* Chapter 44 *

I jerked awake and sat straight up in bed. My forehead was damp with sweat and my hands were clammy. The room was still dark and when I looked over at the red numbers on my digital alarm clock it said ‘3:57’. I fell back onto my pillow and laid there for a few minutes trying to remember exactly what was in my dream. All I could remember was seeing the lifeless bodies of Meg, Arti, and the guys lying on the sidewalk in a pool of blood. I couldn’t get the horrific scene out of my head so I slid out of bed and went into the living room without turning any lights on. After my eyes adjusted to the darkness I could see Arti lying on the floor sleeping peacefully. She had pulled the cushions off the couch and lay down on them with blankets and pillows as if she were on a bed. I was careful not to wake her as I walked past her and went out on the balcony. The temperature had gone down since I had been out before, but it wasn’t at all cold. A cool breeze teased the ends of my hair as I leaned against the railing and gazed up at the stars. When I had had enough, I went back into my room and slid back under the thin blanket that I had on my bed. I fell asleep and didn’t wake back up until Arti knocked on my door quite a few hours later.

I rolled onto my back from my side position and slowly opened my eyes to look at the ceiling. Arti opened the door and I heard her catch her breath when she looked in.

"What? Is something wrong?" I asked before I sat up.

My eyes nearly popped out of my head at what I saw. My entire room was COVERED with flowers...mostly roses and carnations of all shades of pinks and whites. The botanical aroma smelled sooo good as the air circulated from the living room through the door that Arti held open.

"Oh...my..." I started to say as I pulled the blanket and sheet back and stood up to see how many flowers were actually there.

"Gosh!" Arti took the liberty to finish for me.

Just then the phone rang and I slowly picked it up.

"Helllllo," I said, still speechless from the initial shock of the state of my room.

"Morning Baby Girl!" Jay said cheerily into the phone.

"Oh...hey Jay..." I said into the phone.

"I have a proposition for you...well, it’s actually an assignment from the boss," he explained happily. "There’s a Jazz game that starts at 1:00 pm and he needs you to come on location with me for the pre-game broadcast. You’ll get two tickets to see the game from our station press box after we’re done on-air so there’s no reason for you to say no."

"What time do I need to be there?"

"Be at the Delta Center around 10:30 in front. I’ll give you the tickets when you get here."

"Okies. I’ll be there."

"Good!" he replied. "The boss thanks you."

"You’re welcome...to both of you," I said with a laugh before I hung up.

As I hung the phone up on the cradle, I saw the vase sitting on my bedside table. It had a single crimson red rose in it with an envelope propped up against the base. I smelled the rose before I reached to the envelope to open it.

‘Roses are red. Violets are blue. Just wanted to say that I need you! ‘

A small smile crept up on face as I put the card back in the envelope and smelled the rose again. I stood up and walked along the little path around my bed that wasn’t covered with flowers.

"We’ve got a fun day ahead of us," I told Arti as I got into my dresser to get some clothes to wear. "We’ve got to go on-location for a little while...then we’ll go to a basketball game...then we’ll go shopping for something when we’re done."

"Sounds good to me," she replied before she went back into the living room to change also.

I put on a pair of flare leg jeans and a ¾ sleeve yellow shirt before I went to do my hair and make-up. When I walked into the kitchen, I poured myself a glass of ‘Splash’ (juice that’s made of carrots ~ like V8 juice) and sat down at the table. Arti strolled in a few minutes later wearing a cute pair of khaki shorts and a gray ‘Old Navy’ baby tee. She poured herself a bowl of cereal and sat down next to me so she could eat it.

"Come and grab a bunch of these flowers," I called from my room after I had gone back to grab my planner before we left.

She picked up three of the bundles of flowers and carried them down to my car while I had two bundles in my own hands. We stopped at one of the hospitals on the way to the Delta Center and distributed the flowers among three floors of patients, most of them being children, new mothers, or elderly people. We even gave some of the nurses flowers ‘cause we know that they don’t get very much credit for the great job that they do.

"Hey J," I called out to him as Arti and I walked up to the make-shift booth that was set up on the sidewalk in front Delta Center.

"Hi Baby Girl!" he hollered back from his crouching position. (He always called me Baby Girl since the day he met me ‘cause I’m so much younger than he is.)

He was hooking up the technical stuff from the station van. He gave me a warm smile and I introduced Arti to him.

"She’s going to be staying with me while she’s visiting town," I explained.

"That’s good!" he replied before he stood up.

He gave me a half hug (he always does).

"Happy birthday," he whispered in my ear before he pulled away.

I gave him a questioning look. ‘How does he know that it’s my birthday?’ I wondered to myself. I didn’t bother asking, but instead got ready for the show. Jazz fans were stopping by every once in a while during the show and we had a ton of fun! Arti even jumped in on a few of the conversations.

"Here we are at the Delta Center waiting for the BIG game to begin and we have a winner for those courtside tickets that we are giving away," I announced into the mic. "What’s your name?"

"Jordanna Hodges," the winner replied.

"Well congratulations Jordanna! Who sets you up with the best prizes in Utah?" Jay said.

"KBEE 98.7 Salt Lake City!" the girl replied happily.

"And that’s all we have here from the Delta Center today! We had a blast and I hope you did too! And as always, have a GRRRRREAT day!" I said before we cut transmission.

"That was fun!" Arti said as we started to help Jay put things back into the van.

"Hey...don’t worry about that. I can get it. You girls go and enjoy the game for me!" Jay said when he saw what we were doing.

"Thanks Jay! You’re the best!" I called out before Arti and I made our way inside the huge arena.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~ Half-time During the Game ~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

"They are on a roll today," I exclaimed happily as the Jazz players left the floor after the buzzer rang, signaling that it was half time.

I stood up and walked over to the buffet table that was set up along the wall by the door. I grabbed a can of orange pop and walked back to where Arti and I were sitting. Our seats were really great so we could see everything that happened on the court below with ease. I looked up from the glass separating us from the rest of the crowd below when the door opened and a man wearing an expensive black suit walked in.

"Excuse me. I need to borrow you for a few moments," the man in the suit said nicely after he walked up to where I was sitting.

"Ummmmm." I looked at Arti and she just smiled and nodded her head towards the door.

When I stood up, the man led me to the door and opened it for me.

"Thanks," I said before I walked out.

He led me down to the main floor of the arena to where the locker rooms were. We walked out one of the hallways and out to where the team chairs were. They were empty because all the players and coaches were in the locker rooms during the small break. He instructed me to stay there for a few minutes while he went to check on something.

"How’re you all doing today?" a man asked excitedly in the microphone that he was holding.

He was walking around in the middle of the court trying to hype the crowd while a few people setup a few instruments and things behind him. He raised his hands up and down to ‘raise the roof’ when the crowd cheered loudly to show how much fun they were having.

I laughed when the cheerleaders stood up and did a quick cheer from their seats.

"The roof...the roof...the roof is on FIRE!"

They promptly sat back down and laughed when half the crowd copied their action.

"The roof certainly will be on fire tonight...BBMak are going to be performing here in concert!"

He paused and let the fans scream at the mention of BBMak.

"Yeah! That’s right! They’ll be performing right here in our very own Delta Center!"

I was so amused in watching the bubbling excitement of the announcer that I didn’t notice when someone walked up behind me.

"Hi," a male voice said with an English accent.

I turned around to find three guys standing behind me. Two were holding guitars and the other was smiling cutely.

"Uh...Hi! I’m Liz," I said as I shook their hands.

"We know," one of them said.

I was caught off guard at that, but didn’t get a chance to say anything else before they rushed on the court to where their band was ready and waiting.

"And here they are! Everyone please..." the announcer said before he was interrupted.

"WAIT. Wait...hold up..."

The deep voice echoed in the space of the large building. I looked around, but didn’t see anyone with a mic. I thought I knew who it was, but I needed to hear more of his voice to be sure.

"It’s my turn. BBMak is here to perform their latest hit ‘Miss You More’ and I want to personally dedicate this song to someone very special to me. Baby Girl, I love you and I don’t ever want you to forget that! You are the one for me and I don’t want to let you go."

The voice was definitely who I thought it was and I looked around as if I’d see him somewhere in the crowd, but didn’t find him around anywhere. There was a few seconds of silence.

"Hit it guys!"

The band started playing and I stood there and listened to the whole song. When they were done playing, the three guys rushed over to where I was standing. The announcer was babbling on in the mic again.

"That was great!" I said when they walked up to me.

"Thanks!" the blond one said.

"We’re glad you liked it," another one said.

The other one leaned close and put his head near mine.

"He really cares a lot about you. Don’t throw it away," he whispered before he stood up and left with the others.

"Can I get you all to do me a BIG favor?" the announcer asked happily.

The crowd made lots of noise to show their support.

"Let’s sing happy birthday to a very special girl! It’s her birthday today and we’re going to sing to her on the count of three."

The man in the black suit led me out onto the court to where the announcer was.

"Everyone show your love for Ellz H! 1....2....3"

My ears were overwhelmed at the sound of the whole arena singing ‘happy birthday’ to me as I stood there in the middle of it. I didn’t really know what to do, so I just stood there and smiled.

"We’ve got a little contest for our birthday girl! If she can beat 5 other players in a game of speed, she can have a birthday present courtesy of all the guys on the team...signed and everything."

Five pre-picked people walked out onto the court and stopped at the free-throw line. I walked over and chose to start second rather than first. The teenage boy in front of me shot and missed so I shot while he tried to make his own shot. He got his ball in the net before I did, but I made mine before the next person in line had a chance to shoot. It went on like that for another couple of minutes until I was left with the teenage boy and a woman in her early thirties. The boy got the woman out so it was now only him versus me. We went back and forth a few times until he was one up on me. I got to the line to shoot and he retrieved his ball from where it was by the net. He accidentally ran into me when he headed for the line and knocked me off my feet. He didn’t hit me that hard, but I was winded from running and I was weak from not having a full meal for who knows how many days. The wind was knocked out of me and I couldn’t breath. My head hit the floor pretty hard and I blacked out after a few seconds of lying there in pain.

The next thing I saw when I opened my eyes was a bright light above me as I lay there in pain. I moved my head a little and saw Arti and AJ sitting on some chairs talking to each other. We were in one of the medical offices outside of one of the locker rooms and tears stung my eyes when I saw the worried looks on their faces. A doctor walked in the room and both Arti and AJ stood up and walked over to him.

"What happened?" Arti asked.

"Well, it appears that she is very weak from not eating properly. I have talked to her previous physicians and it appears that this has been a reoccurring problem. When she gets stressed out physically or emotionally, she doesn’t eat," the doctor explained to them before he walked over to the padded table that I was laying on.

His voice was coming from next to me when he spoke again.

"I need you two to watch her and make sure she starts eating properly. Don’t let her skip a meal and you should maybe even make sure that she eats snacks between meals."

I slightly opened my eyes again and listened to what the doctor was saying. There was a knock on the door and then it opened.

"Is she ok?" Nick asked as he walked so he was standing by my side.

He had come down to the arena when AJ had called him and explained what had happened.

"She will be fine," the doctor assured them all before he turned for the door.

"I AM fine," I moaned in pain as I sat up and swung my legs off the table.

"I suggest you take it easy for a few days Ms. Holder," the doctor said before he left.

I closed my eyes and slowly rubbed the spot on my head where it had hit the floor.

"Geez girl! You had me scared to death!" Arti said before she wrapped her arms around my shoulder.

"Sorry...I couldn’t really help it ya know. He ran into me."

"How many days have you been starving yourself?" AJ asked from his sitting position across the room.

He had his head in his hands as he squatted against the wall.

"I’m not starving myself," I said angrily.

"Ok...how long have you NOT been eating?" he rephrased his question.

I didn’t really want to answer that question, but I felt like I didn’t have a choice with three people staring at me waiting for an answer. I turned so that I wasn’t looking at any of them before I even attempted an answer. When I did it was in a voice so soft that I was almost whispering.

"LA...since the Carter’s house..."

Everyone sat in a stunned silence and I couldn’t bear it anymore so I stood up and walked out the door. I walked slowly at first, but picked up my pace until I was running. If anyone was around, they would’ve thought that I was running in a race for life at how fast I was trying to get away. The door of the office opened and I could hear footsteps following me.

"Liz...wait! Don’t do this! Come back!!!" AJ yelled after me.

I continued running until I got to my truck. I pulled out the keys from my pocket and got in before I locked the doors, slumped over onto the steering wheel, and bawled like a baby. I was still feeling weak and I knew that I couldn’t drive with the nauseating feeling that was creeping up inside me. I jumped in surprise when someone tapped on the window after a few minutes. When I didn’t move, there was another tap on the window.

"Liz...please open up," Meg said.

When I lifted my head, through teary eyes I saw Meg, Howie, AJ, and Nick standing outside my truck. I put my head back onto the steering wheel, put the keys in the ignition, and started the engine. Nick grabbed onto the handle of my door and tried to open it again.

"No! You can’t leave," he said with a sad face. "You can’t leave! Don’t do this!!!"

He put his hand on the window and watched me put the truck in reverse.

"I’m sorry," I replied as I put my hand up to his on the inside of the window before I backed the truck up. "I’m sorry."

I pulled out a few feet before I put the truck in drive and headed towards the street. I had this sick feeling in my gut that something bad was going to happen so I slammed on my brakes and gripped the steering wheel as my truck skidded with a loud squeal to a halt right before I reached the exit to the street. Just as I came to a full stop, a large semi-truck slid across the road in front of me. The large truck was skidding on its side and sparks flew as the metal of the trailer it was carrying scraped at the asphalt underneath it. My knuckles were white from gripping the steering wheel so hard and I was a little relieved when I looked in the rear view mirror and saw everyone running to see what had happened. Bri, Kev, and Arti had joined the others by now. I opened my door and stepped out.

"What happened?!?" Kev yelled from where they were running.