Chapter 2

"Hey, Stephanie…" a familiar voice said. "Wake up, Sleeping Beauty, it's time to leave the world of the dead and join the world of the living."

Stephanie opened her eyes and realized she was in a hospital bed. She looked around, confused.

"It's OK, Stephie, it's Jen," Jennifer said, seeing her friend's confused look. "I'm here, Steph; Roger is, too."

"Jen? Roger?" Stephanie asked, sitting up slowly and rubbing the side of her head gingerly. "What happened?"

"You had a seizure, Steph," Jennifer said. "During the concert, don't you remember?"

"No, I don't," Stephanie said, shaking her head. She grimaced and lay back against the pillows. "I feel sick."

"The doctor said that's an aftermath effect of the seizure," Jennifer said. "They're still trying to figure out what caused it." She looked at Stephanie and took her hand. "I'm just glad you weren't alone."

"So am I, Jen," Stephanie said. "Jen, I… I'm sorry."

Jennifer shook her head. "No," she said, "it wasn't your fault. Don't you go feeling guilty, OK? These things happen sometimes."

Stephanie looked at her painfully. If only they knew…

"Jen, I…" she began, but she couldn't bring herself to say it just yet. Jennifer looked at her.

"What?" Jennifer asked. "What is it?"

"Nothing," Stephanie said, and she rolled over onto her side. "I'm really tired."

Jennifer nodded and hugged Stephanie gently. "You sleep," she said. "Roger and I will be back later, OK?"

Stephanie nodded. "OK," she said, and she gradually fell asleep after Roger pulled the covers up over her body.

Jennifer followed Roger out to the hallway and she leaned up against the wall. Only now did she realize how tired she was.

"Are you gonna be OK, Jen?" Roger asked.

Jennifer looked up at him. "Yeah, I'll be fine," she said. "I'm just tired from all of this."

"That's understandable," Roger said, and he came forward and put his arm around her. "You should go home and rest, too, Jen. I'll look after Stephanie."

Jennifer sighed and smiled gratefully at him. "Thanks, Roger," she said. "I really appreciate it."

"Anything for my two biggest fans," he said, smiling down at her. "What's your number, Jen? I'll call you when they know anything more."

Jennifer gave him her phone number. It occurred to her that she'd never wanted to give him her number under the current circumstances, even if she and Stephanie were stalkers. Jennifer knew Stephanie was hiding something from her; they'd known each other since second grade. Stephanie couldn't hide much of anything from Jennifer. Stephanie was usually so transparent. Was something really wrong?

Dawson, stop it, Jennifer thought to herself, as she walked down the hall and went outside to her car. Stephanie is with Roger, her idol. She's gonna be fine. What could possibly be wrong?

Jennifer heaved a sigh as she got into her car and began to drive away. It was amazing how much of an effect this all had on her. She even felt a little jealous. But could she be jealous when Stephanie's life was possibly in danger?

Jennifer put her car into reverse as her mind began to buzz with unanswered questions. She got back to her apartment and immediately went to her room and collapsed on her couch. She didn't even make it to her bed.

In the morning, Jennifer went to visit Stephanie again. Roger was sprawled out on three chairs in the hallway, snoring softly, his mouth wide open. Jennifer grinned and went up to him and shook him gently.

"Roger," she whispered. "Roger."

Roger stirred and woke with a start when he realized he was standing over him. "Jennifer?" he asked.

"Yeah, it's me," Jennifer said. "Are you OK? You should have gone home."

"I wasn't about to leave my biggest fan in the hospital, alone," Roger said, sitting up and smiling as she sat next to him. Jennifer looked up at him.

"Are we that transparent?" she asked.

"A little," Roger said, smiling, "but that's OK."

"Is she doing any better?"

"Yeah, she's fine. She's just resting. She hasn't told me anything yet. She's been awake for about half an hour."

Jennifer nodded. "I'm going to go in and see her. Do you want to come with?"

"Sure," Roger said. "Thanks, Jennifer."

Jennifer smiled. "Of course, Roger," she said, and she went in, Roger following close behind. "Hi, Stephie," she said to Stephanie.

"Hey, Jen," Stephanie said. "You look terrible."

"Thanks," Jen said, laughing. "Not as bad as you, though."

Stephanie smiled. "I feel better than I did," she said. "The doctors said I can go home this afternoon, since they did CAT Scans and found no damage."

Jennifer took Stephanie's hand into her own. "I'm glad," she said. "I was really scared for you, you know."

Stephanie nodded and jerked her arm out of Jennifer's grasp. "I know," she said, and she looked away. "But I can't help it if I'm an… an epileptic."

Jennifer looked straight into Stephanie's blue eyes. She could tell Stephanie wasn't telling the whole truth. "Stephie," she said, "if you know something about what happened, you know you can tell me, right?"

Stephanie's expression was set. "I know," she said. "There's nothing to tell."

Jennifer's eyebrows rose. "Are you sure?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure, Jen," Stephanie said. "I said I'm an epileptic. What else is there to know?" She gave Jennifer a fierce look. "Why are you suddenly giving me the third degree?"

Jennifer stared at Stephanie, stung by her words. "Steph," she said, "we've known each other for what, 12 years?" Stephanie nodded. "You know you don't have to hide things from me. You can tell me anything. That's what best friends are for, right?"

Stephanie nodded again. "Right," she said evasively.

Jennifer looked at Roger. "Roger, can I talk to you out in the hall for a second?" she asked him.

"Sure, Jen," he said, and he went out into the hall with her, closing the door behind himself. "What's up?"

"I have a bad feeling Steph is hiding something from me," Jennifer said. "But I can't figure out what."

Roger wasn't sure what to say. "Well… maybe it's just one of those things that will take time to come out," he said. "Give her a few more days to rest up, and then see if she'll talk."

"OK," Jennifer said, nodding. "Thank you, Roger. I don't know what we would have done without you that night. You and the guys helped us out a lot."

"Eh, don't worry about it," Roger said, blushing modestly. "Anything for my biggest fans." He smiled down at her.

"Why do you suppose she jerked her arm away from me?" Jennifer asked suddenly.

Roger's eyebrows rose. "I don't know, Jen," he said. "Did you see anything on it? Like, say, track marks or something?"

Jennifer frowned. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"Jen, you know I'm a former addict, right?" Roger inquired.

Jennifer swallowed nervously as the thought dawned on her. "You don't think…?" she began, but her voice trailed off.

"I don't know," Roger said, "but it's a possibility. Tell me more about her."

Jennifer sat down slowly and Roger sat beside her. "Well…" Jennifer began. "She's a trust fund kid. Her parents are traveling the world. It's been like that since she was like, seven. She lived with me and my family until she was 16, and then she moved out. That's why we're so close."

Roger smiled. "That makes sense," he said. "What else?"

"She's kind of wild sometimes… we both are… as if you didn't know by now," Jennifer said, grinning. Then her face fell. "Sometimes I see her on the streets at night, drinking and stuff, and she thinks I don't know."

"I'm sorry, Jen," Roger said. "I wish I could help."

"There's nothing you can do, especially if we don't know anything," Jennifer said. "Should we really be jumping to conclusions?"

"No," Roger said. "But if we do think there's a possibility that she is an addict and has a problem, it's our problem, too. We're involved now."

Jennifer sighed and leaned into Roger for support. All this information was starting to give her a headache. "I just hope we can do something before she gets herself hurt… or killed," she said.

"So do I, Jen," Roger said, "so do I."

Don't forget to review. These next few weeks will be absolutely crazy for me, but I will update as soon as possible. It doesn't help that I neglected my chores last week and got banned from the computer in the mornings, LOL. Oh well, I can live without it in the morning... but I need it at night, LOL. OK, I'll stop rambling now, so you can review. Thanks for reading!

Until next time, lots of love,

Renthead07