Date: Sat, 21 Aug 1999 23:17:03 -0500 From: Matt Subject: Search-and-Rescue-3 This is part three of my continuing story, and I sincerely hope you all are enjoying it thus far. Though the amount of feedback I've received for the second part is much less than what I received after part one, everything has been positive thus far. Please continue to send me your thoughts, feelings, and suggestions about the story to mnhunter@midsouth.rr.com, and I'll get back to you. I hope you will enjoy reading the story as much as I enjoy writing it. That being said, here's my standard legal disclaimer. WARNING: This story is sexually-explicit, involving homosexuality. Do not continue if this will offend you. If accessing this story causes you to break local laws (village, town, city, county, province, state, or country, etc.), please leave now. By continuing, you implicitly declare and affirm under penalties of perjury that you are not a minor or in the company of a minor and are entitled to have access to sexually-explicit material. The content and opinions expressed in this story do not imply anything with regards to the sexual preference of any member of NSYNC or any other celebrities named herein. It is a work of fiction entirely. The girl, Heather, came busting up in the room like she owned the place. "What the hell was that all about?" The tension in the room told me it was time for me to excuse myself. "I'll leave you two alone." She positioned herself between me and the door. "Oh, no. You stay, because if my big brother doesn't give me a damn good reason why he just sent the sweetest guy in the world, who just happens to have been his best friend for years, out of the room crying, he's going to need a doctor." Now I may not be the brightest guy in the world, but even I figured out that interrupting this little tirade just to tell her that I was a nurse, not a doctor, would not be the smartest move I'd ever made. "It's complicated, Heather." "Complicated? That's the best you can come up with." He smiled at me, "I almost die, and she's giving me grief." The rage in her face drained completely with his words. A smile not unlike his slowly crept across her face. "You bastard. I never could stay mad at you for too long, but that doesn't mean this discussion has ended. It just means that I'm going to let you rest before I kick your ass." He rolled his eyes and looked at me again. "My baby sister--what am I going to do?" She cleared her throat, "'Baby' sister? Oh, yes, ancient one, please offer us the wisdom of your counsel." I couldn't suppress a laugh at that last remark. He motioned towards me, "Heather, this is the guy who saved my life at least a few times." I extended my hand and introduced myself, "Hello, Ms. Chasez, I'm Matt Hunter. I was on the helicopter that brought in your brother." She bypassed my hand entirely and hugged me. "You saved my brother's life, I think you and I are on a first name basis. Okay?" "Okay, Heather," I mustered. "And by the way," she added, "you can skip the false modesty about just being on the helicopter. Justin told me how you went in there despite the risks to your own safety." "Just doing my job," I blushed. "Yeah, right, that's why the other people were just standing there. Don't get me wrong--it's not that I hold anything against them. From what Justin tells me, it's your sanity I should be questioning for going into such a dangerous situation in the first place, so don't tell me you were 'just doing your job.'" "Hey, the voices in my head tell me I'm sane," I smiled. Joshua started laughing before grimacing in pain, clutching the site on the side of his chest where the chest tube had been. He looked at his sister with a dead-pan serious look and told her, "I hate you." She just grinned, "I hate you, too, and happy damn birthday." He laughed and moaned some more. "Shit," I thought to myself. "Heather, are you gonna be here for a while? I need to run an errand real quick." "Sure," she answered, "anything wrong?" "No. It just dawned on me when you told him 'Happy Birthday' that it's my cousin's birthday, too. I've been at the hospital for days and forgot about it entirely." "Glad it's nothing bad. Tell them 'Happy birthday' from us, too." "Okay," I chirped. As I made my way down the hallway, I saw Justin sitting in a chair crying. I'd honestly forgotten about his role in all this. This was getting to be too much. "Come on, Justin, you're coming with me," I told him as I grabbed him by his shoulder. "Where are we going?" "Just come on." As I led him towards the employee parking lot, a thought struck me as I stepped off the elevator. "Damn it," I exclaimed. "What is it?" he asked. At that moment, something came flying towards my head in my peripheral vision. Years of martial arts classes kicked in, and I instinctively grabbed the object. I expanded my focus to realize Scott had thrown me his keys, concluding as I just had, that my car was still back at headquarters. "I hate it when you read my mind," I said. "Me, too," he answered, "since there's not enough room for the both of us." Then his facial expression turned serious, "We'll talk when you get back." "Okay," I stammered with a sick feeling in my stomach. "Can I use your cell phone for a long distance call?" "Sure," he replied, turning to walk away. Justin and I climbed into Scott's car. Justin just rested his chin on his knuckles with his elbow propped against the passenger window, obviously lost in the moment. "Penny for your thoughts?" I said, regretting the use of the expression the moment it passed my lips. "Just thinking." "Anything you wanna talk about?" "No. He and I just had a . . . misunderstanding." "Happens all the time, even to the best of friends." "I know. He was just counting on me for support and I failed him." "Things may not have gone exactly like either of you wanted or expected, but that doesn't mean you've failed him." "He hates me now." "No, Justin, he's upset with you. There's a world of difference, and no matter what has passed between you, I doubt there's anything you can't work through." "Right now, he won't even speak to me. Even if he would, I'm not sure I could find the right words." "Words aren't that hard to find. Say what's in your heart. Trust me--he wouldn't have such a strong reaction to the mention o your name if you weren't important to him." He forced a smile, "Hey, weren't you supposed to be calling someone?" "Yeah, I am. Thanks for reminding me." I picked up the phone and dialed. I started singing "Happy Birthday"; Justin even joined in, quieting only at the name "Andy," since he didn't know who we were serenading. "I know how much you hate it when I call you that, but who else but your favorite cousin could get away with it? . . . (pause) . . . Give everyone my love, and I'll see you all soon . . . (pause) . . . Okay, bye." Almost as soon as I hung up, I announced, "We're here." I could tell by the puzzled look on his face, Justin was dying to know why we were at a shopping center. "Take a look," I said, pointing to an ice cream store and a gift shop. "What?" "His birthday," I reminded. I could tell that at first he thought I was talking about my cousin. "Jeez, with all the chaos, I completely forgot." "Same with my cousin. If Heather hadn't said something to him, it would have completely slipped my mind." We went inside the ice cream store. I ordered a large cake while Justin looked around. The cashier asked me what it should say. I turned and posed to question to Justin. "How about 'Happy Birthday, JC, Get Well Soon'?" When he answered, I thought he'd committed bloody murder as the girl behind the counter screamed, "OH MY GOD! DO YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE?" She immediately realized the absurdity of the question and turned every shade of red imaginable. Justin fell to his knees in tears of uncontrollable laughter. It was good to see him smile. I helped him up to a chair while she decorated the cake. To make up for how bad he had embarrassed her, he gave her an autograph. When she rang up the cake, she wanted to give it to him for free, but he insisted on paying. When he reached into his pockets, however, his hands came up empty, and it was his turn to be embarrassed. I smiled and slipped him the money. We made a quick stop inside the gift shop to pick up two birthday cards, careful not to take so much time that the ice cream cake would melt. We then returned to the car and headed back towards the hospital. I chuckled to myself, and Justin took the defensive, asking, "What was so damn funny?" "Relax," I countered. "It's just that until that scene at the ice cream shop, I had no idea who you guys were." He looked at me with an intense look on his face. "You're serious, aren't you?" "Yup." "Guess you're not a fan, huh?" "Actually, I've heart both your debut and Christmas albums. I just work so much that I don't see much television. I've heard you on the radio many times, but I don't guess I've ever seen you." "Not even the album covers?" "Don't guess I've ever seen them." A revelation hit him, "JC--that's why you've been calling him Joshua. You really didn't know." I shooked my head in agreement. "It wasn't until you called him JC in the store a few minutes ago. I recognized that and your voice when you were singing along with me on the phone." "Wow. I thought you were being so great to me because of who we were." "Like I told Heather, just doing my job," I smiled. We sat in silence for some time. "Thanks," he finally said. "Anytime." We rode in silence back to the hospital. In spite of myself, I was really starting to like Justin (call me funny--I usually don't warm up too well to people that deck me). There was something in the way that he wouldn't talk about JC that told me he cared a lot about him. I wondered what could have passed between the two of them that made JC so mad at him. I presumed whatever it was occupied Justin's thoughts as well as I watched the occasional tear drip from his nose; his mind wandered to the point that he didn't even notice. We walked down the hall towards JC's room. As we started around the corner, Justin hesitated, almost cringing like a puppy who'd been beaten. I nudged him into the room where JC and his sister were laughing, but when we entered, JC's face hardened, never once showing any sign of emotion when he coldly stated, "I told you. That bastard and I have nothing to say to each other." Justin started to back out, but I placed my hand firmly against the small of his back. He followed my lead and stepped forward, stuttering, ". . . cake . . . I brought . . . Happy Birthday." JC's face contorted with anger as he knocked the cake from Justin's hands, sending both it and the card to the floor. "Get out! GET OUT! GET THE FUCK OUT!!!" "JC!" Heather shouted. Justin ran out of the room. Heather started to say something, but the words failed her as she stood there speechless. "Heather, could you go check on Justin? I'll keep an eye on your brother." She took my hint and left the room. "So how am I doing?" JC asked, changing the subject. "Physically, you'll be fine. It's the rest of you I'm concerned about, JC." "I liked it better when you called me Joshua. It was nice to be just Joshua or Josh for a while instead of the JC who can't even leave his hotel room without causing a scene. You didn't know who I was, did you?" "Nope." "Would it have made a difference?" "And exactly what do you think I would have done differently?" "I don't know. It's just hard to tell how genuine people are being anymore. It seems like everyone has some sort of ulterior motive." "Well, I don't want anything except for you to feel better." He just smiled. "That, and for you to talk to Justin," I added. The smile faded. "There's nothing to say." "I'd guess there's a hell of a lot to say." "I told him something very important, and he turned against me, Matt." "Did you ever consider that he made a mistake? I haven't walked on water or turned water into wine of late, so I'm kind of new to this perfect thing--Tell me what it's like." "That's not fair." "It's about as fair as you're treating Justin. If you've been friends for so long, don't you think he's entitled to speak on his behalf." "So what is it I'm supposed to do? Just forgive him?" "Give him the benefit of the doubt. Listen to what he has to say. Tell him, don't curse and shout at him, how you feel. Whatever the beef between you two, I'm sure it's nothing beyond repair." "How do you know? Did he tell you what this argument is about?" "Tell me, no. I know what this argument is about." His eyes widened. "It's about friendship," I continued. "The specifics aren't important." "You sure? I'm sure the information would be worth something to the right people." I sighed, "Justin blames himself for all this, and you blame him, too. I'm caught in the middle of the circle of hatred and self-loathing, and I think it's childish. And as for me barging into your personal life more than I have thus far just to find out what this fight is about, I have some insight for you, you insensitive little prick--the world is not all about you and your feeling, no matter how famous you are." I started to leave. "Wait, Matt, please! I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. I'm just confused." "So is he. He cares about you very much," I said, throwing the rest of the cake remnants in the garbage and picking up the card, "and if you don't learn to forgive people for not living up to your expectations, especially those closest to you, it's gonna get awful lonely out on that limb by yourself." He sat in silence a moment before finally taking the card from my outstretched hand. As he read the long handwritten note inside, tears welled up in his eyes. "Thank you," he finally said. Heather was visibly distraught when she returned to the room. "I can't find Justin anywhere," she cried. "Let's go find him," I calmly answered. "I'm coming with you," JC announced. "Oh, no, you're not," I shot back. "This is because of me, and you know it." "You're not strong enough yet," Heather and I both explained, almost in unison. "Heather, get me a wheelchair. I'm coming, too. End of discussion," he declared. When she and I just looked at him, he blushed. "Please." Heather looked at me for direction, and I nodded in affirmation. This wasn't the biggest hospital in the world, but finding one person was like looking for a needle in a stack of needles (pardon the analogy). We spent hours without any major breakthroughs. Finally we were going past the emergency department when a noise caught my attention. I smirked and began leading JC and Heather down the hall quickly. "What is it?" he asked. "That celebrity status you were complaining about earlier." "I don't get it," he said. "I heard some girls screaming for him in the waiting room. I'm taking you out the staff entrance so we can catch him. We made it to the parking lot to see Justin headed for his car. "JUSTIN!!!" JC screamed, visibly pained from the effort. Justin turned just in time to see the car hit him. TO BE CONTINUED . . . . . . Please send your feedback to: mnhunter@midsouth.rr.com. I look forward to hearing how (or if) you are enjoying the story thus far.