Days had passed. I still didn't have the balls to tell my mom she was gonna be a grandmother and thankfully I managed to tell everyone to keep it between ourselves in the meantime. I felt like me and Vanessa needed to talk first seeing as we never got a chance too, plus I was a little scared. I just knew my mom was gonna hit the roof but then go out and buy freakin' baby grows straight after with I love my grandma or some shit across the front.
Everyone kept telling me I needed to go back to the hotel to grab a shower and sleep for days now, but I hadn't left Vanessa's side. I can't lie, it was getting to me. My back was all bent up and my neck was stiff from lying in the chair that had now moulded to my body shape. I hardly ate. I stunk. My hair was all greasy and knotted. Fuck, I was turning into Mick.
"How's she doing?" Michelle sighed as she walked in and kissed Vanessa's forehead.
"The nurses came in and said the swelling is going down a lot quicker than they expected so they're gonna try give her a couple of scans today to see how she's doing" I sighed.
"They took her bandage off?" She said as she brushed Vanessa's hair with her fingers.
"Yeah. They went to change it this morning but they said there isn't much point putting a fresh one on. The scabs have healed pretty well" I shrugged. I lent forward and rested my chin on the edge of her bed as I held Vanessa's hand and watched her. I just wanted to see her eyes move or feel her twitch like she did when she was asleep.
"I got you a coffee by the way, don't worry it's not from one of those machines" she smirked as she sat down next to me.
"Ahhh! Thanks man! I can't stand the taste of that shit anymore" I smirked as I sat up and took the white take out cup off her.
"So, we haven't had chance to talk properly yet... how you holding up?" She asked.
"It's hard... even though they say she's gonna be okay I'm just expecting something to go wrong" I sighed.
"If I know my niece the way that I think I do, you haven't got a single damn thing to worry about" she smiled.
"Did she ever tell you about the time she fell from the roof?" She asked.
I whipped my head round to look at her. "What!? No!"
She giggled. "It was summer of '72 and Vanessa had come over to my moms place with Sharise and her brother Daniel, and they were playing soccer in the backyard. Daniel kicked the ball onto the roof and I remember walking outside and they were throwing things at it to try and get it down, so being the party pooper I was I told them they couldn't play anymore and I walked off back inside expecting them to follow. I was talking to Vanessa's mom inside and all I heard was this huge crash and a scream so we all run outside and Vanessa is on the floor with her arm all snapped up like a twig and Sharise and Daniel stood over her with these big ol' puppy dog eyes saying they didn't do anything"
We started to laugh together while she told me some more stories about Vanessa growing up and she even showed me a couple of photos she had. I liked Michelle, she was like the super cool aunt every kid wished they had. After talking to her for an hour or so, I wondered what really went wrong with Vanessa and her parents.
"So, did Vanessa... did she ever tell you why she moved here?" I asked.
"I haven't spoken to Vanessa since she moved. I only found out she did move when Sharise called to tell me what had happened to her" she said.
I was actually kinda shocked. With how highly both Sharise and Vanessa spoke of Michelle, I thought they would have kept in touch.
"Oh... so, her parents... do they know?" I asked anxiously.
"Me and my sister fell out a long time ago. I tried to call her when I found out what had happened but she didn't answer" she shrugged.
I nodded my head and looked back at Vanessa as I picked up her hand to hold.
"I'm sure Vanessa's told you about her parents and what happened that night she left but I never knew their drink problem had gotten so out of hand. If I did I would have called CPS and took care of Nessie myself" she sighed.
"She doesn't blame you for anything, she talks about you all the time and her face always lights up" I said.
"You're a good guy Tommy, I'm glad you guys found each other" she smiled.
It was nice knowing I had her approval. I knew Vanessa didn't care but I always wanted people to like me.
I felt something tighten in my hand and my eyes widened as I looked down.
"What!? What is it!?" She asked as she sat forward.
"She's squeezing my hand" I said.
A smile grew across my face and I kept looking at her hand and up at her face to see if there was any more signs.
"She's letting you know she can hear you" she smirked.
I reached forward and kissed her cheek. "I love you" I whispered into her ear. I kissed her cheek and as I went to sit back down the machines started going crazy!
"What the..." I felt my stomach drop.
"Nurse!? I need help!?" Michelle had already left the room and was calling for help.
Vanessa started to shake, like she was having some kind of seizure. I could feel myself panicking.
A whole bunch of nurses and doctors ran in and surrounded her bed, pushing me out of the way. "Everybody out!"
I didn't want to leave her but Michelle pulled me out of the room. I could feel my chest getting tight again.
"What if I've done this?" I said as I paced around the hall, pulling at my hair.
"Tommy! Whoa! Hey!" She stopped me and grabbed my shoulders. "It's alright, you didn't do anything. She's gonna be fine" she said sternly.
I started to cry and she put her arms around me. I couldn't take it anymore, I was at breaking point.
"What's happened!?"
I looked up and Sharise was running towards us with Athena, Vince and Nikki.
I was crying so heavily I couldn't catch my breath to speak.
"We don't know. She squeezed Tommy's hand and then she started having some kind of seizure" she sighed.
Nikki grabbed my arm and sat me down on a chair. He bent down in front of me and grabbed my shoulders.
"Dude she's gonna be fine" he put his arms around me and gave me a hug like he actually meant it. We'd bro hugged while we were drunk, but we were both sober for once.
Athena came over and sat down next to me. She put her head on my shoulder and her arms around me and Nikki. It was nice having that comfort, but I needed to know what was going on. I stood up, brushing them away and walked over to the window where everyone else was stood.
They were fucking around with the machines and finally that awful noise stopped and went back to the sound of Vanessa's heart. I let out a sigh of relief and hugged... Sharise!?
She hated me for what happened but we were still friends and we both missed Nessa.
"Tommy... you really stink" she said as she pulled away.
I smirked and looked back through the window. One of the nurses looked up at us and she was muttering something to the other people in the room. I saw her nod and walk towards us. We all turned to the door in sync as we waited for the news.
"Is she okay!?" Sharise asked before any of us had chance to open our mouths.
"Yes. She tried to wake herself up" she said.
"What!? How is that even possible!?" Michelle asked as she looked at Sharise and back at the nurse.
"Well... whoever put her in the coma didn't give her the correct dosage of propofol so she tried to wake up but her body didn't react well" she said.
"Are you fucking kidding me!? We should sue your asses" Nikki yelled.
"Dude. Shut up" Athena said as she glared at him.
"When she finally does wake up, is this gonna happen again?" I sniffled.
"No, usually we bring patients out of coma's by administering an injection that minimises these effects" she said.
"So what happens now?" Vince asked as he draped his arm over Sharise's shoulder.
"We gave her an injection to put her back under for a couple more days but we still want to do the scans and tests to see how she's doing internally" she said.
"So you're still gonna wake her up on Wednesday?" I asked, impatiently.
"Yes, perhaps even sooner if the scans tell us something positive" she nodded.
I felt the corners of my mouth turn into a smile and I got butterflies in my stomach. Fuck, I couldn't wait to talk to her, to hold her, to kiss her and feel her kissing me back. It's like Christmas as a kid all over again!
We waited for the doctors to leave and we all went back in the room while we waited for them to take her down.
"Should we come up with a song for her?" Nikki smirked.
"What?" I cocked an eyebrow as I looked at him.
"Hear me out, right... remember when you were too scared to talk to Vanessa and I was all 'dude why do you even like her, her and that blonde one have got the looks that kill' and you were like 'yeah but she's got these starry eyes'" he shrugged as he tried to mimic me. The girls and Vince all burst out into laughter.
"Dude... seriously? She can hear you know" I rolled my eyes.
"Look T-Bone, we need another song for our set list and I thought it'd be nice for Ness to hear it when you..." he pointed to his ring finger.
"What!?" Sharise exclaimed as she looked over at me.
"You're gonna..." she pointed to her ring finger.
"Well I was gonna but then this stupid fucking crash happened" I sighed.
SLAP!
"Ow!" Vince yelped.
Sharise glared at him.
"What the hell was that for!?" He said as he tried to move away from her.
"Why can't you be more like Tommy!? Where's my trip to Greece!?" She screeched as she folded her arms.
I looked around the room and our jaws were on the floor. I heard this little squeak and as I looked over at Nikki he was bright red and his cheeks were so full of laughter he looked as if he was about to pop.
"How the fuck did I end up forming a band with two bitches" he shook his head.
Athena and Michelle burst into laughter.
"Tommy's always been a bitch" Athena smirked.
I stuck my middle finger up at her.
"Hey, I forgot to say I found your ballet shoes" she smirked.
Nikki and Vince looked at me and started laughing.
"Duuuude" Nikki shook his head.
"You used to do ballet!?" Vince said in his smug tone.
"What's wrong with ballet!? I got all the chicks" I shrugged.
"No you didn't" Athena smirked.
"Oh my god" I groaned.
Everyone was laughing at me but then the door opened. A couple of nurses walked in and explained they were taking Vanessa down for all her scans and she'd be gone for a couple of hours. I decided to finally go back to the hotel with Nikki so I could finally grab a shower and change.
"Buddy, you gotta sleep. You look like shit" Nikki shook his head.
"I'm golden" I shrugged.
Truthfully, I didn't want to be in bed without her. It didn't feel right.
"You haven't slept in..."
"Dude, I said I'm good" I snapped a little.
He rolled his eyes like always and stood up.
"What about some of this?" He said as he held up a bag of white powder.
I knew it was wrong. My girlfriend was lying in a hospital bed from an accident that wouldn't have happened if I would have just controlled my temper, but I was starting to go crazy from the sleep deprivation. I needed something to keep me alert and awake.
I took the bag off him and emptied a little bit onto the dressing table. I grabbed a straw and as I began to sniff I heard the door open.
I rubbed my nostril and looked up to see my mom standing there.
Mine and Nikki's faces dropped. We both started to ramble over one another but she just stood there glaring at us.
"You. Out" she said sternly as she looked at Nikki.
I honestly wished the ground would just open up and swallow me hole right then and there.
The door clicked shut and I finally looked at my mom.
"How could you?" She asked.
She wasn't mad. She was more upset and disappointed and it hurt seeing her that way.
"It's not what you think... it's just powdered sugar" I tried to explain.
SLAP!
"Do not try and insult my intelligence, Thomas Lee Bass" she said through gritted teeth as she pointed at me.
"What has gotten into you!?" She started to tear up. "Ever since you joined this band you've changed! You bought home groupies, you lie, you keep things hidden..."
"How did I..."
"Do you really think me and your father don't talk!? He told me about the panic attack and the real reason Vanessa is in the hospital! I was going to wait until she was awake and well before I said anything to you!" She yelled.
"Mom, I'm sorry..." I tried to put my arm out to hug her but she pushed it away and folded her arms.
"I don't know who you are anymore, Thomas" she said as she glared at me and stormed out of the room.
"Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck!" I muttered to myself as I sat down and clutched at my hair. I fucking hated seeing my mom upset.
Everything over the last couple of days had just built up and I was at boiling point. I picked up the lamp that was plugged in next to the bed and threw it across the room. I punched the wall and started heading for the mini bar but Nikki came racing in and tackled me to the bed.
"Get off me!" I yelled as I punched him in the jaw.
He looked back at me and punched me straight in the jaw. We ended up getting into a big ass brawl. there was blood and snot being splattered all over the place.
"Fucking quit it!" Mick ran in with my dad and they dragged us to other sides of the room.
"You're a fucking dick, man!" I yelled.
"Keep going, get it out" Nikki smirked as he panted.
In that moment, I realised that he knew I had all this pent up anger, and he took a beating to make sure I got it out of me. That just screamed brotherhood to me.