Faith wasn't mad... she was ENRAGED. Not only had Eric told her that he didn't believe her STORY, but he also said that she was delusional and should seek help. She couldn't believe it! Her brother trusted some cheating slut over his own sister!
She flung her door opened and stomped inside. Her dress was on her bed and for a good second or two she seriously considered not going to the wedding. After all, Justin wasn't up for it either. After deliberating, she figured that she might as well go. If she didn't, then she'd have to explain to everyone why.
Justin was alone in his room looking at himself in the mirror. He had used all his energy walking down the stairs to get his tux and then walking back up. Why hadn't he used the elevator like Faith had requested? Now he just wanted to crawl back into bed and sleep the rest of the day... but he knew that he couldn't.
He looked into the mirror and held out his arms. Either the tailor had written down the measurements incorrectly or like his doctor had said... the treatment was starting to work and he was losing weight already.
Justin shrugged. You couldn't really tell... all he had to do was tighten his belt and the tux only seemed a little loose. He went into the bathroom and attempted to tame his curls, but gel and a comb could only go so far.
By the time he walked back into his room, Faith was there, sitting on his bed. Her hair was done perfectly and the pale lavender dress she wore made her look even more like an angel. Despite how tired he was, Justin smiled at her and bent down to kiss her lightly on the lips.
"Faith, you're beautiful," he said softly, admiring her eyes.
But Faith wasn't smiling back. Justin's words and actions had touched her, but she was too upset to acknowledge them. She tried to be happy, but she couldn't. Too many things were going wrong.
It was one forty-five and wedding plans had gone through without a hitch... so far, anyway.
Faith was still so upset that when she walked up the isle, she could barely force herself to smile. However, she knew that she had to because a LOT of people were watching and by the time she got to the alter and took her place, she figured that Eric's life was being messed up... not hers, so she breathed more easily. If he didn't want to listen to her, then it was HIS fault.
Justin also had thoughts drifting through his mind as he stood there on the alter next to Rich of all people, although his thoughts didn't consist of Eric and Lizzie... he was thinking about how it was and how difficult it was to breathe in the hot, muggy air.
The priest was droning on and on... numbing Justin's senses. He felt his eyelids getting heavy, but they snapped open the second before they closed. As he stood there, his exhaustion slapped in him the face and he prayed that he'd hold out until the ceremony was over.
One of Lizzie's friend's stood up at the podium to read the first and second readings. Justin found himself wishing that the Pratts weren't Catholic. The ceremony was so long...
But he got through it and everyone made their way to the reception. After they ate, Rich grabbed his sister's arm and led her to the dance floor.
"Wait until you hear what I did, sis," he grinned. "You'll finally know what Eric is up to."
Lizzie's eyes widened. "What did you do?"
"I put a tape recorder in Justin's pocket. After he takes off his tuxedo, we'll hear all of his conversations. I'm sure that there will be SOMETHING on there..."
"You're kidding me!"
"I kid you not!"
Lizzie planted a kiss on her brother's cheek. "You are the BEST little brother around!"
Meanwhile, Justin was feeling dizzy. He decided that it was a good thing he was sitting down. Just as he propped his chin on his fist, Faith grabbed his other arm and pulled him up.
"Will you dance with me, Justin?"
Justin nodded and let her drag him out to the dance floor.
"You know what I decided, Jus?" she said, wrapping her arms around his neck and swaying slowly to the music. Before he could say anything, she continued. "That I don't care anymore. If Eric wants to ruin his life... let him. It's none of my business."
Justin studied her expression as closely as he could. Eric had hurt her... he could tell. It hurts to know that a loved one doesn't believe you. But what could he do to make her feel better.
Suddenly, his eyes caught a glimpse of the clock on the far wall and his heart skipped a beat. He had forgotten to take his medication.
Faith caught a look of fear in his eyes. "Are you okay?" she wondered, kissing his lips softly. "You seem stressed out or something."
Stressed out... what a perfect answer. "Yeah... Things have been crazy lately." He removed his hand from her waist and put it to his forehead.
"Maybe you should sit down, Jus... you don't look so good."
He could hardly understand her. Parts of it sounded softer than others and he missed syllables. "Wha..." he whispered as he looked past her. The room seemed as if it were... blinking... if that were even possible. "I... I... yeah, I think maybe I should... sit..."
She grabbed his arm and supported some of his weight as she led him back to their table. Eric approached them, noticing that something was definitely wrong with Justin.
"Justin, is everything okay?" Eric asked, taking Justin's other arm.
"I think so," Faith answered for him as they set Justin down on his chair. "He's just feeling a little dizzy for some reason. Maybe he has a cold. He's been looking pale all day."
"Why don't you get him a washcloth," Eric suggested and she nodded, kissing Justin's forehead and running off to the kitchen.
"Justin," Eric hissed after Faith was gone. "What's going on here?"
Justin looked up into Eric's blue eyes and blinked. "It's getting worse... I probably shouldn't even be here."
"Damn it, I could have told you that," he sighed. "Now, don't do anymore dancing tonight. You should probably be on the next flight home as soon as possible."
"I can't!" Justin argued. "I have to be here for Faith. We'll go home tomorrow... I promise... but right now... I... I need my medication. Someone needs to run up to my room and get it for me. I forgot to take it earlier."
"Justin," Eric sighed again. "Okay. I'll sneak out and get it." He turned around and zipped past the wedding guests and towards the front hall.
"Oh brother, dear," Lizzie grinned, pushing a dancing Rich towards the main table. "I need you to do me a favor..."
"What is it now?" Rich asked, almost irritated. "Maybe I'm SICK of doing you favors. It gets tiring, you know."
"I know, but do you see Justin over there?" She pinched his chin between her fingers and turned his head in the right direction. "He's all alone... just WAITING to spit out some information for you to retrieve." She paused, studying the expression on Rich's face. "Didn't you see him talking to Eric a few seconds ago? It's so obvious they're hiding something."
"I know," Rich conceded. "You're not the only one in the family who has the superb sense of detecting a secret. It must run in the family."
"It must," she agreed, giving him another push. "Now, go... talk to him."
Rich grumbled in protest, but went over anyway. He looked back to see Lizzie at the bar, ordering a drink. What she wouldn't do to get what she wanted.
He turned his head back to Justin, who was stirring his coke with a straw. He looked so depressed, that for a fraction of a second, Rich actually felt sorry for him. But it was only for a short time and when the second was over with, he was back on track, the arrogant smirk returning to his face in record time.
"Hey, Justin," he said, sliding into the chair next to his enemy.
Justin immediately perked up, a deeper frown appearing on his face. He pushed his chair away from Rich and looked away. "Get lost."
"C'mon now. I just want to talk with you for a second."
Justin closed his eyes and propped his head up on his hands. "Like I said before," he muttered. "Get lost." But the last two words didn't come out like he planned. Everything was fading fast...
Faith's hair sprayed hair was limp and falling out of her precisely placed pins. She looked down at Justin's ghostly, white face and felt like screaming. She felt so helpless...
Why was this happening?
"Justin," she cried, tears running down her face as she grabbed his shoulders and shook him gently. "What's wrong? Wake up!" She pushed the curls away from his forehead... he was warm with fever.
"What happened?" a familiar voice behind her asked. "Is he all right?"
Faith looked up at Eric, who was holding a mysterious bottle of pills. "NO!" She screamed. "Call 911 or something!" She pressed her finger above his eyelid and peered into his eye. He was unresponsive.
After Eric was gone, she kissed Justin's cheek and prayed.
Eric ran back to where he had left Justin and Faith.
"Eric!" Faith yelled at him in desperation, looking up at her brother with fresh tears falling to her cheeks. "DO something!"
"Faith, I called 911... what else can I do?" Eric wondered as he stood over Justin's body, thinking about all the pain his sister must be in.
"I don't know," she sobbed, grabbing Justin's hand with one hand and brushing a curl away from his face with the other. Something was really wrong... he wasn't responding... at all. "Call his parents or something."
Faith was almost going insane. Justin was sick... REALLY sick and she didn't know any details. There she sat on the hard, blue chair, picking the perfect, lavender polish off of her nails. To say she was nervous would be an understatement.
In her mind, the incident replayed over and over and the image of Justin's pale face wouldn't disappear. She kept seeing the red and white ambulance in a teary blur. The events which seemed to go so painstakingly slow were now blending into one horrifying minute... and it wouldn't leave her.
Doctors and nurses had crowded around him, sweeping him into a private room before Faith had hardly stepped out of the ambulance. They wouldn't let her see him and the blinds had been pulled tightly shut. This scared her.
She looked up at the clock, watching the seconds tick away, one by one, but after sixty ticks, it seemed like an eternity and she looked away, desperate to make the time go by more quickly.
All of her make up had been smeared by her tears and she decided to go wash her face.
In the bathroom, it was different. The hum of the vent was almost soothing, but it didn't really help. She was in there alone... and it was quiet, so she turned the cold water on and let it fill her hands. She splashed her face, looking up at herself in the mirror and wanting to cry again, but she didn't. She rubbed her eyes and dried her face with a scratchy, brown, paper towel.
When she looked back in the mirror, her face was still red and she still looked awful, if not worse. As she pushed the paper towel into the garbage, she tried not to care.
Then, a thought struck her. What if the doctors had come out while she was gone? Quickly, she pushed the door open and walked back into the waiting room.
Sitting there was her mom, her dad, her little sister, Kelly... and Eric. More tears came. They had only been five minutes behind the ambulance, but to Faith, it seemed like forever.
"Is Justin okay?" Kelly asked her big sister with wide eyes. "How sick is he?"
"I don't know... I don't know..." Faith muttered as she sat down next to her sister.
"Are you scared?" Kelly wondered. "Cause I am."
"I'm scared too," Faith answered. "I wish I knew that he'd be okay."
"Me too."
"He's awake," a voice echoed.
Justin opened his eyes to see a man and a woman, both dressed in scrubs.
"You," the man said, referring to Justin, "are a very lucky, young man."
"What... what happened?" His eyes still felt heavy and his whole body ached.
"You passed out... and if you didn't have your doctor's number in your pocket, you might not have been so lucky. No one you were with knew."
"Oh..." Now he remembered. Wait... where was Eric? Eric knew.
"Anyway, Mr. Timberlake, your doctor wants you flown home as soon as possible." The doctor peeked through the blinds. "Looks like you've got some friends out there worrying about you. My advice is that you tell them what's going on."
Justin gave a slight nod and swallowed. He regretting not telling them earlier. Especially Faith... his best friend. He looked up at the doctor. "Can you send Faith in?"
The doctor smiled. "Sure. One minute." Just before he was about to open the door, he looked back at Justin. "Oh, the nurse just gave you something that will make you feel a little better."
Justin nodded. He vaguely remembered seeing Faith's face, but he knew that she had been there sitting with him for a while because he remembered her voice clearly.
Justin opened his eyes and blinked a few times. He thought he heard the door open, but when he looked at it, it was still closed and no one was in sight.
"Over here," a voice said beside him.
His heart leapt, and he turned his head to see the last face in the world that he wanted to.
It was Rich.
"What do YOU want?" he queried, looking away from Rich and back at the door, hoping that it would open and someone would be standing there to save him from Rich's wrath. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm SICK... so talk quickly."
"I came to get some information. I was hoping that you'd be so out if it, that you'd just offer it... but apparently, that's not the case so..."
"What do you want?" Justin repeated, interrupting Rich and still not daring to glance in his direction.
"Rich walked around his bed and stood at the foot, stuffing his hands in his pockets and smiling at his target. "You know what I want."
"Please, Rich, enlighten me because I have NO idea what you're talking about."
Rich's smile faded and his eyebrows furrowed. "Bull shit," he spat out. He didn't see the door open behind him and he continued. "I know about your little scam with Eric, so why don't you just give it up, sicko."
"Nice try," came a voice from the entrance, followed by the sound of a door shutting. "But I think you need to do your investigating a little more thoroughly in the future."
Rich spun around to encounter Eric. "You bastard, what's going on?"
Chapter 6 (not ready)
I Get Carried Away
Justin {Fiction}
My Fiction
I'll Never Stop {Fiction}
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