The Night Shift

Chapter Nine: Jenna

A/N: Don't hate me.

Waiting for Josh to meet us in front of the hospital in the tour bus was one of the most stressful things to happen in the last week or so. I felt guilty for not returning any of his calls or texts over the past month, and now I was being forced to face him after ignoring him for so long. I didn't mean to be so short on the phone with him, I was just anxious and really scared of what he would have to say about Tyler or me ignoring him. I wanted to keep things as brief as possible. I felt kind of guilty towards Josh for ignoring him, but not about the situation Tyler was in. That was on Josh and Mark. They both knew how I felt about Tyler climbing, and yet they never did anything to stop it, or at least make sure he was safe about it. This was one of the main reasons Tyler and I hadn't spoken in a while.

The quiet knock on the tour bus door pulled me out of my brooding thoughts. I took a deep breath to calm my pulsing veins before Josh appeared, his bright yellow hair disheveled hair and goofy smile causing my blood to continue to boil. He could never be serious about anything, and even when he was, he would still have that goofy grin plastered across his face. I wasn't in the mood for this.

He gave Mark a bro hug, and made his way over to the bench that I was sitting at; he sat down next to me. All this space, and you choose to sit there. Right beside me? Really, Josh? Really? I gave him a smile, and reached out to meet him the rest of the way for the hug he was trying to give me.

"It's good to see you, Jen. We've missed you. Especially, Tyler..." He must have noticed the shift in my body language at the mention of Tyler's name. He released me from the hug, and hung his head lower, adverting his gaze from my icy stare. Before I could start to lay into him, a ramble of apologies started to pour out from behind his thin worry bitten lips. "I know that you're pissed at me, and I'm sorry... but you know how Tyler gets when he's told no." He paused and fidgeted with his hands nervously, "I swear I didn't know he was going to try to climb the stage frame. I looked up, and he was gone. I'm really sorry, Jenna."

I sighed, "I know you are." I wanted to lash out at him, and let all of my pent up emotions out on him, but I couldn't do that while seeing his tinted brown eyes filled with so much sorrow, "But that doesn't mean this isn't your fault. You're the reason Tyler is laying in that-" 

As soon as those words started tumbling out of my mouth, Mark finally decided to speak up, and cut me off before I could really start my rant towards Josh. "Jenna." His tone was strong and accusing. It reminded me of when my dad would get onto me for back talking my mom. It sent a slight shiver down my spine. 

I let out a frustrated sigh, and bit my tongue. If I wanted any chance at getting Tyler back, I knew I had to be on my best behavior around everyone who was here at the moment. No matter how mad I was. I looked up to see Josh biting the inside of him lip intently, his eyes closed in a somber way. Mark was giving me a stern look, as if telling me to apologize; Kelly was looking down at her lap, a look of shock and disappointment making its way across her normally neutral looking face. I reached my hand out to touch Josh's shoulder, causing him to tense up a little bit.

"I'm sorry, Josh," my voice came out weak and shaky. I had to make it seem believable; at least enough to get myself out of this hole I had started to dig. "I shouldn't have said that. It isn't anyone's fault. I'm just hurting," He was now staring at me, not allowing me to break eye contact with him, "I'm sure you can understand what that's like. We're all hurting." I broke my intense gaze from Josh and glanced around the bus. Everyone was silently nodding, as if they agreed. "I just miss him a lot."

There was a look of confusion that painted itself across Josh's face, and Mark started to fume. Before anyone could say anything, Kelly came to my rescue; if she meant to or not, I'm not sure. "How is he doing? You didn't really give us anymore of an update after he got out of surgery."