"Why are the elevators always so slow when you've got a stat to draw?" Melanie pondered as they waited.
Dee shrugged. "Are you going up to your parents' cottage this weekend?"
"Actually, I'm supposed to go up after work tonight. I've got the rest of the week off."
The elevator doors opened and they rode down the 2 floors.
"What are you doing this weekend?" Melanie asked Dee.
"Actually, I've got a four day weekend starting Thursday, but I don't have any plans."
"You never do anymore………." she replied, trailing off with a sigh.
They approached the large ER desk in the middle of the department and JoAnne was already handing the requisition slips over the desk.
"Here you are, girls. Knock yourselves out. They're in the triage room in the back."
It was then that Dee saw Melanie's eyes get as big as saucers and her face become slightly pale. She was staring at the requisition slips. "Oh…….my……….God."
"What's the problem?"
"Problem?" she squeaked out. "Look straight ahead," she said as they approached triage.
There in the large room used for prioritizing patients from mass casualty accidents or for small surgeries was a group of about 10 people, five of which were laying on gurneys. Two of the biggest men the girls had ever seen in their life were standing near the door, while another very nervous looking man paced around the room talking to Dr. Endrizzi.
"Wow…….big group, " Dee observed.
"Not just ANY group, " Melanie choked out, "that's THE biggest group in the music industry right now………..it's NSync!"
"I'm sorry Dr. Endrizzi, but we've been swamped today. But we're here now," Dee said as she took one of the requisition slips from Melanie's now-shaking hand. "Which one of you is Joshua Scott Chasez?"
A thin, yet muscular brown/blonde-haired blue-eyed man on the gurney in front of Dee said, "That would be me, but you can call me JC."
"Or you can call him Jesus.....that's what he makes us call him," the dark-haired man in the gurney next to him joked. JC leaned over and punched him on the arm before turning back to Dee
"My friends call me JC," he said smiling, as Dee tied the tourniquet around his arm.
"So I take it these guys aren't you friends?" she asked, playing along, and nodding her head at the others while she slid the needle into his arm, noticing a slight wince from him.
"Someone has to keep them in line, so it might as well be me."
"Okay, let's see who is next," she said as she finished putting the label on the tube of blood, picking up another requisition.
"Joseph Anthony Fatone Jr.............whoo, that's a mouthful"
"Don't say it, Chris or I'll pound ya," Joey said quietly. "Right here…………..Deirdre Scott," said the man lying on the gurney next to JC's, holding up his head to read her nametag, " but you can call me Joey." Dee looked into the most beautiful brown eyes flecked with amber. She, felt her face flush slightly, a feeling she hadn't had in quite some time. "You can call me Dee. The hospital makes these nametags and so we're stuck with our formal names."
"Deirdre is a pretty name."
As Dee put the tourniquet around his arm, she felt those brown eyes on her.
"Be gentle with me."
"Mr. Fatone, guys who say that to me usually fall into one of three categories. They're either going to pass out, throw up on me or they're gay," Dee said looking straight into Joey's eyes with an evil grin on her face.
"WOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOO!" Chris hollered. "I can't wait to see which one……"
After Dee had finished drawing his blood, Joey neither passed out nor threw up which made Chris seem ecstatic. "I can't wait until the tabloids get a hold of THIS news!"
"You're toast, Kirkpatrick," Joey groused.
It was then that Dee noticed that Melanie was taking her sweet time drawing blood from the spikey-haired blonde. Must be Lance she thought. Lance was Melanie's favorite, she knew. Melanie was 22 and far from being a teenybopper, but Dee knew Melanie had a picture of Lance pasted to the inside of her locker at work. "What better way to start the day than looking at those gorgeous green eyes and that cute smile!", she'd explained when Dee had asked who it was. Melanie smiled at Lance and went on to draw Chris' blood, who was now getting the business from the rest of the guys. They made disgusting noises, told him it was really going to hurt, that he'd be weak for the rest of the day and wouldn't be able to dance during the concert....... "Hey, since when could Chris dance anyway?" the one Dee assumed to be Justin said as she approached his gurney.
"Justin Randall Timberlake, I presume?" Dee said while looking at the requistion. "That would be me." the blonde replied. "You guys seem to really get along well," she commented as she drew his blood.
"We do. We're like one big happy family.....dysfunctional, but happy."
Dee laughed and felt as though someone was watching her. She looked up to see Joey's eyes watching her every move. Normally, she was never nervous drawing blood, but there was something about those eyes..........
The "pacing man" re-entered the room. "Hey, Johnny, what's going on?" JC asked.
"As soon as we're done here, we've gotta get out to Miller Park for some radio spots and the soundcheck. Hopefully, we won't be too long here yet."
"We're all done," Dee said. "We'll get these up to the Lab right away and get the results back to Dr. Endrizzi as soon as possible."
There were two nurses who came in and started plugging in the oxygen lines as Dee and Melanie started to exit the room.
"Thanks Dee and Melanie!" all five of the bandmembers called. Melanie and Dee turned around and waved.
Chapter Three
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