Thoughtless Words
Story by Courtney C. and Jessica B.
~~*Chapter Ten- Part One*~~
Jessica~~
I
woke as the sound of thunder echoed through the bus. Laying there I replayed the
whole scene in my mind. My anger for AJ began building back up inside of me. I
didn’t want to cry again so I closed my eyes trying to go back to sleep.
Before long I could hear someone screaming my name. It was very low and hard to
hear over the sound of the rain, but I heard it.
“Howie?”
I opened my eyes and climbed out of the bunk. I just stood there in the dark
listening for it again. Am I dreaming?
“Jessica!!”
He screamed.
“Howie!”
I struggled to the front of the bus, not seeing where I was going and made it
outside. The rain was heavy and coming down fast making puddles all over the
parking lot. “Howie!” I yelled once more as he came rushing over to me. The
rain ran down his face, dripping off the ends of his hair. He was soaked.
“What are you doing here? The shows not over.”
“I
could ask you the same question.” He said grabbing my hand.
“Howie,
what’s wrong?”
“It’s
Nick and AJ. I’ll explain on the way.”
“Howie,
what is it? Tell me now!” I jerked my hand away and stopped walking.
“Jess,
we don’t have time for this, now come on!”
“Tell
me,” I said sternly. He paused for a moment, obviously not wanting to tell me.
“The
platform stage AJ and Nick were standing on collapsed,” He said with a
hesitate and nervous tone. I stood there soaked down to my socks, freezing to
death and could not believe what I had just heard.
“Oh
my gosh,” I choked. “Are they okay?”
“I
don’t know. They’ve been at the hospital for over an hour. I’ve been
looking for you. Let’s go!” We ran as fast as possible to Howie’s car. I
pushed the wet hair out of my face and sat there grinding my teeth together. Oh
my God, is he okay? Please let him be alive. I don’t want my last words to be
in hate. I don’t want to remember him like that, I thought as I began to
cry.
“Howie,
what if they’re seriously hurt. Or worse, they could be-”
“Jessica!”
He cut me off grabbing me by the shoulders and turning me to face him.
“Don’t think about that. Nick and AJ are fine. A few bumps and bruises and
they’re sitting up in their beds waiting for us.” He faked a smile, but I
could hear the doubt in his voice. The door to the elevator opened and at the
end of the hallway was Brian, Kevin, Tommi and AJ’s mom. I ran to them as fast
as I could as AJ’s mom embraced me in a very tight hug. She had been crying
and her eyes were red.
“Kevin,”
I said softly, touching his shoulder. He was bent over in one of the chairs. He
raised his head and smiled slightly.
“They
found you, huh? You had us worried. I was beginning to think you ran back to New
York, like Courtney, when we needed you most.”
“No,
I’m here,” I said hugging him. “Where’s the doctor? Have they told you
anything yet?” I rambled on not even talking to a particular person anymore,
but pacing the hallway.
“Whoa,
calm down Jess,” Brian stopped me. “Upsetting yourself is not going to
help.”
“Where
are Nick’ parents? Courtney! Oh my God. Where’s Courtney? Does she know?”
I continued.
“Jessica!”
Brian shouted once again.
“I
know, I know.” I breathed in deeply as I wiped my eyes.
“Yes,
Courtney knows. She called me awhile ago and she’s on a plane coming here
right now. She’s devastated. She saw it happen live.”
“Oh,
Courtney. She’s probably uncontrollable. And she’s by herself. Brian,” I
cried,” I’m so scared.”
“
I know. Shh....everyone is.” He rubbed my arm. Tommi was sitting against the
wall, holding her knees to her chest. I sat beside her. I wanted to ask if she
was okay, but I wasn’t sure I was myself. I calmed myself down enough to stop
crying, but I felt like if I said one word, I would start again. Instead I faked
a smile and laid my head against the wall and prayed. Prayed Courtney would be
okay in the storm, prayed that we would hear news about AJ or Nick's condition.
Were they okay, would they be okay? Are there any serious, terminal damage?
Prayed for anything....