Disclaimer: Don't know them. Remember! Everything written here is fiction.
Author's Notes: As most of the world knows, tragedy struck New York, Washington D.C., and Pennsylvania during those hours when people were going to work on Tuesday. I would like to ask those people who are crass, arrogant, and insensitive enough to stop and please consider the pain that most of these people are going through. I have 2 New Yorker friends and I'm really mad at them right now for being so heartless about this whole situation. Just because you weren't there doesn't mean that your friends, family, and acquaintances could have been affected. All I'm asking is that you be sensitive and support those who are affected by all this. Remember that it could be you there.
Pray for the souls of the victims and help their families and friends who are in need of comfort.
Anyway, I chose "Fields of Gold" by Sting and "Circle Game" by Joni Mitchell for my chapter's songs. I had a random pick and these beauties were chosen. Hey to Shaun, Zarah, Josh, Ashley W., Jose, Sam, Joanne, Penny, and Alex.
Lastly, Remember to email with your reactions so far, violent or otherwise.
Peace and Nacho Cheese, Dane
PS. I'm so fucking glad that the Lady Marmalade girls won best video. ;)
Mad Season by Dane Chapter 12
Sober
The next few days were a myriad of things for James. He was in sadness that there was no change in the condition of his Mom. As well as Howie, Nick, and AJ had to leave soon to finish the last three weeks of their tour. Somehow, Christina's management was able to get her as the BSB's support act for the tour, much to Howie's delight, so she'll be leaving with them. All four of them plan on coming back the week before Christmas to spend time with James and the rest of NSYNC. Ryan was never around, so James never really got a chance to talk to him. Chris and Dani were still in LA finishing all their meetings and will be heading out to the Big Apple in a couple more days; that made James happy. JC and Justin were now on a creative overdrive and spent their time writing stuff for a new album. Spending time with them led only led to being ignored edgewise due to their intense obliviousness to anyone else. But what hurt was the fact that he hasn't seen Joey since the presscon.
James was alone for the first time in the 2 weeks since everyone came crashing back in his life. The hospital chair that he was sitting on made his butt numb from sitting as he watched the comatose body of his mother. He sighed loudly, watching the routine check-up of the nurse that constantly hit on him whenever he was around and waiting patiently for someone for someone to bring over some stuff from his apartment. For once, he was glad that his family was out of here and in decent beds sleeping.
A knock at the door brought James out of his revelry and he saw that AJ and Nick arrived with the stuff that he asked for. He thanked the both of them as they placed down one duffel bag of clothes and a guitar case in a closet and sat down on the other chairs.
"How are you holding up, Lance?" asked Nick with concern written on his face.
"It's somewhat good, if at all emotionally tiring. One thing for sure though, I will never touch Jack Daniels ever again," James joked as he saw AJ winced and laughed at the same time.
"I feel you brother. JD can be a son of a bitch when it can be," said AJ with his raspy voice. "That did me in for rehab. Shit, I'm glad I'm able to control myself now."
"At least, you're all better," Lance commented. "Thanks for bringing my stuff over here. I would've asked any of my guys to do it for me but they are all inconspicuously absent." He paused for a moment. "Fuck! I miss Joey."
"Yeah, come to think of it, I haven't seem the Phat-One in two days. The only thing that I've noticed to make sure that he's alive is the snoring that I hear from his room when I'm there during the afternoons," said Nick.
"Well, at least my lughead is alive. I wonder why he isn't showing himself to me."
"Maybe it was something you did," offered AJ.
"I don't know. I really don't think I've done anything except running out on everybody. I've already apologized for that so I don't know what's his problem is with me. He's avoiding me like the plague and I'm not sure of why the hell is he doing that. Ever since I told him that we should slow down a bit and that I should live in my apartment, I haven't seen him nor spoken with him."
Frustrated by everything, Lance got out his guitar, tuned it, and continued to talk to the two Backstreet Boys. Their conversation varied from the right kind of alcohol to drink on certain occasions to growing up in the industry to Broadway musicals. Every so often, they would play "name that song" with an endless arsenal of show tunes. An endless love of musicals seems to be a common bond between the three. All three promised each other to watch "Rent" when they were back in town. Their music brought the attention of the head of pediatrics and asked them if they could go to the children's ward to give them a show. They waited until Howie and Christina came back from their lunch date to leave for the children's floor.
"They're all feeling a bit low because most of them either are going to have surgery or are still recovering from it. They need something to lift them up," said the kindly doctor who supervises the ward and led them to a large room full of restless and bored children.
The three of them felt a sudden kind of pity for the kids who were all either lounging around with their crutches and slings or were hooked up to some contraption for their ailments. The moment that their presence was known, a small crowd gathered around the three and soon questions about "What is it like being famous" and requests for autographs came from all sides.
"Okay, everyone! Settle down!" admonished Lance as the able kids gathered around the trio and the disabled ones were wheeled in closer to them. "Now, I want to ask you kids something. What do you guys want to be when you grow up?"
A mousy haired boy shouted, "I want to be like you guys", and the room exploded with laughter. A girl in pajamas said she wanted to be a ballerina. Boys and girls gave their dreams out excitedly and more.
AJ shushed them after a while and said, "We are all going to sing for you guys this afternoon and we'll take any requests as long as long as we can sing it."
"First off, we are going to sing one favorite song of mine which was sung to me by Dad when I was a little younger than you guys but I still want to hear it every now and again. It's by a folk singer named Joni Mitchell, if you heard of her; she used to be heard a lot by your parents. This song is called "The Circle Game". Nick, you start off this one," ordered Lance and Nick prepared himself for his cue as Lance played the notes of the song.
Yesterday a child came out to wonder Caught a dragonfly inside a jar Fearful when the sky was full of thunder And tearful at the falling of a star Then the child moved ten times round the seasons Skated over ten clear frozen streams Words like, when you're older, must appease him And promises of someday make his dreams And the seasons they go round and round And the painted ponies go up and down We're captive on the carousel of time We can't return we can only look behind >From where we came And go round and round and round In the circle game
Sixteen springs and sixteen summers gone now Cartwheels turn to car wheels thru the town And they tell him, Take your time, it won't be long now Till you drag your feet to slow the circles down And the seasons they go round and round And the painted ponies go up and down We're captive on the carousel of time We can't return we can only look behind >From where we came And go round and round and round In the circle game
So the years spin by and now the boy is twenty Though his dreams have lost some grandeur coming true There'll be new dreams, maybe better dreams and plenty Before the last revolving year is through And the seasons they go round and round And the painted ponies go up and down We're captive on the carousel of time We can't return, we can only look behind >From where we came And go round and round and round In the circle game
The three of them finished with the last chorus to a room full of clapping children. They never heard such a thing in their short lives. A babble erupted and the boys were soon engulfed with song requests from their albums. By the end of their stay, they sang to awful renditions of "Pop", "I Want It That Way", "Bye, Bye, Bye", and "The Call". Surprisingly, it was the slower songs like "Shape of My Heart" and "This I Promise You" that garnered the most from the young crowd. After a few encores, the trio left, with much disappointment from the kids. With an afternoon well spent, the three made their way back to the private room of Lance's Mom.
"Yep, what a wonderful afternoon," thought Lance with a smile on his face.
Back at the Hotel...
Ryan knew something was bugging Joey since the day after the press conference. For the pass five nights, Joey has been dragging him to clubs and bars all over the city and staying out until the sun was way past the horizon. Somehow, he managed to wake up, despite having just slept 3 hours since coming back to the hotel.
Groaning in pain, he checked if anyone was in the suite. He found a note addressed to him. He winced at approaching the sunlight he needed to read the note.
Ry, Me and Just went to the studio to write up some tracks. Chris called to say that he's arriving tonight with Dani. They managed to end their business trip short. Lance is at St. Mercy's along with the rest of the guys. You and Joey have the fort. Call us if anything happens. JC
P.S. I hope you and Joey have an explanation of your actions for the past few of nights.
Exhaling a loud sigh, Ryan went for the phone to order some late lunch, and importantly, the brew of the gods, Coffee. Ryan waited for room service while watching some episodes of the Powerpuff Girls. He almost went back to sleep when the food and coffee arrived. First downing the aspirin he asked for, he then took his meal and contemplated over the events that happened since the call about Lance's mom. Ryan came to his decision calmly, but reluctantly.
"People need to know about this," Ryan thought as he sipped his coffee, then disdainfully made a face. "Aggh! If this is a world class hotel, then why do their coffee tastes like crap?"
After a painfully slow shower and deciding what to wear to the hospital, which was agonizing due to his hangover, Ryan made his way to St. Mercy's. God in heaven being merciful, Ryan made it with minimal fuss and traffic. He winced when the crowd of fans outside screamed and chatted while doing their vigil, in hope of meeting their favorite boyband member. He soon arrived at the room; however, Lance wasn't around, only Howie, Christina, and Lance's indisposed mother. He took in the eerie silence of the room and decided to rest up a bit before talking to Lance and slouched down on one of the chairs in the room. He only slept for an hour when Lance, Nick, and AJ arrived from the children's ward. He woke you to the voice of Nick, which sounded more like a sonic boom.
"Ryan! Dude! Finally we get to see that ugly mug of yours," Nick shouted, waking not only Ryan, but Howie and Christina as well.
"Damnit Nick! Can't you be any louder?" Ryan cried miserably while clutching his head in pain. Howie and Christina didn't reprimand Nick, only assaulted him with whatever object that was handy at the time. AJ and Lance backed away when a bedpan and a stuffed toy hurtled across the short distance between the couple and Nick's face.
"Ouch! That hurts!"
"You deserved that, Brat," Howie said with a stern voice. Since it didn't come from Kevin, everyone started to laugh, but Howie just scowled. "Fuck you, guys!"
Christina cuddled up to her boyfriend and tried to pacify his ego. "Poor baby, no one takes you seriously." The rest of us continued to snigger and Howie just flipped us off.
After a few minutes of calming down, Lance turned to Ryan. "Dude, where have you been hiding this past week? It was almost as if you fell off the face of the earth or something like that."
"I've been with Joey the past five nights and I think he needs help."
Everyone sat up a little straighter at that. "What's up with him? Is he in trouble?" asked Lance with tense agitation.
Ryan sat down and told everyone about the nights of barhopping, endless partying, going to clubs, and wild misadventures that almost got they arrested. He told they of the mindless conversations that he and Joey would while he was in his inebriated state, of all the babble he said due to alcohol. When he caught Joey take some pills the night before at some club, he decided to confront him. Joey brushed him off and said he was just trying it out. He knew he had to something to help Joey.
After the initial shock wore off, Lance started to get angry and stalked out of the room. Everyone looked at each other than rushed to follow him. AJ and Ryan were the only ones who were able to catch up with Lance in the elevator.
"What's with you, guy? Are you going to march into the hotel and do something to Joey?" asked AJ, clutching his chest heavily.
"Yeah, I'm going to pound some sense into that boyfriend of mine!" said Lance plainly with a face of contorting anger.
The elevator stopped at the ground level, and not even the small crowd outside could stop Lance from hailing a cab. AJ and Ryan managed to get themselves in the cab with Lance in the lead. AJ looked back and saw that Nick, Howie, and Christina weren't that lucky, and got instantly mauled by the fans.
The ride back to the hotel was tense, as they were impatient for the inevitable. Ryan wasn't so sure of himself now that he told Lance everything that's been happening. AJ was trying to figure out how to pacify things if anything got out of hand. Lance was just fuming with boiling rage. The cab stopped and Lance was the first one out, leaving the other two to pay for the quick ride. Near the elevators, Lance kept on pressing the "Up" bottom and both of his friends finally caught up with him. Suddenly, he lost patience and bolted up the stairs, leaving AJ and Ryan flabbergasted.
"I'll follow him. You wait for the elevator and try to intercept him before he rushes into Joey's room and do something he'll regret," AJ told Ryan, and then bounded up the stairwell to follow Lance. After about twelve floors, AJ had to gasp out. "Lance! Slow Down! You're killing me!" Lance said nothing as he continued to go up the stairs, so AJ had no choice but to go after the livid Mississippian.
10 floors later, Lance shoved the fire exit door that led to the floor where everyone was staying. AJ staggered behind him, breathing like air was scarce and feeling like his legs were heavy with lead. Ryan emerged from the elevators and helped AJ moved towards the NSYNC suite. Lance pounded on the door of Joey's room once he discovered that the door was locked. Without any pretense of patience, Lance kicked the door near the handle and it flew open as it broke. AJ and Ryan backed off when that happened. Scanning the dark hotel room, the curtains were closed and the lights were off, the bass singer found no trace of his missing boyfriend. Sighing quietly to himself, all the anger he felt dissipated, as if an anticlimax just occurred. He waited another 10 minutes, still no Joey. Lance sighed in disappointment. He was about to leave when he heard softly agonizing moans coming from the bathroom.
Outside the room, AJ, with his pants down, was placing some liniment that he got from Justin's bathroom on his sore leg muscles while Ryan looked through the cabinets and found some peanuts to eat. Out of the blue, Lance shouted from the room "AJ! Ryan! GET IN HERE! QUICK!".
In their surprise, Ryan jumped and the can of peanuts popped out and cascaded all around. AJ tripped rushing into the room, due to his pants. Both managed to bungle into the room and found Lance holding on to an unconscious Joey.
"Can one of you please dial 911?" said Lance in desperation. After a moment of shock, Ryan snapped to it and rushed to the bedside table. AJ bent down and started to ask questions while pulling up his pants. Taking Joey away from Lance's agitated grasp, he did some basic first aid.
"I heard moaning coming from here and found him like this." He started to weep, hoping that this wasn't happening.
"Pulse is steady. Breathing is shallow. The smell of vomit. Clammy skin." AJ looked at Lance with a stoic face but his eyes clearly showed fear in them. "I think he has Alcohol Poisoning. We'll let the EMT guys diagnose him and see, okay buddy?" Lance just nodded.
Soon, the paramedics came and quickly examined Joey. They came to the same conclusion as AJ and wheeled him out of the hotel to the waiting ambulance. Lance rode with them back to St. Mercy's while Ryan and AJ took a taxi. Both of them split the people who needed to be called, finishing just in time as the cab parked in front of the emergency room. Nick was waiting for them; beside him was an unconscious Lance.
"They have to sedate him. They'll be pumping Joey's stomach as soon as JC or one of his family members arrive to answer some questions." As Nick said this, Lance huddled closer to Nick's body, so Nick gave him a comforting hug to help in the pain.
Janine came rushing in, with JC and Justin right on her tail. She talked to the doctor, while a nurse wrote down the information. Ryan and AJ filled in the necessary blanks in Joey's history and then the doctors proceed to pumping his stomach.
In Diane's room...
Howie and Christina were ordered to stay by AJ and to await for any news from them. The young couple shared to chair where they were sitting and snuggled closer because of the cold atmosphere in the room. Diane stayed still in her coma, but a doctor came by just minutes before to say that she would be awake any moment now. The long day was finally winding down to the evening and the only news they heard so far was that Joey was still having his stomach pumped. The rest of the Bass family won't be here until later so the couple was charged to watch over Diane while the rest of the gang were downstairs tending to Joey.
"Hon, can you sing me something? If just to break the monotony of the place?" asked Christina. She was resting her head on Howie's shoulder while he embraced her tiny waist.
"Sure, what do you want to hear?"
"I don't know. Anything. Anything you can think of."
Howie thought of a moment and then smiled at the piece he chose. He hugged her closer and started to sing "Fields of Gold" by Sting.
You'll remember me when the west wind moves Upon the fields of barley You'll forget the sun in his jealous sky As we walk in fields of gold
So she took her love For to gaze awhile Upon the fields of barley In his arms she fell as her hair came down Among the fields of gold Will you stay with me, will you be my love Among the fields of barley We'll forget the sun in his jealous sky As we lie in fields of gold
See the west wind move like a lover so Upon the fields of barley Feel her body rise when you kiss her mouth Among the fields of gold
I never made promises lightly And there have been some that I've broken But I swear in the days still left We'll walk in fields of gold We'll walk in fields of gold
Many years have passed since those summer days Among the fields of barley See the children run as the sun goes down Among the fields of gold You'll remember me when the west wind moves Upon the fields of barley You can tell the sun in his jealous sky When we walked in fields of gold When we walked in fields of gold When we walked in fields of gold
"That was beautiful," said a weak voice.
Howie and Christina whipped up their heads and saw that Diane was awake. They rushed to either side and smiled weakly at the newly-awaken woman.
"How do you feel, Mrs. Bass?" asked Howie.
"Thirsty. Can one of you get me a glass of water?" she requested hoarsely. Christina went to the table and poured some water into a glass. She gave it to Diane and she in returned thanked the singer.
"Where am I?"
"You're in St. Mercy's Hospital in Manhattan. You were in a car accident about a week ago and you slipped into a shallow coma."
"Is my family here? Are they here?". The agitation was clear in her voice.
"Yes, but most of them are at the hotel getting ready to come here."
"Most?"
The couple looked at each other, not really sure if telling her that Lance was in the ER such a good idea. Their silent debate was interrupted by Diane's "Ahem" and both of them took a leap of faith and told her.
"Diane, Lance is here too," Christina said slowly, hoping to gage a good reaction.
The Bass matriarch frowned a bit. "I want to see him. I need to talk to him."
"Are you sure that's a good idea, Diane?" asked Howie.
"I need to see my son. Now, both of you find him and I'll just be here waiting."
The couple went out reluctantly and followed her orders. They went down to the ER and saw the rest of the gang spread out in the waiting area. JC perked up when he saw them.
"What are you guys doing here?" he asked.
Howie looked at the figure of Lance, who was groggily waking up at that moment. "Diane just woke up. She wants to see Lance," he said hesitantly.
At that, Lance sprang from his sluggishness and sprinted towards the elevator. AJ and Ryan groaned as all of them, except Janine who decided to stay, followed their friend to his mother's room. "Here we go again," the both of them thought.
Lance made his swift way to Diane's room, but stopped short of five steps away from the door. He doesn't know what's going to happen, so he steeled himself, hoping that history won't repeat itself.
TBC...
Remember to write your comments and suggestions, if any at all. If you want to read my other stuff, there "Love, Words, and Intentions" and "Eventually". Damn myself for my shameless self-promotion. Anyway, Later Days.