Chris said, throwing away his Pepsi can.
"You know me all too well," he said, plopping down in a chair beside JC. "When the doctors get through with her, you guys can go in and say bye if you like."
"Gee, thanks for thinking of us," Joey joked, stretching his legs.
"Yeah you know me...always thinking of others," he joked with them. They all just sat around the room, awaiting for it to be visiting hours. JC glanced at his watch before turning to look at Whitney. "We have time to get something to eat if you want...then by the time we get finished it will be time to visit."
She nodded her head and stood up,which caused the rest of the guys and Stephanie to follow suit. The whole process of getting something to eat took almost an hour, because the hospital was packed. A few people had recognized them, but the majority had hung back knowing that something serious must be wrong for them to be in a hospital. They walked back onto the floor where Denise was located just as visiting hours were announced. The first two to go in were Joey and Chris because they were the ones that wouldn't take the most time. Everyone kept their visits short so they wouldn't tire her out. JC and Whitney were the last of the ones leaving to go see her.
"Denise, you don't know how happy I am to know that you're going to be ok," she told Denise, squeezing her hand.
Denise chuckled softly. "I'm glad that I'm going to be fine too..I don't know what I'd do without him. I just want to thank you guys for being here for him."
They both smiled before giving her a hug. "We're going to go so he can come in here and see you because we know he's going crazy. We're all heading back to the hotel tonight, but I know Justin is going to stay here with you. If you need anything make him call," JC said, winking at her and then following Whitney out the door. They were walking down the corridor when they saw Justin walking in the opposite direction. They met up in the middle, and Whitney hugged him. "We're going to the hotel now..if you need us call."
"If you don't..don't call...we have making up time," JC joked with him, dodging her oncoming fist.
Justin just laughed. "You guys...be careful getting back. I'll be in touch if anything happens...bad or good," he said as he hugged JC briefly.
JC slung his arm around her shoulders and the two of them continued walking to meet up with the rest of the guys so that they could head over to the hotel together. They were piled in a van, Stephanie and Whitney had ended up in the back and were talking quietly so that none of the other guys could hear them. "Are you coming back on the road when the guys head back?" Stephanie asked.
Whitney shook her head. "Probably not..because Denise won't be well enough to head back, and I know that Justin will just worry about her...so I'll probably stay behind until she gets close to fully recovered."
"Yeah..I would stay with you, but I can't...I'd loose my job and I have a feeling that Lance wouldn't understand the reason for me staying behind..but JC and you have that damn weird bond where he gets your actions. I swear you guys freak me out."
Whitney chuckled and leaned her head against the seat. "That boy just knows me. Steph, I'm worried about Justin though. He's drained right now, and I know its because he's been stressed about her..but there's no way that he's going to be well enough to go back out there in three days..that is if he goes then. He needs a good week of rest...and that won't be happening. I just don't want him to end up in the hospital like he was before," she said, looking out the window as she felt the van come to a stop.
Stephanie sighed. "I can't wait for things to go back to normal," she said, waiting for her turn to exit the van. That was the end of their conversation, because Lance was soon glued to her hip. After they were all checked into their rooms, they all collapsed on their beds and dozed off.
Whitney rolled over and looked at JC while he was still awake. "JC..when you guys leave in three days, I'm not going. Someone needs to stay and make sure Denise is ok and that way it will ease things up for Justin."
He groaned before burying his face in her neck. He kissed it softly before speaking. "Why do you have to be the good person? Make Steph stay!"
She chuckled and pulled his head up so she could look in his eyes. "Steph has a job..remember?"
He groaned. "How could I forget!"
She laughed before snuggling into his arms. "Hey she can't be that bad."
"You have no clue how bad she is," he joked, before closing his eyes.
"It feels so good to have things going back to normal," she whispered, her words becoming slighlty slurred from her almost being asleep.
"I have to agree with you there, baby. I definately have to agree."
Denise had been released from the hospital a week after she had came out of the coma. Her physical wounds had healed, but she still had emotional ones that were fighting their battle to stay put. The guys' promotional tour had been a success and their new album had blown the charts away. Joey had found a girl that was teaching him to settle down, and everyone was relieved that he was starting to finally take a relationship seriously.
Chris and Danielle had broken up for a few weeks, but eventually came back together, knowing that they were meant to be. Denise knew that it was only a matter of time before there was a ring on her finger, everyone knew that, including his fans. Lance and Stephanie now had that special bond that a couple had when they had reached the highest point of a relationship. They knew each other inside out, and they both knew that there could never be another for them.
JC had proposed to Whitney the day after the promtional tour had been over, and of course she had said yes. Their wedding was set for some time that fall, and the group could see that they were both as happy as they came. Justin and Denise had announced their relationship to the press, finally ending all the Britney speculations. Their fans had accepted it, and were supporting them in anything that they did. Denise felt good to be in the spotlight with him at certain events.
Take it that night, she was in the process of getting ready to head to the MTV music awards, and she couldn't be happier, knowing that she was going to be on the arm of Justin. She no longer had to watch from home or from a longer range of view, she was right there with him to experience all the action.
She looked at herself in the mirror and smiled at her appearance. For that night, she had chosen a red halter top that showed off her figure up top, and the short red skirt accented her long legs. She had been lucky from the crash, ending up with no scars. She sprayed on some perfume, just as the doorbell rung, signalling that Justin was at her door.
She grabbed her purse before walking over to answer it. When she pulled the door open, her breath sucked in at the sight of him standing there before her. He had on a pair of black leather pants and a green sweater. She had seen him wear clothes similar to this, but each time, he still got to her. He let out a low whistle as his eyes took her in. "You look great, baby," he said, kissing her quickly as he took her hand.
They climbed in the limo that everyone was sharing, and made small talk. Whitney tuned out from the conversation and looked at JC before leaning over and kissing him softly. "What was that for?" he asked her.
"For allowing me to be present on this stage of your life," she whispered softly. "For taking time to switch places from being the professional JC to coming to me as the sweet, caring and emotional Josh."
He chuckled soflty. "I love you," he said as the car came to a stop. Everyone quickly kissed their date before the car door open and another night in Nsync's career began.
*Thank you for taking the time to read this story, I hope that you enjoyed it. If you want, please email me with comments on it. I would really appreciate it! thanks again, *Whitney*