Jordan gasped as Rachel's slender frame crumbled to the floor, her head hitting the doorway as she fell. Joey moved toward her, trying to catch the blonde as she collapsed, but didn't get there fast enough as she slipped through his grasp and landed with a thud. Everyone stood motionless for a moment before rushing to her side. "Rachel...Rachel..." Joey shook her gently as he tried to rouse her.
Lying still for what seemed like an eternity, Rachel's eyes finally fluttered slightly. Opening them slowly, she focused on 9 heads bending over her, the faces of her friends etched with worry.
"Rach, are you ok girl?" Jordan asked, concerned for her sister.
Rachel lifted her head gently, moaning slightly in pain as her hand raised up to graze the bump that had appeared on her head. "Ouch.." she mumbled as she lay back down gently.
"Are you ok?" JC looked down at her.
"Who.." she muttered "Who ARE you?" Snatching her hand out of Lance's grasp, she gave her friends a nasty glare. "Please...don't touch me. You're scaring me..seriously. Who are you guys? Where am I anyways?"
The nine exchanged concerned glances before looking back down at Rachel. "Maybe we should get her to a doctor.." Leigh said slowly, gazing down at her friend.
As the group looked down at her, Rachel's face lit up as her confused look transformed into a broad smile. "Gotcha!" she said, laughing.
"You BITCH!" Ashlee laughed.
"Figures.." Justin muttered as he got to his feet. "Always have to be funny, dontcha Rachel?" shaking his head and grinning.
"Yep!" the blonde said proudly as she got to her feet slowly. "Although my head really does hurt. I must have hit it when I blacked out huh?" she reached gingerly to the bump on her head, wincing as she attempted to put her full weight on her now very swollen ankle.
JC frowned, noticing her pain, "Maybe you need to see a doctor about that...it doesn't look too good."
"Um...yeah, that's probably a good idea, because right now it's the size of a small cantelope. Which ya know, I don't really think that's NORMAL ankle development or anything." Rachel smiled through her pain at JC as Joey and Justin threw her arms around their shoulders, and helped her out to the bus.
***
"So what did the doctor say woman?" Ashlee bounded into the back of the bus where Rachel sat on the couch, her leg propped up with pillows. N Sync and Eternity were on their way to Phoenix, where they would have a day off before doing the second show of the tour.
"Well, he wanted to go in and amputate...and although being legless would make us appeal to veterans and amputees, I really didn't think it would help with my dancing much. But, it couldn't exactly hinder my gracefulness either. Even so, I declined." Rachel laughed gently.
Ashlee looked around the room as she giggled. Joey and Justin were both sitting on the floor. Jordan was as far away from Justin as possible, sitting in the far corner of the couch she shared with Rachel. Leigh and Lance sat on the couch opposite them, their eyes glued to the tv screen.
"Awww yeah! What's that all bout Justin?" Leigh laughed, reaching down and tousling his hair playfully. "Swearing eh? I thought you were supposed to be nice boys!"
"What are you guys WATCHING?" Ashlee asked, curious.
"We got our hands on the Unedited Top 40 thing N Sync did, and we thought we could get a good laugh with it. So, since we were bored, and it's late...meaning we laugh at pretty much anything even mildly amusing, we put it in." Rachel explained.
"What's up with that? Lance looks like he's on drugs with those freaky goggles on!" Joey laughed.
"So Justin, what's your deal with the onions? You like shoving vegetables up your nose or somethin? That's REAL attractive." Jordan giggled as the Hard Rock Cafe scene blared from the television.
"Who asked you?" Justin commented sharply, trying not to notice the hurt in Jordan's eyes as she stared back at him, shocked. The rest of the group's laughter ceased as they exchanged wary glances.
"It was a joke...get a freakin sense of humor." Jordan muttered as she frowned, leaning her head on the back of the couch. 'Aren't we testy tonight? Bite my head off why don't you..' she thought as she watched the television in silence, glancing at Justin every so often. Before long, her neverending day got the best of her, and her heavy eyelids closed as she fell into a deep sleep.
***
"So what's wrong with you anyways?" JC said, sitting down beside Tressa at the table in the tiny kitchen area on N Sync's bus.
"Nothin, I'm just really moody lately." she said shrugging.
"No, really? I hadn't noticed!" the dark haired man laughed huskily as he glanced around tiredly.
"Very funny."
"Well, you're more than a little testy these days...everything sets you off. Wanna talk about it?"
"No." Tressa said plainly, sliding out of the booth. "Do you mind if I lay down for awhile? I need some sleep before we arrive in Phoenix."
"Um..yeah that's cool. I guess whoever's bunk is fine. Lance's is probably the cleanest. I wouldn't go near Joey's if I were you." he motioned toward Lance's middle bunk as he wandered into the tv area to join Chris.
"Uh..thanks." Tressa said, kicking off her shoes and climbing gingerly into Lance's bunk before quickly falling asleep.
***
"Ohhh...damn!" Rachel muttered as she tried to navigate through the darkness. The movie was still blaring, although everyone had finally drifted off to sleep. Getting up to shut off the television, she carefully limped toward the tv before leaving the room. 'This totally sucks' she thought as she stepped on someone's arm, 'I am up cuz my freakin ankle is throbbing like nobody's business...and everyone went and died on me.'
She made her way down the short hallway before sitting down on the couch in the front, near their small kitchen table. Stretching out, she yelped quietly in pain as she bumped her sore, swollen ankle accidentally against Jordan's backpack. "Stupid idiot. She should take care of her things. Leaving them laying around like that..." she mumbled, holding back tears. 'Damn this hurts like no other! How in the hell am I gonna attempt to dance on this thing tomorrow?' she thought as her ankle throbbed intensely.
"Hey...are you alright?" a male voice whispered.
Rachel turned around to see Joey standing near her, a concerned and tired look on his face. "Yeah, I'm good." she said, her features tightening in pain as she
attempted to move her ankle.
"You don't act like you're doin so good. Do you need some aspirin or anything? Ice?" he offered, trying to be helpful.
"Um, actually...aspirin would be nice I guess. By the way, why the hell are you up? I left the room cuz I didn't want my moaning and groaning around to wake anyone."
"Well, you stepped on my arm." Joey smiled down at her. "So that's why I woke up...it wasn't a conscious choice. Although...now that I am up, I can get you something for your pain."
"Sounds good. Thanks." Rachel replied gratefully as he handed her a cup of water and some Advil.
Joey stood awkward in the dimly lit area as she swallowed the aspirin and drank the water slowly. He turned slightly, "Well, I guess I will get going back in the other room then.."
"What do you mean?"
"Um..well I know how much you can't stand having me around." Joey shrugged, obviously unsure of what to say.
Rachel looked at him confused, "No...stay." she said quietly as Joey glanced at her quickly, a surprised look on his face.
"What?"
"I said, you can stay...I want you to stay.." she said, louder this time. A sweet smile crept across Joey's face as his brown eyes gazed into Rachel's blue ones.