Feb. 22, 2007

If the first step on the road to recovery is admitting you have a problem, Britney Spears has once again tripped and face-planted into a big ol' pothole. For the second time in a week, she's ditched rehab less than 24 hours after checking in, sparking new fears for her well-being.

Early Wednesday, the pop starlet-turned-chrome-domed-cautionary tale reportedly hotfooted it out of the Promises treatment facility in Malibu, Calif., where hours earlier paparazzi captured her cutting a sad figure as she sucked on a cancer stick while sporting a pink tank top emblazoned with the word "delicious" and pants with the size sticker still on the thigh.

"It was against their advice," an insider tells People of her decision to beat a hasty retreat. "If she comes back for treatment, Promises will have to assess the situation. Sometimes people come back, but it doesn't look good."

Those close to her seem to agree.

"Everyone in the family is crying and beside themselves," a "family friend" reveals to E! Online's Marc Malkin. "To say that the family is devastated is beyond an understatement. Nobody knows what to do."

So where did Britney go following her abbreviated stay, which comes on the heels of a similar disappearing act from the Crossroads rehab center in Antigua last week? Not, it appears, to visit sons Sean Preston, 17 months, and Jayden James, 5 months.

"Extra" claims she made a beeline to a tattoo parlor, only to find it closed, foiling her attempts to add to the dual etchings she inked on shortly after her infamous fleecing Friday night.

While reports of her current whereabouts fly fast and furiously (TMZ.com says she met Wednesday afternoon with the same high-powered attorney who represented Mel Gibson in his DUI case), plenty of insiders are tattling to the so-called "false tabloids" about the days and months leading up to her apparent meltdown moment. Here's the latest (and yeah, we have a really bad feeling about where all this is headed, too):

K. Fed's Concern: In what seems par for the course in Britney's topsy-turvy world, Kevin Federline has apparently been acting as a voice of reason for his estranged and erratic spouse. Us reports the lately little-seen K. Fed, who is allowed visitation with his sons amid custody wrangling, urged Spears to slow down in recent days, only to be rebuffed, an assertion echoed by People. "Kevin wanted her to get help so she could be a good mother for their kids and not end up dead," a source tells the mag, adding, "It's not about getting the kids away from Britney. He's just worried about making sure he can see them." A friend of the failed rapper and father of four, who has wisely maintained a low profile as his former meal-ticket missus has spiraled, says his intentions are good. "Kevin is concerned for Britney and his children," a pal tells People. "Of course he's concerned about her. He loves her. He's always loved her -- even after she started divorce proceedings." Spears' manager, Larry Rudolph, assures People the tykes "are being well taken care of."

Clipping Conjecture: Did a face-off with Federline precipitate Spears' scalping? So says OK! magazine, which alleges they had a "huge argument" when Brit returned to her Malibu, Calif., mansion last Friday from Miami. "Kevin threatened Britney that he was going to have people test her hair to find out exactly what she's been up to," the mag's editor tells "Extra." "She was so scared. That was what made her have her head shaved." (Of course, there are a few holes in this logic, including the fact that the majority of the mane on Brit's head was salon-purchased and that drug analysis can be done on any type of hair -- even arm hair.) The London Mirror offers up still another possibility for the shearing, quoting a "source close to" Spears as saying she buzzed off her damaged tresses because "she thought lice were eating her hair extensions, so she decided to get rid of them as soon as possible."

Parental Fears: "Her mom cries and begs Britney to calm down, but Britney just yells at her and tells her to mind her own business," a mole sighs to Us, which reports mother and daughter have been at odds for months over her club-hopping habits. A "pal" adds to In Touch that the family is in "crisis mode," to the point where her mother, Lynne, has seized Britney's credit cards. Still, Mama Spears took to "Access Hollywood" on Monday to tearfully proclaim, "We love our daughter." Meanwhile, on Sunday, not long before a be-wigged Britney was spotted at a couple of Los Angeles hot spots, she had a heart-to-heart with dad Jamie, who told her "how much he loves her and that he wants her to get help," a source tells Us. "He told her that he's afraid for her safety and that she needs to take a look at her life and make some major changes or everything is going to get worse. Britney listened to her father and nodded, but was very serious."

Diaper Duty Demands: "She gets overwhelmed," a snitch maintains to Us of Britney's mommy and me time with Sean and Jayden. "She gets so frustrated when they cry, asking, 'How do I make it stop?' But she loves her kids." Adds a caretaker who applied for a job in the Spears household, "One nanny told me that Britney will hold her kids for 10 minutes and then say, 'I'm done now. You can take them.'"

The Breakdown Build-Up: "She hasn't been reasonable in a good while," an insider claims to "Access Hollywood," which reports her family staged an intervention on Valentine's Day. The source alleges Britney has been plagued with "instabilities" for years, which plays into rumors that after she unsuccessfully attempted to check into Los Angeles' Mondrian Hotel over the weekend (she didn't have credit cards or cash, reports Us), she was seen crying and shaving her legs by the pool. She was also purportedly heard uttering this heartbreaking statement over and over again: "Nobody wants me."