"Michelle?" his voice was barely audible as he reached out to touch her.

Just as his finger tips grazed her damp skin, Justin felt a sharp sting course through his hand. Quickly pulling his hand into his chest, he rubbed the spot that she had just slapped. 

"I'M OK!" she yelled, and for the first time brought her gaze to meet his. 

Justin's eyes narrowed instinctively at her brash reaction before softening once again. A pained sigh escaping his lips as he watched her soaking wet frame painfully retreat into the corner of the shower, the entire time her voice trailing off in soft whisper's of 'I'm ok'. 

He stood frozen in place, not sure of what he was witnessing. This was all just too much for him to take in. Everything that must have happened in the past weeks to lead up to this very moment was just completely infathomable. Shifting his weight uncomfortably from one foot to the other, Justin made another cautious attempt to reach out to her. 

Pushing his hand away once again, Michelle struggled to pull her knees tightly into her chest in a desperate attempt to sink further into the small corner that she inhabited. Her small frame still trembling as she cried softly into her knees. 

"I'm ok." she said once again, her voice barely above a whisper. 

Hearing her speak the words with uncertainity once again, Justin felt his chest instantly tighten. The deep breath that he was attempting to take catching in the back of his throat. He just couldn't understand how someone could reduce another person to the state that she was in or what kind of person it took to pull something like this off.   It just broke his heart to even think about it.

As a single tear managed to slip past the barriers of his eyelashes, he quickly brushed it away and willed himself to be strong for her. 

After pulling himself together as much as he possible could given the circumstances, Justin slipped his feet from the confines of his tennis shoes and slowly pushed them to the side so that he didn't startle her with any kind of sudden movement. Then after taking one last calming breath, Justin stepped into the shower with her, his clothes becoming instantly wet as he stood under the spray of the shower. Slowly easing himself down next to her, Justin sat down next to her in complete silence, unsure of where to go from there. 

As Michelle felt his presence next to her, for the first time in weeks she felt her heart warm. Slowly lifting her head, she watched the steady stream of water that sprayed from the various fixtures on his shower walls soak into his jeans, causing them to turn an even darker shade of blue. The vintage t-shirt that he had on, now clinging to his body as he sat silently beside her. 

Bringing her gaze up to meet his, she watched his face with a pained expression. Her own eyes unable to hide the hurt that she had been holding inside. The tenderness that seemed to lay so easily across his features as he stared back down at her instantly causing her heart to swell with a mixture of hope and shame. Her eyes now pleading with him for some sort of comfort...answers...a reason. 

Unable to think of anything else to do, Justin slid a soaking wet arm around her and pulled her into his chest. Her body tensing immediately at the feel of his comforting gesture. Once he had her securely against him, he wrapped his other arm tightly around her and pulled her rigid frame even closer to his own.

"I'm ok Justin." she sobbed, gently trying to push herself away from him, only to feel his hold on her become more secure as he rested his head on the top of her's.

"You're not ok Michelle." he whispered giving her a light squeeze. "You're not." 

She tried again to push herself away from him, this time using a little more force. Unfortunately she only managed to get herself a full inch away from him, before she felt her soaking frame come crashing into his again. 

"I'm ok." she cried, her hands planted flat against his chest. 

Pulling her body away from his for a moment, Justin's brow furrowed as he concentrated on her face. He couldn't remember a time in his life that his heart ached for another person the way it did for her right now. At that moment, he would do anything in his power to make her world alright again. 

"Hey, hey. I'm here. Its okay." he coaxed, brushing a lock of wet hair away from her forehead. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you. I promise." 

Cradling her face between his hands, he caressed her cheek softly and tried his best to convince her that was he said was the truth.

"Trust me." his voice was steady and reasuring as the words fell from his lips. 

Michelle cocked her head to the side, an almost confused look on her face as she let his words sink in. Trust. It had become such a foreign concept to her. Something that should be a natural human emotion seemed almost unreal to her. Feeling her chest begin to burn with the sob that she knew she was holding back, Michelle averted her eyes to the strong hands that held her face. 

"Michelle....trust me." 

As she felt his other hand resume its position around her waist, she allowed herself to be pulled back into him and released the painful sob that she had tried so hard to hold on to.  As the flow of tears streamed down her face, she clung desperately to the wet fabric of his shirt and he wrapped his arms securely around her. 

"Shhhh." he whispered, rocking them both from side to side as he gently rubbed her back in an effort to comfort her. "I'm here now. I'm not gonna let anyone else hurt you ok. You're safe now." 

Michelle's body shook violently as she continued to cry with complete abandon into his chest. Her knuckles turning an off shade of white as she held his shirt even tighter than before, trying to pull herself deeper into the comfort of his arms. Oblidging her silent request, Justin pulled her almost completely onto his lap, holding her as tight as he could without hurting her. 

"I..." the single word caught in her throat as she tried to speak for the frist time in several moments. "I ju-just......I just wanted to be happy.......I'm so....." her words caming in phases of sobs and hiccups "I'm so scared!" she managed to get out all in one breath, before a cry that sounded like it had been waiting for years to come out exploded from her small frame. 

Swallowing the large lump that was rising in his throat, Justin let out a soft sigh of relief that her face stayed burried in his chest as she cried, because had she been looking at him at that moment, she would have seen a fresh set of tears accompanied by a look of complete uncertainty spilling from his own eyes. Just trying to be strong for her was proving to be a much more difficult tast than he had originally anticipated. 

"You dont have to be scared anymore." he said softly, trying to convince himself just as much as he was trying to convince her.

However for Michelle, at the moment, it was enough. 

Chapter 167

Continuing to sit in the shower together, Justin held her tightly in his arms and Michelle continued to cry until her weak body had all but given out on her. Hearing her sobs become almost nonexsistent, Justin's scooted himself back against the wall and he felt Michelle's body slide limply into his lap.  Letting out a small sigh of relief, Justin suddenly realized that she had cried herself to sleep. 

Leaning forward as much as he could, Justin strained to turn off the ice cold water that had been pouring down on them. Once he managed to stop the frigid spray, he positioned his arms around her so that he could pick her up. As he stood with her in his arms, another muffled cry escaped her lips and he felt his heart break all over again.

Sitting down on the closed toilet seat, Justin grabbed a plush towel from the rack next to him and wrapped it around her trembling frame. After tucking the towel around her securely, he proceeded to carry her into his bedroom, leaving a thick trail of water behind him. 

When he finally reached his bed, he gently laid her down on top of its plush surface and began to timidly pat her body dry. Once he had dried her off to the best of his ability, he grabbed a long sleeved t-shirt from his closet and a pair of boxers and carefully slid them onto her bruised body. 

After pulling back the thick comforter on the other side of the bed, he picked her lifeless body up with ease and placed her back down onto the other side of bed.   As he did, her body instantly snuggled into the warmth of his bed. Once he had the covers tucked gently around her body, he let out a heavy sigh and just shook his head in disgust. 

Walking over to his dresser, he grabbed himself a pair of dry sweats and boxers and headed back into the bathroom to dry himself off and change. After he was done, he headed back in to his bedroom and gave one last regretful glance at Michelle before finally leaving her alone in his bedroom. 

After heading down the hall, he headed over to the stairs and prepared to make his decent.  However he had only managed to get halfway down the stairs before he collapsed in the middle of the staircase and forcefully dropped his head in his hands. This was just a complete nightmare.

After just a few moments of sitting there in a complete state shock, Justin felt the warmth of another body next to his and knew that it was Trace. Dragging his hands down his face, he allowed a desperate laugh to escape his lips before turning his tired eyes to his best friend. Opening his mouth to speak, Justin realized that there were no words to even begin to explain what had just happened, all he could do was shake his head. 

"Everything ok man?" Trace asked placing a reassuring hand on his best friend's cold back. 

"No." Justin said with a slight laugh. "This shit is very very far away from ok." 

"Is she..." Trace began. 

"She's sleeping." he sighed. "What happened man? I mean did she tell you anything?" his voice sounded so distraught. 

Trace shook his head at his friend. He wished that he had the answers that Justin was looking for, hell the answers that he himself was looking for, but he didn't.

"I dont know man, I mean, I was sitting in the waiting room and I heard this guy talking about some shit that happened with Wade and then he kept saying 'her'....." Trace said, continuing to explain how he had found out that Michelle was in the hospital and how he came to bring her to Justin's place. "......then I dunno man she just started freaking out and like hyperventilating. I'm just glad Tony was there."

"Tony?" 

"Yeah." Trace laughed lightly. "He calmed her down and stuff, it was just insane. I seriously thought she was going to pass out. Then after we had her calmed down,  I just brought her back here." 

"So thats it?!" Justin asked holding out his hands in frustration. 

"Well.....yeah. I mean I tried to talk to her, but once I said your name and she flew off the handle about...how all men thought that women were just playthings...and that you were all alike...and then she said something like she couldn't deal with this...and then we basically arrived here. I mean she wasnt really making much sense." 

"That doesnt make any fucking sense Trace!" Justin yelled. 

Holding his hands up defensively, Trace leaned back, his eyes widening at his friends sudden outburst. 

"That's what I said.  I just told you she wasnt making any sense. I mean, I had to practically beg her to come stay here. Seriously, who has to beg a person in their right frame of mind to think about their own safety. Someone has that girl fucked up in the head J, I'm talking seriously like.......messed up. Theres some intense shit going on with her, stuff that I don't even want to imagine or..." 

Trace paused, trying not to let his own confusion and anger get in the way. He knew that he needed to keep a level head and be there for his friend, because if he knew Justin, he knew that he wouldn't rest until he got to the bottom of everything that was going on. Placing his hand on his friends back again, Trace continued. 

"Look man, I know your upset. I understand that. Hell, I'm upset too. And I'm not gonna sit here and tell you not to try to figure this shit out, because it's not like you'd listen to me anyway.  What I will say though is that you better be careful, because from what I did pick up from that conversation and her behavior, she's gotten herself in to some serious shit with some really dangerous people and I would go as far as to say that Wade is probably the least of her worries." 

"Wade!" Justin said, yelling the name as if it now held some sort of new found signifigance. 

Bolting up from his seated position, Justin jogged into the kitchen to grab the phone, leaving Trace slightly stunned on the stairs. Quickly yanking the cordless phone from its reciever, Justin quickly pounded out the number to information before rambling out a request for the number to UCLA Medical Center. 

Leaning against the counter, he waited rather impatiently to be connected to the hospital. 

"Yeah hi, umm I need to get some information about a patient." he informed the young lady who answered the phone. 

"Name of the patient please." 

"Wade Robson." he replied, listening to the light tapping of her fingers on the keyboard as she undoubtedly looked up Wade's information. 

"Your relation to Mr. Robson?" 

"We're frie...he works for me." 

"Well I do apologize Mr......" 

"Timberlake." Justin said, quickly hoping that his name could carry some weight in this situation. "Justin Timberlake." 

"Well Mr. Timberlake, as I was saying, we can only release patient information to family. I do apolo..." 

Justin slammed the phone back onto the reciever before she even got a chance to finish her 'apology'. Pacing around the kitchen aimlessly for a few seconds, Justin finally took a seat on one of the tall barstool around the small island. Letting a frustrated sigh escape his body, he crossed his arms over its marble surface, before letting his head fall on top of them with a light thud. This just kept getting worse! 

"What did the hospital say?" Trace asked, as cautiously stepped into the room. 

"That they can only give information to the family of the patient." Justin mummbled into his arms, not bothering to look up. 

"Oh." Trace thought for a momment before the obvious answer came to him. "Hey! Call Chantal, I bet she probably knows whats going on." 

Justin straightened up in his seat immediately at the sound of her name. Why hadn't he thought to call her? Hopping down from the bar stool, he headed back over to where the phone rested and snatched it from its craddled position once again. After quickly punching the digits into the keypad from memory, he drummed his fingertips against the surface of his counter as he waited for her to pick up. 

After about six unanswered rings, Justin was ready to give up on her answering the phone, especially if she was it was him. He knew that he and Chantal hadn't parted ways on the best of terms the last time they spoke, so the possibility that she was ignoring him was a very real one,. Then just as he was about to hang up, he heard her answer the phone with an annoyed sigh. 

"What do you want Justin?" she asked into the reciever. 

"Look Chantal I know your pissed at me, but I really need to know what the hell happened with Wade tonight." 

Heaving another dejected sigh into the phone, Chantal seriously considered just hanging up on him. She had no desire to speak to anyone at the moment, least of all Justin. 

"What do you mean what happened with Wade?"

"Aren't you down at the hospital with him?"

"At the hospital?!  Justin, what the hell are you talking about?!"

Furrowing his brow in confusion, Justin glanced over at Trace before scrathing the back of his head in thought.  Was this seriously the second time he had been in the emergency room and she was clueless? 

"Chantal, Wade's ummmm.......he's down in the trama unit of UCLA Medical Center." 

Unsure if she had actually heard him correctly, Chantal sat in silence on the other end for a few more seconds before finally speaking.

"Justin....." her voice cracked as she spoke his name. 

"I'm sorry.  I thought you knew."

"No I didn't know!  What happened!?"  she asked, quickly scaning around her kitchen for her set of car keys.

"I don't know what happened to him.  All I know is that if he is in the trama unit, it's pretty bad Chantal." 

"What do you mean its bad?! What...what happened?!" she yelled, now beginning to panic.  "And how did you know he was down there?!  What aren't you telling me Justin?!" 

"I already told you I dont know what happened!" he said, now joining in on the yelling as he ran his hand roughly over the top of his head. "That's why I called you! I thought maybe you would know something. I mean, I think Michelle may know something, but she's so fucking freaked out that she barely said two words to me." 

"Michelle? You found her?  Is she alright? You know what, nevermind. I have to get over to the hospital." 

"I'm going to meet you over there.  I need to know what the fuck happened."  Justin said, grabbing his wallet and keys from the table. "I'll see you over there in about twenty minutes." 

After ending the phone call with Chantal, Justin turned his attention to Trace. Giving his best friend a soft glance, Justin filled his lungs with air before letting out a shaky breath and addressing him. 

"You'll stay with her?" his voice was almost timid. 

"Of course." Trace replied giving the taller man a pat on the back. "Just remember what I said, be careful." 

Giving Trace a slight nod, he quickly headed out the front door. As he made his way over to his truck, a tight feeling began to grip at his chest. It was an unfamilliar feeling and as he felt his hands start to shake slightly, the gravity of the entire situation began to sink in. This was definately more than he had ever anticipated dealing with and for the first time in his life, he didn't know what would happen or what to do....and that terrified him.

Chapter 168

As Justin headed out the door to his truck, the sudden feeling of uncertainty that he had felt only moments ago, seemed to come back ten fold.  He just couldn't believe that things had gotten this bad.  It was almost surreal.

After about fifteen minutes of absent minded driving, Justin pulled in to the parking lot of the hospital nearest to the emergency room and quickly parked his truck.  After turning off the ignition, Justin pulled his cell phone out from the confines of his pocket and once again dialed Chantal's number.

"Are you there already?"  she quickly answered, not even bothering with the formalities of saying 'hello'.

"I just got here.  Where are you at?"

"I'm still about ten minutes out.  I got stuck in traffic."

"Well, do you want me to wait out in the parking lot for you or..."  he started to say but was quickly interupted.

"No, don't wait for me.  Just go in and find out what you can.  As soon you know anything, call me right back."

"Alright.  I'll see you shortly.  Just don't speed on your way here.  The last thing anyone needs is another person in the ER."

After flipping his phone shut, Justin opened the door to his Escalade and stepped out. Letting out a heavy sigh of frustration, he closed the door and quickly engaged the security alarm.  Not wanting to waste any time, Justin shoved his keys and cell phone back in to his pocket and sprinted across the parking lot and over to the emergency room entrance.  Once he made his way through the set of automatic doors, Justin immeadiately headed over to the small nurses station.

"Can I help you sir?"  the nurse asked, momentarily peering up over her glasses before returning her gaze back to the computer screen in front of her.

"Yeah, a friend of mine was brought in here a few hours ago.  Can you tell me where I can find him?"

"Name?"

"Wade Robson."

After typing a few things in to the computer, she grabbed a small piece of paper from the corner of her desk and placed it down next to her keyboard.  After copying some information from the computer on to the paper, she opened yet another screen and began to re-enter the information she had written down only seconds ago.  When she was finally done, she grabbed yet another slip of paper and jotted down a few more pieces of information and then slid the paper over to him.

"We don't have him in our system down here anymore.  You'll need to go through the door to your right and down the hall about fifty feet.  Once you see another set of doors, go through those and then turn left. There will be a patient information center straight ahead.  Just hand them this piece of paper and tell them you are trying to locate a patient.  They will be able to tell you what you need to know."

"Thanks."

After taking the small piece of paper that she had handed him, Justin followed her instructions and in no time was standing at the patient information desk.  Unfortunately he was the only one there.

Letting out a slight chuckle of disbelief, Justin stepped away from the desk and quickly began scanning the immeadiate area around him.  Someone had to be there...somewhere.

After a few seconds had elapsed with still no sign of anyone, Justin was about to head back over to the ER waiting room when he heard the soft ding of the elevator.  Glancing over his shoulder, Justin saw a middle aged lady wearing a volunteer smock approaching him with a smile on her face.

"Sorry to keep you waiting.  I just needed to get a refil." she said, lifting her coffee cup up in to view.  "These late night shifts can be rough."

Not wanting to be ignorant, Justin offered her a half-hearted smile and simply placed the piece of paper down in front of her.

"I was told that you could tell me where a friend of mine has been taken.  He was brought in to the emeregency room a few hours ago but they said don't have him in their system anymore."

After taking another sip of her coffee, the lady placed the paper cup back down on the desk and grabbed the small piece of paper.  Once she had herself positioned in the chair, she slid over to the computer and began to enter the various items of information in to the screen.  When she was finished, she placed the paper back down in front of him and glanced up. 

"They moved him up to ICU. You'll need to take the elevators up to the third floor and then make a right."

"Room number?"

"I don't have any record of him being assigned to a room yet.  You'll need to check with the nursing staff upstairs for any other information."

Nodding his head, Justin shoved the paper in to his pocket and headed over to the small lobby area in front of the elevators.  Quickly retrieving his cell phone from his pocket, Justin flipped it open and once again dialed the number to Chantal's phone.  After only two rings she picked it up.

"Did you find anything out?"

"No.  I'm down here at the patient information desk waiting for them to tell me where he is."  he said, deliberately telling her a lie so that he wouldn't have to inform her over the phone that her brother was in the intesive care unit. "How much longer until you get here?"

"I'll be there in a minute.  I'm on Wilshire right now."

"Alright, well when you get here, just come in through the main enterance.  I'll be in the lobby waiting for you."

"Ok.  I'll be there in like five minutes.  Don't go anywhere."

"I won't."

Realizing that Chantal had simply ended the call,  Justin waited for his screen to display that the call had ended and then proceeded to dial the number to his house.   He knew he hadn't been gone that long, but just knowing that he had left Michelle there like that was starting to wear his nerves thin.  He simply wanted to get some sort of answers to what happened tonight and go back home.

"Come on man, answer the phone."  Justin groaned, now pacing back and forth in the large lobby.

After a few more rings had went unanswered, Justin was about to hang up and call back when he suddenly heard Trace's voice on the other end of the phone.

"Hello?"

"What the hell took you so long to answer the phone?!"

"Jesus Christ man, settle down!  I was upstairs checking on Michelle.  I thought I heard her a few minutes ago."  he said, walking towards the kicthen to grab a bottle of water.  "Why the hell are you so uptight and worried anyway?  She's here with me." 

"Given everything that has gone down over these last few days, I'm not taking anything for granted."  Justin said, exhaling deeply in to the phone. "Why didn't you just pick up one of the phones upstairs?" 

"I would have, but I didn't want to make any more noise than necessary.  Like I said, I was just up there checking on her."

"Look, I didn't mean to snap at you man. I'm sorry.  It's just that..."

"Dude, I understand.  You don't have to apologize."

Taking a deep breath to try and calm his now rattled nerves, Justin plopped down in to one of the small chairs in the lobby and allowed his exhausted body a brief moment of rest.  Once he had pulled himself together enough to continue with the conversation, Justin sat forward slightly and rested his elbows on his thighs.

"Anyway, I just called to check in on Michelle.  How is she?" 

"She's still asleep. I mean honestly, I don't think she is going to wake up anytime tonight.  They gave her something at the hospital for the pain and I'm sure it's kicked in by now.  Getting some rest is probably the best thing for her."

"Yeah, she was out of it before I even left. Hell, before I even got her out of the shower.  It's just that...I guess I'm just afraid she will wake up and I won't be there."  he replied, now scratching at the back of his head as new thoughts began filling his mind.  "You know, I really don't know how this is all going to turn out man.  This thing with Wade...with her.  What if he doesn't...and she...I mean.....everything is just so fucked up!"

Hearing the panicked tone in his voice, Trace realized that Justin was on the verge of a breakdown.  Not that he didn't expect it though.  In actuality, he did.  He just hoped that when his best friend had finally reached his breaking point, that he would be there to help him deal with things.  Except now that didn't seem like that was going to be an option. 

"Relax man.  Whatever happens, happens.  We'll pull through this.”

“But she’s been through so much already Trace.  I can’t even begin to imagine what she had to endure tonight or how she’s going to recover from this.”

“Whatever happened to her tonight, whatever she is dealing with, we'll get her through it.  She isn't alone man.  She has us to lean on for support and I'm sure we're just the start of the long list of friends willing to help her.  Just take a minute and breath.  It’s going to be alright.  Believe me."

“I just don’t know how much more of this I can take.  I’m just...I don’t know what the hell to do!”  he yelled out, a sense of helpessness taking him over.

“Justin, it’s going to be alright!   You have to pull yourself together though!  You aren’t going to do anyone any good freaking out like this!”

Shaking his head with a sense of defeat, Justin suddenly heard the soft rush of air coming from the set of doors at the main entrance and looked up.  Once he spotted Chantal headed his way, a new surge of feelings began to sweep over him.  This was it.  It was time to start their quest for answers and hope for the best.

“Hey, Chantal just got here so I’m going to go and see what I can find out, but if she wakes up or if you need me....”

“Everything will be fine, she'll be fine.  Just go do what you need to do.”

“I’ll call you as soon as I know anything.”

“Alright.  Later man.”

“Bye.”

Once Justin ended the call he quickly jumped to his feet and headed to meet Chantal halfway.  The look on her face alone clearly displaying that she needed a friend right now.

“Did you find anything out?”  she asked, adjusting her purse as she all but sprinted across the lobby.

"Yeah." 

"And?"

"I don't know the specifics on what happened or what's been done, anything like that.  All I know is where he is at right now."

"And where is he at Justin?!  JESUS CHRIST!"

"He's up on the third floor. They don't have him assigned to a room yet, but they said the nurses on that floor will be able to give us more information.  Come on."

Without even thinking, Justin reached down and grabbed a hold of her hand to lead her over to the elevators.  He didn't want to waste another second wondering about what may have happened tonight.  He wanted the actual answers and he knew she did as well.

When they reached the set of elevators along the far wall, Justin dropped her hand and quickly pressed the up button on the small metal keypad.  After a few awkward moments of silence, a small bell announced that the elevator had arrived and they both took a few steps back to allow the other passengers to make their way out. 

"Do you know what's on the third floor?  I mean, are they just patient rooms or what?"

"No, I don't think they have any rooms on the third floor Chantal.  The patient floors don't start until the fifth."

"The what the hell is on the third floor?!"

Not really wanting to answer her, Justin quickly rushed inside and placed his hand against the side of the elevator car to keep the doors open for her. 

"Come on.  Let's just get up there and find out what's going on."

"You know something Justin!  What the fuck aren't you telling me?!" she yelled quickly making her way over to where he was standing so that they were now face to face.

Letting out a heavy sigh, Justin watched as a few more people rushed towards the elevator before he dropped his hand away from the doorway to press the button to the third floor.

"Look, before I say anything, you have to promise me that you're not going to get all upset and jump to conclusions until we know anything for sure."

"Justin, where IS HE?!"

"They moved him upstairs to the ICU." 

"Oh my god!  No!  Justin, NO!  NO!"

"Hey, hey, hey.  It's going to be alright."  he said, quickly wrapping his arms around her trembling frame. "We just need to go up there and find out what's going on.  Don't assume the worst." 

Unable to even speak, Chantal collapsed against him and began sobbing uncontrolably in to his chest as he held her tighter.  Finally letting a heavy sigh escape his lips, Justin rested his chin on the top of her head and allowed his eyes to fall shut.  Unfortunately, he only had them closed for a few seconds before a familiar voice caught his attention and forced his eyes to fly back open.  He knew he recogonized that voice from somewhere.  Question was....where?

Quickly glancing through the small space between the set of closing doors, Justin's eyes instantly locked on a small group of guys walking past the elevator.   Tilting his head slightly to the side, Justin furrowed his brow and mentally took note of the three before the doors finally slammed shut. 

As the car began it's ascent up, Justin allowed his eyes to fall closed once again.  This time however he wasn't using the darkness as an attempt to regroup and get himself together.  This was an attempt to scan his memory on where exactly he knew them from. 

"God damn it. I know I've seen them somewhere before.  But where?" 

Hearing him mumble something, Chantal let out another sob and slowly back away from him.

"Did you say something?" 

"Huh?"  he asked, quickly glancing down at her.

"I thought you said something." 

"Oh.  No, it's nothing." 

When the elevator car finally reached the third floor, Justin allowed her to slip from his hold and head out the door.  As he was on his way to join her, a small boy rounded the corner and bolted towards the still open set of doors, practically knocking him over in the rush.

"I'm so sorry."  Justin heard a female voice say.

Glancing up, Justin saw what appeared to be his mother running towards them.

"What did I tell you?  I said no running and wait for me."  she scolded, grabbing the small boy by his hand and pulling him out of Justin's way.  "You almost knocked this man over."

"It's ok.  Boys will be boys."  Justin laughed, briskly running his hand over the top of the little boy's head.

"What do you say?"

"I'm sorry."  the little boy said, swinging his mothers hand back and forth.

"It's alright.  We're cool."  he replied, extending his hand to shake the little kid's hand.

After the little boy shook Justin's hand, he giggled and ran to the back of the elevator.  Letting out a slight chuckle himself, Justin smiled at his mother and proceeded to join Chantal.

"Don't you ever run away from me like that again Chris, you hear me?" 

Hearing the little boy's name, Justin quickly turned around and watched as the elevator doors closed once again.  That name.  He knew that name!

"Chris.....Chris.....CHRIS!  Ah, FUCK!"

Instantly realizing that he knew where he recogonized the guys from that he saw downstairs, Justin felt his heart nearly jump out of his chest and quickly spun back around to face Chantal.  He really couldn't say for sure that they had something to do with the events that unfolded earlier with Wade and Michelle, but if he was a betting man, he'd wager the lot that they did.

Chapter 169

As the two began their journey toward the hospital, an uncomfortable silence overcame the truck.  With only the humming of the engine filling the minds of each, Jackson reached forward and began systamatically flipping the power lock button repeatedly.

"Stop that fucking shit!"  Chris yelled, firing a look of disgust over at his best friend.

Without even acknowledging Chris, Jackson pulled his hand away from the door and glanced back out the window.   He knew Chris was more than a little stressed out over everything that had gone on that evening so he figured he would cut him some slack.  However, if he thought he was going to continue to use him as his whipping boy, he had another thing coming.

After about ten minutes of driving, Chris fianlly let out the sigh of frustration he had obviously been holding in and pulled his phone out from his pocket.  Once he had it flipped open, he dialed a few numbers and put the phone to his ear.

"Well?" 

"Well what?" 

"Do you have her or at least know where she is?"

"No, I dont have her." Tanner replied, the tone of his voice giving away slightly more emotion than he would have liked it to.  "Nor do I know where she is!  I've looked every..."

"Just meet us in the parking lot in ten minutes!" Chris yelled, quickly interrupting Tanner before he could even finish his sentence.

Looking down at his phone in utter disgust, Tanner saw that Chris had hung up and realized the severe ear lashing he was undoubtedly going to be receiving.  After letting out a slight chuckle of disbelief, Tanner shoved his hands deep into his pockets and decided to just head to the parking lot to wait for them.

Almost as quickly as Chris ended the call with Tanner, he began dialing a new set of numbers in to the phone.  After placing it to his ear, he impatiently waited for them to answer the phone as he tapped his fingers off of the sterring wheel. 

"I'm on my way to see you."

"Huh?  What...who is this?" 

"It's Chris.  I said I'm on my way to see you."

"Chris...Chris ummm..."

"Chris Carbonell, supplier of white magic, happy dust, Columbian gold?  Do you need me to continue?"

"Oh Chris.  Yeah, hey I'm sorry man.  I just turned a 32 hour shift in the ER and it really took it's toll.  I was just trying to get a little shut eye before I pick back up in five hours.  Guess my mind is still a little whacked out."

"Yeah well, the good shit will do that to you."  he said, glancing down at his watch.  "But now that I have refreshed your memory, where are you going to be?"

"Oh come on!   I just told you I'm back on in 5 hours.  Whatever it is, it can wait."

"First of all, when I call you I fully expect your undivided attention and cooperation.  Second, it can't wait.  And third, WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU GOING TO BE?!"

"OK, I get it!"   he said, sighing heavily as he forced himself in to a seated position.  "Just head through the main entrance and then go straight down the hall.  Once you pass the elevators, take the first right.  There's a waiting room about fifty feet down on your left.  I'll meet you there."

"Fifteen minutes." Chris replied abruptly before ending his call. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After doing some much needed pacing to try and get out some pent up frustration, Tanner finally decided to that he needed to try and calm down and grabbed a seat on the cement block wall at the end of a parking space.  Unfortunately, he had only occupied the space for about five minutes before he saw the bright lights of Chris' truck bearing down on him at what seemed to be in excess of 100 mph. 

"Nice to know that one thing is finally going right tonight.  Now I just have to fix my "other" problem.

"What the fuck are you doing?"  Jackson asked, quickly diverting his attention back and forth between his best friend and the illuminated figure on the wall that he now realized was TJ.

"He needs to know his place and I think it's about time I showed him that place."

As the truck screeched to a hault just short of the wall where he was seated, Tanner jumped down from his perched position and instinctively pounded his fist on the hood of the truck.

"Do you believe this fucking guy?"  Chris asked, quickly throwing his truck into park and turning off the ignition.

After a few seconds of staring at Chris through the windshield, Tanner partially threw his hands up in the air in an attempt to ask why.  Seeing the look of rage in Chris' eyes however, he immediately dropped his hands back down to his sides and took a step back.

Not wasting another second of the confrontation he was just dying to have, Chris slowly unfastened his seatbelt and stepped out of the truck.  Once his feet hit the pavement, his forward progress was slow and deliberate.  Unfortunately he only managed to take three steps before he turned in to a man on a mission. 

"You really are a dumb son of a bitch, aren't you?!"  Chris yelled, rushing towards Tanner and grabbing him by the front of his shirt. 

"What are you doing?" Tanner asked,  the wind being momentarily knocked out of his lungs as Chris slammed his back against the wall of the hospital.

Feeling like he was about to witness a repeat performance of their fight from earlier, Jackson quickly jumped out of the truck and rushed to the front of the vehicle.

"Whoa!   We're all on the same team here, right?"  Jackson asked, briskly grabbing a hold of Chris' arm and tugging him backwards.

"Team,  yeah right"  Tanner mumbled, quickly trying to free himself from Chris' grip.  "He's never been a team player.  It's always about him and what he wants!"

"Chris, stop and think about what you're doing man.  I mean, isn't this what started the current mess that you're now finding yourself in?"  Jackson questioned.

Knowing that he had a point, Chris gave Tanner one last shove in to the wall and reluctantly released his hold on him.  After taking a moment to straighten out his shirt, Tanner started to walk around Chris.

"It's not over." Chris mumbled through gritted teeth as he forcefully smacked him in the side of the head.

"Jesus Christ!  Enough!"  Jackson yelled, quickly moving Tanner out of Chris' reach.  "Is this what we came here to do?"

Shaking his head in frustration, Chris took a few deep cleansing breaths and headed towards the hospital.

"Let's go." 

Once Chris entered through the large set of automatic doors, he quickly began to scan his surroundings.  Spotting the set of elevators further up to his right, Chris continued forward with Jackson by his side and TJ following close behind.

"Where are we headed?"  Jackson asked, his face distortng slightly at the sudden sound of a female crying.

"We need answers and I can't think of better way to get them than by going straight to the source."

"Why don't you just leave her alone."  Tanner said, his frustration with Chris' relentless pursuit of Michelle now more than evident to the others.

"You know what..."

Quickly turning around in an attempt to extinguish the spark Tanner had just reignited, Jackson placed his hand in the center of Tanner's chest and forcefully shoved him backwards.

"You really ARE a dumb mother fucker!"  Jackson yelled, quickly turning Chris back around so that he could no longer see Tanner.  "You open your mouth one more time and he can have at you.  You get what I'm saying?!  Keep it shut!" 

Not bothering to responmd to his comment, Tanner just raised his eyebrows questioningly and continued to follow behind them. 

"God!  Is that as annoying to you as it is to me? You know, that crying?"  Jackson asked, quickly trying to change the subject.

"Yeah it is and with this killer headache I have going, its doing nothing to help."  Chris replied, picking up the pace slightly so that they could quickly get past the elevators where the sound was coming from.

Luckily for them, almost as soon as they past the elevator car, the doors slammed shut and all but drownded out the annoying sound that was filling the air. 

"It must be right up here...head down the hall."  Chris ordered, pointing down a long corridor off to his right.

Once the reached the waiting room that Chris had been told to look for, a middle aged doctor with a severe case of bed head stood up and headed towards them. 

"Well...Jake Wittman, Dr. extrordinaire, its been while." Chris said jokingly, extending his open hand to him.  "I have to say you have seen better days.  Good thing I brought you a little pick me up."  Chris continued, slipping a small bag filled with white powder into his hand.  "This will do wonders.  It's part of our newest shipment." 

"Thanks."  he replied, quickly slipping it in to his front pocket.  "But uhhh....we both know you're not here for a social call, so why don't you just cut to the chase and tell me what you want."

"It's nice to see that we're not all a bunch of fuck ups and that you're ready to do business."  Chris said, glaring back at Tanner as he headed over to one of the chairs in the waiting room.  "But not here.  You have somewhere we can go?"

Motioning his head towards the door behind him, the doctor waited for Chris' approval before heading over to it.

"That's fine.  This won't take long."  Chris replied, as he followed behind him.  "I'll be right back.  Just make sure you keep an eye on his shady ass."  Chris continued, as he directed his comment towards Jackson.

Nodding his head calmly, Jackson watched as they walked in to the small room and closed the door behind them.  Once they were out of sight however, Jackson quickly headed over to where Tanner was seated.

"Do you know where she is?"

"Now how many times am I going to have to answer this question tonight?"

"As many times as it takes until I'm convinced of your answer.  So, do you?  Do you know where she is or did you have anything to do with her leaving the hospital?"

"You're getting to be as bad as he is with the relentless questioning, you know that right?"

"And you're getting a little bit too vocal.  What the hell is up with all the smart ass comments lately?"

"What do you want me to do?  Just stand by and let him do whatever in the fuck he wants to with her?!  I thought we were on the same page here?!"

"Yeah, we were on the same page."

"What do you mean...were?"

"Look, in order to read a book, to fully understand it, you have to turn the pages man.  You can't just look at the cover."

"And what the hell is that supposed to mean?" 

"This thing with Chris and Michelle.  It's not what it seems.  It's just...it's complicated."

"What's complicated is that mess of bullshit that just ran from your mouth."  Tanner snapped, quickly glancing over towards the room that Chris had disappeared in to. "But the so called 'thing' you are referring to between Chris and Michelle is EXACTLY like it seems.  He's like a fucking puppet master with her!  He's messing with this girl just to get his kicks off!   How can you act like it's anything other than what it is?  I mean, if you want to be a fuckin coward and stand by while he continues toying with her, then go ahead.  I'm not backing down."

"You know what, you better think twice before you......"  Jackson started to say, but quickly stopped when he heard the sound of the door being opened.

"Just give me fifteen to twenty minutes."  the doctor said, following Chris back out in to the waiting room.

"You have fifteen."  Chris replied, his eyes narrowing in to small slits as he tried to figure out just what he had walked in on.

"Alright, fifteen."

Letting out a heavy sigh, the doctor made his best attempt at straightening out his hair and proceeded to head down the hall.  Once he was out of sight, Chris glanced down at his watch to check the time and then proceeded to head over to where Tanner was seated.

"So, what did I interrupt?"

"Nothing man.  Everything is cool.  Just trying to make sure that cooler heads prevail tonight.  We don't need any more drama."  Jackson responded, cautiously taking a seat a few chairs away from Tanner incase things did infact heat back up.

"Is that right?  You were just sitting out here, minding your business?"

Glancing up at Chris, Tanner let a small chuckle escape his lips and arrogantly leaned back against the chair.  He wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of even opening his mouth.  He was just going to sit there and smile.  Especially when he knew how bad that pissed Chris off.

"Are you fucking deaf?!" 

"Oh, I'm sorry.  Did you say something?"  Tanner asked, tilting his head slightly to the side as he glared up at him with a smile on his face.

After letting out a slight chuckle of his own, Chris quickly brought his foot up and kicked Tanner square in the chest, knocking both him and the chair over in the process.

"YOU FUCKIN HEAR ME NOW?!"  Chris yelled, quickly throwing the chair out of the way so that he could get to Tanner as he scrambled to his feet.

Knowing that the confrontation between Chris and Tanner was almost inevitable now, Jackson groaned inwardly and allowed his face to fall forward in to his hand.  It was almost pointless at this point to try and stop them.  He just had to let things run their course and hope that when all the dust had cleared, that Tanner would still be among the living.

Chapter 170

"Come on you fucking piece of shit!  This just get this over with!" 

"What's wrong Chris?!  You can't handle someone standing up to you?!  Huh?  Is it eating away at your pride?!  First it was Michelle and now me?!  You're losing your touch man!"  Tanner laughed, only further infurriating Chris as he snatched him by the front of his shirt.

"Oh I'm going to handle this right now.  Trust me!"  Chris yelled, practically dragging Tanner across the floor and over to the small room he had exited only moments ago.  "You know, you've been warned more than once about that fucking mouth of yours, so don't even think for one second that you're going to walk away from this one!"  Chris continued, forcefully throwing Tanner in to the room.

After crashing to the floor from the force of Chris' throw, Tanner heard the door slam shut and quickly tried to scramble to his feet.  Unfortunately, before he made it all the way back up, Chris delivered a devistating knee to his mid-section that instantly dropped him back down to the floor.

"You know what, I think you're long overdue for this." Chris growled, quickly reaching down to firmly grab a hold of Tanner's hair with both hands.  "And I have to say...I'm going to love EVERY minute of this!"

Not wanting to give him any time to recover, Chris released his grip on Tanner and immeadiately landed an uppercut to the bottom of his jaw.  The force from the blow snapping his neck backward before he once again crumbled to the floor.

"Come on man!  You're making this too easy for me."  Chris growled as he started to unfastened the first few buttons on his shirt as well as the ones on his sleeves. "I mean, this is what you wanted right?!  To step up and confront me?!"

Wrapping his arm around his mid section in an attempt to try and dull the now burning feeling ripping through him, Tanner glared up at Chris and began laughing.  It wasn't that his situation was funny by any means, but he would be lying if he said he wasn't taking at least some pleasure in the fact that he was clearly getting under Chris' skin.

"You really are one crazy son of a bitch aren't you?"  Chris asked as he continued to stare down at him.

Unable to do anything more than continue to laugh, Tanner pushed himself up slightly so that he was now sitting on the heels of his feet.  Knowing that he physically didn't stand a chance against Chris, Tanner decided that his only means of defense was to deliver a blow to the one thing that Chris held sacred.  His reputation. 

"You know, I'm not quite sure how Michelle managed to get herself out of here, but you have to give her credit for being able to pull it off.  Bet you never saw that coming, did you?"  Tanner chuckled, his own realization that she had got one over on him suddenly becoming more than a slight bit funny.  "I mean, she fuckin beat you man!  You tried to hold on to this girl for as long as you possibly could, to control her and every aspect of her life.  But in the end, when all was said and done, she won Chris.  She beat you at your own game."

"You're not quite sure how she got out of here?!  Oh I have a pretty good guess as to how she did!  It's called you weren't doing you job!"  Chris yelled, once again grabbing Tanner by the front of his shirt and pulling him to his feet.  "If you were keeping an eye on her like you were supposed to be doing, we wouldn't be here right now.  But, since you didn't...HERE WE ARE!"  he continued, slamming Tanner back in to the wall.

Hearing the sound of raised voices coming from the small room, Jackson let out a soft groan of frustration and ran his hands repeatedly over his face.  He knew this was coming.  It was more than evident by Chris' demeanor in the parking lot.  He just hoped that his best friend would have at least been able to control himself until they got to somewhere a little less public.  Obviously though, that wasn't the case.

"And just when I thought he was going to start acting normal."  Jackson chuckled, his attention now being diverted to an older couple as they headed in his direction. 

Leaning back slightly in his chair, Jackson tried his best to act like nothing was out of the normal and hoped that the noises coming from the room wouldn't peak their attention or warrant any questions.  Unfortunately, that hope all but died when a loud bang echoed through the hall and sent two of the dedication plaques that were hanging on the wall outside the room crashing to the floor.

Shaking his head with disbelief, Jackson glanced over at the older woman who was clutching at her chest in fear and offered her a sympathetic smile.

"Remodeling."  he snickered, motioning his head towards the room.

Hearing yet another loud bang followed by some more yelling and a few choice profanities, the gentleman mumbled something under his breath to his wife and quickly escorted her down the hall and past the room.  He didn't know what was going on behind that closed door, but he knew it definetly wasn't remodeling.

After giving the couple a few seconds to make their way down the corridor, Jackson got up from his seat and was about to walk over to the room when he suddenly spotted the doctor walking down the opposite end of the hall towards him.  Deciding that he should probably alert Chris to the company that would soon be joining them, Jackson banged on the door a good three times and then headed back to the other end of the waiting room.

When the doctor approached the waiting room, he began scanning the immeadiate area around him.  His nerves quickly getting the best of his when he realized that Chris was nowhere in sight.

"Where's he at?"

"He had some uh...business to take care."  Jackson replied, motioning towards the room.  "He'll be out in a second."

Raising his eybrows questioningly, the doctor began conducting a further inspection of his surroundings. Spotting the brass plaques laying on the floor in the hall, he groaned inwardly. 

"Does he really need to do this shit here?  Seriously?" he asked, dropping his arm to the side and letting the file he was holding smack off his outter thigh.

"Look at it this way, if the kid needs medical attention...at least he's already here."

"And that is supposed to offer me some sort of comfort or something?  This isn't some dark alley or the back room of a bar God damn it!  This is a respectable medical facility!"

Slightly taken back by the tone of voice the doctor was using with him, Jackson cleared his throat and was about to address him, but stopped when he heard the sound of the door opening. Choosing to simply let the doctor's comments slide this time, Jackson glanced over his shoulder and saw Chris headed in their direction.

"You got it?"  Chris asked, straightening out his collar before fastening the last button on his cuff.

"Here Chris?!  I mean of all places?! HERE?!"

Not bothering to respond to his question, Chris continued to head over to where the two of them were standing and snatched the file from the doctor's hand. 

"I'll worry about my business and where I handle it, and you worry about yours." 

Opening the folder, Chris began curiously flipping through a few pages of the paperwork.  After finding the information he was looking for, Chris removed the three pieces of paper from the file and handed it back. 

"You can't just leave here with that Chris.  You said you wanted to see the paperwork, not take it.  That's confidential information.  There are laws against this kind of thing."

Breaking out in to a full blown fit of laughter, Chris folded the paperwork up and slid it in to his back pocket.

"That was funny.  Really.  It was."  Chris said, slapping the doctor on his back before heading out the door of the waiting room.

"Chris..."

"Oh and remember that whole thing about I'll worry about my business and you worry about yours?  Well, before you head back  upstairs, you might want to stop in there first.  You might have some of your own 'business' to handle."  Chris said, motioning towards the small room.

After quickly walking over to the room that Chris had exited only moments ago, the doctor pushed the door open and peeked inside.

"JESUS CHRIST!  Is he...is he fuckin dead?!"

"You tell me. You're the one with the medical degree."  Chris said, pulling his keys from his pocket and glancing back over at him.  "You know what, on second thought, don't even bother to check.  I couldn't care less about that piece of shit."

After giving Chris a look of disbelief, Jackson watched the doctor disappear in to the room and wondered what he should do.  Should he simply follow after Chris and let things play out the way Chris meant them to with Tanner or should he go back in there and see what the hell actually went down.  Unfortunately before he had a chance to make his decision, Chris yelled out to him and broke his train of thought.

"Are you coming or what?" 

"You're just leaving him here?"  Jackson asked, his feet still firmly planted in place with the realization that he wasn't quite sure of what to do at that particular moment.

"Trust me, he NEEDS to stay here.  Now let's go."

Knowing that Chris' mental state was anything but stable after the events that unfolder earlier, Jackson decided the best thing to do right now was just let the doctor handle things with Tanner and accompany his best friend home.

"Hold on.  I'm coming."  Jackson yelled, as he broke out in to a slight jog to catch up to Chris.  "So, where are we headed?" 

"Home."

"What's with the paperwork?"

"What do you mean?"

"It is Michelle's...Wade's?" Jackson asked, hoping to at least keep things cordial between them.

"What's with the twenty questions?" 

"Nothing man.  I'm just trying to figure out what's going on."

"I don't know what's going on.  That's what I am trying to find out."  Chris replied, pulling the paperwork back out from his pocket and handing it to Jackson.  "Someone else signed her out of here tonight and I want to know who.  Do you recogonize the name?"

Taking the paperwork from Chris, Jackson unfolded it and began scanning over the various pieces of information.  After letting out a slight sigh, Jackson moved on to the next two pages.

"Nice to know she will have a little reminder of your time together for a few weeks to come."

"Don't." 

"I'm just saying."  Jackson continued, flipping back to the first page.

"And so am I.  All I asked was if you recogonized the guy's name that signed her out." 

After glancing down at the name again, Jackson handed the paperwork back to Chris and shook his head.

"No, I don't recogonize it.  It could be somebody she works with.  A friend maybe?"

"Find out."  Chris said, heading across the parking lot to his truck.

"How am I supossed to find out?"

"I don't care how.  Just find out who this guy is and where he lives."

"Chris, you aren't going to go there and...."

"Don't ask me questions Jackson.  Just get me the information." 

After watching Chris get inside the truck, Jackson opened the passenger side door and climbed in as well.  Once he was inside, he pulled the door closed and glanced over at his best friend.  Clearly by the look on his face something was on his mind.  He just wasn't sure if it was wise to ask him what it was.

"What?"  Chris asked, noticing that Jackson was now staring at him.

"I was about to ask you the same thing.  What's up?"

Reaching behind him, Chris pulled the paperwork back out from his pocket and tossed it up on the dashboard.  His reluctance to discuss the problem with Jackson quickly fading away.

Finally after a few more awkward moments of silence, Chris let out a heavy sigh.

"I didn't even look to see what was wrong with her." Chris said, leaning his head back against the seat.  "I just took that file from him and began searching for a name.  That was all I cared about.  Not if she was alright. Not if she was going to suffer any long term effects from the fall.  That never even crossed my mind.  All I wanted to do was find out who the hell took her."

After watching Chris continue to stare up at the paperwork in front of him, Jackson thought he realized what was bothering him.

"You still don't know, do you?"

Unable to even respond, Chris just shook his head 'no'.

"She's going to be alright you know.  It's just going to take a little time."  Jackson said, now studying the odd expression on Chris' face.  "I mean, if you want more specific details, it's all there in the file.  All you have to do is read it.  I just thought you should at least know it isn't anything serious.  It could have been a lot worse."

"Don't try and make light of this."

"I'm not man.  I just don't want you to beat yourself up over it though either.  It was an accident Chris.  You weren't trying to hurt her."

"Are you sure of that?  Because you and I both know that I was trying to hurt her only moments before that happened!"

"So what are you saying?  That subconsciously you wanted to hurt her.  That you knew what the end result would be by shoving TJ down the stairs?"

"Yeah. Maybe."

"That's bullshit and you know it."

"Is it?  I saw her coming up behind him Jackson and I shoved him anyway.  I could have stopped it from happening and I didn't."

Hearing Chris' confession, Jackson sat there in absolute silence.  He couldn't believe what he just heard. Did he seriously know she was there?

"She was looking right at me when I let him go.  I saw that look of fear in her eyes when she realized what was happening.  Yet I didn't even flinch.  No second guessing what I had done.  No attempt to try and stop it.  I just stood there and watched it all unfold."

"Chris...."

"You just don't get it."  Chris said, starting up his truck.  "I wanted to hurt her Jackson...and I did."