Chapter 13

Dr. Shannon checked his watch before entering the quiet hospital room that held the members of Nsync and Justin’s aunt, Jan Scott.

“3:30 A.M. What a night,” he said to no one in particular, since he and a few members of the nursing staff seemed to be the only ones awake at such an hour on that floor of the hospital.

The doctor quietly opened the door and stepped soundlessly inside the room, allowing the door to close gently against his back. His gaze traveled around the room. Justin’s aunt was asleep on one of the sofa beds with the covers strewn haphazardly about her. On the other sofa bed lay Joey and Chris, as far apart from each other as humanly possible, without either young man falling off the sides of the bed. The doctor chuckled at the thought of those two having to share anything at all, much less a bed.

With a shake of his head, the doctor’s gaze then landed on Lance and he saw what he thought to be tears tracking their way down the sleeping man’s cheeks. Dr. Shannon quietly made his way to Lance’s bedside and stooped over the sleeping young man in order to confirm that there were indeed tears making their way down the sides of this face.

“Lance…Lance?” Dr. Shannon whispered as he gently shook the young man’s shoulder.

“Huh…what’s going on?” Lance asked groggily as he realized who was waking him up. “Is there something wrong Dr. Shannon?” Lance sat up quickly and glanced across the room at the still sleeping forms of JC and Justin.

“Sh…sh…no son. Don’t wake the others.” They quickly glanced at the others still sleeping before Dr. Shannon continued speaking to Lance.

“I didn’t mean to startle you. You were crying,” said Dr. Shannon as he knelt down beside the bed to gaze directly into Lance’s tired eyes.

Lance reached up to touch his wet cheeks and instantly felt himself blushing at the knowledge that he had been crying in his sleep. Dr. Shannon noticed the young man’s embarrassment and chose to ignore it.

“Yeah…I guess I was,” said Lance as he quickly wiped at his face with the bottom of his t-shirt with embarrassment written across his face, wishing intensely that the doctor had not seen anything.

“You must have been dreaming Lance. Do you remember anything?” Dr. Shannon stood up and then gestured at Lance to scoot over to make him some room to sit down beside him. Lance complied and Dr. Shannon sat down, all the while keeping his eyes on the young man, waiting for some sort of answer.

“No…I don’t remember…well…wait a minute. I was dreaming about the accident.” The memory of the dream seemed to overwhelm Lance briefly, as his eyes began to brim with tears. With a quick swipe of his hand, he whisked the tears away and took a shaky breath in order to calm himself. Dr. Shannon inwardly groaned. He knew that Lance needed to let go of his emotions soon, before the emotions would have a chance to completely overwhelm him.

“Lance…it’s okay to show how scared you are…how upset you are. You know that don’t you son?” asked Dr. Shannon as he put a hand on Lance’s shoulder, patting it.

“I know that, but I need to keep it all under control for the others right now. I’ll be okay…really.” The last statement sounded to the doctor more as an attempt for Lance to convince himself and not so much the doctor.

“Did you come to check on JC and Justin?” Lance asked in an effort to change the subject. Dr. Shannon noticed Lance’s efforts, but decided to let it go.

“Yes I did. It’s time to wean JC off his oxygen a bit. I’m going to put him on a nasal tube like Justin and monitor his breathing for the remainder of the night.” Dr. Shannon stood up and made his way over to JC’s bed. Lance followed behind him, quietly asking if he could join the doctor.

“Sure…come on,” the doctor answered.

Very carefully, Dr. Shannon removed the oxygen mask from JC’s face without waking the young man. Then, he gently placed the nasal tubing behind JC’s ears before placing the portion of the tube supplying the oxygen into the sleeping man’s nostrils. Then, once that had been finished, the doctor carefully adjusted the tubing under JC’s chin so that it would not become tangled during the remainder of the night. All of this was done without waking JC. Dr. Shannon heard a chuckle behind him.

“What’s so funny Lance?”

“He can sleep through just about anything,” the young man answered with a smile that suddenly was erased from his face when he heard a change in JC’s breathing.

Dr. Shannon noted the _expression on Lance’s face at the same time that he heard JC’s breath sounds changing and quickly redirected his attention to JC.

The doctor noted that JC’s breathing became slightly labored for a moment or two, and then evened out without his even waking. Doctor Shannon pulled his stethoscope from his coat pocket and warmed the instrument in one hand as he gently pulled JC’s hospital gown down slightly with the other, giving him better access to the young man’s chest so that he could listen to his heart and lung sounds. After a few moments, the doctor straightened up and spoke to Lance.

“Everything sounds good…must have been waking slightly,” whispered Dr. Shannon to Lance who had stayed by his side the entire time.

“That’s a relief,” Lance whispered in response to the good news.

“Would you like to listen?” Dr. Shannon asked as he removed the stethoscope from around his neck and handed it over to Lance.

“Are you sure it’s okay?” the young man asked with trepidation as he took the stethoscope in his hands.

“Yeah…go ahead.” Dr. Shannon stepped back, allowing Lance to move up to JC’s side. He watched as a wary Lance placed the stethoscope on JC’s chest and began listening to JC’s heart and lungs. A small smile played across Lance’s features as he listened to life pumping in his friend’s body. Dr. Shannon knew that what he was watching was just what the proverbial doctor had ordered for Lance. This just might be the first step in the right direction for the young man.

The rustling of bedcovers interrupted Dr. Shannon’s thoughts. He glanced over at Justin and saw that he had not made the noise. He then looked over at the three beds on the opposite side of the room. His gaze happened to fall first on Jan who was lying in her bed, eyes open with a smile on her face.

“Good job,” she mouthed at the doctor who in turn gave Jan a small “thumbs up” out of the view of Lance who was still intently listening to JC’s heart and lungs.

“Go back to sleep,” Dr. Shannon mouthed at the smiling woman. Jan nodded and then quietly turned over in the bed, readjusting the covers over her shoulders.

Fourteen