Michael's P.O.V

It was a work day for both of us.
I dropped Maria off as close to the hospital as secrecy would allow, then turned tail to head back to my impatiently waiting crew and brothers.

I had been putting off the unavoidable for too long, and I had been worrying everyone involved. The tabloids hadn't helped, but I couldn't deny that I wasn't in much of a hurry to get back to work.

It was all go as soon as I stepped onto the scene and as the buzz of the upcoming concert rose, I was soon utterly absorbed in making the next concert even better than the last.
I hardly took a break all morning and by midday, we were almost ready enough to put on a show that night, although we had to wait for the great news to reach the fans.

Before I could give the all clear to let the news go to the press, Matt called to me:

"Hey Mike, there's a young woman on the phone, says she wanna speak to you, I told her that you'd call her back later but she's pretty insistent. What do you wanna do?"
"Who is it?" I was genuinely intrigued, it couldn't just be a hardcore fan, maybe it was a journalist.

"Some girl called Miss Rose, I dunno if that means anything to you, she sounded quite young on the phone, I'll tell her to try again later when you're not busy-"
"Let me talk to her" The name shattered my show man's bubble, I hadn't thought about her much all day, I felt really bad.
"Are you sure? You've never taken a call mid rehearsal before"

He looked suspicious. Was I that obvious?

"I'm serious, let me talk to her. OKAY EVERYONE, TAKE A BREAK" With that, I rushed to my trailer to hear that sweet voice on the end of my phone.

"Maria, is everything okay?"
"Michael, I wouldn't have called if it wasn't important, I'm sorry, I know you're busy, but... it's Destiny. She's had a terrible fitting episode and she has to go into surgery for an operation on her brain and- we're not sure if she's going to survive surgery, it's a fifty-fifty chance. She's asking for you. She wants to see you again in case she doesn't get another chance. Will you come? It's nothing to do with me, okay? She just wants you to visit her. I know it's not a good time, what with the tour and everything but..."

"Tell her I'm on my way" The news struck me like a punch to the stomach.
"Thank you Michael" Her voice was quiet, I could only imagine how she was feeling.

On the way back to the stage, I bumped into Matt.

"You're all ready to get back in there?" He looked at me intensely, sensing what I was about to say.
"Actually no, I-I have to see this child. She might die in surgery and she asked for me specifically, so I have to go."
"Mike, what's wrong with you?! We have a show to put on as early as tonight, and you're just going to leave again? A kid dies every day Mike, why does it matter to you?" I was stung by his tone.

"Every child matters Matt, EVERY CHILD! And in case you give a damn, the "kid" you're referring to is Destiny, the little girl you were playing with only a few days ago, or doesn't that matter to you?" He was silent for a while.
"I know that's not the only reason, Mike. It's that girl isn't it? The girl on the phone, she was the same girl you were giving the eye to when she came with those kids. You can't mess us around just because of your desires, okay? You gotta get your priorities straight. You better pull yourself together soon or so help me I'll make sure you can't leave my sight. Now get out of here before I change my mind, and you better be here bright and early tomorrow morning. You know that I've now gotta tell everybody you bailed on us again"
Before I could make an apology, he had stormed off, leaving me to do as I pleased.

Never had I felt so guilty about having freedom.

Maria's P.O.V

"Hey Destiny, I have some good news, Michael Jackson is going to come and see you, isn't that great?" She just nodded and played with my shirt.

"He's going to see you too, Maria. We both like him, don't we?" I smiled.

"Yes, we both like him very much"

Her parents looked up at me and smiled weakly, we were all trying to make the best out of this awful situation. Still, she had a fifty percent chance of pulling through, we had to cling to that.

Destiny grinned at me at last. "I think he likes me best"
"Yes, I think you must be right"

I was being honest, for Michael to put everything on hold just for this one little girl, especially when the press were spreading wild rumours that he would cancel the tour, he must really care. It warmed my heavy heart. I was so glad that he had agreed to come, but I wasn't completely sure whether this was because of Destiny or myself.

I refused to think selfishly, I couldn't let my feelings get in the way of my job, I think we were both struggling to keep up the appearance of mere acquaintances, and going by what had happened between us the night before, it was going to be increasingly difficult.

*