“Nursie? Oh, nursie, dear…”

Sheridan nearly made it past Mrs. Opositals room.

“Nursie!”

Nearly was the operative word here. She sighed and backed up two steps, forcing a cheery grin for her charge.

“There you are.” Mrs. Oposital beckoned with one wizened finger. When she smiled the skin around her eyes formed chasms as deep as an archeological dig.

“Mrs. Oposital, I have to finish my rounds.” Sheridan spoke slowly and softly as if addressing a small child.

“Ohhh, I need my backrub.”

Sheridan pressed her lips together and entered the hospital room. “You already had your backrub today, Mrs. O-”

“Call me Sadie.” The old woman’s eyes were bright and expectant. She leaned forward and Sheridan could see her bony shoulders shift beneath her thin hospital gown.

“Alright, just for a minute and then I have to go.” She placed her palms against Mrs. O’s shoulder blades and kneaded them in a gentle circular motion.

“That’s so nice, nursie.” The woman closed her eyes. “So nice.”

Sheridan knew if she kept at this long enough, Mrs. O would soon be asleep, which would not be what the doctor ordered, so to speak. The woman was recovering from a broken hip. Her therapy was due to start in an hour and if she was groggy she wouldn’t be cooperative. Not that she was anyway. She would much rather be catered to and pampered than work at helping the healing process along.

Sheridan continued the massage, cutting Mrs. O some slack. The woman was eighty-two years old. Eighty-two. God, what was that like? She shook her head not being able to imagine her life past the next week much less decades from now.

It had been only four days since Sheridan started interning and Maylor General. The transition had gone much smoother than she imagined. Already she was beginning to relate to her patients on a more personal level. She knew their names, where they were from. Slowly she was learning about those who were important to them: daughters, sisters, husbands, sons, loved ones whose presence were as important as the physical therapy to make these people well. Sheridan’s life had entered a new phase. She was involved with her patients, with the intensity of hospital life.

And, when she was involved, she hardly thought about Justin at all.

It wasn’t a conscious decision to put him out of her mind. On the contrary, he was all she thought about on the drive here in the morning. But as soon as she stepped into the sterile white walled environment, she became a different person.

Mrs. O slumped forward and snored. Sheridan gently eased her back against her pillows and stepped quickly and silently out of the room. She walked past the nurses station, nodding at Gail and Ed, two interns who were just getting off duty from the night shift. They threw her weary smile and shuffled slowly out the door of the building. As they did, they clasped hands. Sheridan turned away, the small display of affection embarrassing her somehow. Why? Because it was normal, easy? Unlike her own situation, which was somewhat unique. What would Gail and Ed think of her smooching with Justin Timberlake, the world famous entertainer, on the tile floor next to the rehabilitation pool. That was anything but normal.

She continued on her rounds and peeked in to Mr. Martino’s room. He was sitting up, scarfing down his hospital lunch like it was the most succulent meal in the world. He stopped eating when he saw her then threw her a wink and a wave. After setting his fork down, he hitched a thumb proudly toward the woman seated beside his bed. That was Mary, the wife. If visiting hours were twenty four hours a day, this woman would be here twenty five. They had been married for forty-two years and, obviously, still very much in love. She watched them from the doorway. Mary dabbed at his chin with the napkin. He stopped her by grasping her hands and kissing them.

Sheridan blushed and turned away, then gasped. In her mind those blue eyes were staring at her, melting her resolve to maintain her professional composure. The thought of Justin was so sudden and unexpected, she almost burst into tears. Swallowing hard, she blinked the moisture from her eyes, checked Mr. Martino’s chart, gave him his pills and left the room. She felt a pang of guilt at not lingering to chat as she normally did but her emotions were as taut as over wound violin strings. She exited the room then ducked into the ladies room, sat on the closed lid of the toilet and shut the stall door. Staring at the white tiled floor, she breathed deeply, trying to calm herself. She wanted to analyze her reaction to the Martino’s affection towards each other. She closed her eyes, and felt her self tremble a little. She knew she was scared, she couldn’t picture herself with Justin in thirty years…hell, she wasn’t even sure if she could picture herself with him in five. The thought made her queasy inside. She cared about Justin. She cared about him a lot. Her feelings for him were the very reason she was here in the hospital, instead of home helping him with his therapy.

But if that was the case why was she so scared? What was holding her back from truly opening up her heart and mind to this relationship? She knew it was partially from the fear of Justin getting well again and leaving her…but at the same time she knew that it wasn’t the whole reason. Her lack of inexperience with men in general was a big part of her insecurity as well. How was she supposed to satisfy Justin, who was used to dating women with experience and knowledge about relationships and…sex? She couldn’t. Of course he didn’t know this yet…but he would find out in time.

The queasy feeling inside of her became more intense, and she nearly gagged. She jumped up from the toilet and threw the lid open, leaning on the sides of it for support. She waited, coughed a few times, but nothing came up. It didn’t surprise her. The lame Egg McMuffin and coffee she scarfed before coming to work this morning had long since digested. It was a good thing. She didn’t need to be getting sick when she was supposed to be tending to the sick. With a sigh she straightened herself and pushed her way out of the stall. She quickly splashed some water on her face before rejoining the outside world again. She took in a breath. Calm…she needed to be calm and get through the rest of the day.

Her eyes widened and she gasped a little, thinking one of the head nurses had noticed her sudden disappearance. She hoped she wasn’t in any kind of trouble. She knew her mother would be furious if she got reprimanded her first week on the job. She quickly made her way to the nurses station, barely breathing the entire time. “Yes,” she managed to say to the young nurse seated at the desk.

“You have a call,” the nurse informed her, with a disapproving frown that reminded her of one her mother would make from time to time. “We don’t usually condone this sort of thing with our interns…but he seemed pretty adamant that he speak with you right away.” She pointed to the phone that rested beside her, and turned back to her papers. “Make it quick, Sheridan.”

Justin. It had to be. She let out a nearly inaudible groan, cursing herself for giving him the number of where she would be. Her mother told her not to of course, but she hadn’t been able to control the urge. The first morning she had left for the hospital was hard on Justin. He wasn’t used to her leaving for long periods of time, and protested the idea by blocking her path to the door. Even though it was sort of a childish thing for him to be doing, Sheridan hadn’t been able to help but feel sorry for him. She gave him the number in hopes that it would only reassure him that she cared, and would be thinking about him…she hadn’t expected that he would get the nerve to call. She picked up the phone. “Justin,” she whined. “I really can’t talk right now.” She glanced at the nurse again, only to find that she was watching her intently. She turned away from her, in hopes that it would make her mind her own business.

“Sorry girl,” the voice laughed. “I just wanted to say hey since it’s been a while.”

Her heart skipped a beat. It wasn’t Justin. Instead, it was the last person she ever thought would track her down.

“I-I can let you go if you‘re busy.”

Say something!, her mind screamed at her. “No…” she managed. “Juan, I’m sorry…I was just a little surprised.”

“Sorry if I scared you,” he chuckled lightly. “How the hell are ya Sheridan?”

She felt a chill pass through her, and then realized she had no idea how he could have figured out she was here. Yes, she had given him her home number but she was certain that he wouldn’t call…and even if he did she knew hell would freeze over before her mother would let one of her friends call her at work. “How did you…”

He cut her off. “Know you were there?”

She nodded, but realizing she was on the phone she quickly blurted out, “Yea.”

“You think I’m a stalker, huh?”

“Oh no no…it’s not that it’s just…”

“I followed you, and got the hospital number from information,” he explained. “You think you’re the only one that enjoys Egg McMuffins in the morning, Sheridan? ”

She smiled a little. She remembered some jackass in the drive through line blaring their horn at her. But she was in such a rush to get to the hospital, she hadn’t taken the time to look and see who was causing the commotion. “That was you beeping at me this morning?” she giggled.

“Oh so you did see me?”

“Well not exactly…”

“Ignoring me now eh?” he said, mockingly. “I’m hurt Sher…truly. After our little heart to heart and all…damn.”

“Juan,” Sheridan laughed. “I was in a hurry, and I deeply apologize…if I had known…”

He cut her off again. “You know what you have to do now don’t you?”

There was a hint of mischief in his voice, and Sheridan wasn’t sure what he was getting at. “What?”

“You have to eat lunch with me.”

She closed her eyes. His timing couldn’t have been worse. Before it had been okay to hang out with him…she hadn’t fulfilled her commitment to Justin then. But now they were together, and she was sure Justin wouldn’t be too thrilled if he knew she was eating lunch with some guy she had…made out with, and still kind of liked. “Oh…um…Juan, I don’t want to sound like a snot. I just don’t think it’s the best idea.”

“But you have to. You skipped out on breakfast and now you owe me.”

“You don’t understand…”

“Look, I’m sitting out here all alone, and frankly…I’m fuckin’ starving. So could you please just forget about whatever insecurities you’re feelin’ right now and say you’ll go eat something with me? I hate eating alone,” he paused and Sheridan was sure she could hear him take a sip of something. “Makes me feel like a loser.”

Her eyes widened. “Wait a sec…you’re outside?”

“Yeah,” he laughed. “Thought I would surprise you.”

The cautious part of her was telling her something didn’t seem right about him following her to work, and waiting for her outside. But the other part of her…the part that trusted Juan…didn’t care. Tired of worrying so much, she decided to let that part take over. It was easier. “I didn’t think you’d be in town for awhile.”

“Oh I haven’t been,” he supplied. “I just got back from New York last night actually. I meant to call you, and I know I was a jerk for not doing it. I was just so damn busy…I hope you‘re not too pissed.”

She felt herself blush. She felt like an idiot for thinking he didn‘t care enough to call. From the moment she met him, Sheridan knew Juan wasn‘t like most of the guys she had met in the past. She was sure he wasn‘t the type to forget about somebody he was friends with. “No I’m not mad Juan…I figured you just got caught up with work and stuff.” She paused for a moment, and took a deep breath before speaking again. “Well…I guess I can’t turn you down, since you’re out there. I get off in about an hour if you want to meet up someplace.”

“Cool. There’s this little diner down the road…Sullivan’s. You know it?”

She shrugged. “I’m sure I can find it.”

She heard him smile. “Great…it’s pretty small, I’m sure you won’t have trouble spotting me. See you there.”

“Bye.” She hung up. This was wrong. Justin…what was she doing to Justin? Why couldn’t she have simply told Juan no, hung up and gotten on with her day? True, he barely let her get a word in as it was but Sheridan knew she could have persisted and gotten her way. She frowned…

She wanted to see him. And that was why she had let him get the best of her. She needed to tell him, no…she had to tell him that she was with Justin now. She hoped he wouldn’t take the news hard, but she didn’t know why she was worried that he would. After all, he was the one who told her to go for it with Justin in the first place. She smiled a little. Maybe he would understand…maybe he would even be happy for her. They had only kissed after all…Juan didn’t know her like Justin knew her…he couldn’t get inside her brain like Justin could.

He’d come pretty damn close the last time she’d seen him though.

“Sheridan,” the nurse spoke up. “There are patients that need tending to.”

She glanced at the nurse quickly and nodded. “Yes ma’am. Sorry.” She hurried away, and pushed a cart full of dirty bedpans into the wash room before the nurse could bark anymore orders at her. She wanted to help the patients of course, but right now the only thing she could think about was Juan, and what was going to happen at their lucheon. She didn’t think she could handle a talkative patient the right way with all of these crazy thoughts running through her mind. With a sigh she dumped part of the load into the sink and turned the faucet on, beginning to wash the load of bedpans in front of her.

“Nobody likes a cheater…” the voice hissed in her ear. “You know that don’t you?”

She dropped the bedpan she was holding and whirled around. “Who’s there?”

There was no answer. She shook her head, and turned back around. For a few minutes, everything seemed normal. Sheridan convinced herself she was hearing things again, and made a silent note to talk to her mother about it later. Then the crash came, like a huge thunderclap bursting across the room. Sheridan let out a little scream, and whirled around. The rest of the bedpans had been flung from the cart, and were scattered all over the floor. “What the--” she whispered. It wasn’t possible that the cart could have done that on its own. It would have had to move on its own…

But that was silly. Carts didn’t move on their own.…not like that. Surely something must have gotten loose…a screw, yes…that’s what it was. She laughed a little, before bending down to tidy up the mess.

Then she heard it again.

“Girls that cheat turn into whores,” the voice grumbled. “Are you a whore, Sheridan?”

Startled, she stumbled backwards and landed on the floor. She let out a small moan, and swallowed hard. “What do you want?,” she asked, sure that she wasn’t hearing voices now. “Leave me alone!”

But just as before, there was no reply.

*********

Juan was right when he said Sullivan’s was a small place. In fact, if you weren’t looking out for it you would probably miss the place all together. It was one of those hole in the wall diners that was always packed no matter what time of day it was. It reminded Sheridan of one of the many street corner diners that inhabited New York City. It was comforting, and for a moment she almost wished she were back there, watching Marcy devour a gigantic cheeseburger while she picked at her garden salad.

“Hey you.”

Sheridan snapped out of her daze just in time to spot Juan sitting at a booth in the far corner of the diner. His smile was wide, and he motioned for her to join him. She noticed he was dressed in the same t-shirt, jeans, and baseball cap trio she’d seen him in the last time he was in town. It seemed to fit nicely with his persona though, and she smiled, loving the simplicity about him. She knew he probably only had four or five different outfits that he rotated through on a weekly basis. She wondered if Justin was that way when he was at home, but knew if he chose to clean out stables in Versace jeans then there was probably no chance that he had fewer than a hundred different outfits in his wardrobe. She reached Juan, and with a small wave, she slid into the seat adjacent from him. “Hey.”

“I ordered us some cheese fries to start,” he said. “I hope you like cheese fries.”

“Love em,” she smiled. “So how are things going? How was the city?”

“It was the city,” Juan nodded. “You know…work…more work. Had some wild parties though. I wish you could have been there girl, we would have had a blast together.” He pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and began to smack them against his hand. “You don’t mind if I smoke do you?”

She frowned. “I didn’t know you smoked.”

“Oh,” he shrugged. “Yeah…I know it’s a bad habit, but it’s something I got myself caught up in. I can wait until after we’re through if you want.”

“If you don’t mind,” Sheridan said. In her opinion, cigarette smoking was disgusting, and it was even more disgusting to have somebody blowing smoke into your face when you were with them. “It irritates me.”

He smiled and shoved the pack back into his pocket. “Hope I didn’t offend you.”

“Not at all.”

“Are you ready to order?”

Sheridan looked up into the waitresses blank expression, and half smiled. “Well…” She looked at Juan for approval.

“I’m not ready yet,” he told her.

“We’ll wait until after we eat our cheese fries,” she informed the waitress.

The waitress cocked her head to the side. “Cheese fries?”

Sheridan gave her a dumb look. “Yeah.”

“O-kay,” she replied, scribbling something down on her pad. “They’ll be right up.” She turned on her heel quickly, and walked away.

Juan laughed heartily. “She must be stressed.”

Sheridan shrugged, and smiled at him. “Guess so.”

Juan took a sugar packet from the small holder that rested next to the window and began to flap it back and forth. He leaned forward a little. “So what have you been up to, girl?”

If she ever had a chance to tell Juan about Justin, it was now. She didn’t want to…she didn’t want to break the light conversation they were having, but she knew she had to say something. She didn’t want to lead him on, or give him the idea that she wanted to have anything more than a friendship with him. “A lot actually.” She brought her glass of water to her lips, and began to take a sip.

“Ah,” he smiled. “So things with that guy worked out, huh?”

Hearing his response, her eyes widened and she nearly choked on the mouthful of water in her mouth.

“Whoa Sher,” Juan snickered. “Calm down.”

After a moment she managed to swallow without incident. The fact that Juan knew exactly what was going on in her life totally shocked her. Actually, it shocked her that he even remembered the conversation they shared on the beach that day. She didn’t think he had the time or the reason to think about any conversation that took place between them. “I…”

“Look, Sheridan. I’m not the type to go off on business and forget about one of my friends…and you’re one of my friends. I actually thought about you a lot when I was away, and I was hoping things would work out for you. From how you acted that day we talked, I could tell that this guy means a lot to you.” He smiled a little, and ripped the packet of sugar open. “And I guess they have…am I right?”

Sheridan nodded. “Yes,” she managed. “What you said that day…I guess it proved to me there was no reason to be afraid anymore. I felt something, and I just…I did it. And I want to thank you for being there that day, Juan. I really needed somebody to show me that things were going to be okay.”

“Hey,” he shrugged, spilling the sugar into his mouth. “What the hell are friends for if you can’t get good advice from them, right?”

The waitress returned with their cheese fries just then, and Sheridan realized she hadn’t even begun to survey her menu yet.

“Have you decided?,“ the waitress asked.

She looked at Juan. “What’s good here?” she asked him.

“Cheeseburger,” he nodded. “It‘s the bomb, fo sheezy.”

Fo sheezy. It was something Justin said often, when something intrigued him. Up until now, she figured it was simply some made up saying he pulled from his subconscious. But now she felt like she was living under a rock. If Juan said it…it must have been one of those phrases like ‘phat’ or ‘bitchin’. She felt like an old timer, not knowing this saying was something young people used in every day conversation. She made a silent note to herself to have a long discussion with Marcy about it during their next phone conversation.

“Well…” the waitress spoke up. “Our blue plate is Turkey and mashed potatoes. But a lot of the kids come here for our burgers. If it were me, I’d go with the cheeseburger deluxe. It comes with fries, and a pickle.”

“There’s two votes,” Juan said. “You have to order it now, girl.”

“Fo sheezy,” she said with a smile. Justin would be proud. “I’ll have that…make it two I guess, with a couple of Cokes.” She glanced at Juan. “Right?”

He opened up another sugar packet. “Sure.”

“Two?” the waitress asked, with a slightly confused expression. “You can handle all that?”

Sheridan laughed at her. “Of course we can.”

She shrugged. “It’s your money,” she nodded, and left them again.

“So Justin huh…that’s the guys name?” Juan spoke up after downing another packet of sugar.

She nodded, and felt herself blush a little bit. “Yes.”

“And you thought I was him?,” he chuckled.

She laughed. “Well, he’s the only one that would call besides my mother. And my mother…I know she’d rather wait until I got home to tell me something, unless it was really major. But the nurse said ‘he was adamant that he needed to speak with you’…so I just figured. Justin…I know he would do that.”

“What, is this guy like obsessive or something?” Juan asked with a playful snicker. “Can’t be away from you for more than a few hours?”

“There’s more to it than that, Juan.” She wouldn’t meet his gaze as she said the words. “You don’t understand.”

He sat back and folded is hands behind his head. “So explain it to me.”

Sheridan shook her head vigorously. “I can’t.” It wasn’t that she was scared to tell him who Justin was…that wasn’t the case at all. It was the fact that up until now, Justin’s location had been kept concealed from the outside world…and Sheridan knew things had to remain that way if he was ever going to recover from all that happened to him.. She wanted to tell Juan, and she felt that she could without him blabbing about it. But then her mother’s voice of reason popped into her head, warning her that if she opened her mouth she was going to be on the next plane back to New York City.

“It’s just me, Sheridan,” Juan whispered. “I’m not gonna tell anybody your secret. You can trust me.”

She forced herself to meet his gaze. There was no playfullness apparent on his face. He was being honest…serious. “Justin is…” she began. “Justin isn’t just some guy.”

He nodded. “We’ve established that. He’s a god…a king among men right?”

She laughed. “He likes to think so sometimes.”

“Don’t worry,” he smiled. “It’s good for ‘im to think that way.” He stabbed into the mass of cheese fries with his fork, and shoved it into his mouth. “Mmm,” he groaned. “I love the cheese fries here.”

“No it’s not,” Sheridan defended. “I don’t want him getting all egotistical on me…I don’t want him to be like he was befo--” she stopped mid sentence, realizing that she was telling him too much. “Nevermind,“ she said, and began to dig into the fries herself.

“You need to stop keeping things from me, Sheridan. I’m your friend, and I’m here to help you.”

She looked up at him. “Why do you care so much?” It was an honest question. True, she was grateful for their heart to heart on the beach…but that conversation had been normal for the situation. Now he was prying into her life…he was trying to get her to tell him something that she didn’t think she could tell him. And she didn’t have a clue why.

He shrugged. “It’s fine. If you don’t want to talk about this, then don’t worry about it.”

Now she felt bad. She hated that she did, but she couldn’t help it. “Do you really want to know, Juan? I mean, I shouldn’t be telling you this…but I don’t want to make you feel like I’m pushing you aside all of a sudden.”

“You can tell me if you want…or you don’t have to tell me.” He popped another forkful of fries into his mouth. “I just want to talk to you…about whatever it is that’s on your mind. So, chill out girl, this isn’t going to affect my feelings toward you.”

“I’ll just tell you,” she blurted out. “I’ll just tell you now, because if I don’t it’s going to bother me forever.”

He laughed, and moved the fries around the plate with his fork. “Okay then.”

“Justin is--”

“Here you go,” the waitress said, cutting her speech short. She plopped two platters full of food on the table top, followed by two glasses of soda. “Anything else right now?”

Sheridan shot her a cold glance. “Not now,” she grumbled.

The waitress’ eyes widened, and she rushed away from the table without another word.

Juan slid his platter toward him, and picked up his pickle. “You were saying?”

Sheridan slapped a hand down on the table. “Justin Timberlake,” she stated.

“What about him?” Juan shrugged, crunching into his pickle.

Don’t tell him, Sheridan, her mother’s voice warned. Don’t you dare.

She disregarded her mother’s command. Her mother wasn’t here right now…the voice was simply her conscience trying to get the best of her. Without another moment of hesitation, she finally got the words out. “Justin Timberlake. That’s Justin…my Justin.”

“Ohhhh,” Juan said. “Now I get it.”

She couldn’t help but laugh. Juan could care less that she was dating Justin Timberlake. But she knew he wouldn’t have cared anyway…he worked in the same business as Justin, and he hung around with the same types of people that Justin did as well. There was no reason for him to be impressed, or overcome with emotion about what she just told him.

“So that’s the secret?” Juan asked after their laughter subsided.

Sheridan nodded. “I should have figured it wouldn’t matter to you…with your job and everything you‘re probably used to people like him.”

“Yeah,” he stroked his chin in thought for a moment. “We’ve hung out at the club a few times, actually. From what I can remember…he was a pretty cool guy, but he totally showed me up on the dance floor.” He paused to take a bite out of his burger, then continued. “It sucks what happened to him you know? Everything he worked so hard for just snatched out from under him like that.”

Sheridan looked down at her hands for a moment, before meeting his gaze again. “Yeah.”

“His friend too…fuckin’ sucks what happened to the guy, him dying and all.” He looked away from her just then. The playful, carefree presence about him seemed to suddenly disappear, and he seemed lost…confused.

“Juan,” Sheridan whispered. “What’s wrong.”

His smile reappeared as quickly as it had vanished. “Oh nothing.” He took a slurp of his soda.

She wasn’t convinced. “You sure?”

“They were close,” he told her.

Sheridan tilted her head to the side. “Who?”

“Justin and Trace.”

At the sound of Trace’s name, Sheridan’s eyes widened and she gasped a little bit. “I know…” she managed. “Justin doesn’t like to talk about him a lot.”

“Well it’s been rough on him,” Juan decided. “The guy lost his best friend.”

He was acting strange. He was starting to get into a subject that Sheridan was sure she didn’t feel comfortable talking about with him, even though he seemed to know more about Justin and his friend than he was letting on. She wondered just how well Juan knew Justin…and what kind of a role he played in his life. If it was a big role, Sheridan didn’t think Justin would be comfortable with her being here with Juan like she was right now. “A-Are you one of his close friends or something?” She asked him after a moment. “Because if you are…I just…I don’t know how Justin would feel about me being here with you. I haven‘t even met his mother yet, and he never really talks about a lot of the people in his life to me. Sure, he‘s mentioned a few people…but nobody really significant. Maybe…”she said, sliding to the edge of the seat. “I should just go.”

“No,” he smiled. “There’s no reason for you to do that. I know this sounds…weird or whatever, but Trace was a good friend of mine. I never really got to know Justin too well, and I definitely wouldn’t call him a friend. Actually, he probably wouldn’t know me if he fell over me.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “You knew Trace?”

“Yea,” he nodded. “We hung out together a lot, when he wasn’t gallivanting all over the world with Justin.”

“But…Justin must have hung out with you a lot,” she stressed. “I mean, don’t get me wrong Juan…I know I don’t know everything about what he used to do before…all of this. But I do know that he and Trace were like brothers. They did everything together.”

“Like I said, the three us of did hang out together sometimes,” Juan explained. “But not nearly as much as Trace and I did by ourselves. You have to understand Sher, Justin used to have so many people wandering in and out of his life he could barely remember your name let alone what you looked like.”

“How did you guys meet?” She was curious now. Partially because never in a million years did she think Juan had any sort of connection to Justin, and also because he knew Trace…somebody she hadn’t even begun to understand or know. Justin wasn’t too keen on getting into the subject even now, and a part of her desperately wanted to find out more about him.

“We started running into each other at different places,” he nodded. “When you’re a PA…”

She cut him off. “PA?”

He laughed. “Personal assistant.”

She shrugged. “Okay.”

“Anyway…” he continued. “When you’re a PA you almost always get stuck sitting in hallways…waiting rooms…whatever. Waiting is an essential part of your job. So that’s where we’d meet up…sitting in some room together talking. It passed the time, and after a while we started to hang out when Justin wasn’t around. I think he needed to get away from all the hype surrounding him sometimes…it got kind of hectic for him I guess,” he shrugged. “That’s what he told me anyway.”

“Was he happy?” She found herself asking. She didn’t have a clue as to why she was so curious, all she knew was that she simply had to have an answer.

Juan looked her in the eyes, and seemed to think long and hard about something, before he responded. “I think he was,” he whispered. “I think sometimes he might have been overwhelmed, but at the end of the day I think he was happy just knowing that he was doing something extraordinary with his life.”

“Justin blames himself a lot,” Sheridan admitted. “He won’t tell me exactly what happened the night he had that accident, but he always says it’s his fault that Trace died,” she sighed heavily. “I hate asking you this, Juan…I mean really, it’s none of my business at all…” she trailed off. “God, what am I doing?” She rubbed her face with her hand, and shook her head. Asking Juan about the accident was wrong. It was going behind Justin’s back. She wanted to slap herself…what had gotten into her? One person said they knew Trace and immediately she was full of questions.

“Don’t say never mind,” Juan whispered. “Just ask me.”

She looked up at him again. “I shouldn’t.”

“You shouldn’t have told me you were dating him either, Sheridan,” he informed her.

She simply shrugged, and looked away from him. She couldn’t ask him, no matter how much he tried to make her. It simply wouldn’t be right.

“Look…” he began, sucking in a long breath. “From what I know, the night of the accident was way out of line before they even got into that car.”

He read her mind. He read her mind and it scared her. She shivered slightly. “I--that’s not what---”

He didn’t hear her. “You don’t think when you’re having fun…and then…you get fucked over in the end.” He looked off to the side, and motioned for who Sheridan guessed was the waitress, to come over.

“What are you saying, Juan?,“ Sheridan asked him.

“You all set?”

The waitress was back, and her timing couldn’t have been worse. Sheridan groaned, and finally looked over at her. “I guess so.” She pushed her plate away from her.

“Coffee?”

Sheridan looked at Juan, but he simply shook his head. “I’m good,” he replied.

“We’ll take the check,” Sheridan nodded.

The waitress glanced at Juan’s plate. “Couldn’t finish?”

“I’m gonna eat it later,” Juan said.

The waitress sighed, and looked back at Sheridan. “I‘ll wrap it up for you hun.” She picked up both plates, and with a bewildered look, left them alone again.

“Those cheese fries are too damn filling,” Juan complained. “I barely ate my burger.”

“Juan,” Sheridan spoke up, not wanting to stray away from their previous topic. “What were you saying before?”

He shrugged. “Don’t worry Sher,” he leaned forward and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “It’s nothing important. It’s just me…being all sentimental and crap,” he laughed softly, and pulled away from her. “Promise me you won’t go and ask Justin about all of this though, okay? I’m sure he’s got enough stuff on his mind as it is.”

“I won’t,” she whispered.

“If you don’t mind me asking,” Juan continued. “How’d y’all get together in the first place?”

Sheridan cleared her throat. “My mom is his physical therapist, and she has her own rehabilitation practice. His therapy requires him to live on the premises…that’s how it all started.”

“Oh so it’s one of those live away programs,” Juan nodded. “I’ve read about those…very state of the art. He’ll probably be better in no time at all.”

She didn’t smile. “We’re hoping.”

The waitress returned and planted the check and the bag of food on the table. “Try and have a good day,” she said sympathetically, before walking away again.

Sheridan was confused. “Try?”

Juan laughed, and threw enough money on the table to cover their tab. “That waitress is weird…I’ve had her before.”

“Oh good,” Sheridan smiled. “For a second I thought there was something wrong with me.”

“I didn’t say there wasn’t anything wrong with you,” Juan winked. “I just said--”

She reached across the table, and swatted him playfully. “Jerk.”

“But you love me.” Juan slid out of his seat, and stood up. “I have a couple of things I have to get done before the day is over, Sher.”

Sheridan nodded, figuring that this was where they would part ways. “It’s okay, I’m sure I’ll see you soon.”

He frowned. “Oh…you don’t want to come?”

“Come?”

“Yeah,” he smiled. “I like to have a little company now and then.”

Sheridan looked at her watch. It was well past the time Justin expected her to walk through the door. She knew he was probably wondering where she was, and she certainly didn’t want him to have another episode. As much as she wanted to join Juan in whatever it was he was doing today, she knew she had other priorities. “I would love to…but I can’t,” she told him. “I need to get home, Justin will be wondering what’s happened to me. ”

“You’re right…you‘ve really got a man this time,” Juan sighed. “I’m sorry.”

“No,” Sheridan smiled, sliding out of her own seat. “Don’t be sorry…I’m glad we got to do this. You’re a great friend to have Juan, and I’m glad I met you.”

“Aww, now you’re makin’ me blush,” Juan laughed, and stepped closer to her. He opened his arms wide. “Well don’t just stand there, gimme a hug girl.”

She let him wrap his arms around her. Then she smelled it…Abercrombie cologne. It sent chills up her spine, and she pulled away from him quickly.

Juan didn’t seem phased by her sudden movement. “I’ll be in town for a little over a week. Maybe I’ll call you and we can do something.”

She wanted to say yes, but she didn’t have a clue what Justin would think of the situation…if she even told him about the situation. “I--”

“On second thought,” he interrupted her. “Justin probably wouldn’t like that idea.”

“I can talk to him,” she supplied.

Juan shook his head. “Not right now. Just…wait, okay?”

“But…”

“Not now,” he said, more firmly.

“O-okay,” she whispered.

“Okay.” He seemed to be relieved about something, but Sheridan didn’t have a clue what it was. “Let me walk you to your car.”

“But your food,” Sheridan pointed out.

“Eh,” Juan shrugged. “You take it…I’m sure Justin will want it.”

Sheridan smiled. Justin would kill for a burger, and Sheridan knew it would put his mind at ease about where she was all this time. She took the bag. “Thanks.”

“Sure.”

Sheridan followed him out of the restaurant, not being able to ignore the strange looks that were being given to her by the other people eating their lunch. It confused her. The waitress seemed to think she was strange as well. What had she done? She didn’t know.

“Take care of yourself, Sheridan,” Juan said, once they reached her car. “I’m sure I’ll talk to you at some point. You have my number…don‘t hesitate to call me if you need to talk to somebody.” He leaned down and pecked her on the cheek.

“I’ll call,” Sheridan said. She shivered. She was cold.

Juan furrowed his brow. “Hey…you okay?”

“Yeah,” she giggled. “Just a little cold.”

“Cold?” Juan asked. “In this heat?”

“I’m weird.” She unlocked her car door and opened it. “What can I say?”

“Don‘t play around,” he told her as she got into the car. “Get whatever that cold thing is checked out, okay?”

Sheridan smiled. It was something Justin would tell her to do. “I will.”

“Bye.”

She closed the door and started up her car. Wanting to wave to him one last time, she glanced out the window again.

But he was gone.

Chapter Twenty Three