The room was dark and still. Not a sound could be heard, except for the periodic sigh coming from the bed as its two occupants enjoyed a dream-filled sleep. It was the shrill scream of a ringing phone that broke the peaceful silence of the bedroom, and invaded the deep sleep of the people within.

“Serine, answer the phone,” a sleep-thick voice mumbled into the darkness.

“It’s on your side, Howard,” another voice responded, before the woman behind the voice pulled the covers over her head in an attempt to block out the intrusive noise.

“’ello?” Howie managed to answer, trying to fight the haze that was attempting to surround him in a warm blanket of sleep.

“Is Serine there?” the voice on the other end quietly requested, a slight quiver entering her words despite her attempt to restrain it.

“One second. Serine, it’s for you,” Howie relayed, practically throwing the phone on the lump beside him, ringing a groan from her as it landed with a quiet ‘thud.’

“Hello?” Serine asked into the phone, wondering who would be calling her at 1:30 in the morning. “Hello?” she asked again when the only response she got was the sound of someone sniffling on the other end.

“Serine, it’s Paige,” the voice identified, causing Serine to suddenly jump up, fully alert.

“Paige, honey, what’s wrong?” Serine questioned, praying that it didn’t have something to do with Shawn’s cancer. She had always carried the fear that someday Shawn’s cancer would catch up with him and her best friend would be left to raise their only son as a single mother.

“It’s... Sh…S…Shawn…. He… he… g… g… gone,” Paige cried into the phone, barely able to get the words out.

“Gone? Gone where? Did Shawn leave you?” Serine asked, gathering the attention of her boyfriend. He sat up, giving her a questioning look. He had heard about Serine’s friend, Paige. He knew that she was a fan of his group, the Backstreet Boys, but that she was also married and a mother, so she wasn’t able to travel to any of the shows to see them.

“N… n… n… no. There was an acc… accident,” Paige cried, trying to calm down enough to get out what needed to be said.

“Okay honey. Just hold on. I’m on my way,” Serine soothed, knowing her best friend needed her now more than ever. She immediately jumped out of bed, packing a bag for her impromptu trip to Colorado.

“Thank you,” was all Paige could manage to say.

“I love you, girl. Hang in there,” Serine said, sending her strength through the phone.

As soon as Serine hung up the phone, she started cramming her things into any bag she could find, knowing that the guys would be leaving New Jersey in the morning, and if her stuff wasn’t packed, it would be left behind. “Honey, don’t worry about your stuff. Marcus will take care of it. Just pack what you need and I’ll call and get us the quickest flight to Colorado I can find, okay?” Howie eased, knowing his girlfriend needed him to be there with her, despite the fact that she would never admit it.

“Thank you, Howie,” she said, showing her gratitude.

“Anytime, baby,” he responded, already dialing the number to the airport in an attempt to get the first flight to Colorado he could.

Down the hall, a similar scene was playing out – only slightly more amusing. Same as before, the shrill sound of the ringing phone broke through the thick silence.

However, instead of calmly being persuaded from a deep sleep, the young man in this room jumped about two foot in the air before landing on the floor beside the bed, a bruised butt the least of his problems.

“Hello?” the woman who had been sleeping beside him answered, trying her hardest not to laugh at her injured boyfriend.

“Casey?” the quiet voice on the other end of the phone questioned.

“Paige? Is that you?” Casey asked, a sense of dread filling her body. She knew that whatever she was about to hear was going to be devastating. Why else would her best friend be calling her at 1:30 in the morning, tears obvious in her voice?

“Yeah. It’s me,” she replied, trying not the let her tears take over again. She needed to get this out so that she could return to her son’s room before anything happened.

“What’s wrong?” Casey asked, watching as her boyfriend gently crawled back onto the bed, looking at her with worried eyes. She reached out her hand, tightly grasping his, in need of his support and strength.

“It’s Shawn and Tris. They… they were in an…an… accident. TJ’s in the hospital. Shawn’s dead,” Paige explained, this time succeeding in keeping a better hold on her emotions. She felt like she should have been all cried out, but she knew that this was just the beginning.

“I’ll be there as soon as I can. Hold on sweetie,” Casey told her through the phone, wondering how her best friend was able to talk on the phone, let alone carry a coherent conversation.

“Thank you, Casey,” she gratefully sighed.

“Any time, sweetheart. Any time,” Casey promised.

As soon as the phone was off, Casey was out of bed, packing for her last-minute trip. She didn’t even notice her boyfriend, Nick, get up off the bed and start packing until she almost ran into him in her attempt to get her clothes packed.

“What are you doing?” she asked, looking at her boyfriend with confusion as he began following her lead, packing up his overnight bag with necessities.

“I’m going with you. Don’t argue with me Casey. You can’t do this alone. Just pack what you need and we’ll have Marcus pack the rest. I’m going to call and get us a flight out. Okay?” Nick said, taking control.

“Okay,” Casey agreed, not having the energy to fight him on this. As much as she hated to admit it, she did need him with her. She didn’t know what she was going to find when they got to Colorado, but she did know she did not want to face it alone.

The thick, dark cold tried to smoother her as she fought to take a breath and break free of the haze that surrounded her, forcing her into a submissive, lifeless state, at the mercy of her unconscious mind. Her face broke into a look of concentration and pain as she fought to wake up from her endless sleep. The faintest moan of displeasure escaped her lips as her body began to regain feeling and motion.

The room was silent as the other three occupants continued to sleep through their friend’s internal struggle, having been guests in the ICU wing of the hospital for the last week while waiting for their friend to wake up. Unbeknownst to all of them, the woman they had come to support was fighting an inner battle with herself, trying to clear the cobwebs that had taken up residence in her mind. Due to the stress caused by the loss of her family, her body had shut down in an attempt to heal itself, forcing the devastated woman into a self-induced coma that ended up lasting a week.

The rapid beep of the ventilator machine, helping the sleeping woman breathe, woke the loved ones who had been watching carefully over her the last several days. “Oh my goodness! Serine, wake up! Paige is waking up,” Casey exclaimed, watching her best friend’s fingers move ever so slightly – the first sign of life they’d seen since they gotten there a week prior.

“Wha…” Serine asked, still surrounded in a haze of sleep, which disappeared immediately as soon as Casey’s words penetrated her exhausted mind. “She’s waking up?!” she shouted, waking her still-sleeping boyfriend beside her.

“What’s going on?” Howie asked, watching the excitement sparking in both girls’ eyes at the possibility of seeing their friend awaken from her miniature coma.

“She’s waking up!” Serine explained, rushing to the bedside and taking Paige’s hand into one of her own. “Come on sweetie. Just open your eyes so I can see that you’re okay. Just a little more. Come on honey, you can do it,” Serine encouraged, mirrored by Casey who was just as worried about their friend.

“Howie, can you go get Nick? He went down to get something to eat,” Casey requested, her eyes not once lifting from Paige’s pain-filled, struggling expression as she fought to wake from her body’s extended rest.

“No problem. I’ll be right back, okay baby,” Howie responded, kissing Serine quickly before exiting the room in search of his band mate.

Paige squeezed Serine’s hand slightly as she struggled to break through the final barrier keeping her in a lonely, dark, cold world, away from the people who loved her most. She had been lost in a dark, dreary room, with no recollection of how she’d gotten there and no memory of how to get out. Instead, she had been cowering in the corner for days, afraid to move, afraid to feel, afraid to breathe, knowing her entire world had crashed in around her, leaving her here for a reason. All she felt was coldness and lifelessness within, making her feel more alone than she had ever felt before. She was wallowing in self pity – and even she knew that, but something had fought to bring her back.

Shawn. He had come to her in that dark room and had told her that she still had so much to do with her life. He told her that she was strong and that someone else was about to come into her life who needed her strength to help get them through their own private dark times. They needed someone who could fight for them – and she was the one God had chosen. Shawn told her he loved her, and he always would, but she still had to go on without him, living her life the way she had lived every day they’d spent together – happy and so full of life. It was what he wanted her to do, so she fought her way back into consciousness – for Shawn. For Tristan. But most of all, for herself.

“Wh…wh…where am I?” she asked, as she finally returned to the place she belonged – the place where she was loved and treasure. A place between heaven and hell. A place called life.