June 16th, 1964
The concert was very fun. Ringo was back and as good as ever. Emery laughed a lot for the first time in a while, even though it hurt her abdomen to do so.
After the concerts, Emery stood in the corner of the dressing room as the boys flooded in, not wanting to disturb them.
John glanced over at Emery from his spot on the couch and saw her standing like a poor sheep in the corner.
"Em, come over here, would ya?" He beckoned her over.
Em hesitantly walked over, relaxing into the couch as the boys fiddled with their ties, struggling to remove them.
"Stop being so tense. Here-have a ciggie." John offered her, taking her hand and placing it in her open palm.
"There you are." He smiled, tapping the underside of her chin.
"Alright." Emery shooed his hand off.
"How do I smoke this shite?" Emery peered at the white paper-rolled tobacco.
"Are you joking?" John said with a laugh.
"No. I've never smoked before, why else would I ask, y'twit." Emery said, stunning herself as the words flood out of her mouth.
John didn't take any offense. Instead, he just raised his eyebrows and smirked.
"There you go, Emmy. Now you've finally learned how to make insults without apologizing." John said, draping his arm over the couch and crossing his ankle onto his knee.
"I didn't mean to. It just slipped out." Emery shrugged sheepishly.
"Oh-Em, no takebacks." John wagged a finger.
"Cor, Em, even with you being a goody-two-shoes and all, I thought you would at least have had a blimey cigarette." John said honestly.
"Oh, hush, you're as daft as a bush."
Emery grinned at her own insult. "So how do I take a drag of this thing-genuinely." She added.
"Easy. All you do it take it, have an inhale, keep the smoke in your mouth for a second, and exhale. It'll untwist your balled up knickers." John teased her.
Emery looked at him before holding the cigarette up to her lips, sucking in cautiously, like she was drinking burning hot chocolate from a straw, kept the smoke in her mouth, and exhaled. She felt surprisingly relaxed.
"Wow, not bad for a first-timer." John commented.
"Thanks. I think I'm ready to try weed now." Emery smiled with giddiness.
"Not quite yet. I don't think you'd be able to handle it." John shook his head, taking hit guitar from beside him and enclosing it into its case.
"Oh, like you are the marijuana expert, a right pothead that makes you." Emery retorted.
"I've never had weed." John answered simply.
"Really? I feel like you'd be the kind of person to do it." Emery admitted.
"Oi! Lovebirds! We're leaving." Paul cocked his thumb to the direction of the door.
"I'm not all bad." John winked at her, standing up from the couch, picking up the handle of his guitar case.
He held out his hand, a cocky smile on his face.
"Ah, what a proper gentleman you are." She took his hand and grabbed it, holding on to her abdomen as she stood up.
John's eyebrows knit together in slight concern.
"Your abdomen still hurt, then?" He looked at her as they walked out of the Hall and followed the rest of the band into their cars.
"Yeah, but it's supposed to hurt for a couple weeks. I'm fine." Emery brushed him off.
"Em, stop saying you're fine. You're not bloody fine." John gripped his guitar case handle tighter, a stern expression on his face.
"Hello all." Paul smiled gleefully as he slipped into the seat next to John.
"Hello, Paul." Emery said, trying her best to smile.
"Who died in here?" He asked comedically.
"Once again, Paul, that's not bloody funny." John glared at him.
"Oh-I'm so sorry, I didn't think-" Paul started to apologize profusely.
"No, you didn't. But it's ok, you'll learn." John half smiled at his best friend, patting his shoulder. Paul frowned and shrugged John's hand off him.
The rest of the car ride was silent, with Paul occasionally pointing to something outside the car. Emery felt bad she wasn't encouraging him with positive replies, but she truly wasn't in the mood.
They got out of the car and scurried into their hotel rooms, ready to go to bed.
Once the hotel door shut, John turned to face Emery. "Do you not realize how major that surgery was? New technology, and you almost bloody died. The surgery took place so late into the pregnancy that you were starting to internally bleed. They had to stop the bleeding as quick as possible because you were losing too much blood. So, you are not fine, Emery." John scolded her, his tone sharp.
Emery maintained her graze on the carpeted ground, hot tears stinging her eyes.
"I almost died?" She asked rhetorically. "You didn't tell me that when I asked you. Why would you do that?" She looked up at him.
"I didn't want to make you upset. You had just woken up from the surgery. It wouldn't have been good for you to get all worked up like that." John explained.
"Fuck. I almost died." Her heartbeat sped up, and she clutched her chest, her throat beginning to feel tight.
She tried to breathe through the feeling. She had always been scared of death, but to know she almost died made her realize her worst fear almost transformed into a reality.
"Hell, Em, breathe." John put his hands on her shoulders, trying to make eye contact with her while he attempted to calm her down. He felt terrible for making her panic, but she didn't realize how serious the surgery was. Sure, it wasn't a brain surgery or a heart transplant, but it was still severe, since Emery was at a great risk. John was so terrified in that moment the nurse told him what was happening, but he had to knock some sense into Emery and make her realize it was more than an extraction of a fetus.
Emery closed her eyes and took a final deep breath, her stinging tears now cascading down her face.
"Shh. I'm sorry I scared you." He pulled her in for a hug. Emery buried her face into his chest, still crying.
"I should have known better with a girl like you
That I would love everything that you do
And I do, hey, hey, hey, and I do
Whoa, oh, I never realized what a kiss could be
This could only happen to me
Can't you see, can't you see"
John quietly sang "I Should Have Known Better" a song he recently finished composing. His soothing voice calmed Emery down and rid her from her panic attack.
She gradually calmed down, her tears subsiding, gripping John tightly.
"You're going to get through this, ok? We're going to get through this." He told her firmly.
Emery nodded. John took a second to memorize the glow of her ocean blue eyes, now brighter due to her tears. She still looked beautiful.
YOU ARE READING
Stand By Me-A John Lennon fanfic
FanfictionEmery Harrison, older sister of George, had a crush on the one and only John Lennon. But, she didn't want to reveal it, obviously. The Beatles were now starting to become a world sensation. Emery couldn't possibly tell him she liked him, because not...
