HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!! We're still here! No Y2K or Armageddon! And you were worried! Anyways, what better way to ring in the new year than with an installment? So, here it is. It's still a collaboration between my anonymous friend and I. So, let me know what u think! ON WITH THE SHOW!!!!
Lance and I were in my car and listening to music.
"That Lew guy is pretty cool!" I said.
"Yeah, he's sorta like a brother/father figure to Josh and Justin." Lance replied.
"What about the rest of you?"
"Not so much us as them, only cause they've known him longer. I mean, Justin, Joey and Josh all have a special kind of bond with him."
"Then how come I've never heard anybody mention him before?"
"Well, they haven't seen him in about a good year or so."
"Oh."
There was a few moments of comfortable silence in the car broken by me.
"Are you feelin ok babe?"
"Yeah, my stomach still hurts a little every now and then, but I'm pretty much fine."
"Well, at least you kept down dinner."
"Yeah, the first time in like a week."
"That pizza WAS good though!"
"We told you!"
"But I say New York pizza's still better!"
"Cool."
When we got home, I went to check my messages. There weren't many, since most of the people who I keep in contact with all know that I went on tour and they all have my cell phone number. There were just a few messages from my mom tellin me to call her when I got in, to let her know that I was ok. There was one message however that I didn't expect. It was from Mariah.
"Hey Rob? This is Mariah. I got your number from your publicist. I just wanted to tell you, I picked up your album the other day, and I must say I'm impressed! When I first met you in that club, I have to be honest, I thought you were gonna be just some artist who maybe had like one hit if at all, and then disappeared forever. I now know that I was wrong to think that. I'm really impressed with your work, and I want to talk to you about possibly doing something sometime. Give me a call, my cell number is 917-_ _ _- _ _ _ _ I'll talk to you soon then. Bye!"
"Wow, that was interesting." I said.
"What was?" Lance said coming out of the bathroom, wiping his mouth.
"Did you.."
"Yeah."
"Well, so much for keeping your dinner down!"
"Yup."
"Babe, you really have to see another doctor!"
"I will, I will, don't worry!"
"How can I not worry? Look at you!"
"I'm ok babe. Really, I'll be fine! I just have a stomach virus! It'll go away!"
"It better, otherwise I'm gonna kick your ass!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah."
"I'm serious!"
"Ok!" He said coming in close to kiss me.
"Eew! Don't kiss me! You just threw up!"
"I brushed my teeth though!"
"I don't care!"
"Come on!"
"No!"
"Please!?"
"NO!"
"Fine! Don't kiss me! See if I care!"
"Just give the man a kiss already!" Melissa said entering the house.
"Shut up! No one asked you!" I said.
"Yah didn't have to!"
"Guess who called me!" I said walking out into the hallway.
"Who?
"Mariah!"
"Carey?"
"Yup!"
"Why?"
"She liked my album and she wants to talk to me about maybe doing a song together sometime."
"Yeah right, she just wants to probably fuck you, that slut!"
"Hey!"
"I'm just messin witcha!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah!"
"Where's Lance?"
"In my room. He's still not feelin well."
"Threw up again?"
"Yeah."
"You better go to a doctor!" She said as she reached the top of the stairs.
He moaned back and I walked with her into her room.
"I'm glad you came up for the weekend." I said.
"Me too!"
"I missed you!" I said giving her a hug.
"Aaaaww. I missed you too!"
"Even though I'm with Lance, I still feel a part of me missing cause you're not there."
"Aaaaawww!"
"How can I go through all this without my sister?!"
She gave me a kiss on the cheek and said,
"You are truly one of the sweetest people I know!"
"I love you girl!"
"I love you too!"
"Well, enough of this mushy stuff, I gotta go take care of my man!"
"Don't let him die! The guys would be mighty pissed!"
"Nah, I could take his place!"
"I heard that!" Lance yelled from the next room.
We both laughed and I went back into my room. As I sat down next to my man, Melissa leaned on the doorframe and said,
"Before I forget! Here's your birthday present!" She said throwing me a box.
"Oh! I gotta give you yours too!"
"It was your birthday?" Lance asked.
"Yeah, I'm two weeks older than Rob!" She said.
"Duh! I told you that!" I said.
"Duh! Don't you even remember saying happy birthday to me when Josh called me up?!"
"Well, being sick has affected my memory!" He replied.
"It's ok, I'll forgive you this time!" We both said.
"Aah! Don't do that!"
"What?" we both said again.
"Stop it!"
We both started laughing and I gave her her gift.
"Here you go!"
She got me a necklace that had a silver bull on it, and I got her a locket that had a picture of me and Josh in it.
"Hey, my two men!" She said.
"Yup! Hey, my sign!"
"Yup! I know you wanted one ever since you purposely lost your other one!"
"Why did he purposely lose it?"
"Cause psycho bitch from hell gave it to me!" I said.
"Who?"
"His ex!" She said.
"Oh!"
"Thanks babe!" I said getting up to give her a hug.
"You're welcome! Thanks to you too!"
"No prob! Pues, tengo cansao! I'm goin to bed!" I said. (NOTE: That meant, `Well, I'm tired'.)
"Me too! I'll see yah in the morning?"
"I dunno, what time we gotta get up babe?" I asked.
"Um.. I gotta be out of here by 9, cause I gotta go take care of some stuff at home, and don't you have a meet and greet?"
"Yeah, shit. that means I gotta be there at like 10."
"What time's it for?"
"11ish? Something like that! Anyways, all I know is that it ends at like 2 or something."
"And you guys are on Rosie tomorrow right?"
"Yeah. We're recording it tomorrow and then we have to record our Disney special." Lance said.
"When's the concert?"
"The day after tomorrow, Saturday night!" I said.
"Ok, well I gotta do a paper that's due on Tuesday. I'm gonna be workin on it all day tomorrow, and probably up until Saturday when I have to leave for the show. Tell Josh, that although I'd love to spend time with him, I really have to get this done."
"He'll understand, don't worry about it. And since you need the privacy, I'll stay over Lance's tomorrow night."
"Thanks! Then I'll see you at the concert then!"
"Yeah."
"Ok, good night guys! Feel better Lance!"
"Thanks, night!" Lance said.
"Night babes!" I said.
After getting some working nonstop on a paper her paper, she managed to finish it Saturday afternoon. When she was finally done with it, Melissa took a shower and got dressed. She was ready to leave at about 5. She got in her car and headed over to the venue. She didn't expect there to be so much traffic and got pissed when she was slowed down. To make matters even worse, when she finally did get passed the car accident that had slowed up the traffic, she wasn't 5 miles down, when she hear a pop and noticed her tired had went flat.
"Shit! This is all I need now!" She said as she pulled over onto the shoulder.
She got out of her car, took not of which tire went flat, then went in her trunk to get out her spare and the jack. When she opened up the trunk, she saw the jack, but no tire.
"Fuck!" She yelled as she remembered she had forgotten to get a new spare after her last flat, "Great! What the hell am I gonna do now!?" She looked at her watch and saw that it was now 5 after 6. "Great! Just fucking great! Told them I was gonna be there at 6, and I get a god damn flat tire! Shit, where's my phone! I gotta call triple A!"
She went back inside her car and called her auto club. They said that they could be out there in no sooner than an hour and a half.
"Well, I have somewhere important to be right now, and I'm already running late! Is there anyway that you can get somebody out here sooner?!"
"I'm sorry ma'am but no." The operator said.
"Then could I just leave the car here and have it towed to where I'm going?"
"Yes, but we wouldn't recommend it."
"Well, I don't care what you recommend! Just have someone come and tow the car to this address!" She gave them the address and the operator complied. "Shit! Now what am I gonna do? I'm gonna miss Rob's set, and he's gonna kill me! I mean, I've at least seen the guys' show! Ok, calm down Mel! Just call Josh, he hasn't went on yet, and he'll come and get me!" She got back in her car, took a deep breath and hit the speed dial for Josh's cell.
Lew was in the guys' dressing room just about to go get some food in the cafeteria where the guys were. Just as he was about to walk out the door, he heard a cell phone beeping.
"Should I answer it? I mean, it might be important. whose phone is it anyway? Well, only one way to find out!"
He followed the sound of the beeping and searched around the room for the phone. He found it in Josh's windbreaker jacket and picked it up.
"Hello?" Lew said into the phone.
"Who's this!?" Melissa asked.
"This is Lew, who's this!?"
"Lew!? This is Mel, where's Josh!?"
"He's eating in the cafeteria with the others, why? Is something wrong?!"
"OH yeah! I got a flat and am stuck on the side of the road in the middle of the highway!"
"Oh my god! Where?"
"About 5 exits away from the venue!"
"Ok, ok! Stay right there, I'll come and get you right away!"
"I ain't goin anywhere! The auto club said that they won't be here for about another hour or so!"
"Ok, I'll be right there!"
"Thank you sooo much Lew! You're a life saver!"
"Don't worry about it! Hey, what's your number? I'll call you when I'm close to the area!"
"Gotta pen?"
"Yeah, go ahead!"
She gave him the number and just before they were about to hang up, she asked,
"Has Rob gone on yet?"
"No, the show hasn't even started yet! It won't start for another 45 minutes or so."
"Well get here fast! Rob'll kill me if I miss his set!"
"Ok, I'm on my way now!"
Lew grabbed his jacket and ran to the backstage parking area. He got in his APV and made his way towards the highway. As soon as he was got on, he was immediately caught in the wonderful traffic that was spread across the highway. When he finally got close to where Melissa was, he saw her on the other side of the highway and got on the loud speaker that was one of the features of the van.
"Hey Mel! I'm right here, I'll be right around to pick you up."
When Melissa heard that, she couldn't help but laugh. She had to wait about a half-hour in total for Lew to get there. It was another 10 minutes for him to actually come around to get her. Just as she was about to get in his van, she saw the tow truck approaching.
"Oh great! NOW they come!" She said, getting back out and greeting the worker.
She gave him her information and as he was hooking up the car to the back of his truck, she got in Lew's van and said,
"Drive!"
"Yes ma'am!" Lew replied.
The traffic, although not as bad as before, still slowed them down. They made it back to the venue in 20 minutes. Once they got to the gates they were met by a venue employed security team.
"I'm sorry folks the gates are already closed and I'm not supposed to let anyone else in," the attendant said in a strange mix of pleasant condescension.
"Why thank you very much for all of your wonderful service," Lew said as he took Melissa's arm and turned from the main entrance of the venue.
"Oh, man!" Melissa said as they walked away. "I am so sorry! I didn't mean to make us so late!"
"Don't worry about it Mel," Lew said patting her shoulder. "You couldn't help the flat tire."
"Yeah, but now we're both gonna miss the show!"
"There'll be plenty of other shows, I'm just glad you're not still sitting on the side of the road. You know, Josh probably would have come himself had he known."
"You're probably right," she laughed. "I can just imagine the response from the teenies if he'd missed the show because of me!"
Lew stopped in his tracks,
"Melissa, you're an absolute genius!"
"Huh? What did I...?"
"Fans! Where would all those fans be if they couldn't get tickets?"
"I dunno ... somewhere that they could get a glimpse of the guys coming or going I guess?"
"Exactly."
Suddenly realization hit her,
"Oh! So if we go to the talent's entrance maybe we can flag down one of the guys staff who knows us to let us in backstage?"
"Well we do have backstage passes even if that idiot won't honor our tickets," he laughed.
They quickly walked around back and found the entrance where the busses were parked. Sure enough there were several fans gathered hoping to get a glimpse of the guys as they left. After a few minutes of pointless debate with the security guard there Melissa finally recognized one of the people on the guys security staff.
"Pete!" she yelled trying to get his attention. "Pete!"
He finally heard her and came running over,
"Melissa? Aren't you supposed to be inside?"
"Yeah! The jerk out front though didn't think a flat tire was good enough reason to be late!"
"Oh, man! The guys are gonna be pissed! Come on lets get you in here and see if you can catch any of the show." Pete took Melissa's arm and told the other security guard that it was ok for her to pass. The guard finally stood aside, but then blocked Lew from entering behind her.
Lew stood back and rolled his eyes then cleared his throat rather loudly,
"AHEM!"
Melissa stomped back and grabbed Lew's arm and pulled him past the guard. Standing right in the guy's face she said,
"He's with us!"
As they walked toward the backstage door, Lew and Pete began to chuckle.
"You enjoyed that didn't you?" Lew said stifling a laugh.
"Damn skippy!"
"Oh, man!" Pete said. "Better him than me! Here ya go guys, and don't forget to put your passes around your neck. The guys are down that corridor and to the left. The guys dressing room is on the left and Rob's is on the right."
"Thanks Pete!" Melissa said as she started down the corridor.
"No problem!"
"Oh, damn!" Melissa said getting farther down the corridor.
"What's wrong?"
"Rob's already started! And from the sounds of it, we've missed about half of hit set!"
"Well maybe we can catch the other half at least!" Lew said smiling.
Rounding the corner they ran into Joey.
"What in the world are you two doing back here? You're supposed to be out there watching the show!"
"Long story man!" Lew said.
"Well come on, the rest of the guys are in here." Joey led them to a door which had *N SYNC written on it. "Hey guys look what I found wandering around outside!"
The guys all turned toward them. JC jumped up when he saw Melissa,
"Mel! What are you doing back here?" He then leaned in and kissed her.
"I had a bit of a flat and Lew came and picked me up."
"Oh, why didn't you tell me? I would've came?"
"Well, I called your phone, but Lew picked up."
"Oh, why didn't you come and get me Lew?"
"Well, for one thing, I didn't know how long it would take to get to her and get back, so I didn't want you to miss the show, cause the all hell would've broken loose! Two, I didn't want her to wait any longer so I could go find you. Three, it would've been harder to get out of here with you in the car with me."
"True... well, I still wish you would've told me."
"Why? So you could worry and annoy the hell out of us?" Chris said as the rest of them laughed.
"He's right Josh. Hey, I'm gonna try and go find a place to watch the rest of Rob's set backstage." Melissa said.
"Come on, I'll walk you!" JC said taking her by the hand.
He helped her find a place where she could stay for the rest of the set or show if she felt like it, and stayed with her before making his way back to the dressing room to finish getting ready.
"Well, let me get goin so you guys can finish up." Lew said getting up.
"You can stay! Make yourself comfortable!" Joey said.
"I don't wanna be in your way or anything while you're trying to get ready," Lew said plainly.
"Nah, it's cool," Justin assured him, "but you might wanna go check on Scoop and make sure he's ready before JC gets back. He's across the hall in Rob's room."
"Sure, no problem." Lew walked over to the other dressing room and knocked on the door.
There was no answer, so he knocked again. Lew slowly opened the door and peeked inside. He found Lance napping on the couch opposite the door.
"Now that's what you call a pro," Lew thought to himself, "all this going on around him and he's sound asleep!" He pushed the door the rest of the way open and walked over to the couch. "Lance," he said, "come on buddy it's time to get ready." Lance didn't respond. "Lance!" Lew said a bit louder, but still no response. Lew then gently shook Lance's shoulder while calling him.
Lance finally started to rouse.
"Huh? What? What's goin' on?"
"Time to get up sleepyhead, it's almost time to go on," Lew smiled at him.
"Oh, hey Lew! Guess I dosed off there for a minute."
"I'll say! Are you okay? It took me awhile to get you up, there."
"Nah, I'm fine," Lance said getting to his feet.
Lew noticed him stagger a bit and asked, "Are you sure? You don't look so good."
"Nah. Told you ... I'm," Lew noticed a glazed look come over Lance's face, "I'm ... f .. fi ...."
Lance fell forward and Lew tried to catch him. Instead the two fell back onto the couch, Lew's head hitting the wall behind him, and Lance's face landing conveniently in Lew's lap.
"Ow!" Lew muttered out of reflex, then reached for Lance's head. "Ooooh," he moaned trying to sit up a bit, "Lance?"
I was on my way back to my dressing room, sweat covering my body. I ran into JC and Melissa in the hall and said,
"Hey! I thought you were supposed to be out there!"
"Long story!" she said.
"Whatever, you can tell me later, right now, I just wanna see my man before he goes on."
"Shit! I gotta finish gettin ready!" Josh said realizing he was only halfway done.
"Then you better get your cute little ass back there and finish!" Melissa said.
"Eh, it's ok. All I gotta do really is change my shirt and finish combing my hair."
"Whatever, let's just keep on walkin, you guys are due out in like 10 minutes." I said.
We continued down to my dressing room. I opened the door and walked in followed by JC and Melissa. My eyes flashed around the room and locked onto the sight of Lance's head in Lew's lap.
"WHAT THE FUCK?" I screamed, my face flushing red.
JC and Melissa's jaws dropped and we all stood there shocked. Lew blinked then blushed himself as he suddenly realized what the scene must look like. Just then the rest of the guys came pouring into the room to see what the commotion was. Lew then said,
"Guys, HELP me!"
My face went from blood red to ghost white as the truth began to dawn on me.
"Oh my God! What's wrong?" I said, the fear creeping into my voice as the guys and I ran towards the couch.
"I'm not sure," Lew told him honestly, "just help me lay him down."
We all went to grab Lance, but Lew waved us off.
"Slow! And watch his neck." Lew held Lance's neck and we slowly lowered him to the ground. We all stood in shock. "Is there a doctor or some paramedics or something here?" Lew asked snapping us back to reality.
"Uh ... um ... yeah!" JC finally blurted out. "I'll go get `em!" he said as he ran for the door.
"Josh!" Lew said causing JC to stop and quickly turn round. "Calm, buddy," Lew said in a calm voice. "You don't wanna freak everybody out." JC nodded and took a deep breath before running out the door. `Least of all us,' Lew thought to himself.
"What the hell happened?" I asked, terror creeping into my voice.
"I don't know, he just passed out," Lew said calmly as he took my hand and helped me sit on the table in front of the couch. "Just relax, Josh went to get somebody, we're gonna take care of it. Okay?"
I nodded as Lance let out a little groan. All eyes went to Lance as he slowly began to stir. His eyes slowly began to flutter open, and he lay there looking around at the people hovering over him.
"W.. What's goin' on?" he asked confusedly.
"Thank God!" I said as Lance then tried to sit up.
"Whoa! Easy there Scoop," Lew said, "let us help you up onto the couch."
Chris, Lew and I helped Lance onto the corner of the couch and propped his feet up with a cushion.
"What the hell are you guys doing?" Lance said groggily. "We've got a show to do, I've got to get ready!"
"Just hold it. You're not going anywhere for a few minutes at least," Lew said stopping him from getting up. Turning to the others, "He wasn't feeling well when I was over at your place the other night, how long's that been goin' on?"
"Well he hasn't really felt well for a little over a week now," I said.
"Over a week?" Lew yelled. They all nodded. Lew sighed, then more calmly said, "What kind of symptoms?"
"I dunno, throwing up, running to the bathroom, the doctor he saw said it was a stomach virus or something," I said.
Lew looked down at Lance then knelt beside him and took his hand,
"When's the last time you ate?"
"I had some fruit and toast for breakfast, and a sandwich and some soup for lunch," Lance answered, with a shrug as Lew pressed on his fingernails. "Ow, what are you doing?"
"How much of it did you actually keep down?" Lance looked at him and scrunched his face. Lew then looked over at me, "How much?"
"Probably none of it," I said getting a disapproving look from Lance.
"Do you guys have a craft services table out there somewhere?" Lew asked the guys.
"Yeah, what do ya want?" Joey asked.
"Run get some ... some kind of a sports drink ..." Lew told him, "and some juice ... REAL fruit juice if they have any."
"Any flavor?"
"Anything that he's not allergic to."
"You got it!" Joey said running from the room.
"What's goin' on?" I asked. "Why'd you send Joey after that stuff?"
"Well if he hasn't kept anything down lately then his blood sugar's probably through the basement, plus he looks dehydrated," Lew told him as he stood up. "Either of those could've caused him to pass out. If that's the problem then the drink might help, if not then it won't hurt him as long as he drinks it slowly," Lew added with a shrug.
"Will you guys stop!" Lance said from the couch. "I told you I'm fine!"
"You are not fine!" I yelled at him. "If you were, you wouldn't have fell unconscious just from standing up!" Lance winced at the fear and frustration in my voice. "You're not going anywhere and neither am I until you get checked out!"
"I'm sorry, baby," Lance with sorrow and reality settling in "I guess you're right."
"Damn right I'm right! Now just lay there until the doctor gets here. Please?"
Just then a man dressed in a blue suit walked into the room.
"What the hell are you guys doing in here? You're supposed to be on in about five minutes!"
"Look Travis, we've got a problem," Chris told him.
"Damn right you do! And if you're not out on that stage in under ten you're gonna have an even bigger one! And Lance! Why are you just lying around? You're not even dressed!"
"Look, Travis, Lance isn't doing too good right now," Justin said.
"Like I said he's gonna be doing even worse if he doesn't get his blonde little ass in gear!"
"Here!" Joey said as he entered panting, more from nervousness than exertion. "Here's the drink you said to get!"
"Great man," Lew said taking the drink from Joey and removing the cap. He then gave the drink to me and told me to have Lance sip from it.
"Mr. Bass, when you're little bacchanalian orgy ritual, or whatever the hell this is, is done you're due on stage ... like now!"
"Look Travis! Lance is sick and he's not going anywhere till a doctor checks him out!" Justin yelled.
About that time JC came walking in with one of the paramedics assigned to the crowd in tow.
"I found the medic from the ambulance station. I kinda thought it best not to use the old `is there a doctor in the house' line." That got a little chuckle out of us in the room, everyone except Travis that is.
"Great, your patient's right over here," Lew said ushering the paramedic over to the couch where Lance was laying. He placed his and on my shoulder, "Rob, I want you to tell him everything that you just told me, okay?" I nodded, then calmly and politely Lew said, "Good then I think the rest of us will just step outside and try and explain things to Travis." Travis looked as if he was about to protest, but scanning the room and locking eyes briefly with all the occupants, Lew said, "Outside ... now." The words were polite enough, but it was obvious that they were an order and not a request. Once everyone was outside the room and the door closed, Lew said, "Now, you guys can go at it all you want, but Lance doesn't need this right now." Then Lew and Melissa just stepped out of the way and let the guys `discuss' the situation at hand with Travis.
"I don't care! You boys have a show to do and you're going to do it!"
"You know we'd never disappoint our fans," JC said, "but Lance comes first."
"You guys have about 25,000 plus of those fans out there waiting to see you FIVE guys, and they're gonna be demanding a refund on their tickets if you don't get your asses out there! And the lovebirds in there are NOT getting any special treatment!"
"I can tell you one thing," JC said, his voice dripping with fire. "If you do anything, and I mean ANYTHING to force Lance to go out there when he shouldn't be, you're still only gonna have four pop idols on stage, because I WON'T be joining him!"
"Make that three," Justin said solemnly.
"Oops, better make it two!" Joey said.
"Wow, looks like Lance will finally be getting to do a solo show tonight then!" Chris said.
Travis stood in disbelief that they would dare contradict or threaten him in such a way.
"Oh, I don't know guys," Lew said, "maybe ole Trav here's right."
"What?" Melissa said in disbelief.
"Well after all the show is his responsibility isn't it?"
"Yes it is," Travis said condescendingly, "and just who the hell ARE you anyway?"
"Oh, nobody really, just a concerned friend," Lew said. "Maybe you're right though." The guys started to object, but Lew didn't stop. "I mean if you want Lance to go out there then by all means, I guess he should. After all," he shrugged, "it won't be us that has to contain the riot when he keels over out there on stage. Or the one that has to come up with the retractions for the headlines in the teeny bopper rags, `Boy Band Member Drops Dead On Stage!'" At that comment Justin went white and dashed into the guys dressing room. Lew immediately mentally kicked himself for his choice of words, and glanced over to JC, who nodded slightly and followed Justin. "I mean, I'm sure Lance isn't quite THAT bad off, but hey, they're just teens. Crazy, fanatical, boy crazy, impressionable, teens, who'll believe pretty much anything they read, but why should we care ... it IS YOUR responsibility." Lew then shrugged and followed behind Justin and JC.
"Ya know, maybe Lew is right," Joey said with a crooked grin.
"Yeah, sorry Travis," Chris said, "it is YOUR decision."
"Maybe we should go tell the guys in the band what's goin' on," Joey said.
"Yeah, good idea," Chris replied. "Just let us know what you decide Travis."
Entering the dressing room Lew saw Justin sitting at one of the dressing tables, his head in his hands sobbing. JC was kneeling beside him rubbing his back. Lew quietly walked over to them and gently placed his hand on Justin's back.
"I'm sorry Jus," Lew said kneeling opposite JC, "that didn't quite come out the best way it could've."
"No," Justin said quietly sniffling, "Lance could really be sick, and he doesn't even give a fuck."
"Curly, I'm sure Lance is gonna be fine," JC reassured him.
"Yeah, Jus, I'm sure too. What I said out there was just for Travis's benefit."
"I just feel so... helpless," Justin said looking at them in the mirror.
"I know, I do too," JC told him.
"Imagine what Rob feels like!" Lew said.
"He's probably feeling the worst of this." Justin said, "He's always used to making Lance feel better, and now, it's like it's beyond his control."
"Yeah, but Lance is going to be alright!"
"Yeah, the medic's in there with him now. He'll take great care of him." JC said.
"Yeah, I know. I guess I'm just being a fairy wuss."
"No, you're being a concerned friend," Lew told him hugging his shoulders.
"Yeah, its okay Curly," JC said doing likewise.
"Awww! GROUP HUG!" Chris yelled, as he Joey and Melissa entered the room, then grabbing and Joey piling on top of the three.
"Ow... get off me you dumb ass!" Justin laughed.
Chris and Joey rolled off of them onto the floor. Joey then turned to Lew and said, "Damn, you da man Lew!"
"What?" Lew asked laughing.
"Old Travis is out there shittin in his pants!" Chris laughed.
"Yeah, he just went out there and told the band that the show was delayed until one of us gave the go ahead!" Joey said, as they all busted out laughing.
"Great finally someone makes sense!" JC said. "Let's go check on Lance."
They all crossed the hall and quietly entered my dressing room.
"He could be having some kind of reaction to the medicine that the doctor prescribed. At any rate they're clearly not working," the medic said. "We'll need to take him in and have them look at him in the hospital to be sure, plus he'll need some IV fluids for his dehydration."
There was almost a collective gasp from everyone in the room when the paramedic said Lance had to go into the hospital, but again Lew took the lead in calming everyone down.
"Well if he needs a hospital then that's where he's going."
"But..." Lance started to protest.
"You, shut up!" I said. "You have no say in this! You're going and that's final!"
"One question," Lew said, "In your medical opinion would it be safe to transport him by private vehicle?"
"Excuse me?" the medic asked.
"If he's bad enough to need the IV now then he'll need to go by ambulance right?" Lew asked.
"Yes, that's policy."
"If he's that serious, then by all means ambulance is how he goes." Lew said, "But if we can get him out of here in a regular car then there'll be a hell of a lot less chaos and maybe some time to get him checked in and settled before the mobs converge."
"Oh man, good point," JC said.
"I understand what you're saying." the paramedic said. "If you're going straight to the hospital, and I mean straight to the ER, then yeah, he should be fine."
"You're sure?" JC said. "We don't want to mess around with his life."
"Yes, he'll be fine so long as you get straight there. Here, I'll give you this. When you get there and check him in, give this to the nurse and tell her it's the bullet from the paramedic at the venue; she'll understand what you mean."
"Thank you so much sir!" Justin said as the paramedic stood to leave.
"Just doing my job. Now have someone get him there, and the rest of you get out on stage before we have to start in on the audience!" They all laughed and thanked him once more.
"Okay, lets go!" I said, gathering his stuff and heading for the door.
"No way," Lance said. "My turn to give some orders. First you guys get out on stage before there IS a riot," he half laughed. "And Rob, you've got that radio interview and you're already late. And guys, you need a bass, Rob knows the songs and most of the choreography, let him go on with you."
"Hell no!" I said, "They came here to see YOU guys! I am NOT in no way shape or form going to take your place out there! That's all we need, for them to think you've been replaced!"
"Rob, if you want, you can always come out with us, it'll take your mind off things." JC said.
"That's a lie and you know it! And besides, I'm going with you!"
"No, you have work to do! We can get one of the security guys or crew to take me."
"No way!" I protested. "At least one of us is going to go with you!"
Lew and Melissa looked at one another.
"We'll take him," Lew said. "After all I've got my car out in the lot. Then you guys can join us as soon as you get done. Same hospital as usual right?"
"Yeah," JC said, "they're the best at keeping things quiet or under control if it does happen to leak."
"You got it!"
"I need it!" Chris sang, then laughed.
"I was waiting for that one," Lew laughed. "Will you guys go to work! Mel and I can handle the blond kid."
I leaned over and gave Lance a kiss and said,
"As soon as I'm done with that interview, I'm goin with you!"
"I know." He replied.
We all began to file out to take care of our responsibilities. On the way out Lew caught my arm and quietly said,
"Don't worry, we'll take good care of him, but you get someone to drive you to meet us; one less worry for you, okay?"
I nodded and smiled then left for my interview.
"Okay, I guess we need to get going," Lew said, turning back to face Melissa and Lance. "Do you have your ID and stuff with you?"
"Uh.. no. I left it on the bus for safety."
"Okay, then we make one pit stop then go straight to the hospital. Melissa, why don't you go see if you can find Pete or one of the other guys to help us get him out there?"
"Okay," Melissa said as she slipped out of the room.
"Guys, I really wish you wouldn't fuss over me so much." Lance said.
"We're not fussing, we're just getting one of the security guys to make sure that the coast is clear." Lew commented.
In a stroke of luck, Melissa found Pete just down the corridor and asked him to come and help. Lance made the majority of the trip under his own power, stopping only a few times and needing to steady himself on either Lew or Pete who had positioned themselves on either side of him. Once outside the building Lew gave Melissa his keys and asked her to go get his car, while he helped Lance onto the bus to get his things. Pete also radioed some of the other tour security people and told them to head to the gate and make sure that the venue people let her back in. When the three reached the bus, Lew glanced at his watch and said,
"As long as we're taking here ... Pete why don't you run in and quietly tell Rob where we are and that if he's here in the next few he can ride with us."
"Sure thing!" Pete said as he ran back into the building.
Finally aboard the bus Lance headed toward the back of the bus where he'd left his stuff, Lew following close behind. Lance found his stuff but as he was about to reach and pick it up he stopped.
"Uh ... um...."
"You okay Lance?"
Lance looked as if he were about to answer, when suddenly he began to vomit. It went all over Lance and on Lew's shirt as well.
"I'm soo sorry," Lance said, completely embarrassed.
"Don't worry about it," Lew said helping Lance to sit on the sofa, "you couldn't help it. Do you have anything to change into in here?"
"Um ... yeah in my bunk."
Lew went over to the bunks, "This one right?"
"Yeah, good memory."
Lew retrieved Lance's bag and brought it into the back room. As Lance searched the bag Lew carefully removed his shirt and said,
"Sorry, this isn't very comfortable."
"I'm sorry again."
"I said don't worry about it; now lets get you changed."
Lew sat the clothes that Lance had retrieved aside and began to help Lance out of his clothes. The shirt came off without incident. The pants however were another story. Removing pants requires some balance, something which, was in short supply for Lance. Lance stood and Lew was trying to help him get them off his foot when Lance began to lose his balance. Lance grabbed for the nearest object to help steady himself namely Lew's head. Lew was fine as Lance tipped forward, but as Lance began to sway backwards he grabbed two hands full of hair and held on.
I was in the middle of my interview with a local radio station, which wasn't going too well considering everything that was going on. The DJ kept looking at me strangely, mostly due to the apparent look of worry on my face. They were almost done with the interview. All they had to do was go to commercial, then ask a couple of more questions then I was free to go. Pete entered the press area just as they went to commercial, he came over and whispered in my ear,
"Lew said that if you're done within the next few minutes, you can ride with them."
"Ok, tell them I'll be right there!"
"I'll wait for you so I can escort you back.
"Thanks."
They came back from commercial, and I was finished just as they asked the last two questions and had me introduce my song on the radio. Once I was done, I was kind of rude, I threw off my headphones and ran out of there with Pete.
"Ahhh, that's attached!" Lew yelled, as he grimaced and half laughed at Lance grabbing his head.
As Lance regained his balance and relaxed his hold, Lew reopened his eyes to find himself eye to "eye" with Lance's cock which was just peeking through the opening in the front of his boxers.
"Woof," Lew muttered under his breath. "Let's get you to sit down here before I'm bald!"
As he started to stand, Lew noticed I was standing in the door, with an odd look on my face.
Oh great!' Lew thought to himself. That's twice in an hour!'
"Hey man! Perfect timing! Why don't you come get your man dressed while I find something to take with us in case he has another urge to ... well ... you know." Lew said blushing.
I smiled and said,
"Yeah, I know. He's already gotten me twice this week."
"Shuddup!" Lance said, blushing.
"Is Melissa out there yet?" Lew asked.
"Yeah, she was just pulling up in a minivan. Hey, do you need a shirt? One of us probably has one laying around here that you could borrow."
"Nah I've got a bag in the back of the car with some clothes in it, but thanks. I'm gonna go out and get him a spot fixed, call me when you're ready and I'll help you get him down the steps."
"Gotcha!"
I helped Lance with his clothes and he couldn't help but say,
"I'm sorry babe!"
"For what?" I asked.
"For all this! For not taking your advice sooner! For making you leave your interview in a hurry!"
"Oh shit! The interview! Fuck, they must think that I hate them! I left without even saying anything!"
"See!"
"Look, don't worry about it! You couldn't help any of this!"
"Yeah, but I should've went to a doctor when you told me!"
"Lance, babe.." I said standing up and facing him, "There's no use in apologizing or blaming yourself. What's done is done. It doesn't matter, what matters is that we get you to the hospital and get you all fixed!"
"Y.. yeah, y. you're right!" He said losing his balance again.
"Ok, ok. I gotcha, don't worry!" I said catching him, "LEW!"
"What happened to you?" Melissa asked giggling.
"Don't ask!" Lew said going around to the back of the van.
He opened the door and grabbed a small backpack, from which he retrieved a spare shirt. Putting it on he then moved to the side door and climbed in. He then partially reclined the far seat to make Lance a bit more comfortable. About that time Lance and I were heading out of the bus.
"LEW!" I yelled again to get his attention.
Melissa came over to us and grabbed the other side of Lance's shoulder.
"Hey, let me get that for you!" Lew said coming over to us.
"Don't worry about it, I got him, you just start the car!"
"You sure?"
"Yes!" We both said.
"After about a year and a half at West Point, I think she could carry us all to the van!" I said.
We made it the rest of the way to the van without further incident and we were quickly on our way. The darkness of the van's interior, combined with the bright security lights outside thankfully made us unrecognizable through the mild tint on the van's windows as we passed through the crowd of fans standing at the gate.
TBC..
Well there you have it! As always, let me know what you think! Especially since I'm not the only one writing. So, as usual, all questions, comments, suggestions welcome and encouraged, email me at Papito6187@aol.com. BYE!!!