Fisherwood One-Shots

Calm Me With Your Love

He's calling. Oh sinner...come on home

The blonde beauty had barely managed to keep her composure through the entire song. She had almost made it through the entire song, but when the last few lines came to surface and she knew that the pictures of the those who were lost in Vegas were displayed on the screens behind her, she felt her voice crack ever so slightly, just like her heart. She couldn't keep the tears in anymore as one escaped her eye.

The accompaniment finished out the rest of the song as Carrie bowed her head, sending prayers up to God about all of the loved ones lost and for extra strength to get through and finish the show. No matter how much she prayed, she couldn't stop the tears. She was doing her best to hold it in since she was isolated in the middle of a sea of fans, but she knew she wasn't doing a very good job.

It felt like forever until the cameras had finally cut to a commercial break and Carrie was escorted off of the back stage. There were thousands of people on their feet applauding the memoriam of all of the victims and for the beautiful performance, but Carrie was unable to handle it at the moment.

"Can someone please get Mike?" she asked crew members as soon as she was backstage away from the crowds of people, now on the verge of a complete break down.

"We'll call for him," her manager, Ann, told her.

Little did she know, Mike had already made his way backstage. He was unable to watch her perform from his seat since she was surrounded by the crowds of people, but he could certainly hear and watch the screens. He thought she sang absolutely beautifully and it was above and beyond any other performance he had ever seen her do. As soon as he heard her voice crack at the end though, he knew she was in pain and it was hurting her emotionally to keep going. He looked for a crew member who then ushered him backstage and he got to the door of her dressing room as soon as he could.

On his way, many gave knowing looks as if they understood exactly what he was doing. He waited patiently outside of her dressing room knowing she would be coming down the hall any minute for a quick change. As he guessed, he spotted his wife in her huge white custom made ball gown, a mess of tears walking down the call surrounded by crew trying to hold her dress to make it easier for her to walk.

"Mike," she broke down even more at the sight of him, falling into his arms. It was difficult to be close to him in the gorgeous dress that was swallowing her but she didn't care. She needed him.

"Care, we gotta get you out of that dress," her stylist, Marina, told her.

"Come in with me," Carrie grabbed a hold of Mike's hand leading him into her dressing room.

When the dressing room door closed, Marina helped with the zipper and slipped Carrie out of the dress and out of her heels and immediately into an entirely different dress, all while Carrie was continuing to hold back tears. She knew she couldn't break down fully. She had an entire show to put on, the category she was in was coming up, and she still had to perform alongside Alan Jackson. Now was not the time to have a melt down and she tried to keep telling herself that, but her emotions continued to mess with her.

"I can't go out there," she cried.

"Can someone buy her more time?" her makeup artist, Melissa, yelled out to crew people. Melissa had also been crying from watching Carrie perform.

"Brad is going to do the short bit that's in between the commercial break so that buys her about seven minutes," Ann informed her wardrobe, hair, and makeup team.

Once she was fully dressed in her hot pink mini dress, she held off on Melissa fixing her hair and makeup and made her way over to Mike who took her into his arms as she buried her head into his chest.

"I am so proud," he spoke softly as he rubbed her back. "You gave everything you had right up Him."

"I don't think I can go back out there," she repeated the same words she had said moments ago.

"Yes you can. Do it for them," he replied pulling her away from his embrace. He held onto both of her shoulders, knowing he had to stop her from crying. "Take deep breaths for me."

Carrie gripped both of his hands as she continued to take deep breaths alongside her husband, looking straight into his eyes. Those loving blue eyes staring down at her gave her the perfect calming effect she needed, and she almost instantly regained composure and strength.

"Okay," she let out a sigh of relief. "I'm good."

She let go of Mike's hands and he helped her wipe away the tears before passing her off to Melissa to fix her hair and makeup. "I'm sorry, I probably messed it all up," Carrie apologized to Melissa, referring to her makeup.

"Shush it, you still look absolutely gorgeous," Melissa hushed her as she worked her magic.

"Two minutes!" a crew member yelled outside the door.

"We gotta go," Ann told the group.

Melissa finished retouching up the blonde's makeup before Carrie hurriedly made her way to the side of the stage, Mike following behind her. Right before she went out she turned around to face her husband and couldn't help but give a soft smile, "Thank you."

"Hey, I love you," he told her, grabbing on of her hands, with that she leaned up to kiss him on the lips before she was ushered out.

"I love you too," she replied.

And with that, she had all of the strength and courage she needed to finish out the show. Having him there by her side gave her everything she needed. His love was what calmed her, what gave her peace.