Justin paced back and forth across the dirt road. He became restless waiting in his car and got out for some fresh air. He checked his watch watching the time pass by. He checked his phone  waiting for any phone calls or texts pertaining to Zenia and Grace. All he had were missed calls and voicemails from Johnny asking him where the hell he was.

He squinted his eyes trying to see anything up the road, but it was no use. He heard a vehicle in the distance coming down the road and looked up to see an ambulance coming his way. His heart jumped.

He tried to flag it down, knowing it wouldn’t stop. Jumping back into his car and starting up the engine, Justin began to panic as he followed the ambulance.

Justin tried to keep up with the ambulance ,  but after catching several red lights, he had lost it. He quickly googled the nearest ER and drove there in hopes that it would be the right one. 

He raced inside, not caring about his identity. He didn’t bother to throw on his usual dark sunglasses and low-brimmed hat.

“Hello, sir. How may I help you?”  He was greeted upon reaching the receptionist in the ER. She was a friendly blonde who looked about in her mid 20’s. She smiled at him politely.

“Um, hi. I think my girlfriend may be here, but I’m not sure.” He said frantically. 

“What’s your girlfriend’s name?” The receptionist asked, raising her eyebrows at Justin. She immediately recognized him, but did her best not to show.

“Zenia Carter. Please, I need to know if she is here.” He pleaded. He was well aware of the hospital rules and knew that this receptionist probably couldn’t give him any information, and he hated to throw his name around because that was not in his nature at all, but he was desperate to know anything. 

The lady looked around  then leaned forward and whispered, “She is here, but I can’t tell you anything else. Once she is in a room, I will send someone to let her know you are here so you can go back.”

“She’s here?! Is she okay? Is Grace okay?” He asked, hoping for just a little more leeway.

“I’m sorry, sir. I can’t tell you anything else. If you want to wait in the lobby, I can let you know when it is okay for you to see them.”

Justin thanked her and took a seat in the farthest side of the waiting area. He took in his surroundings and was relieved to see that only a few other people were in the waiting room, mostly elderly and not worried about him at all, but still hoped he wouldn’t have to sit there for long. 

—

Zenia sat on the rigid hospital bed and sighed. She wanted to get out of there so bad, but the doctors wanted to examine and run tests on both her and Grace before being released. She refused to let Grace out of her sight once they arrived so they both were sharing a room. She looked at the little girl who was sleeping soundly at her side, her brown curls nearly matted from weeks of not being brushed properly.

With all the rush of doctors and nurses that were in and out of the room and asking questions and poking and prodding, she didn’t have a chance to call Justin. She still didn’t even have her phone. When it was finally peaceful, she picked up the hospital phone and began to dial his number. 

“Z?” 

Zenia was confused. She heard the phone still ringing in her ear, but also heard Justin’s voice, or what she thought was Justin’s voice close by. She held the receiver away from her ear and looked at it skeptically. Then she heard him again.

“Zenia?”

Zenia whipped her head around to see Justin standing in the doorway of the room. One look at his face nearly broke her. He was clearly distraught, and the thought that she was the cause of his pain hurt her. She never wanted to be the reason he was hurting, even if it was out of her control. 

“Oh my God.” He crossed the threshold of the room and forcefully took her into his arms, the phone in her hand dropping to the ground with a thud.

Zenia couldn’t believe what was happening. She almost thought she was dissociating again, but no, this was in real time. This was her Justin. He was here. He had found them. 

“J?” She asked, her voice muffled by his chest as she clung to him, breathing him in as if she didn’t know when she would ever smell his distinct scent again.

“Yes, baby. I’m here,” He cried, not ashamed of the big tears that were falling from his crystal blue eyes. 

“I saw the news, Justin. I saw what you did for me. For us,” She sobbed, gripping his back tighter.

“I was not stopping until I found you both. God, I’ve never been so scared in my life.”

He pulled back, scanning his eyes over her, “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”

Zenia contemplated telling him about the couple of times she got roughed up, but didn’t think it was best. Emotions were high. In general, she was physically not injured and that was all he needed to know right now. 

“I’m not hurt. We’re not hurt.” She confirmed, looking over at Grace’s sleeping form. Justin’s eyes followed hers, landing on the little girl resting on the hospital bed that had stole his heart along with her mother. His eyes began to well up again with fresh tears.

“Can I wake her?” He asked, whispering. “I want her to know I’m here.”

“Sure,” Zenia released Justin and it almost felt torturous. She wanted that security of being back in his arms, but she knew Grace needed to see that Justin was here.

Justin sat on the edge of the bed and gently placed his large hand on Grace’s back, “Gracie?”

The little girl stirred and her eyes fluttered a few times as she adjusted to the light. She brushed wild curls out of her face.

“Justin?”

She shot up and jumped into his arms, the two embracing as Zenia looked on, her heart swelling at the scene. 

“Hey, baby girl.”

“I missed you,” She cried, holding onto his neck tighter. 

“I've missed you too, Gracie.”

Zenia was so focused on the two embracing in front of her that she didn’t notice another person enter the room as they enveloped her in a hug. She turned in the person’s arms to see her mother, relief and worry both etched into her face. 

“Mom?” 

“Oh my God, Zenia. I came as soon as Justin called,” Tanya cried hugging her daughter tightly.

“Grandma!” Gracie quickly transferred from Justin’s arms to her grandmother’s.

“Hey, Gracie bug. Grandma is so happy you’re okay.”

The three stood hugging and sobbing into each other’s arms. Justin blinked back his own tears as he looked on at his little family knowing then that they would be in his life always. He was going to make sure of that.

—

After staying overnight at the hospital, taking countless statements with the police, Zenia and Grace were finally released, with no injuries to show except for emotional ones. As they approached their home, she thought it crazy that she was almost glad to see paparazzi lining the streets heading up to Justin’s gated home. Anything was better than where she was just a day and half prior. 

The cameras went off left and right. She shielded her face as best she could but knew it was useless. 

Justin looked over at her apologetically, “I’m sorry, Z. This isn’t the peaceful welcome you all were looking for.”

“It comes with the territory. Especially if your boyfriend is Justin Timberlake who put out a nationwide search to bring you back home,” she teased.

“It worked, didn’t it?” He placed his hand on her thigh and squeezed affectionately.

“It did.”

Once they were inside the gates, a sense of relief washed over Zenia. This was home.

“My mama is here. She flew in when I told her the news. I hope you don’t mind,” Justin said breaking her thoughts.

“Not at all, Justin. I love your mom.”

“She loves you too. Both of you.”

Justin carried Grace inside, while holding Zenia’s hand. Lynn was quickly at their side, pulling them all in for hugs. 

“Oh my goodness, I was so worried about y’all. You girls sure did give us a scare.”

Zenia looked down, “I’m sorry.”

“Oh, honey. Don’t you ever apologize for that. We worried because we care.”

Zenia nodded and gave a tired smile. 

“Gracie? Do you want to come upstairs with me? I have a little surprise for you.” Lynn reached out to Grace, who hesitantly looked up at Justin for approval.

“It’s ok, Gracie. We will be right here, sweetheart.” He assured her, kissing her forehead.

She allowed Lynn to take her as they took off towards the staircase, Lynn soothingly rubbing her back as she carried her upstairs.

“I know I showered at the hospital, but I’m dying to have a real shower with my own things.” Zenia spoke up.

“How about I run you a bath? Come up in a few minutes?” Justin offered.

“That sounds amazing.”

While Justin went to tend to the bath, Zenia pulled out her new phone. Justin had one delivered to the hospital a few hours after he arrived, definitely a perk of being a celebrity. She was happy to have some sort of communication with her friends again who were worried sick about her. They had texted on and off since the day before, which gave Zenia a sense of normalcy. She wanted so bad to feel normal again after all of this. She worried about her own emotional wellbeing as well as Grace’s and knew that they would definitely need some extensive counseling. 

“Z? It’s ready,” Justin called from the upstairs landing. 

She made her way upstairs, passing by Grace’s room peaking inside to see she and Lynn sitting on the bed looking at all the new things Lynn had brought her. She hoped it would cheer Grace up temporarily, because she worried so much about her. She had become a lot more timid and quiet the past few weeks. Zenia was glad that Lynn was here to offer love and comfort. It was what they both needed. 

Zenia walked into her bathroom to see Justin standing by the tub which was full of water and bubbles. Towels were placed nearby, as well as Zenia’s favorite body wash, shampoo and conditioner. She heard music playing faintly through the Bluetooth speaker.

“Wow. This is nice. Thank you, J.” She pulled him in for a hug, lingering as she didn’t want to let go. She hadn’t been able to hold him for weeks up until yesterday and she was definitely trying to make up for lost time.

Justin pulled away, “You’re welcome, baby. Take as long as you need.” He kissed her sweetly then began to walk away.

“Wait.”

Justin looked at her curiously, “Yeah?”

“Will you stay with me?” She asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

“Sure,” He smiled. “I’m glad you asked because I wanted to stay, but I wanted to give you some time alone if that is what you needed. Do you mind if I help you?”

“I would love that.”

Justin tenderly reached for the hem of her shirt helping her pull it over her head. Zenia let her sweatpants fall to the floor, stepping out of them. She turned around, giving Justin the cue to unclasp her bra , which he did. He placed a kiss onto her shoulder, then pulled her hair out of the ponytail it was in, letting her unruly curls fall to her shoulder. Finally, she stepped out of her underwear and placed them in the pile as well. Justin looked at her lovingly as she stepped into the bathtub and settled down, a sigh escaping her lips as she adjusted to the temperature of the warm water.

“Feel good?” He asked, sitting along the edge of the tub. 

“Amazing.” She said, letting her head tip back to rest on the wall. 

Justin grabbed the body wash and wash cloth, “May I?”

She nodded in confirmation, as he proceeded to wet the wash cloth, lathering it with soap. He gently washed her body for her, in no way was he trying to seduce her or initiate anything, he just wanted to take care of her. He wanted her to relax and to show her there was nothing he wouldn’t do for her.

Zenia reveled in the act of care that he was showing her. She felt herself tearing up and tried to stop the tears from coming. It was just that this simple gesture was so caring and she was overwhelmed with emotion.

“What’s wrong? Do you want me to stop?” Justin froze, not wanting to make her uncomfortable.

“Nothing. Nothing is wrong. Please don’t stop. I really appreciate this. Thank you.” 

“I would do anything for you, Zenia. I’ve told you that before and I meant it.” Justin lifted her leg out of the water and delicately ran the wash cloth from her thigh to her feet.

She knew he loved her. He told her all the time with his words and his actions. He put his life on hold to bring her back home. He waited for her. He searched for her. He found her. And his love for her had only seemed to grow more than she could’ve ever imagined.