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The Morning After
There's got to be a morning after
Oh can't you see the morning after?
There's got to be a morning after |
“Cleo, wake up.”
“Damn it, leave me alone.” I moaned pushing Taylor's arm off of me. He moaned sleepily.
“Cleo, you've got to get up.” The voice insisted.
I opened one eye to see Zac standing over me in the softly flickering light of the candles Taylor had lit. Oh man, I was so busted. I was assaulted by a not-so-vague sort of memory of Taylor and I drunkenly falling into bed together. Oh man, this was bad. This was really, really bad. “Zac, this had better be good.”
“I think I'm dying.” He moaned. I reached out and felt his forehead. I could feel the heat radiating off of him before I even touched his forehead. “Cleo, I think you'd better take me to the hospital.”
I sat up quickly and was hit by a black wave of nausea and guilt. Not only had I stupidly gotten very, very drunk, I’d done it with Taylor, who was still very much underage. “Zac, what's wrong? How do you feel?”
“My stomach hurts so bad.”
“Where?” I asked. I was naked, you would think I’d have learned my lesson about sleeping nude. He lifted up his shirt and indicated his right side. I reached out and lightly touched him. His stomach was distended and rock hard. Again, I could feel heat emanating from him before I even touched him.
“Ow, stop. I think I need to throw up.” With that he leaned forward and threw up on the floor. Apparently he hadn't eaten anything for quite a while, ‘cause it was just stomach fluid. “I think I need to lay down.”
I grabbed the phone and some conveniently close clothing as he laid down next to a deeply sleeping Taylor ( I silently prayed Zac was so out of it he didn't notice his naked brother in bed with him). “Shit!” I screamed. The phone was dead. Of course, it was dead. We were in the middle of Hurricane Jordan. I scrambled around in the dark for my cell phone. I quickly punched in the number of Ashley's cell phone. After about 20 rings (and a lot of cursing), I managed to pull on my bra and a shirt (which felt too big, but I didn't have time to find another one), then the phone on the other end was picked up and dropped. A few seconds later a very sleepy Ashley asked, “hello?”
“Ash, this is Cleo. Zac is super sick. I think his appendix may have burst. We've got to get him to a hospital...” I said as I pulled on my too baggy linen shorts. I would just have to go commando, I couldn't find my underwear anywhere....
“Cleo, calm down. You do realize there's a hurricane blowing outside?” Ashley asked sleepily.
“I'm not being hysterical.” I said angrily. I had known Ashley most of my life and he had always thought I was a silly hysterical little girl (which I freely admit, I had been at one time), but now, I was deadly serious. “If I have to fucking carry him to the hospital myself, I'm taking him.”
“You're serious, aren't you?” I could hear a bunch of movement in his room. “Okay, get him down to the lobby and I’ll find a driver.”
“Okay. Zac... Zac, can you hear me?” I said turning his face towards me. At some point, he had passed out. “Taylor. Taylor! TAYLOR!”
“Oh God! I think my head is about to explode.” Taylor said rolling over and grabbing his head. “Cleo, would you please shut up?”
“Taylor, I know you're hung over, but I think Zac may very well by dying. We've got to get him down to the lobby somehow.” I said pulling the blankets back, he was completely naked. My Lord, what had we done? I had visions of me packing my bags and returning to Tulsa in shame. I quickly gathered what I hoped were his clothes and threw them at him. “Hurry, get dressed! I've go to get Ike up.” I ran across the great room of the suite and yanked the door to Ike’s room open. “Ike. Ike... You've got to get up.”
“Huh? What do you want?” Ike said carefully opening an eye, but making sure to glare. At least he wasn't hung over. If the truth be told, I was still drunk, which means Taylor was too. This was not going to be any fun.
“Zac just passed out in my room.” I said quickly grabbing some clothes and throwing them at him. “I think his appendix burst. We may have to carry him down to the lobby...”
“Are you sure?” Ike said quickly pulling a pair of jeans on.
“Yes!” I yelled as I ran back to my room. Taylor was up and dressed (with my Twister shirt on, oops, no wonder my shirt felt so huge, it was Taylors Fleetwood Mac t-shirt) he was kneeling next to the bed whispering into Zac’s ear. Zac’s eyes were open, but they didn't seem to see anything and his breath was coming in short gasps. “Zac, come on buddy, you've got to try and stand up.” Taylor said quietly taking Zac’s hand and trying to get him to sit up. “Zac, we've got to get you downstairs and you've got to help us.”
“Tay, don't... It hurts...” Zac said as Taylor pulled him up to a sitting position. He gently slid his arm around him and tried to stand him up. As Taylor's hand connected with Zac’s side, he screamed. But not just a scream, it was a plea for the pain to stop. As the scream left his mouth, his head rolled back. He had passed out again. Maybe this would be easier with him unconscious. Ike came running in the room just in time to help Taylor hold him up.
They each had an arm and I grabbed his feet. We walked out of the room and towards the stairs. “Oh man, you do realize we are on the 12th floor, don't you?” Ike asked. Zac wasn't huge, but he was dead weight. I didn't know how we were going to get him down to the lobby. I was just as fit as either of them and I was already winded. Then again, Taylor and I were still drunk.
“Of course I do.” I said as I kicked the door to the stairwell open. Thank God the emergency lights were on or else we'd all be going to the hospital. Zac had begun to moan softly again. “Now, we have to try to hurry, but also be gentle.”
This was easier said than done. I was walking blindly down a barely lit stairway and Taylor kept stumbling. After the first floor on our way down, all three of us were sweating and Taylor had a distinctly green tinge to his skin. When we passed the doorway to the 10th floor, we had to stop and rest while Taylor threw up in a garbage can in the corner. At the 9th floor, Isaac almost dropped Zac because he was sweating so badly Zac almost slipped from his grasp. At the 6th floor, it was my turn to throw up. The contents of my stomach were so acidy I was worried about having any enamel left on my teeth. As we hit the landing for the 5th floor, we heard a door open downstairs. “Cleo?” Ashley called up the stairs.
“Hey, we're on the landing for the 5th floor.” I called down as we began our descent again. I could hear 2 sets of feet pounding up the stairs. As Jason and Ashley came into view. I almost burst into tears. “We're moving as fast as we can...”
“I know.” With that Jason took Zac effortlessly into his arms. “My Lord, he is burning up. Didn't you notice he was sick any earlier?”
“Well, he did tell me he didn't feel well two days ago in Dallas, you know, when he threw up at the radio station...” I stammered. “I just thought he had eaten something bad ‘cause yesterday when I tried to get him to go to the doctor, he said he felt better.”
“Well, did it ever occur to you to maybe tell somebody?” Ashley snapped at me. “My God, Cleo you could have killed him.”
“Ashley, don't yell at her.” Taylor said quietly. “He told Ike and I he didn't want to play in Dallas and we totally ignored him...”
“Yeah, but it isn't your job to watch over him.” Ashley said as we slammed through the door out into the semi lit lobby. “Cleo, you really, really fucked up this time.”
“I'm sorry.” I said feeling helpless. I hate feeling helpless. I pushed the door to the hotel open and was soaked through immediately. I pulled the sliding door to the van open and jumped inside. Jason very unceremoniously dumped Zac in my lap, as everyone else piled in the van. I put my arms around him and held him. He moaned into my neck, a soft horrid sound. “I'm so sorry.” I whispered into his ear. His eyes softly fluttered open.
“Cleo?” He breathed, his voice barely above a whisper.
“What honey?” I said as the van roared to life.
“Please, don't let me die.” He said his voice not even qualifying as a whisper. Zac passed out again and became completely dead weight.
“So, Cleo,” Ashley began, his voice biting and sarcastic, “you knew Zac was sick and yet, you did absolutely nothing. Is that what I'm supposed to get out of conversation in the stairwell?”
“Ash, I didn't know he was this sick. I thought maybe he had the stomach flu or something...” I said trying to not sound as drunk as I felt.
“What's that smell?” Ashley said as he leaned towards Taylor. “Tay, have you been drinking?”
“What? No!” He said his words slurring together. “Why would you think that?”
“You are slammed!” Ashley said getting right in Taylors face. “What in the hell were you thinking?”
“I...I don't know.” Taylor stammered and looked to me for help. “Cleo and I were bored and...”
“Cleo? You were drinking with Cleo?” Ashley exploded so loudly Zac stirred in my arms. Well, Taylor had found the help he needed. Ashley had forgotten Taylor even existed as he turned his wrath on me. “What in the name of all that is holy, were you thinking? Giving alcohol to a minor? How could you let Taylor drink? I don't even want to hear any of your lame excuses! You are so out of here. Once Walker and Diana hear about this, you'll never have anything to do with the Hanson family ever again. You've fucked up one too many times...”
“Ashley, calm down...” Ike began. Wow, help from the enemy camp. Maybe there was hope for Isaac and I yet....
“No, I will not calm down.” Ashley said. “You guys are constantly covering for her and saying she is so important to you, but really what does she do that is so important? What does she do that anyone walking down the street can't do just as well? My God, a trained monkey could do what she does...”
“Fine! If you don't like how I work or the job I do then you don't have to fire me, I quit.” I said anger taking over. How dare he talk to me like that? How dare he accuse me of forcing Taylor to get drunk? And hey, if he wanted a trained monkey, then he could have one.
“Cleo, you don't mean that...” Ike began trying desperately to calm everyone down. Isaac always had been and always will be my hero. Even though he was so angry with me right now, he knew he wouldn't be angry forever. I love him so much. And really, what would this fighting accomplish? “You guys, it's nobody's fault Zac is sick. It just happened. Stop fighting, please? This isn't helping anything.”
Ashley and I gave each other looks of death and spent the rest of the ride to the hospital in silence. The only sounds were Zac’s soft moans every once in a while. As we pulled into the hospital, a large group of doctors and nurses were waiting for us. They took Zac and gently loaded him onto a gurney and rushed him into a room. We were ushered into a generic hospital waiting room and told the doctor would be out as soon as anything was known.
I walked over to the window and watched the rain fall and the palm trees bend in the punishing storm. I could see the reflections of my friends in the cool glass. Taylor was sitting with his head buried in his hands and Isaac was sitting next to him gently rubbing his back with his head leaning against the wall behind him. This simple act of brotherly comfort went straight to my core. Isaac and Taylor were brothers, who was I to even think about coming between them? Who was I to do anything that put their deep love and friendship in jeopardy? Oh man, this would be so much easier if I didn't love Taylor. But really, my love was a cheap and paltry substitute for the love they were showing each other... How could I ever think that my love would ever be enough for Taylor? After what seemed like an eternity, a doctor came in. “Are you the family of Zac Hanson?” We all jumped at the foreign sound of a voice. The silence had been so complete.
“Yes, yes we are.” Isaac said rushing over to the doctor. “How is he? Is he alright? Can we see him?”
“Zac is a very sick young man...” The doctor began. He apparently was Dr. Towner and he was the chief of surgery, or at least that's what his name tag said. “Zac’s appendix has burst. This in and of itself is only semi-serious. What is very serious, is it appears to have burst quite some time ago and basically, he has been slowly poisoning himself since...”
“What?” Taylor demanded, cutting the doctor off. I don't think I've ever seen anyone turn so pale. “Poisoning himself? Is he dying?”
“Not exactly, he's being prepped for surgery as we speak.” The doctor explained in a very low and calm voice. His calm stood in stark contrast to both Taylor and Isaac. I could see they were teetering on the edge of hysteria. “What is going to happen is we are going to open up Zac’s abdominal cavity and basically vacuum the infection out. We will also be giving him large doses of a very strong antibiotic. But, there is a danger, a very grave danger, if the infection has reached his heart.”
“What happens if the infection has reached his heart?” Taylor demanded. I felt his hand slip into mine and squeeze. Out of the corner of my eye I could see the look of sheer panic on his face.
“Well, if the infection has reached his heart, there is a possibility of some damage to his heart.”
“Damage? What does that mean?” Isaac demanded.
“Well, the infection could weaken the muscles around his heart. If the damage is severe enough, his heart would not be able to beat strongly enough to maintain a normal rhythm, eventually, it would stop altogether...”
“He really could die?” Taylor asked, his grip on my hand had long since become uncomfortable. At this point, it was downright painful.
“Remember, this is only a possibility, the infection may not have reached his heart yet, but yes, he could die.” The doctor said plainly. “Of course, if his heart has been damaged, there is always the possibility of a heart transplant.”
The silence that descended on the room was so complete, I could hear the elevator doors open down the hall, I could hear the individual drops of rain hitting the window, I could hear both Taylor and Isaac breathing. As what he'd just said slowly sank in, I pulled both Taylor and Isaac into my arms. The three of us stood our arms wrapped around each other. I have never in my life wanted something not to be true so badly. I never wanted them to suffer the loss of a beloved brother. We stood clinging to one another. Suddenly, I realized that we could lose Zac. As that thought ran through my mind, my vision dimmed to gray. I felt like I was about to faint. I sagged in their arms. At first, I didn't realize the doctor had begun to speak again. “Also, there is another situation we have to deal with.” We all turned to look at the doctor. “Because of your “special” situation, we can't just leave you in a waiting room. Once this information is released, we fear that not only the press, but many of your fans will congregate here. Arrangements have been made for a private waiting room on the 5th by the ICU. And a private charge nurse has been assigned to the sole care of your brother. Her name is Sue.” At this, a fairly harsh looking woman walked into the room. I wondered why they had assigned Nurse Ratchet to Zac. “Sue, will you show to the private room...”
“Okay, you guys,” Sue said in a very stern voice. “If you'd follow me, I’ll show you to your waiting room.” We all turned and followed her, we wanted her to tell us where to go and what to do, ‘cause none of us were quite sure what was going on.