Chapter 29

All was quiet in JC’s hospital room…all was still. A welcomed changed from the chaos that reigned earlier in that evening.

Jan sat on her cot, clutching her pillow in her arms as she stared at the figures lying asleep about the large room. Any confidence that she had felt earlier in the evening had all but vanished. Now, she felt almost overwhelmed with the events that had taken place in the last 12 hours…JC’s collapse…Lance’s injury…Justin’s emotional display…Joey’s emotional overload. Only Chris had somehow been able to stay unscathed and Jan hoped beyond all hopes, that he would remain that way.

Jan looked at the empty cot beside her. Chris had left a few moments ago. He had already had 3 cups of coffee and was beginning to feel the caffeine high. He had left the room to walk off the excess energy so as not to disturb Justin, JC, Joey, or Lance.

As Jan sat alone, her thoughts began to swirl about in her head. She heard a rustling of covers from JC’s bed and immediately began thinking of how JC had handled hearing about what had happened to Joey, Justin, and Lance.

Dr. Shannon, Chris and Jan related to JC all the events that had occurred after his collapse the previous evening in Dr. Shannon’s office. Dr. Shannon quietly explained each boy’s condition and how they had come to be that way, saying only what he thought JC needed to hear at that moment. He didn’t want to feed JC with too much information. He would learn the finer details later, if the others chose to tell him.

As the doctor spoke, JC asked few questions and for the most part, remained silent as he sat up in his bed, looking at the cots across the room from his own bed. He didn’t know what he should be feeling at that point…sadness…fear…guilt…the list seemed endless.

It all seemed like a bad dream…something that he would awaken from at any moment…but why wasn’t he waking up…why. He looked at those surrounding his bed. Chris and Jan were standing on one side of his bed, while Dr. Shannon stood on the opposite side.

All three looked tired…worried.

“They’re going to be okay…aren’t they?” JC had asked, in a small voice reminiscent of a child’s.

Dr. Shannon quickly reassured JC of that fact and the three stayed at his side until JC had finally fallen into a restless sleep.

Jan’s thoughts then moved onto what would happen next…how would the group handle this new twist…how could she best handle this…what was she going to do…

Chris had entered quietly into the hospital room, not noticed by Jan. Chris saw that she was sitting, Indian style, on her cot in the dimly lit room, with her back against the wall. Chris could see that she seemed totally lost in thought as she clutched her pillow in her arms.

Chris quickly began to dig around in his pant pockets and smiled when his hand enclosed around what he was looking for and he pulled out his hand and glanced at what lay in his palm.

He then walked up to Jan’s side and placed his penny on her right knee. She started at his contact then looked down at the object on her knee and a smile slowly made its way across her face.

Chris sat down on the other side of her and kicked off his shoes before bringing his knees up to his chest as he leaned against the wall.

“My thoughts are worth more than this,” Jan said quietly as she held up the penny and turned to look at Chris then lay her pillow aside.

Chris gave a chuckle at her remark. “Sorry, but that’s the best that I could do for the moment.”

He looked over at Jan and as their eyes met, Chris felt his stomach drop as he watched a single tear slide down Jan’s cheek. He dropped his feet to the floor and held his arms open for Jan. Jan took his offer and leaned into his embrace as he wrapped his arms around his friend’s aunt and rested his cheek on the top of her head. They sat that way for several moments…drawing comfort from each other before Chris began speaking in quiet tones.

“Sh…it’s going to be okay…everything…everyone will be okay,” Chris murmured.

Jan lifted her head from Chris’s chest and wiped at the tears that had fallen down her face.

“You sound so confident…so sure,” she said in a voice full of emotion. “You want to let me in on your little secret to this confidence?”

Chris smiled and shrugged his shoulders. “I’ve had a good example to look up to,” he said as he continued to look at Jan, his eyes full of something that Jan just couldn’t quite make out in the semi-dark room.

“What do you mean,” she asked dubiously.

She almost laughed as Chris rolled his eyes and heaved a sigh before looking back at her.

“You act like the answer is so obvious…like it’s right under my nose,” Jan said with a laugh as she played with the penny.

“The group had just started out before I first met you…” he began.

Jan uttered a small oh in understanding…she knew where this might go, but she wasn’t too sure.

“Then, when I had met you and Mike, then visited with you guys once or twice, I knew that you two had something really great.”

Jan looked up at Chris and cocked her head to the side as she began to rub the penny between her fingertips.

“Yes…we did,” she said with a knowing smile. Chris took that as an okay to move on with what he wanted to say.

“When you lost Mike, I was amazed at how well you handled everything…” 

”You didn’t see how I was behind closed doors, though,” Jan added.

“I know I didn’t,” Chris quickly admitted. “But, I’m sure that whatever you did behind those doors was the right thing for you to do.”

“Come again,” Jan said as she shifted on the bed so that she could face Chris as she leaned her left side against the wall.

“What I mean is this…whatever you did behind those doors…screamed…cried…cursed…whatever…it worked because…look at you now, Jan,” Chris whispered in amazement. “You’ve become a rock…an anchor for all of us. A good friend…a confidant…family.”

“Oh…Chris…stop it,” Jan said. “You’re going to make me turn on the water works again.” Jan wiped away a stray tear and laughed at Chris who was doing the same thing as he spoke.

“All I really wanted to say is this…don’t give up yet. The guys are scared…I’m scared…but that doesn’t mean that we can’t work through our problems. We’ll beat this.”

Jan tilted her head to the side and reached out to cup Chris’s face in her hand.

“Thanks, Chris. I really needed that,” Jan murmured as she pulled her hand away

“You’re welcome, Jan,” Chris answered quietly. The pair sat in silence for a few moments, both reflecting on what had been said. Finally, Chris broke the silence.

“I think we need to get some rest. I have a feeling we’ll be needing a lot of energy to take care of them,” Chris said as he gestured at the beds around them.

“You’re right,” Jan agreed. “Night, Chris…and thanks again,” Jan said before lying down on her cot. She pulled a blanket up over her shoulders and willed herself to relax so that sleep would come soon. Within minutes, Chris could tell that Jan had dropped off to sleep when her breathing became deep and even.

Chris rubbed his hands over his face before quietly standing up from his bed to make his way across the room to check on everyone else.

He first stopped at Lance’s bedside and saw that he was sleeping well. The bandage wound about Lance’s head made Chris inwardly grimace. He knew that Lance was not going to be a happy camper in the morning. It made his own head hurt at the thought of the terrible headache that Lance would probably have when he would awaken. Chris stooped over and gently ran his hand over Lance’s head before standing back up and looking at the cot beside Justin’s.

Chris walked over to that cot, which happened to be Joey’s. Joey had partially kicked his covers off, so Chris carefully placed the blanket back over his friend without waking him. He looked down at the stark white bandages covering Joey’s hands and a shudder coursed through him. Joey’s reaction in the nurse’s showers had frightened him. He had been scared about JC’s accident, but Joey…he had really scared him…badly. How would Joey react when he fully realized what had happened in the showers…would Joey even remember what had happened? Chris hoped that he would have no memory of the incident, but, if Joey asked, he wouldn’t hesitate to tell him. Chris felt that trying to hide things from Joey would make everything worse in the end. He would just have to hope that Joey would have a memory lapse and would not think to ask any questions. With those thoughts in mind, Chris then moved on to Justin’s bed and saw that Justin had not moved since he had first laid down, several hours ago.

“You must have been really exhausted before the doc gave you that shot, Curly,” Chris whispered as he ran his hand lightly over Justin’s unruly curls without the young man even stirring. Chris saw that Justin was lying so still…almost as if he wasn’t even…nah…he had to be…but… Chris shrugged his shoulders, then, just to reassure himself, Chris lightly placed his hand over Justin’s face and was relieved to feel air moving beneath it. As he straightened up, Chris shook his head and quietly chuckled at his own insecurities…of course Justin was breathing.

“Why wouldn’t he be breathing?” he quietly asked himself, feeling very silly. Chris gave Justin’s shoulder a light pat, then glanced over at the last bed and breathed a deep sigh…JC.

Chris walked over to JC’s bed and saw that the younger man was sleeping deeply. Seeing this, reassured Chris that JC was going to be okay. If JC had been moving restlessly, Chris would have been more concerned. From experience, Chris knew that when JC was very worried about something, it didn’t really matter how much medication was pumped into him, he was going to bounce around on his bed in his sleep.

If everyone continued to sleep well, Dr. Shannon had reassured Jan and Chris that JC and the others would be released by late morning, barring any complications.

“Humph…complications,” Chris said to himself. “Things can’t get much more complicated than this…can they?” he said as he looked about the room. “Please, God…don’t let anything else happen,” Chris silently prayed before returning to his cot. He checked his watch…5:00 in the morning. With a small groan, Chris lay down on his cot and drew the covers up over his shoulders. He was sure that he wouldn’t be able to fall asleep with so many thoughts running through his mind, but minutes later, Chris slipped into a fitful sleep.

Thirty