"Hey sweetheart, how are you feeling?"
Liz slowly opened her eyes and saw her father approaching her bedside. She reached her shaking hand out for him to take and tried to speak but her voice was very raspy. "Daddy, you came."
He took a seat next to her in the swivel stool and smiled tenderly at her while he kissed her hand. "Are you kidding me. I wouldn't miss this excitement for the world." He said, trying to make her laugh and it worked. She chuckled at his comment but coughed loudly then became quite uncomfortable again. "Lizzy, I'm sorry. Are you okay?"
She calmed herself down and simply nodded her head. Her throat was sore and she was still having pain in her chest when she spoke so she kept quiet for now. He understood and began talking to her. "That boy with the blond hair…Lance I think, he called your mother and I last night and we flew in as soon as we could. Honey, I'm sorry we weren't here for you more."
Liz didn't hear that last part. Her ears were ringing from the words 'your mother'. She tried to sit up but was finding it difficult. Instead, she took her hand out of her father's hold and pressed the button for her bed to rise on its own. "Dad…daddy, is she…is she here?" Liz asked with a mix of emotions over the mention of her mother's name.
He merely nodded and saw the confusing feelings all over her face. "Lizzy, she's outside waiting to come in. She is trying to keep a strong front – you know how she is – but she is breaking inside. Honey, she is so afraid of losing you. She loves you so much, just doesn't know how to show you. Please hear her out."
Liz knew the tears were coming, she could feel them near but she couldn't cry in front of her mother. She was too strong to do that. "Is Justin…is he here too?" She asked, wanting to see him before her mother. He would put her at ease.
"Yeah, he's outside as well. Lizzy, if I ever doubted that boy's love for you – which I did A LOT – I was so wrong. What he has done far surpasses anything I thought possible. His mother told me about him shaving his hair off. The girls aren't gonna like that." He said, making her giggle again but she didn't lose her breath. "Seriously, he loves you sweetheart and I think if we would have lost you last night, I don't know if he would have made it either. He's a keeper."
She felt a tear fall down her cheek and he wiped it off her face as he stood and kissed her on the forehead. He walked back to the door, telling her that he'd send Justin in first, then disappeared.
Liz held her head high to the ceiling. She was so nervous to see her mother after everything had happened. She didn't know what to say, maybe Justin could help her with that. Her eyes returned to the door when she heard it open and Justin's long frame slowly crept into the room.
It didn't take but a second before she covered her mouth with her hands and cried. The tears flowed down her face as she saw him standing across the room from her. His own face was crumbled, was withered and stained with tears that had fallen all night for her.
He took about three huge steps and flung himself down on her before she had time to say a word. He kept his arms as loose as possible but just wanted to feel her again. "Ebby, I thought I was going to lose you. I thought I'd never see you again. I thought I'd never get to tell you how much I love you." He cried into her pillow.
She held him as tight as she could, feeling his body shake with hers. "Justin, honey, I'm not going anywhere. I couldn't leave you. We're a team remember?" She said as she pushed him back a little and wiped her face clean before reaching for his. She saw a fresh set of tears whelp up in his eyes. She fought to keep her emotions at bay since her mother would be next.
"We ARE a team." He repeated as he sniffled a few times before leaning his head next to hers and brushing his cheek against her chin.
She pulled her hand up underneath his bandana to touch his tiny curls that were growing in and smiled at their still soft feel. That was one of the things she would have missed if she hadn't made it last night. She snuggled her head as close to him as possible and let out an enormous sigh of relief that she was still here with him.
Their moment together was interrupted when the door opened back up and a nurse walked in. "Now kids, there can't be any of that going on while I'm on the clock." She said and Justin pulled away from Liz. She saw the way Liz looked 100% better just having him near and had to smile at the couple. "Okay, I just need a minute alone with this young lady here and then you can come right back but it won't be for long because she needs her rest."
Justin nodded but turned to Liz. "I'll be outside but I think someone else should come in. The guys are all here and my mom is too." He informed her and her eyes lit up when he said that Lynn was there. She wanted to see her so bad but knew who had to be next. Justin saw her face fall a little and realized who she wanted to see. "I'll let her know." He told her as he clasped his hand with hers, bringing it up to his mouth and kissing the back of it.
She closed her eyes and smiled at the simple touch he was giving her. That was another thing she would have missed, his kiss. "Thank you Justin, for everything."
He lowered her hand and gave it a little squeeze before sniffing once again and leaving the room.
Liz laid there while the nurse checked her pulse, made sure her IV was dripping okay, and shot medicine through her tubes so she could get them immediately. "Now, I'm done but you should be feeling the effects of the medication soon so only one more visitor before you go to sleep, okay." She said as she patted Liz on the shoulder and grabbed her chart.
She made it halfway out the door before something clicked and she turned back around. The young nurse had to ask Liz the question that was hounding her. "Was that Justin Timberlake by any chance?"
Liz's eyes found hers from across the room and at that moment, she didn't care who knew. "Yes…yes it was." She told her as the nurse's eyes lit up.
"Damn, there goes my chance." She stated but Liz gave her a confused look. The nurse simply smiled at her. "Its so obvious how much he adores you. Too bad for the rest of us because he's all yours. No one else stands a chance." She told her and Liz just beamed. "Hey, Lance isn't taken is he?" She asked, making Liz laugh.
She waved as the nurse giggled to herself and walked out of the room. She was thinking about what she – and her father - had said. Was Justin really hers? Would he be with her forever? She could only hope.
Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard the door open again and her face fell to the ground when her mother walked in. She held her head high and refused to look at Liz. She wasn't going to break.
Liz was thinking the same thing and watched as her mother slid over next to her bed. She stood by, looking at all the tubes and machines that her daughter had surrounding her and cleared her throat. "Hello Elizabeth." She said, trying not to look at her.
Liz just shifted uncomfortably in her bed. "Hello mother." She retorted in the same stubborn tone that her mom had used. They weren't going to make it easier on each other. "I hope you're doing okay." She said as she noticed her mother's hand hesitate reaching for hers.
"Um, yes I'm fine thank you. And I see that you are…you are…um…you're looking…" She did it, she looked at Liz, something she told herself she wouldn't do.
She saw the once vibrant young woman whose face was pale now, whose long hair was gone, whose eyes held so much pain, and whose body was nothing more than a skeleton before her. She didn't see her daughter in the bones that lay there. She didn't see anything but what she could have lost not only last night but for the rest of her life.
Her own flesh in blood lay there, having shown more strength then her and her other daughters combined. She had stood up to her mother, chosen a path in life that went against her wishes, made wonderful friends that were waiting outside for her, had fallen in love with a man who sacrificed himself for her, and did it all on her own. Debbie never gave her the love a mother should have given but somehow, Liz had it in her and she was fighting to keep it.
Liz saw her mother's struggle, her pain and for the first time in so long, her eyes misting over. Deborah Matthews, a woman known for her cutthroat tactics and straight arrow business ways was crumbling before her and Liz just held her hand out to catch her fall.
Debbie looked down at the bony fingers that begged to be touched and she extended her own hand to latch onto her daughter's. When they met, something passed through them both, it wasn't much but something definitely sparked inside of them and they just held each other's hand for the longest time before speaking again.
"Mom, I'm okay." Liz told Debbie when she gave her the same look everyone had given her since finding out that she had cancer. She motioned for her to sit on the stool and she did. Liz squeezed her hand a little tighter and smiled. "I'm going to be okay."
Her mother raised her head to the ceiling, holding back the tears and closed her eyes to say a silent thank you to the heavens. She returned her face to her daughter and smiled back. "Honey, I know. I know you're gonna be okay because you have so many people who care about you and won't let you fall. I can tell they all love you dearly and that boyfriend of yours, well…what he's done for you…I can't even begin to tell you how proud I am of you for standing up to me and staying down here. He has proven himself worthy of your love and I couldn't be happier. You are so lucky to have this many people love you the way they do."
Liz heard her mother say she was proud of her and the tears that brimmed in her own eyes were begging to come out. She had never in Liz's life heard her mother say that but before she let her emotions go, she had to hear the only other thing that she prayed for. She brought her other hand over to the first and sandwiched her mother's in between hers. She looked her square in the eye and had to ask the question that she had wondered all of her life. "Mom, I know they all love me but…but do you…do you love me?"
That was the last straw for the strong stubborn Deborah Matthews. She never thought her own daughter would ask such a thing. She never thought that Liz didn't feel loved. She never thought she had failed to let her know it but she had.
Debbie squeezed her hand tighter on her daughters and lowered her head as the tears finally escaped her eyes. "Elizabeth, I love you more than I could express. I'm just sorry I never told you."
Liz heard those words, felt her mother's tears hit her hand and decided that she couldn't let her do this alone so she opened the flood gates as well and the two woman cried together. Liz pulled her mother closer to her and threw her arms around her neck. She wanted her mother's love for so long and she finally had it. She finally had everything she ever hoped for.
Today was the end of a chapter in her life that helped to start another one.
She had Justin, he would always be there. She had Lynn, who she would consider her second mother forever. She had the girls and the other guys to help keep her young and full of life. Her father had never gone unnoticed so he was with her too, but the one person who she didn't think would care was her mother – now she had her too.
When Liz finally fell sleep a short time later, Debbie existed the room. She walked back to the private room where everyone else was, and slid her body through the door. She was immediately welcomed by her husband who could tell that she had been crying and he went to console her. She simply told him that Liz was fine and now that Debbie saw her, she would be fine too.
He understood and hugged her tightly. When he let her go, she looked over his shoulder and saw the hurt eyes of the other man in Liz's life and asked if he would join her for coffee. Justin really didn't want to walk around the hospital but his mother pushed him out the door, knowing that he had to speak to her sometime.
They made their way down the hall and Debbie punched a few buttons on the automatic coffee machine until she had hers in her hands. Justin followed suit and then joined her on two of the chairs in the corner of the hall.
He slowly sipped on his coffee, not wanting to be able to speak just yet. He wasn't sure about this but he could tell she had changed from when he had spoken to her before, to now after she came from Liz's room. Maybe things were worked out between the two. As long as Liz was happy, then he would be too.
"Um, Justin I'd like to apologize for the way I presented myself when we met. I have no excuse so I won't try to make anything up. I spoke to my daughter and we are going to give it another try. I know I have a lot to make up for and it won't be easy but I'm going to do it for myself and for Elizabeth."
Justin looked at her in confusion. "Mrs. Matthews, I don't mean to sound dumb here but why are you telling me this?" He asked, placing his Styrofoam coffee cup in between his hands and rolling it around.
She smiled at him timidly before setting her cup down and wringing her hands again. He noticed immediately and smiled inside when he pictured Liz doing the same thing. "Justin, I just wanted you to know that I won't be out of my daughter's life anymore. I will be around and I wanted you prepared for that."
Again, he had no idea what she was talking about. "Um, okay. But why prepare me. I don't understand." He began to take another sip of coffee as she explained.
She got a twinkle in her eye and smiled at him. "Nobody ever likes their mother-in-laws so I want to change all that."
He still wasn't getting it and took a big gulp of coffee. Just as the hot liquid was making its way down his throat, it hit him and he turned his head to spit the brown watery mess out. "WHAT?" He asked out of total confusion. "We're not…" He started but Debbie held her hand up to him to stop.
"Justin, a mother knows these things and I can tell that you and Elizabeth will be together one day so don't try to fight it because if you're not, you'll have to deal with me." She told him as she leaned in and pinched his cheek.
He sat there in complete shock. He never thought that Liz's mom would be giving him her blessing to be with her daughter. He sat there a few minutes longer before snapping out of his trance and nervously laughing at her. "Yeah, I got it." He told her and they both stood up and returned to the others.
Things were definitely looking up for them all.