"You did what!?!" Diane yelled on the other end of the phone line.
"We just landed in Los Angeles," I said, calmly and for some reason loving the reaction I had just gotten from her. "AJ and I are in a rental car with Nick on the way to the hospital."
"Lou's not gonna be happy about this," she sighed, her chair creaking as she leaned back in it.
"Right now, Lou can go climb up a telephone pole for all I care," I snapped. "All I care about is getting to my best friend."
"Well, you probably did what I would have done, but you know he's gonna find you guys and he's not gonna be happy when he does."
"I'll deal with him when he gets here," I said. Nick whistled and I looked up just as we pulled into the hospital's parking garage. "Look, we just got to the hospital. I have to go."
"Okay," she said. "Tell Maribeth I hope she's all right. I'll try to give you a ring to warn you of approximately when Lou's gonna get there."
"Thanks, bye," I said, turning off the phone and shoving it in my bag. As we got out of the car, I followed the guys to the elevator.
"What'd Diane say?" AJ asked as we got on it.
"She said she wishes Maribeth her best and she'll try to call and warn me of when Lou's gonna get here," I said. "Now, AJ, remember. Don't make a huge fuss over her. She'll bite your head off."
"Got it," he said, chuckling lightly. During the flight, I'd managed to calm him down and lift his spirits a little. When Donna had called and asked why me and AJ hadn't been at the promo concert today, I told her what happened. She decided the best way to get through to me was to scream in my ear, so I decided that the best way to through to her was to hang up on her. Donna called Diane, who called me. I explained to her what had happened, and, well, you heard her reaction. I can only predict that Lou's is going to be, oh, about ten times worse than Donna's.
The elevator stopped on the fifteenth floor and w got out. Nick led us down a few corridors and stopped in front of one room. AJ barged in and saw Maribeth talking at an incredible speed to Joey and Joanne, who was trying hard to comprehend what she was jabbering about.
"Well, it seems you're up and running," I commented. Maribeth turned and her face lit up as soon as she saw me and AJ. I hugged her and sat down next to Joanne. AJ kissed his fiancée long and hard. After a few minutes, I turned around to face the other way. "Planning on coming up for air anytime soon?"
"Alex?" I turned back towards the door and found Brian standing there, two drinks in his hands. He put the drinks down and ran towards me, picking me up and swinging me around. I looked up at him and he smiled down at me, kissing me passionately on the lips. I rested my head on his chest and looked at Maribeth.
"Okay, as much as I've missed my husband, what was the big emergency?" I asked, concern creeping into my voice.
"Yeah," AJ said, "are you okay?" Maribeth and Joanne exchanged a glance.
"C'mon," Joanne said, ushering me, Brian, Joey, and Nick out of the room, "let them talk. I'll tell you outside." When she shut the door, the five of us sat down in the chairs in the waiting room. Joanne looked at me and took a deep breath. I knew immediately what was wrong.
"It's the babies, isn't it?" I said. Joanne nodded.
"Yeah, she had a miscarriage," she said, running her hand through her short red hair. Brian took my hand and I looked at him. I squeezed his hand supportively and turned back to Joanne.
"Is she going to be okay?" Nick asked.
"Well, considering the constant speed she was jabbering in there . . ." Joey said, laughing softly. "Yeah, she'll be fine. Back to normal, or as normal as Maribeth can be, in a day or two."
"How do you think AJ's taking it?" I asked. They all just shook their heads and looked at the door. After a few minutes, I got up the nerve and knocked on the door.
"Come in," AJ said. I opened it a crack and peeked in.
"It safe to come in?" I asked, jokingly.
"Yes, mother," Maribeth said, laughing (her mother used to do that to us when we were little). I walked in and the others followed.
"Joanne told us what happened. You two okay?" I asked, sitting on Maribeth's other side. They both nodded.
"It just wasn't meant to be," AJ said, squeezing Maribeth's hand.
"And I'm still able to have children," she said, happily.
"That's good," Joey said, sitting down on the couch.
"I have an idea," I said. "How about, when we get back to Orlando, we plan a cruise to the Caribbean. We all need the relaxation and I'd like to go back there again."
"You mean, you'd like to actually get off the boat and see the islands this time?" Joanne said, shooting an accusing glance at me and Brian.
"We saw the islands last time," I protested. I looked around the room. "Well, a few of them." I looked down at my hands sheepishly. Suddenly, my cell phone rang. I grabbed it quickly. "Hello?"
"Alex!" Diane's voice exclaimed, completely out of breath.
"Diane, is everything all right?" I asked.
"When I talked to Lou, he was already on his way to the hospital," she said. "Donna must have told him. He must be . . ."
"He's here," I interrupted her as I looked up and saw Lou standing in the doorway. He didn't look too happy. "I've gotta go. I'll give you a call later."
"Good luck," she said before I hung up.
"Hi, Lou," I said, ignoring his nasty look.
"You two, outside, now!" he barked to me and AJ. I looked at Brian, who sent me a sympathetic look.
"Do you want me to . . ." Brian offered.
"Nah, I got it," I said, kissing him on the cheek. AJ got up and the two of us casually slipped by Lou and went into the waiting room, completely unfazed by his anger. Before Lou joined us, AJ and I grinned at each other. We had counted on this and, boy, were we going to have fun with it! When Lou joined us, his face was twisted in rage.
"I can't believe you two are here!" he yelled, causing the other patients in the waiting room to look up from what they were doing.
"Why not?" I asked. "We're here and you're here, so therefor you have the proof right in front of your eyes and that we are at this hospital." Looking past him, I saw that the door to Maribeth's room was still open and they had a perfect view of what was going on.
"She's right," AJ said, quickly catching on. "It's actually not that hard to believe."
"Stop the games right here," Lou said, his voice low and full of venom. His tone didn't intimidate us like he had wanted it to.
"Lou, we joke around under pressure," AJ said. "It's a natural human reflex."
"True," I said, agreeing with AJ. "Not that we're under that much pressure, but joking around certainly lifts the mood of a hospital . . . well, to an extent."
"And you two have gone way past that extent," Lou warned.
"No, we haven't," I said simply.
"How can you two sit there and act like three year olds when your careers are in jeopardy?" He yelled. I raised an eyebrow at AJ, who shrugged. "Do you have any idea how much you've screwed up the plans? If you had only . . ." As he continued to ramble on, pacing back and forth, AJ and I just pretended to examine our nails and tie our shoes. I also got a chance to sneak a peek into the room, where I saw Brian, Joey, and Nick imitating our conversation with their hands (Lou, obviously, being Joey's frantic hand), Maribeth grinning like an alley cat, and Joanne clasping her hands over her mouth to keep from laughing hysterically.
"Are you even listening to me?" I turned to see Lou glaring at me.
"No."
"Why the hell not?"
"I really don't think you want me to answer that."
"Oh, yes I do. I want to hear this."
"You sure?"
"Answer me."
"It's your fault that we're here," I said, calmly looking up at him with a blank expression. (To make my attitude more understandable, here's a little note: acting was my second career choice)
"My fault! How is this my fault?" he yelled.
"If you hadn't split us up like you did, AJ would have been here with Maribeth in the first place. I wouldn't have had to come here because she doesn't need me, she needs him, her fiancée. Yes, I would have gotten a call and would have hurt someone if I didn't. I would have talked to her about this, but I would have stayed on tour with Brian, where I should have been in the first place. There are three reason's that I did come here. One was to make sure Maribeth was all right, another was to keep AJ from going insane on the way over, and the third was to see my husband." With that said, I walked past a stunned Lou, into the hospital room, only to be greeted by Brian's awaiting arms. I leaned into his embrace and he enveloped me in a tight hug. AJ followed me in and sat down next to Maribeth, taking her hand.
"Damn, girl!" Nick and AJ said to me at the same time.
"You have a real way with words," AJ said.
"Yeah," Lou said, walking into the room, "a real way with twisting words around."
"I heard the whole thing," Maribeth stated to the older man. "She didn't have to twist any words around. If we had all been in groups that we were happy about, and I can guarantee that we could have agreed on groups if you had let us choose them, Alex wouldn't have had to come out here, and, though I know she would have offered, I would have told her to stay on tour with Brian. The only group that would have been stalled for one or two days would have been us."
"But," Joanne continued, "because of you, Justin, Chris, and Howie are on a bus by themselves, touring the East Coast, and probably killing each other seeing that they have no idea what's going on."
"Which reminds me that I have to call them," I cut in. "Now, where'd I put my cell phone?"