All of my heart I do
Blood through my veins for you
You alone have all of me."
~Lyrics from RAPUNZEL by David J Matthews
It had been a rough night and Keely was still feeling miserable the next morning. The pain in her side was actually making her sick to her stomach.
"J, I'm sorry to call you so early, but could you sit in the studio with Vikki today?"
"Dawg, what the hell time is it?"
"Early...about six-thirty by my watch."
"Why can't you do it?"
"I have to stay here with Keely. She's sick, J, and I mean seriously ill...not just a little hungover."
"Shit, man, I'm sorry. Do you think it has to do with her appointment yesterday," Justin asked getting out of bed so he wouldn't wake Vikki. He was still trying to figure out how he'd gotten her to stay. Not that he was complaining about it, but he really wished he'd remembered it.
"I don't know, but if her fever gets any worse, I'm taking her to the ER."
"If you bring her down, call me and we'll be there."
"Thanks, Justin, but I have to go. She's calling for me." JC sprinted up the stairs.
"Josh, I need aspirin or something cause this really hurts."
"Where exactly does it hurt, Star?"
"My right side...it's all on my right side."
"Oh God, it could be your appendix. It's okay, babe." JC wrapped her in the down comforter from their bed and brought her downstairs. She was mumbling gibberish as he put on his shoes and jacket. It took five minutes for a bodyguard to get there. JC called her doctor from the sleek Lexus on the way to the hospital. They took Keely for testing as soon as JC explained her problem. He sat on a cold hard chair for two hours before a nurse told him that she was being admitted for further testing and asked him to fill out the appropriate paperwork. Once he'd finished, he remembered to call Justin to let him know what was going on. When he finished his call to Justin, he walked up to the front desk of the ER and asked if they knew where Keely was. He felt very light headed when they told him that she'd been moved to Oncology on the fourth floor.
"They...they moved her to where?"
"JC! Yo man, we got here as fast as we could. Did they find out what it was?" He turned to look at Justin, but it was a blank stare.
"They brought her up to oncology..." Vikki gasped and Justin's eyes widened before he put his arms around JC to keep him from falling.
"Come on, man, it could have just been the only available room." He only nodded and Justin thought JC would pass out right then. They waited close to three hours before Keely's doctor and another man approached them. "Joshua?"
"Call me Josh, please. How is she? What's wrong?" Dr. O' Brien motioned for him to sit.
"Josh, you were wise to bring Keely in when you did. Her appendix wasn't the cause of the problem though. As I had expected, she was pregnant...about two-and-a-half months to be exact."
"That's why she's in pain?"
"Keely has a rather large mass of cancerous tissue on her right ovary. Now, she would never have carried to term because the fetus had attached itself to the wall of her fallopian tube. It just so happened that it was on her right side. Her body aborted the fetus because the infected tissue had spread to it. This is Dr. Anderson. He helped me with the final diagnosis, going over all the x-rays and scans. Josh, I'm sorry, but Keely has ovarian cancer." He couldn't move, he even forgot how to breathe. Vikki hugged him as Justin asked the questions JC couldn't.
"How bad?"
"I think we caught it early enough that her chances are around 75 percent."
"Can we...can he see her?"
"Of course. She's resting in room 433 when you're ready." Vikki continued to hold JC after the doctors left. His tears left a wet mark on her shoulder, but she didn't care. She just wanted to try to comfort him.
"Why is this happening now," he asked brokenly. Justin couldn't take seeing JC in so much pain. He needed to get away from the situation for even a few seconds.
"I'm gonna call the guys."
"Call parents too, Justin. I...I just can't do it right now."
"It's okay, C. They'll understand." He took his cell phone from his pocket and walked out of the hospital.
"Chris? You need to call the other guys and tell them that JC and I are down in the hospital."
"Justin, what's wrong? Are you two hurt or something? Is it Vikki?"
"No...it's...it's Keely. Chris, they just told us that Keely has cancer."
"I'll cancel the interview and we'll be there in an hour." They hung up and Justin had to wipe his eyes and take a few deep breaths before he dialed JC's parents. "Hello?" Justin started crying the moment he heard her voice.
"Joshua?!"
"It's Justin, Mama C."
"What's wrong? Did something happen to Josh?"
"Keely's real sick, Mama C. She...oh God, she has ovarian cancer."
"You go right ahead and cry, baby, it's okay. Tell Josh I'm on my way there on the next flight out. I'll call her family, Justin. You just go back and help hold those two together until I can be there, okay?"
"Okay, I will." He slumped against the wall and let the tears he'd been holding in take over.
"Come on, Jace, Keely needs you." Vikki stood and linked her arm through his as they walked down the hall to her room. Keely was resting on her back, her left hand resting on her stomach, the other on the bed with an IV line giving her fluids.
"Star?" She opened her eyes and focused on him before her face fell.
"Josh. I'm sorry, Josh, I'm so sorry."
"No, babygirl, you have nothing to be sorry for."
"J, they told me that I'll probably never be able to conceive again."
"I don't care. We'll adopt if we need to, just as long as I have you here with me." He walked over to sit on her bed and Vikki left the room to give them privacy.
"Am I allowed to hold you?" Keely nodded and moved over so that he could lie down next to her.
"I'm so tired, Josh."
"Sleep, Keely, I'm here now."
"Don't let go."
"I won't, love, I promise." Half an hour later, the nurse on call walked in to check on Keely and found the couple asleep. JC was holding tightly onto her left hand. It was the first time that Keely looked peaceful since being admitted. The nurse pulled an extra blanket from the closet and covered JC.
"It's just not right. She's so young and in love. May God bless you both and help you through." Justin poked his head into the room then.
"Shh...I think they just fell asleep. Is there something you needed sir?"
"She doesn't deserve this."
"No one ever really does."
"Yeah, but they're supposed to be celebrating their engagement. I mean, they just told everyone last night." They were left to sleep until JC's mother arrived.
"What an odd group you all make," she said walking into the waiting room. With the exception of Lance, the rest of the group, Vikki, Chris' girlfriend, Keely's brother and Jade were sitting or sleeping in the chairs.
"Hey, Mama C, you made it."
"Of course I did, Joe. Someone has to give out hugs and cook for the lot of you. Where are they," she asked ruffling Joey's hair.
"Room 433...we let them sleep."
"Well, Keely can't afford to be missing meals and I'll bet that Josh hasn't eaten all day. You guys should really eat something as well. I'm going to go peek in on them." She walked down to Keely's room to find JC talking with Dr. Anderson.
"So you plan to remove everything on her right side?"
"Yes. It looks like her uterus is perfectly fine, but the ovary and tube will have to be removed, as well as any other cancerous tissue we find. I'm going to be as non-invasive as possible. It would be a good idea to wake her up now so she can eat before midnight. Her surgery is scheduled for seven-thirty tomorrow morning."
"Thank you, Dr. Anderson." He nodded and left the room.
"How is she doing, honey?" Tears filled his eyes and he fought to swallow past the lump in his throat.
"She could die, Ma."
"But she could live as well, Josh. You have to remember that. Come on, we need to wake her up so she can eat." JC carefully disentangled himself and woke Keely in the process.
"Star, they want you to try and eat something. Do you feel up to it? How is your stomach doing?"
"It's still iffy, but I can try. Ma, what are you doing here?"
"I had to come check on my two oldest kids. A very tall, very Southern bird tells me you aren't feeling well," she said brushing a piece of hair from Keely's forehead. She really had become Keely's mother after Johanna had died. Not that it had been all that difficult to do. Keely had always had the ability to make people love her without even realizing it.
"I have a few big things to be happy about though. Your son proposed to me last night before I started praying to the toilet gods." Keely attempted a smile and took JC's hand in hers. "And he loves me, so it can't be all bad, right?"
"That's what I love about you, babygirl. You can see the brighter side. I'm happy the two of you found each other before my son became a disillusioned superstar."
