The next day Salina woke up with a pounding headache and a horrible stomach ache. She heard Vanessa crying in her room so she stumbled blindly to Vanessa’s room before picking the girl up and stumbling back to her own room to lie back down. Vanessa stopped crying as Salina pulled the covers back over herself, but began to roll around on the bed.
“Vanessa, come up here and go back to sleep, mi hija.”
Vanessa crawled on top of her mother and smiled. “Mama up?”
Salina sighed. “I’m sick, baby. You have to let mommy rest.” Salina tiredly stood up and headed into the kitchen to grab Vanessa some juice and crackers. When she returned to her room she silently thanked JC for buying her the TV and DVD player that she had in there before turning on cartoons for Vanessa.
She settled Vanessa at the end of the bed with her breakfast and entertainment before climbing back into the bed herself.
A few hours later there was a knock on the door.
“Salina, hello?” JC called as he entered the dark apartment and placed the groceries he’d bought for dinner on the counter. “Sal? You here?
Upon hearing another’s voice Vanessa turned to see her mother sound asleep. Quietly she crawled off the bed and toddled towards the front of the apartment. She peeked around the corner and let out a quiet, “Hi” to the person whose back was turned to her.
She lit up when the person turned around and it was her favorite male.
“C!” she threw her arms up in the air which had become her signal for him to pick her up.
Vanessa had gotten to the age where she no longer liked being picked up and carried around, but with JC all of that flew out the window. Salina supposed that Vanessa felt safe in his arms which is why the little girl insisted that he carry her everywhere. He didn’t mind because he also loved having her in his arms.
“Hi, sweetiepie. Where’s your mommy?” He said looking at her ruffled pajamas and messy hair. It wasn’t like Salina to just let them sleep around all day.
“Mama sweeping.” Vanessa pointed to Salina’s bedroom.
“She’s sleeping?” JC frowned and both heads turned as they heard Salina vomiting in her bathroom. “Uh-oh. Mommy’s sick.” Vanessa nodded as if she understood as JC carried her towards Salina’s room.
“Salina?” He called setting Vanessa on the bed and continuing into the bathroom where he found his girlfriend lying in a ball on the floor.
She looked up at him pitifully. “Is Vanessa okay?”
He nodded. “Yeah, yeah. She’s fine.” He went to sit down next to her and pushed her sweaty hair away from her face. “You’re burning up. What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know. My stomach is killing me and I’ve been throwing up all morning.” She shivered as she curled up into a tighter ball.
JC picked her up and carried her to the bed. As he laid her down he noticed a swelling in her abdomen. When he bent to examine it closer and put his hand on it she let out a whimper. “Baby, we gotta get you to a hospital.”
She shook her head. “No, I’ll be fine. I just need to rest until tomorrow.”
“Salina, this doesn’t look good. What if you have internal bleeding or something?”
“I don’t.” She said closing her eyes.
He opened his mouth like he was going to argue with her for a minute before going back into the kitchen to put away the groceries. While he was on the phone with Tyler and packed an overnight bag for both Salina and Vanessa and put them in his car before heading back into Salina’s room and picking her up without one word to her.
“What are you doing?” She moaned as she buried her face in his neck.
“Taking you to a hospital. Come on Vanessa.” He called to the little girl who was watching him with wide eyes. She quickly jumped off the bed and followed him out into the hall. “Close the door, Nessa.” She did as told and followed him to the elevator.
“JC, I already told you I cant go to a hospital. What are we gonna do with Vanessa? I don’t want her there, she could get sick.”
“Tyler’s gonna meet us there and take her back to his place.”
“Vanessa?” She called weakly for her daughter.
Vanessa looked up worriedly at her mother, but didn’t respond.
“She’s right here, babe.” JC consoled her as he walked the two girls to his car. He first placed Salina in the front seat and buckled her in before putting Vanessa in her car seat and driving to the hospital which was fairly close to Salina’s apartment complex.
Tyler was already in the lobby of the hospital when JC pulled up and stayed with Vanessa in the car while JC carried Salina into the emergency room and checked her in. While Salina was waiting for the triage nurse to examine her, JC went back outside and told his brother to take the little girl home and pick her up something to eat. The brothers swapped keys and Tyler left with Vanessa in JC’s car.
When JC entered the hospital again, the triage nurse was helping Salina into a wheelchair.
“What’s going on?” JC asked as he stood next to his girlfriend who rested her head on his frame.
“Her condition seems pretty serious, so we’re gonna take her on back so the doctors can get a look at her. You can follow me, Mr. Chasez.” The nurse said as she began wheeling Salina back behind the large metal doors. The nurse had JC stand outside the curtain of the small cubicle as she examined Salina.
When JC was finally allowed back by her side, she was twisted up in a ball facing away from him. “How you holding up, Sal?”
“Can I go home now?” She asked.
He laughed. “No, the doctor hasn’t even been here yet. Just relax.”
“I hate hospitals.” She pouted.
He rolled his eyes. “Well, you’re here now so deal with it.” Just then the curtain opened again and a tall, handsome, young-looking doctor stepped into the room.
“Hello, folks. I’m Dr. Thomas, one of the ER doctors on call tonight. You have a little bit of a stomach ache over here?” The doctor asked Salina.
“I wouldn’t say ‘a little bit,’ but yeah.” Salina sighed as she rolled over to face him.
“Okay, let’s see what we got here.” He laughed.
Salina closed her eyes as the doctor lifted her shirt and pressed against her abdomen lightly. Salina whimpered at his touch. “Sorry. It looks to me like appendicitis, but I wanna get you some tests to see for sure.”
“How old are you?” Salina asked him suddenly.
“How old do I look?” He smiled and JC raised his eyebrows at the two in amusement.
“Doogie Howser-ish.”
The doctor laughed and patted Salina on the shoulder. “I guarantee you, I’m not a teenager. I’m going to go have the nurse take you for the ultrasound and then I’ll be back to check you out when you get back.” The doctor left and JC looked at Salina.
“Why are you staring at me like that?”
“I was just watching you flirt with the nice doctor.” He replied as he stood up and walked to her bedside.
“I was not flirting.” She narrowed her eyes at him.
“You were flirting, Sal.” He smiled and kissed the top of her head. “Thank God I’m such an understanding boyfriend.”
She sighed. “I’m sorry I’m being such a brat.”
“It’s okay. You’re sick, you’re allowed. We’re gonna get you better and back home soon.” He started to sit back in his chair, but she caught his hand.
“Jace?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you.”
He smiled. “I love you too.”
“No, I mean I really love you. More than I’ve loved anyone else besides Vanessa.” He gazed down at her before leaning in to kiss her. “I’ve been throwing up all day.”
He stopped a breath from her lips. “I really don’t care.” He said kissing her fully on the lips. She smiled when he pulled back and he sat back down.
Just then a nurse came in to take Salina down for an ultrasound. JC bid her goodbye and went back outside to call Tyler.
“Hello?”
“Hey, how’s it going over there?”
“Oh, we’re having a blast.” Tyler said out of breath making JC wonder what they were doing. “What’s up with Salina?”
“They think she has appendicitis. She’s down getting an ultrasound right now. They’re probably gonna keep her here overnight so I need you to call Jenn and let her know that Salina will be out for a few days. I don’t have her number on me right now, but if you call WEG there’s always a receptionist on call who has the cell numbers. Jenn can let Johnny know tomorrow-”
“Don’t sweat it, Jenn’s on her way here now.”
“What? Why?”
“I called her.”
“Why do you even have her number?”
“We’re sort of seeing each other…kinda, I guess.”
“Kinda…you guess?” JC asked. This was all news to him.
“Well, we hung out for a bit while you guys were at the SuperBowl and I had called her earlier today and asked her if she wanted to go out tonight, but with Salina being sick I had to call back and cancel.”
“Aww, Ty. I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”
“Nah. It’s no big deal, she’s just gonna come over and hang out with Vanessa and I.”
“Well, thanks man, I owe you.”
“Yeah, I have a BMW that I’ve got my eye on.”
“You got it.” The brothers bid each other goodbye and JC walked back inside to find the doctor and nurses prepping Salina for surgery. The doctor looked up when JC walked in.
“Well, Mr. Chasez, it looks like she’s got appendicitis, so we’re taking her in for surgery right away.”
JC nodded and looked at Salina. “Babe, I’m gonna be here when you get back, okay?”
“Okay. Did you check on Vanessa?”
“Yep, Tyler’s taking good care of her.”
“Okay, I love you.” She called to him as she was wheeled out of the room.
“I love you too” He whispered to her retreating form.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Story Tags: boyfriendjc jc justin hospital tabloids joey chris lance solojc
