Later that day Joey was chasing Izzy around the stage as they were testing the non-explosive elements of the show.
“I’m gonna get you!” He yelled after her,
“No you’re not!” She taunted back,
“Hey maybe if you cut back on all those twinkies you’re always eating, you might have a chance of catching her!” Justin yelled at him,
“You’re next curly!”
“I’d like to see you try Fatone!” He called back and the quartet laughed on as they watched Izzy stay clearly ahead of Joey. She even slowed up a little, turning around and jogging backwards waiting for him to catch up. Joey caught up to her and almost grabbed her and she shot off again. At that moment they tested the smoke machine and a huge cloud of smoke burst out on the stage enveloping Izzy. She immediately breathed in huge gust of it and began coughing violently. Joey dove into the smoke and tackled her to the ground.
“Hah, got you!” He cheered and Izzy didn’t say anything. She kept coughing and she knew she couldn’t breathe, panic swept her system. She began smacking Joey to get off of her. He looked down knowing something was wrong and rolled off of her. “Izzy?” She just got up and ran backstage. Joey ran after her, “Izzy?” He yelled worriedly and the others picked up on it, they soon followed. Izzy ran to the back room and frantically looked for her bag. It was nowhere insight. She began freaking out even more making her asthma attack worse. Joey came into the room and recognized what was happening,
“Shit Iz, where’s your inhaler?” He asked glancing around the room, she simply shook her head. He went over to her and made her sit down on the couch, she tried to fight him but he got her down. “Iz, is it on the bus?”
“I,” She gasped, “don’t,” gasp, “know.” Joey ran a hand down the side of her face soothingly,
“You have to calm down, you’re making it worse. We’ll find your inhaler, try to breathe and don’t talk.” The guys rushed into the room and Joey looked up, “Lance, go to the bus and look for Izzy’s bag, quick.” He directed and he shot off. “C and Justin look around this room and Chris look backstage for her bag now.” He ordered and turned back to Izzy as they searched the area, “Breathe for me, baby. We’re going to find it and you’re going to be okay.” He soothed and Izzy shook her head as her attack worsened even more. Joey pushed her back against the couch and watched his best friend turned an awful shade of blue as she tried to gasp for air, “Everything’s going to be fine. I’m going to make sure of it. You trust me right?” Izzy nodded her head yes, but her face told a different story. “Hey Izzy, do you remember that time at your house, when we were like what seven or so? And you’re mom had just made that apple pie, with the little slits?” He asked trying to distract her from her attack. She nodded, “And she left it on the window sill to cool and we stole it. We ate the whole thing in the tree house and then had the biggest stomach aches afterward?” Izzy nodded slowly again and her eyes began to droop catching Joey’s attention, “Oh, you are not blacking out on me.” He said forcefully and gently slapped her face to keep her awake, “Come on Iz, stay with me, stay with me.”
Lance rushed in with her bag raised over his head,
“I found it!”
“Quick toss it here!” Joey yelled and Lance threw it to him. He reached in and pulled out her inhaler, “Izzy baby work with me.” He called to her as he tried to keep her up right, she was losing this battle quickly. The other guys had all come back to the room and staring at the scene that played out before them. Joey laid her down on the couch and opened her mouth, she was halfway gone and barely breathing. He sprayed the medicine in her mouth twice and waited, “Come back to me, Iz, come back to me.” He whispered and listened to her breathing deepen, “That’s it.” He said and let out a huge breath as her eyes fluttered opened, “Welcome back sunshine.” He whispered to her and kissed her forehead,
“Thank you.” She mouthed and looked around the room noticing the four guys. She forced a smile and watched them all relax a little,
“Are you okay?” Chris asked and she nodded but Joey answered for her,
“She will be, it was just an asthma attack from the smoke.” He said and looked down at her and she had closed her eyes again.
“Iz, wake up.” He called to her and she opened her eyes again,
“Hmm?”
“I’m gonna take you back to the hotel to rest, okay? So you have to get up sweetie.” He looked up at the guys, “Can one of you get Dre or Lonnie to help me take Izzy back to the hotel?”
“Sure.” Justin said and jogged out of the room. Joey pulled Izzy to a sitting position and she pushed him away,
“I can get up on my own.” She mumbled and Joey backed off a little, she pushed off the couch and slowly stood up. Joey followed her up and watched her carefully, she looked at him, “I’m fine.” She went to take her first step and her legs gave out on her causing her to fall forward where Lance caught her. “Okay, maybe not, thanks.”
“No, problem Iz.” He said and picked her up in his arms. He looked to Joey,
“Where to?”
“Um, I’ll take her.” He said and Lance handed her off,
“Boy do I feel used, you guys just passing me around.” She teased and the guys laughed. She then leaned her head on Joey’s shoulder,
“Tired baby girl?” Joey soothed,
“Uh huh.” She half mumbled and Dre came into the room,
“Is everything okay?” He asked looking worriedly at Izzy and Joey walked over to him,
“I’ve just got to take Izzy back to the hotel. As you can see she’s not going to make it by herself.
“My bag.” She pointed back into the room,
“Oh yeah.” Joey said turning around and Chris scooped it up for her and handed it to Dre.
“I’ll be back in a bit.” Joey said and walked out of the room.
He took her to the hotel and laid her down on her bed. He removed her shoes and tucked her in. She was already half asleep when he sat down on the edge of the bed,
“Thank you Joey-bear.” She called out softly and he stroked her hair,
“Do you need anything else?”
“Can I have my puppy? It’s in my suitcase.” Joey got up and retrieved a worn stuffed dog from her suitcase.
“This thing is worn to the bone. Where the hell did you get it from?” He said handing it to her,
“A friend a long time ago. It half replaced you.” She said snuggling with it.
“Replaced by a stuffed animal, makes me feel good.”
“Not completely, I mean puppy doesn’t talk back to me, but then again sometimes that’s a good thing.”
“Hey now.” He said ruffling her hair. He watched Izzy settle down into the bed. “You scare me sometimes Iz, you know that?” She curled up on her side and looked at him,
“I’m sorry.” She whispered and he leaned down dropping a kiss on her forehead.
“You don’t have to be, it’s not your fault. I just worry too much about you.”
“I worry about you too.” She reached out and touched his hand. Her lids grew heavily and she was fighting to stay awake.
“I’ll come back to check on you, okay?” She nodded and closed her eyes,
“Love you Iz.”
“Love you too, Joey-bear.” She mumbled and buried her face in her pillows. Joey sighed as he ran a hand down her face one last time before getting up and leaving her to sleep.
“Is Izzy gonna be okay? You should probably have her checked out by the doctor. She seemed really bad when she left.” He rushed out and Joey put his hands up,
“Lance, calm down man. She’s fine, all she needs now is rest and she’ll be just fine. She doesn’t need to see a doctor.”
“But-” He interrupted,
“Lance, if you want her to see a doctor that badly you go and try to get her to see one. Just let her be, she’ll probably be just fine tonight.”