A noise wakes me up and I stare up at the dark ceiling of the hotel room. It comes again and I realise it’s retching. I sit up and check the clock – it’s just gone 4am – and climb out of bed. I find Brian bent over the toilet on the bathroom floor and sit behind him, perching on the edge of the bath. I start to rub his back gently as he breathes heavily.
“Eat somethin’ bad?” I ask sleepily.
“I just feel crap,” he moans and reaches to flush the toilet before wetting his face and mouth with cold water. He leans back against my legs when he’s done and I realise that he looks like a ghost.
“Honey, you’ve lost your colour,” I say and feel his forehead. It’s hot and clammy. “And you have a temperature. C’mon, let’s get you back to bed and I’ll call a doctor.”
“I’m ok,” he says and stands up slowly. He wobbles and I grab hold of him. We walk slowly into the main room and I help him get back into bed. “I think I have the flu or something,” he moans.
“Probably. You have been working way too hard lately,” I pull the covers up over him and reach for the phone. I dial reception and ask for the nearest medical centre. They give me a number and I ring them. After a few rings, a woman answers and I tell her Brian’s symptoms. She agrees it sounds like flu but arranges for a doctor to visit at 8am just to make sure. I hang up and sit by Brian, stroking his hair back from his face. “A doctor will be here to see you soon.”
“I’ll be fine after some sleep,” he says.
“A couple of days’ sleep,” I tell him and he groans.
“But we have a show tomorrow night and interviews all day and…”
“And nothing. You will not be there,” I tell him sternly. “If you don’t get yourself 100% fit now, it’ll be haunting you all year.”
“Uh…” he mutters, not willing to admit that I’m right.
“Get some sleep baby,” I murmur and stroke his hair softly until he drifts off. I sit by him and watch him sleeping until there’s a knock on the door. I head over and open it.
“I’m Dr Freya,” the man says and we shake hands.
“Hi, I’m Jade. Brian’s sleeping right now,” I let him in and walk over to open the curtains.
“So, what’s been going on?” the doctor asks as I walk back to him.
“I woke up at about 5am and Brian was being sick. He has a temperature, he’s shivery, sweaty and pretty wobbly on his legs,” I explain as Brian wakes up. “Honey, this is Dr Freya.”
“Hey,” Brian murmurs and sits up. “I’m not that bad really.”
“Let me decide that,” the doctor grins and opens up his bag. He takes Brian’s temperature and pulse, feels his neck and stomach and then asks him a few questions. “Ok, I’m pretty sure it’s the flu so you need to drink a lot of water, take some vitamins and stay in bed for at least two days.”
“But I have a concert!” Brian protests and the doctor looks at me.
“He’s in a group,” I explain.
“Ah. Well, it’s two days rest for you I’m afraid. Concerts can be re-scheduled, your health can’t,” the doctor tells Brian as he stands up.
“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure he gets rest.”
“Good,” he smiles. “If he gets any worse, just call me.”
“Ok. Thanks,” I walk him to the door and he leaves.
“Two DAYS!” Brian moans and flops back on the bed.
“You’ll live,” I laugh and walk over to sit by him. “And it’s only one concert.”
“Only?!” he mutters. “We’ve already postponed a few!”
“And your fans understood. They will understand now,” I stand up. “You get some sleep and I’ll go tell Kevin what’s going on.”
“Ok,” he mutters and rolls over, closing his eyes.
I head out into the corridor and down to Kevin’s room. I knock lightly and a few minutes later Kristen opens. She’s fully dressed and I feel grateful I didn’t just wake them.
“Oh hey Jade,” she smiles. “You ok?”
“I’m fine,” I smile back. “You?”
“Oh, I had the best sleep last night,” she grins. “I miss Kevin when he’s not there in my bed so it’s great to be here, with him.”
“I bet,” I smile. “Is he here? I need to talk to him.”
“Sure, come in,” she leads the way in and I find Kevin sat on the bed tying his gym shoes.
“Hi Jady,” he greets with a smile. “Everything ok?”
“Not quite,” I say and he looks worried. “Relax, it’s nothin’ too major. It’s just… Brian has the flu.”
“The flu?” he repeats and I nod.
“Yup. He looks like hell and he feels it too. He’s been throwing up and he has a real temperature.”
“Should we call the doctor?” Kristen asks.
“He’s already been. He said it’s the flu and Brian needs two days bed rest, at least.”
“Two DAYS?!” Kevin exclaims and then groans. “He has to take it but it’s gonna totally fuck up our schedule.”
“He knows that,” I tell him. “He’s real worried about letting everyone down.”
“I’ll go see him, reassure him,” Kevin says and pulls the tour schedule out of his bag. “Lemme see… Ok, we got a show tomorrow night and then nothing for two days.”
“Chose the wrong day to get sick huh?” Kristen jokes lightly.
“You’re not kidding,” Kevin rolls his eyes and stands up. “I’m gonna go see him,” he heads out of the room.
“Poor Bri,” Kristen sympathises. “The flu is awful.”
“Yeah,” I agree. “Makes you pretty miserable as well.”
“Uh huh. And guys are the worst when it comes to getting ill,” she adds with a chuckle.
“Totally! They are such wimps,” I exclaim.
“Last month, Kevin had a cold and from the way he was going on ya’d have thought he was dying!” Kristen giggles. “It was pretty pathetic to watch.”
“I can imagine.”
“Want to go get breakfast?”
“Sure,” I agree and we head out. We go via my room to let Brian and Kevin know where we are. A few minutes later we’re sat at a table with coffees.
“Heard from Ali at all?”
“Nup. I’m a little worried about her,” I admit. “I mean, the way she just took off.”
“It was pretty freaky,” Kristen agrees. “And not telling Nick before?”
“Well, I guess she thought he was gonna dump her so she got in first.”
“That’s pretty dumb. If you love somebody you don’t just give up. Any idiot knows that.”
“Any idiot except that idiot,” I say and she nods. “But I don’t know that Nick hasn’t given up too,” I add.
“I know. What the hell happened between those two?”
“Dunno,” I shrug. “I think he just got tired of all her secrets.”
“Don’t blame him,” she sighs as a waiter comes over to take our orders. “Uh, I’ll have a cream cheese and bacon bagel and an OJ please.”
“Just toast for me, thanks.”
“Sure,” he nods and walks off.
“Ok, enough about Ali and Nick,” Kristen decides. “How was it seeing JC last night?”
“Fine,” I shrug and she looks at me. “Pretty awkward,” I admit.
“Did he say anything?”
“Well, at first he was all attitude and ‘I’m totally over you’ and then he got a little drunk and told me he can’t forget me and am I sure I made the right choice…”
“Ooh,” she winces. “Awkward.”
“Yup. I just told him the truth. I figured telling him straight that I made the right choice might help him.”
“Yeah, you can’t pussy-foot around on things like that. Did it help?”
“He told me to be happy so I think so.”
“That sounds positive,” Kristen comments. “And you? Did you feel anything for him?”
“Well, yeah… I’m always gonna think he’s cool and stuff, but I don’t love him or anything. I didn’t feel like I wanted to be with him.”
“That’s good. The whole thing really tore Brian up.”
“I know,” I bow my head. “I’m not proud of it and if I could go back and change it, I would.”
“I know but at least now you know just how much Brian loves you. Not many guys could stand by their girl through that.”
“I know. If it had been Brian, I would’ve been outta there,” I admit.
“Really?”
“Well, yeah. But I would’ve gone back to fight for him once I’d calmed down a little. I love him too much to just let him go.”
“God, if anyone tried to take Kevin away from me I would scratch their eyes out,” Kristen says passionately. “And then I’d have to kill him,” she adds with a chuckle.
“You go girl,” I laugh as our food arrives. We start to eat and Kevin joins us.
“Hey,” he sits down and pours himself a coffee.
“How’s Brian?” Kristen asks.
“He looks like hell,” Kevin says. “He’s insisting he’ll do the show tomorrow night.”
“What?!” I exclaim.
“Relax,” Kevin tells me calmly. “I told him not to be so dumb, that his health is more important and all that… But he’s still convinced he’ll be fine.”
“Right, I’m gonna go…” I start to stand up and he pulls me back down.
“Hear me out Jade. He’s gonna spend today and tomorrow resting. We’ll make his excuses for our interviews this afternoon and tomorrow so that’s almost 48 hours rest he’ll get. If he does the show, and I mean IF, he will take it a lot easier with the dance routines. Then he will have two days and nights to get fit before the next show. It could work,” he finishes with a shrug.
“Fine,” I sit back in my chair. “But I hope you guys know what you’re doing. If he does the show and he’s still unwell, he’ll take a lot longer to get fit again.”
“I know,” Kevin says. “But if I tell him he can’t do the show he’ll start worrying about letting people down and that can’t be good.”
“Plus you can’t tell Brian not to do anything,” I agree reluctantly.
“He’ll be fine Jade.”