He groaned as he felt himself being poked and the blanket pulled from his body,
�No.� It had to be early. Why else would he be so tired.
�Yes, today is MacKenzie�s surgery Nick. Get up.� As soon as he was reminded of the importance of the day he sat up and swung his legs around until his feet felt the softness of the plush carpet.
�Ok, ok I�m up. Give me a minute.� He didn�t mean to snap at her but he also knew she wasn�t a stranger to his early morning mood. He hated waking up in the morning which didn�t go well with being a musician. Everyone thought you partied all night and slept until noon. You might party but you were sure as hell going to pay for it when you were waking up at six o�clock in the morning.
She walked out the bedroom leaving the door open. He was sure so if he didn�t get up she would be able to see him. But there was no way he was going to lie back down when the most important day of his life was moving forward with every tick of the clock. Never had anything in his life been more stressful and more grim than this. This was the day when he would find out if he had more time with his daughter.
He and his mother sat in the back, Larry sat in the front and Josh drove them to the hospital. He knew she was attempting to take his mind off of what was about to happen, make small talk or something helpful but he just couldn�t bear it,
�Mama please.� He closed his eyes and leaned his head against the window,
�I�ll call him later. I just talked to him.� She was going on and on about Aaron wanting to come and visit but he wasn�t up for that. That would mean he would have to entertain his little brother and that just wasn�t possible. Everywhere he went Aaron would be sure to want to follow (along with his little annoying ass friend that would certainly tag along).
�He wants to come and see his little niece. You can�t blame him.� He sighed,
�I know but now is not the time. Maybe in a couple of weeks when things settle down.� His brother just wouldn�t be supportive in the right way.
When they arrived at the hospital it was too late for him to see MacKenzie. She was already going through the final phases of pre-op. He sat around the waiting room, made a couple of trips to the cafeteria and a stop at the chapel all the time being escorted by Josh. They were outside on a picnic table. Josh on one side smoking a cigarette, Nick on the other lying down.
�Mike will be here later tonight. Depending on late or early he gets here I�ll either leave tonight or tomorrow.� He knew at some point Josh would have to leave. He couldn�t put his life on hold forever and be there for him. Even though Nick wished he would. He wanted someone who was compassionate. Mike was loyal, as far as he knew, but he wasn�t one to lend a shoulder to cry on. He didn�t say anything he simply closed his eyes and tried to think about something pleasant. He wanted to think about anything other than what he had been thinking about and that was his daughter not making it. He didn�t want to go to a funeral. He didn�t want to listen to people say they were sorry and that things happen for a reason. Knowing that she was in a better place, that she was with God was not going to be comforting to him.
He had actually drifted off to sleep for a few moments and it was that great sleep. Where he wasn�t deep in sleep but he was out of it enough to feel like he was actually resting. His phone jolted him from his sleeping state and he fumbled for it,
�Hello.� He groaned as he looked up at the sky. It was too nice of a day for such painful things to be going on.
�Hi Nick. It�s Ashley. How are you?� He hadn�t heard from her since the start of the tour. She had called a few times but he didn�t bother to call her back. Considering she lived in Fort Lauderdale it was a little surprising this was the first time he was hearing from her.
�I could be better.� He knew he was expected to say he was ok. No one really cared about how you were doing when they asked.
�I heard about your daughter. I hope she�ll be ok. I didn�t even know you had a daughter.� He snorted,
�Neither did I.� That just slipped out before he knew it but for whatever reason he didn�t regret it. Everyone needed someone to talk to about the bad things in their lives. There were things he could talk to the guys about, things he could talk about with Josh and then there were times when he confided in his random girlfriends for no reason at all. Granted, these weren�t one night stand girls, they were girls he saw more than once who he had a somewhat distant relationship with, but they shouldn�t have been trusted the way they were.
�You didn�t know? What do you mean?� He sighed,
�It�s a long story.� He didn�t want to be bothered with telling such a story over the phone.
�After work I�ll come to the hospital. Is that ok?� She would be a welcomed change from the women he had to deal with at the time. Quinn and his mother weren�t exactly the most encouraging and stress-free relationships in his life at the moment.
�Yeah, that will be great.� He gave her the floor he would be on and said goodbye; it was a new face at least.
Four hundred eighty. That�s how many seconds he counted. Such a big number and a lot of seconds for a small amount of time. Eight minutes, he had watched every move of the hands on the clock. It was unbearable sitting there with Quinn and her family, his mom and friends along with AJ, Kevin and Kristin. There was no telling where Brian and Leighanne were. She probably had him going around trying to find producers and directors in Miami to do something with her career. You would think she wouldn�t be so concerned about things that didn�t matter at a time like this. His daughter was about to have surgery, it wasn�t some little get together. To say he was disappointed in Brian was an understatement.
He just wasn�t having a good time with anyone in that room at the moment. Things with the guys were strained, he wasn�t talking to anyone in her family and she was just impossible to talk to.
His mother�s hand sat on his shoulder and he leaned over as she began to whisper in his ear,
�Honey, in a couple of days I�m going to have to leave. It might be as soon as tomorrow.� He couldn�t say that he was even sad about it. She was just too much plain and simple; and with her gone it would give Quinn one less reason to rag on him.
Chapter 74
Reunited
Stories