The Golden Boys

Chapter 23

                   Stone Gossard
                       (Continued)

It felt like I was in a dream.
Like we all were.
We stood there feeling completely helpless as our fearless leader lie hooked up to machines and unconscious.

We were crammed into the small room, pretty much completely silent, when there was a light knock on the door and the doctor came in.

He looked around at all of us then sighed. "Andrew is on life support, and that is the only reason his heart is still beating. The chances of him waking up are very, very slim. You need to prepare yourselves for the worst."

Xana began to cry and Chris left the room.

And so the dream became a nightmare- Andy wasn't going to make it.

Mr. and Mrs. Wood began to make phone calls to all of his family, so we slowly shuffled out of the room to give them space. Jeff was in the hallway leaning against the wall with his eyes closed. I leaned against the wall beside him but said nothing.
We were all thinking the same things, all feeling this horrible pain.

I think a couple of hours went by, Matt Cameron and Kim Thayil showed up. So did some other guys who were in Andy's first band, Malfunkshun. Before long, the hospital became filled with people who loved him. People began to go in one a time, some in pairs, to say their goodbyes. I was one of the last to go in. I touched his hand, which felt cold, and cried. Xana placed her hand on my shoulder and we sobbed together. As I left the room, I looked back in one last time and I saw Xana cover him with a blanket.

Just before midnight on March 19th,
the plug was pulled and Andy was gone.

    Heather James

On Tuesday morning, I found myself waking up in my childhood bedroom.
Mom had made enough progress last night that I'd felt confident enough to leave and get some decent sleep.
She'd actually been alert enough to speak to Will and I last night - and she started to cry when she realized I was there. Doctors were now confident she would make a recovery, though it would be a very slow process.

Of course I was relieved, but despite the good news, late last night, just as my head hit the pillow, a very strange feeling came over me.
I tried to call Jeff right then.
No answer.
I tried again this morning, nothing.
I was beginning to worry... but I reminded myself that with the album release just a couple days away, he was probably with the guys working on that, maybe even spent the night at Andy's or Stone's.

I left him a message and gave him the hospital phone number and the number to my mom's house.
"Please call me when you can," I said.
"I love you."

When I walked into the kitchen, Will was sitting at the table with a cup of coffee and asked me to join him.

"Sleep good?" he asked.

I shrugged. "Not the greatest."

Most people would probably feel comforted sleeping in the same bedroom they occupied as a child, but it honestly just gave me the creeps.

We visited for awhile about nonchalant things; I asked him more about his life, what he had been up to these days. Will had just begun teaching at the community college in Indiana as an English professor.
I told him he fit the part, but I left out the fact that he still looked young enough to be in class.

I felt something with fur rubbing against my ankle, and when I looked down I was greeted by a black and white cat with a pink nose.

"Well hello." I set down my mug and reached to pet it.