Point Of View 2 [*Do not read until you've read the same chapter of ATW]

Chapter 19 Sedate Me

*Trisha*

I watch Nate from behind the scenes and a wave of emotion runs through me. I'm so proud of him. He's come so far and overcome so many obstacles. Now look at him, singing his heart out, pleasing his fans, doing what he loves. The second he walks off the stage of Night Two Concert, I throw my arms around him.

"That was perfect!! Do you hear that crowd?!?"  The roaring from the crowd seems louder than last night, if that's even possible, and tonight there was not one mistake. 

"Night Two down!" Jared exclaims while he walks off the stage. He wipes the sweat off his forehead with a towel. Right behind him come Tommy, Andy, Craig, Kyle, Dominic, Evan and Alison, all doing the same.

"Guys, that was better than last night."  Nate smiles at his band while gulping down water. I hand out water bottles to everyone and our clan begins to come into the room. Jonah, Casey, and Paul enter the rec room and Casey looks around.

"Where's the dog?" She asks, usually the one to take Maggie out. Paul looks down on the table where Nate's phone is and hands him a note.

"No Julia tonight?" Evan asks with smirk. Ugh. He is a mini Nate.

"She went back on the bus to sleep." Nate looks down at Julia's note now disappointed.

"Aww. That's too bad." Evan's devilish grin makes me look at him in disgust.

"And you..you stay away." Nate squints his eyes at the kid. 

"Ok, shower, eat, relax for a few before we hit the road again. Next stop is Manchester." Leslie announces nd everyone goes their separate ways before the After-Party. 

The production crew wastes no time tearing the arena down to pack up for the next destination.

"I can't believe we are finally watching this all unfold." I hand Jonah a plate, knowing the guy is always hungry. Always. Usually I'd talk to Paul but he's being Nate's bodyguard in the dressing room so Nate can shower. I don't usually talk to Jonah often.

"Why do you look nervous or something?" I study Jonah's face while he piles some appetizers on his plate.

"You didn't see his holding his chest a few times??"

My eyes widen hearing this.

"Well, no.. I mean. I'm back here the whole time with Leslie so I mainly see the back of him unless he's running around. What do you mean, holding his chest??" I ask full of concern.

"He's downplaying his symptoms, that's what I mean. It worries me, Trisha. If he won't be honest with me with how he feels I can't treat him."

"Are you sure he just didn't have a little heartburn or something? We've been eating junk lately. He's not used to it....No offense, Debbie. The food is amazing but Nate literally lives off of grilled chicken, fish and salad because of his heart." I redeem myself as the caterer laughs.

"I take no offence. Nate picked out the menu, remember?" Debbie says.

Right. We did. Over two years ago before any of this happened with his heart. Jonah gives me an "Are you serious." Look to my heartburn comment knowing full well it wasn't heartburn.

"Alright." I say in almost a whisper. "I'll talk to him about it. But not tonight, ok? Let him enjoy tonight."

"Of course. Actually, hold my plate. I'm gonna go check on Julia real quick to make sure she's not jumping off a ledge somewhere high." Jonah laughs at his own joke and I can't help but chuckle. He's usually always serious and in nurse mode. It's nice to see some character come out of the man.

***

The rec room begins to fill up with everyone who made this night happen  and Nate joins the crowd. First mingling like always, then grabbing food and a ginger ale to sit on the couch where Jonah eventually sits after checking on Julia.  I find myself staring at Nate for a few minutes. Is he really downplaying the chest pain?  I really hope not.

"You are about to drool you're staring at him for so long." Leslie rolls her eyes at me.

"No, not that. His nurse noticed Nate having some chest pains on stage." I say while still looking over at Nate. He glances at me and gives me a wink and a smile before returning to his conversation with Jonah.

"He seems fine now." Leslie says.

"Yea... we're probably overthinking shit." 

The band gets a little rowdy and I notice  Craig and Dominic are already getting wasted.

"Guys, other room if you're gonna drink that shit. Not near Nate. Recovering ALCOHOLIC remember??" I snap at the two bandmates like their mother who both nod and leave the room with their booze. The scent of weed fills the room as Andy and Kyle pass a blunt. "Are we in fucking highschool? C'mon guys. Take that outside. No smoking in the building."

"Yes mommy." Kyle says in a seductive way and I cringe. They are all good looking guys but I am not into the call me mommy, daddy role playing shit. Leslie follows them out making it known she's gonna go get high.

"Buncha children." Paul stands next to me now with his plate of food.

"I swear I have to babysit everyone around here."  I huff. "How are you doing?" I grab a chair at the table and Paul sits across from me.

"Did you see Hollan on stage tonight?" Paul gets right to it.  So it was obviously noticed that Nate was having some issues with his heart.

"I can only see the back of him. Jonah told me.."  I sulk down a little. "I had no idea until after the concert."

"He's stressed." Paul grumbles, keeping his eyes down on his food while he eats.

"Yeah well we have your girl, Moretti, to thank for thaaat. He was never stressed when he was going on tour single."

Paul looks up at me but says nothing and refocuses back on his plate of nachos. Typical Paul move.

"What?" I raise a brow.

"Nothing."

"No, you have something to say Rossi. I can tell. Spit it out."

"There's nothing to spit out. You're just hard on her." He says while shoveling food into his mouth.

"She needs someone to keep her in her place."

"Noooo. She could use a friend. Not a guy friend either. She attracts plenty of attention from guys." Paul leans back in his chair and wipes his mouth with his napkin. Part of what he said is true. Julia walks into a room and whether she realizes or not, every man's eyes gravitate to her. She's a beautiful woman who doesn't look a day over thirty. A fit little five foot body and is sensitive and kind. Men get wrapped around her finger easily. 

"Moretti doesn't need more friends. She needs a reality check." I retort, not really knowing what else to say to Paul. I don't mean to be tough with her but I AM overprotective of Nate and that heart of his. Always will be.

"Trish....."

"I'm sorry. She just screams stress, ok? I'm always gonna worry about Nate and his health. He was about to marry a walking heart attack. I'm glad she called things off with him but the stress that it is putting on Nate is not cool in my book." I look down at my food and finally begin to eat now.

"You don't think you have ever caused Nate stress, do you?"

"Me? I'm the fucking fixer, sexy. I'm the one who  cleans up Hollan's shit."

I notice Paul's focus is on Nate and he abruptly stands up. Nate is across the room, standing and staring at Paul, ready to move and in need of a bodyguard. I have no idea what Nate and Jonah were just talking about but whatever it was got heated or something was said. Nate heads to the back exit of the room that leads out to the parking where all the tour busses are and Paul quickly follows. 

Odd.

I continue eating, chat it up with Casey a little while keeping an eye on the door but Paul and Nate never return. Which only means one thing.

Julia had another episode.

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