Chapter 12
The next day, the storm had cleared and the weather was back to its hot, humid self. Justin was by Vicky’s side as she slowly awoke for the deep sleep she had been in all night. Her eyes were a pale, murky color indicating she was getting worse. The infection on her cut was taking her energy away.
“Vicky,” Justin whispered. “Are you thirsty?”
Vicky nodded only to feel a rush of nausea run through her. As Justin put the canteen over her lips, she slowly drank the cool water. It gave her enough strength to talk.
“What happened last night?” she whispered.
“There was a big storm so JC and I had to find a place to stay in the
jungle. We found this cave behind the waterfall and took everyone in. You’ve
been really weird, though. You kept on calling out for
“I can’t remember anything from last night. I can’t even remember the day before. Justin, what’s happened to me?” Vicky nearly cried. She wrapped her arms around his neck for comfort.
“You’re sick, that’s all. Nothing to worry about. Just get some rest right now and you’ll be alright,” he comforted. Justin held her in his arms until JC walked by.
“Hey, the storm’s over. I think we can head back to the beach now,” he said.
“Okay,” Justin replied. He stood up holding Vicky, then walked out onto the ledge. “I have to let you get across yourself. The ledge only holds one person,” he told her.
He placed Vicky on the ground. She stood with wobbly legs. “Hold me,” she pleaded. Justin took her hand and led her across. Once they were back on solid ground, he picked her up and carried her back to camp in his arms.
Chris, Joey, Lance, Sam, and JC were already there surveying the damage the storm had caused. The tents were all gone except for one. Everything else was either blown away or destroyed.
“Oh, shit,” said Chris as he walked to the standing tent.
“We’re not gonna make it out here without food,” Joey complained.
‘Vicky’s gonna die,’ Justin thought to himself. He didn’t dare want to scare the rest of them with his thoughts.
“Justin, you’re the one who’s been leading us around here, what do you think we should do?” Sam asked.
Justin thought for a couple of seconds. He didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t possibly lead them through this. “I don’t know,” he flatly answered.
“Oh, come on, you have to think of something. You can’t just let us die out here,” Lance complained.
All of a sudden, a strange noise came from the north. Over the horizon, a helicopter was heading straight for the island along with a boat marked Search and Rescue. Chris, Lance, Joey, JC, and Sam all began to wave frantically to get their attention. Justin just stood there with Vicky in his arms. He knew her struggle was finally over.
The helicopter landed near the beach in a clearing about 50 feet away from the group. Two paramedics came running out. They headed straight for them.
“Hey, we need help over here!” Justin yelled over the commotion. He set Vicky on the ground and kneeled beside her.
One of the paramedics, a young blond woman, came rushing towards them. “What’s the problem?” she asked immediately.
“It’s Vicky. I think the cut on her arm is infected. She’s very sick. She hasn’t had any food for days,” Justin explained.
“How about you?”
“Me? Oh, nothing but a cut on the forehead,” he answered.
“Okay, we have two injuries here. One serious,” she called to her partner, a guy who appeared to be in his early forties.
“Okay, take them to the chopper,” he yelled back to her.
Justin picked up Vicky and ran to the helicopter with her and the paramedic. “Come on, sweetie, don’t give up on me now,” he whispered as he laid her out on the stretcher.
Once everyone was in, the pilot took off for Orlando’s Florida Hospital. Justin kept his hand in Vicky's until they reached the landing area about half an hour later. As they stepped out onto the rooftop, her heart stopped. The doctors began to run her into the hospital. Justin ran with them. He kept his hand in hers until they were separated at the emergency room.
“Excuse me, sir,” one of the nurses got his attention. “Do you need a doctor?”
Justin nodded. The nurse brought him into the emergency room. She told him to stay there until a doctor was available. Justin waited for a long time. He realized that all the doctors were probably trying to help Vicky. His eyes began to tear up as he thought about losing her. She was the best thing that ever happened to him. He buried his head into a pillow and cried for the first time in a long while.
“Excuse me, Mr. Timberlake?” a soft female voice came from behind him.
Justin looked up to see a doctor in her white lab coat approaching him. He nodded and wiped the tears out of his eyes.
“Hi, I’m Dr. Jerkins. I’ll be looking at that awful cut on your head,” she said, putting on her gloves to examine the cut on his head.
“Ow!” he shrieked in pain as she cleaned the cut out with some antiseptic.
“Finally, I heard you say something,” Dr. Jerkins replied. “I thought you were too shy to talk.”
“I’m not,” Justin responded. “I just don’t wanna talk. Too many things have gone wrong today.”
“Oh, I see. You’ve been stranded too long on that island, and now you think you’re girlfriend is going to die. I know how you feel,” she sympathized.
“You heard?” he asked in disbelief.
“Yeah, it’s been the talk of the town. It’s all over the papers: ‘’N Sync lost for 3 days, search continues.’” Her hand reached for a large Band-Aid, then ripped it open. She placed it over the cut and added, “You’re all done.”
“Thank you,” Justin said as he stood up off the bed. “If you have any news about Vicky, could you please tell me?”
“I will. I hate keeping people waiting. It causes hell on their nerves.”
“Thanks.”
Justin walked out of the emergency room and into a media frenzy. Reporters and photographers were everywhere. His jaw dropped when they started shooting out questions.
“What happened on the island?” one shouted.
“Is it true you have been dating Brittany Spears?” another asked.
“Are you able to tell us about the other four members of the band?”
“Is it true you were stranded with two other people on the island?”
JC and Chris walked through the doors to see Justin standing in the middle of the reporters. They quickly went out to rescue him. JC grabbed one of his arms while Chris took the other. They dragged him into one of the private rooms set aside for them.
“Did you answer any of their questions?” JC quickly asked.
“No,” Justin shook his head vigorously. He was still shocked about what had just happened.
“Good, or we would be in some really big trouble. Johnny’s supposed to be handling the reporters. I guess he’s not here yet,” said Chris. “Man, you look like shit. What the hell happened in the ER?”
“Vicky’s heart stopped,” Justin began to cry. He wasn’t afraid to in front of his friends.
Sam, Joey, and Lance were sitting down on the couch. Sam jumped up when she heard about Vicky. “What?” she screamed.
“Her heart stopped,” Justin bawled. Sam wrapped her arms around his neck to comfort them both as they cried.
“It’s okay. She’ll be alright,” Sam tired to stay positive even though she knew it wasn’t going to work.
The door slowly opened and Dr. Jerkins walked in holding a folder. Behind her, two guys followed. They were tall and masculine compared to Justin. One had curly black hair while the other had straight blond hair like Nick Carter’s.
“Chad! Rick!” Sam exclaimed. She ran straight for the one with the curly black hair and hugged him.
“I missed you, Sammy. Any news about Vicky? Chad’s been really worried since he got the call this morning that they found you,” the guy said. Justin assumed that was Rick. The other guy was probably Chad.
“Well, I have news about her,” Dr. Jerkins said. She introduced herself and began. “Ms. Nelson is in serious but stable condition. We don’t know about her arm at this time. She will be having surgery to repair the damage caused by the infection. We were lucky enough to save it, which is a very good accomplishment that the doctors are proud to have done. She is comfortably resting in critical care. If you would like to see her, follow me.”
Justin, Sam, and Chad followed. They walked down a quiet corridor to a hallway full of doors. All the way at the end, they reached room 185. Justin walked in first to see Vicky sleeping on a bed. Her right arm was held up by a sling to keep her from moving it. ‘Thank God,’ he prayed to himself.
Chad immediately went to her bedside. He took Vicky’s left hand and kissed it. She woke up soon after and smiled.
“Hi,” Vicky barely whispered.
“Hi,” Chad replied. He bent down and gave her a loving kiss on the forehead.
Vicky was now on the uneasy side. She saw Justin in the corner of the room and looked at him. Her glance escaped his when she realized Chad was still there. The old feelings from the days before came back to her. It was all a jumbled mess in her head again. It felt as if the world would never stop spinning.
“I missed you,” Chad continued as he sat down at the foot of her bed.
“I missed you, too,” she lied.
Justin left the room feeling awkward seeing the two together. Somehow, Chris’s warning was true. Vicky might end up breaking his heart. He made a mental note to see her once Chad was out of sight and discuss what should be done about their one night stand.