Bruised and Scarred

Two days. 48 hours. 2880 minutes. 172800 seconds.

That is how long Derek sat at Anie's bedside. He slept, very briefly. Usually in half hour increments during the night. He was worried. The doctors said she'd pull through just fine. The coma was just a precaution. With her body already having arthritis, healing the broken bones would be harder for her if she moved around. But that wouldn't stop him from worrying.

Sleep deprivation suited him well. It seemed to hardly be affecting him. Everyone attributed it simply to the rockstar lifestyle, since he had spent so long touring and, probably, not getting much sleep. He spent his awake time sitting next to her with an acoustic guitar, playing songs both old and new. And the song that he dedicated to her, the one that would eventually make the album. The one that he had recorded in secret as a surprise for her. She didn't think it had made the cut.

It was in the middle of his fourth time playing "I Swear This Time I Mean It." when Anie awoke. There was a groan, and then a muffled cry as she spasmed against the breathing tube in her throat. "Oh god, Yaya!" He said, dropping his guitar and running to get a nurse. They gave her some relaxers to keep the spasms at bay while the doctor decided whether to put her back under or not.

They asked her some questions, assessing her mental state. She responded with blinks. Then they discussed about how she would need to be completely rested, and that if they kept her awake she would have to not even sit up. She wouldn't be able to eat, and her feeding tube would have to stay in. She agreed to all of this.

By the time the doctors finally got around to making the decision to keep her awake, everyone was back. All of Mayday, Holli and Lizz, even the members of All Time Low were there. They pulled the tube out, commanding her to cough to let it ease out. Anie felt like she was throwing up a plastic tube, because that was exactly what she was doing.

"Oh awesome you guys." She said weakly after the tube was long gone. "You all came, and you even brought more rockstars to see me in my hour of pathetic weakness."

"Hey," Gaskarth said, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Nothing about what you've gone through is pathetic. Except for that motherfucker a few rooms over. The cops wouldn't let me go in." The guys of All Time Low had gotten a soft spot for both Anie and Holli when they had met them at their earlier show. They had kept in contact, and were becoming great friends. And Anie and Gaskarth seemed to hit it off, their personalities being similar enough to get along and different enough to compliment each other.

"Judas is in the hospital?" She asked, confused. She hadn't gotten to see the boys turn him into a concrete stain, so she was unaware as to why he would be.

Jake nodded. "Um yeah. Did you think he wouldn't be? We kicked his fucking ass while the girls called the ambulance. They're guarding him right now because he's in worse shape than you are. He's awake, but just barely."

She nodded. "Wish I woulda seen it." She muttered softly, not really wanting to admit that she wanted to see anyone receive bodily harm. Though she supposed that in this case it was acceptable.

They all nodded. "Well girlie...we do have some new for you." Jack said with a crooked grin. "All of you girls." He said, motioning to Lizz and Holli as well. "We're going on a tour. And Mayday's coming alone. And you're all invited. Even you Lizz."

Lizz could've squeeled. "But wait...I love being a nurse. What would I be doing on tour? I mean, there's nothing I can really do like the other girls. I don't know how to tech or anything."

Derek chuckled and shook his head. "I'm hiring you as Anie's personal nurse. You're going to take care of her on the road, and you'll be paid just like any other private nurse."

Alex grinned. "And Holli, you're gonna be my guitar tech. Anie, you're gonna have to do overtime though."

Zack laughed. "We couldn't decide which band was going to get you to be their sound tech, so we settled on sharing you. I hope that's okay."

Anie laughed. "Of course it's okay! I would love nothing more than to do sound for you guys. All of you.

- - -

A few weeks later, Anie rolled out of the hospital with the whole crew in tow. Of course, she hadn't just laid there and recovered like a normal person. Oh no. She had managed to convince Holli to bring her the studio's macbook pro, and had finished mixing the album. It was now sent off to be mastered, and soon would be heard by everyone. She had edited all but one song.

Her song.

That was still a surprise, and would be until the night the tour started, after their album dropped. It was a few months away, they had planned that so that Anie could continue to heal. Just because she was out of the hospital didn't mean she was out of the woods.

The next few months were spent with parties, beaches, Chuck E. Cheese, and hangout sessions. Life seemed like it had finally managed to level out.

But this is the rockstar lifestyle. Everything is constantly in flux. And, before anyone knew it, it was time to leave for the Live Fast, Party Hard tour. God only knew what awaited them.