| 3. Hold On 7:57 pm "I can't do this, Rob," Meg said weakly as she hurried backstage. "Come on, Meg, you've got one more song and then you're free for a week." "Okay," she sighed. "Just be prepared for the worst. I feel horrible." "We're right here, Meg." She gracefully walked back on stage, disguising her immense pain. Rob watched in horror as Meg collapsed in a heap on the stage. 4. Under Wraps 7:58 Rob hurried out onto the stage to try and revive Meg. She was absolutely pale...deathly pale. "Meg! Meg! Wake up!" Tears of worry and guilt welled up in Rob's eyes as the stage lights blackened and Keith, a security guard carried her offstage. Meanwhile, the audience was in an uproar, wanting to know what had happened. Taking matters into his own hands, he picked up the headset microphone she had been wearing and told the audience to "please calm down...everything is under control...Britney Spears will be out here before you know it," which seemed to divert their attention a bit. Then he ran backstage right into Kevin Freeman, Meg's lead guitarist, who had just hurried offstage in the pandemonium. "Rob," he said seriously, "What's wrong with her? I wanna know." "She's been sick for two weeks and hasn't wanted to tell anyone. Whatever you do, do not tell Chad. He'll want to know what's wrong, but pretend you don't know anything until you get to the hospital. Just don't tell a soul, okay?" Kevin's lower lip quivered, then stopped when he vowed, "I won't." "We're taking her to the hospital and we'll send a limo up there for y'all then, okay? I want you to tell Mandy to get a bag of Meg's clothes for about two days and give them to you." "Okay," he said numbly. "Good." Rob walked away to leave, but Kevin stopped him, "Do you think she'll be okay?" "Kev...I don't know.� He paused. �Just remember Meg when you pray." He nodded. "Okay." "Thanks, man." Rob rushed off into the awaiting van where Keith was checking Meg's pulse and vital signs. 5. Weather The Storm 8:42 pm Chad ran into the waiting room and hurried up toward Rob. "Where is she?" "Doctors are running some tests right now. I haven't heard anything yet." "Is she conscious?" "I don't know." "What do you think is wrong with her, then?" Rob sighed, "She's been in a lot of pain...like cramps pain...for the last two weeks. She's not pregnant or anything, but something is obviously wrong." Chad closed his eyes and fell into a chair, jaded. The word was slowly sneaking into his mind. It tortured him, the way it lingered in his head. Death? 6. The Truth Hurts 11:15 pm "Mr. Landon?" Rob stood up to face the man in scrubs who carried a clipboard. "Yes?" "Can I speak to you, please?" "Sure." Chad stood up, his intent to follow Rob and the doctor. "No, Chad. Stay here for now." The blonde nodded slowly and sat back down. The doctor introduced himself as Greg Timmons and took Rob down the hall where they had been waiting. "What'd you figure out?" "Well, Mr. Landon, we took a sonogram and found three significant growths on the epithelial part of her ovaries, or rather, the outside layer of them. They are the result of the pain she's been experiencing and why she blacked out." Rob swallowed. "What can be done for her?" "We need to run a biopsy and a few tests. If they prove to be cancerous, I'd recommend flying her to an excellent doctor I went to Med school with in Hollywood. He's an expert on ovarian cancer and treated Madeline Kahn when she was diagnosed with it." "But...Madeline died." Timmons swallowed. "Mr. Landon, ovarian cancer ranks fifth as the cause of cancer death in women. She has a family history of it, too, which is probably why she�s gotten it at such a young age. At best, she could end up unable to bear children." Rob drew in a breath. "So what do we do in the meantime?" Timmons sighed, "Well, we'd like to keep her here for a few days then we'll go from there." "Can we see her?" "One at a time." He nodded, "Thank you Dr. Timmons." He shook his hand and began the long trek back down the hallway that seemed to go on for miles. He couldn't look at Chad. He stared at the ground in front of him as he walked. "Oh God..." he heard Chad whisper. Rob looked up with tear-filled eyes at the younger man. "Sit down, Chad." |