Chapter 5

Dr. Kenneth Shannon left Joey, Lance and Chris in the ER waiting room filing out forms on JC and Justin while he made his way through a series of swinging doors leading to the trauma center where the pair of young men were being treated. As he walked through the last set of doors, and entered the busy room, he could see that two sets of doctors and nurses surrounded two treatment beds in a flurry of activity.

“I thought you would be moving them into treatment rooms 15 and 16,” said Dr. Shannon to the attending trauma physician, Dr. Rahjeed Mohammad. The middle-aged, Indian looked up from the charts that he was gazing upon and greeted Dr. Shannon with a thin smile and handshake.

“Hi Ken. Yeah, we would have, but things started getting a little bit busy for Mr. Timberlake and Mr. Chasez and we decided to leave them in here for the time being...until they were fully stabilized.”

“Oh really? What happened?” Dr. Shannon asked in concern as he gazed from one still figure to the other…back and forth, as a certain level of activity continued to take place around them.

“Well, Mr. Timberlake woke up a few minutes ago and had a full blown panic attack when he realized where he was and saw Mr. Chasez,” the doctor answered as he gazed over the charts that had been thrust into his hands just moments earlier by one of the nurses moving about the room.

Dr. Shannon raised his eyebrows at that bit of information, then glanced at Justin’s still form across the room and saw that he was covered with a layer of warmed blankets, his face still hidden behind the clear plastic of an oxygen mask. At least the tremors that had been shaking his body so violently when he had first arrived had disappeared.

“We administered 2.5 mg. Valium and he’s resting now…so we’ll probably get him a room in the next hour or so and keep him for at least 24 hours...make sure that it doesn’t happen again.”

Dr. Shannon nodded his head in agreement at the information given to him, knowing that he would have followed the same procedures if he had been attending to Justin at the time of his panic attack.

“What about JC?” he asked as his gaze traveled from Justin’s still form to the other young man, who was slightly stirring, his movements slow and sluggish.

“Mr. Chasez’s breathing became a bit labored and his blood pressure climbed to irregular levels but his vitals seemed to have come back to normal ranges on their own.”

Dr. Shannon asked for JC’s chart and it was quickly handed over to him. Rapidly he scanned the information that had been logged, raising his eyebrows when he noted JC’s vitals.

“Boy…that was pretty high,” he said, referring to the young man’s blood pressure. He closed the chart and handed it to a nurse, who in turn placed it on JC’s gurney.

“Yeah, but like I said, it came down on its own within a matter of a minute or two,” Dr. Mohammad commented as he leaned against a nearby wall, watching the older physician intently staring at the patients. Seconds later, Dr. Shannon spoke.

“Why these two…of all the boys in Orlando, why did this happen to these two?” he said with a sad shake of his head as he continued to stare at the two beds before him. The concern and bewilderment in Dr. Shannon’s voice prompted Dr. Mohammad to ask how he knew the two patients.

“You know these two?” he asked as he followed the other’s gaze. The pair seemed oddly familiar, but he just couldn’t put his finger on it. None of the other staff had said anything about the identities of the young men, but he couldn’t shake the fact that he felt as if he should at least recognize them.

“Yeah. I made a house call out to Justin’s place almost a year ago,” he answered, turning his attention to the doctor.

“He had some friends, including JC, staying over and there had been an accident with minor injuries. These are pretty special kids Raj.”

The other doctor nodded his head then turned his attention to an intern who came up to ask a question. In the meantime, Dr. Shannon made his way to JC’s side and saw that the young man appeared to be barely conscious, but somewhat aware of his surroundings and the activities going on about him.

“JC? It’s Dr. Shannon…how are you doing son?” The doctor used even tones in speaking to the figure he was standing over not wanting to add to the confusion that was more than likely plaguing the young man.

In order to gain JC’s attention, the doctor place one hand over JC’s left hand and, with his other, began gently stroking the hair that was peaking out from above the top of the pressure bandage still encircling his head. Gradually, at the contact, JC slowly blinked his eyes and made an effort to look up at the doctor in such a manner that he knew the young man was struggling to bring everything into focus. The doctor watched JC’s facial _expression go from one of fear and perplexity to one of deep concentration. JC then began to slowly lick his lips before moving them in an effort to speak.

“JC…don’t try to talk, son. Just relax…relax,” the doctor said, but apparently either JC didn’t hear him or possibly even understand what he was saying due to the varying levels of confusion that tended to accompany a head wound.

Dr. Shannon watched as JC once again opened his mouth and unintelligibly mumble something, but the hissing of the oxygen into his mask and the commotion going on around him swallowed up his quiet words.

“Shush, JC…it’s okay,” the doctor said in quiet, comforting tones. “You’re at Mercy General Hospital and you’re doing just fine…you’re okay, JC…you’re okay.”

JC nodded slightly in understanding at the doctor’s words but the Dr. Shannon could see that JC was not totally with him so he continued to speak to the young man in an effort to reassure him and push aside any lingering fears that he might be holding on to.

“Joey, Lance and Chris are outside in the waiting room...and you’ll be able to see them soon.”

The doctor immediately noted a look of puzzlement wash over JC’s face and he realized that he was probably wondering why Justin’s name had not been mentioned. He watched as JC blinked his unfocused eyes while an intense look of concentration washed over his features.

“Jus…Just…” he said so quietly that the doctor would never had known what he was trying to say if it weren’t for the fact that he was watching his lips move.

“Justin is doing fine, JC,” Dr. Shannon said quickly as he continued to move his hand over the young man’s head.

Not wanting to upset JC, the doctor chose his next words carefully.

“He’s in here with you and he’s doing just fine, Joshua. He gave the firemen a bit of a scare by passing out, but he’s doing just great.”

JC only heard the words “Justin’s doing fine” before slowly closing his eyes as darkness again drew him into its grasp. As JC’s features relaxed, Dr. Shannon stood up from his stooped position not taking his gaze away from the still figure lying before him.

“It looks like he’s out again. How’s he doing Raj?” he asked as he continued to stare at JC who was now being attended by a pair of nurses.

“Well, we’re sending him up to CT Scan for a skull series just as soon as they are ready for us. We’re pretty sure that he just has a concussion and that there is no skull fractures. He’ll need at the very least 25 stitches to close up that head wound and we’ll keep him here probably for the next 48 hours and start him on a broad spectrum of antibiotics to prevent infection and pneumonia since he aspirated some pool water. His age and fitness are on his side and he should make a complete recovery physically fairly quickly. Mentally…I don’t know. A near drowning or any near death experience can be emotionally painful.”

Both doctors had seen countless patients recover physically from near drowning only to suffer mentally and emotionally so severely that their health was later compromised. Doctor Shannon was hoping that this was not going to be the case for JC. He was sure that with the help of the others, he would recover completely.

“I guess we just need to give him time,” Dr. Shannon said quietly as he once again stared down at JC.

“Is there any way to notify his family, Ken? Would their friends have any idea where their families are and how to notify them?” Dr. Mohammad’s voice interrupted the doctor’s thoughts and he stepped back away from JC’s stretcher and turned his attention to the physician.

“That may be a problem,” Dr. Shannon said as he rubbed the back of his neck.

“How’s that?”

“Well, JC’s parents are in Europe…actually in the Swiss Alps with his friend’s family. They’re going to be pretty hard to get in touch with according to Joey. And, as for Justin over there,” he pointed as he spoke, “his mother and his friend’s family are currently at the bottom of the Grand Canyon on a week long hike and will be even harder to reach.”

Dr. Mohammad let out a low whistle.

“What is it? Are these guys celebrities and rich enough to send their parents off to all these great places?” he asked incredulously.

Dr. Shannon inwardly grimaced as he quickly looked around at the busy staff administering care to the young men to see if they caught Dr. Mohammad’s remark and was relieved that it appeared that they had not, although he was sure that they already knew who they were treating.

“Let’s go somewhere a little more private for a moment,” Dr. Shannon said as he took Dr. Mohammad by the arm and led him to a corner of the busy room. The younger doctor allowed the other to lead him while at the same time wondering what he could have said to elicit the need for privacy.

“Umm…Ken…listen…if I said…” he began as they stopped to stand in the far corner of the room.

“No…you didn’t say anything wrong, Raj,” Dr. Shannon said in reassuring, but hushed tones with a smile on his face. “I just wanted you to know that you’re working on 2/5’s of the pop music group Nsync,” he whispered just loud enough to be barely heard over the din in the room by Dr. Mohammad.

“N who?” the other doctor asked, confusion evident in his tone of voice as he looked over the other’s shoulder at the two men across the room..

“Take a good look at their faces, Raj,” Dr. Shannon said in a patient tone of voice, giving the doctor a gentle push in the direction of the gurneys. “I know your daughter Lily has their pictures plastered all over her walls because my daughter Rachel has told me so.”

Dr. Shannon followed Dr. Mohammad back over to the patients just as three orderlies made their way to JC’s bed to wheel it upstairs to CT Scan. Dr. Mohammad stopped the gurney and looked carefully at the face that was partially covered with blood and obscured by the oxygen mask when recognition lit up his face. He then quickly walked over to Justin’s bed and, once again recognition registered as he took in the pale features hidden behind the oxygen mask. Both doctors then returned to their corner before they once again spoke in quiet tones.

“I remember that young man’s face,” Dr. Mohammad said, as he gestured toward JC’s bed where the orderlies were receiving information from one of the nurses. “My daughter has a small picture of him hanging on her bathroom mirror and one wall in her room dedicated to him and the rest of his group,” he said, rolling his eyes, knowing that Lily would have a fit knowing that he was treating the celebrity of her dreams.

“Hey, welcome to the club,” Dr. Shannon said with a slight grin, before adding, “Security is going to be pretty tight around here to keep the press and fans out of the way. Just try to keep everything low key around here for the next 48 hours and we’ll make it just fine.”

A nurse walked up to the pair and told them that JC was ready to leave for CT and the doctors stopped speaking long enough to watch as JC was wheeled out of the room. Dr. Shannon then looked over at Justin and saw that he was still resting comfortably before he decided to follow JC upstairs.

“Listen, I’m going to follow JC up to CT. Both of the boys have three pretty concerned friends outside in the waiting room. Why don’t you go on out and talk to them…take them to my office so that they can have some privacy and rest. This is going to be a pretty long evening for them and it would be safer for them upstairs than in the waiting room.”

Dr. Mohammad nodded his head and made his way to the doors leading out into the waiting area.

“Oh, and Raj,” he called out.

Dr. Mohammad stopped long enough to look back at Dr. Shannon who was heading in the opposite direction.

“You need to get a suite for the boys. If I know those three out there, there is no way that they will be going anywhere for the next twenty-four hours or at least when JC and Justin can be discharged.”

“No problem Ken. It’ll be taken care of.”

With that, the doctors headed out their respective doors to take care of separate matters.

Six