AJ was standing near the line trying to balance five cups of coffee and 20 donuts.
"Need a little help?" I asked, trying not to laugh as he almost dropped a coffee.
"Yes! It's going to fall . . . " He said as the donuts slipped.
"I got it!" I grabbed the donuts with one hand and a cup of coffee with the other. I put them down on the counter and turned to find AJ looking at me with a funny expression.
"What?" I asked, still smiling.
"Jackie, I need to tell you something . . . " he said slowly.
"Brian's still okay, isn't he? Dr. Smith promised to phone if any thing happened . . . " I began but AJ cut me off.
"Brian's fine, Jackie. I think I know who's heart it is, though . . . " He paused for a second, "Its Nat's isn't it? Nat was the gun shot victim, wasn't he?"
"How'd . . . How'd you find out? You didn't tell anyone, did you?" I asked in a bit of shock.
"I came to see Brian a little earlier than the rest of the guys and I heard two of the doctors talking about how hard it would be if they were in Jason's shoes. I figured that it had to be the Jason we knew 'cause everyone here knows him. I haven't told anyone yet but why didn't you tell us? Nat's our friend too. So is Jason, and I want to thank him." AJ had tears in his eyes as he spoke. He and Nat always went out clubbing together when they were in Florida. They were good friends.
"Jason didn't want me to tell you. He doesn't want anyone to know yet because he doesn't want it to get to Brian. You know as well as I do that Brian will feel terrible when he finds out it was Nat. Jason wants him to be at least out of the hospital before he tells him," I looked down at the floor, trying not to cry.
"I won't tell the guys if Jason doesn't want them to know." AJ sighed, "When's the funeral? I want to go, even if it's just me there. At least one of us should go."
"Tomorrow morning at 9:00. It's at St. Clair cemetery. I'll tell Jason you're coming." The thought of Jason made me feel so sad.
"How's Jason taking it?" AJ asked. He knew that Jason and Nat were close.
"Not too well. Nat was all he had left. It's hard for me to see Nat gone and I don't even want to think about what Jason's going through right now." AJ just nodded at me.
"Did you see him last night?" AJ looked at the floor as he spoke. He looked like he was going to start crying.
"No, he was already asleep when I got there and he wasn't up when I left this morning. I don't think he's really talking a lot right now." I mentioned. AJ turned his back to me. He was sobbing gently now and didn't want anyone to see. I started to say something but was cut off by a page from the ER front desk.
"Jaclyn Mika to the ER. Dr. Mika to the ER please. "
"You going to be okay?" I asked AJ putting my hand on his shoulder. He nodded and wiped his eyes.
"I'll be fine. You coming upstairs soon?" He asked, trying to change the subject.
"Yeah, I'll be there as soon as I can. You sure you'll be okay?" I asked. I didn't want him to be upset.
"Yeah, I'll be okay. It's just kind of a shock. I thought Nat would live a lot longer than this." He picked up the coffee. Me too, I thought walking toward the ER, me too.
~*~AJ's POV~*~
Why Nat? I thought to myself, Why couldn't it be someone else? Someone we didn't know! I sighed to myself. Tears came to my eyes but I couldn't let anyone see me cry. No one knows yet! I told myself. If you cry than everyone will know something's up!
"Hey AJ! Hello! Earth to AJ?" Nick and I were outside Brian's room. At the moment he was asleep, which was, according to the doctors, a good thing.
"Huh? What?" I looked at Nick, snapping back to reality.
"You okay, man? You seem kinda quiet." Nick asked.
"Yeah, just thinking." I answered, hoping he couldn't see my tears through the sunglasses I was wearing.
"Okay, just don't think too much. I don't think your brain is used to it!" Nick tried to pull off a corny joke. It didn't work.
"Very funny," I mumbled. I saw Jackie walking toward us and couldn't believe she was wearing a smile. She's still a good at fooling everyone, I thought to myself.
~*~Jackie's POV~*~
"Hey guys! I just ran into Dr. Smith . . . " I paused for a second as Dr. Smith came around the corner, rubbing the top of his head.
"What happened to him?" Nick asked, trying to hide a smile.
"Well, I told you I ran into him. It's not my fault you didn't take me seriously." Nick started chuckling as Smith came toward us.
"I have the charts here, Jackie. Now if you'll excuse me, my shift is over and I think I'm going to need an aspirin or two." He handed me Brian's charts and walked off, still rubbing his head.
"Did you actually run into him" Nick asked, laughing slightly.
"I didn't run into him. I walked into him. He was going one way and I was going the other. We weren't paying attention so we just sort of crashed." I was blushing a little now.
"So why is it his head is hurt and your's isn't?" Nick was getting a kick out of this.
"I kept my balance and he didn't. He sorta fell." I replied sheepishly. I must have looked guilty because both AJ and Nick started to laugh.