Someone Get Me a Doctor, Someone Call the Nurse

(Jared POV)

The band arrived back into Maddie’s city around 8, happy at the prospect of vacation. We had come to ask our little buddy if she wanted to join us for a short vacation. As we left for the hotel, I began dialing her phone number. Shannon chuckled at my expression as the phone rang and rang, and I sent him a dirty look.

“He…hello?” I paused…did I wake her up? Her voice sounded rough, like she just got up.

“Maddie? The guys and I are in town, and we were wondering if…” I heard a loud sniffle followed by a hiccough, like a strangled sob. “What’s wrong?” Shannon and Tomo looked up, hearing the concern in my own voice. The voice on the other end cracked.

“He was just a kid Jare…a little boy” A heart-wrenching sob echoed in the speaker, tugging at my gut.

“Hold on Maddie. I’m on my way.” I hung up and turned to the driver, giving him the address. “Hurry, please?” The looks on my bandmates’ faces were worry-stricken.

“What’s up?” I rubbed my hand through my hair with a heavy sigh.

“She lost a patient—a little boy from what it sounds like.” Shannon pulled a face while Tomo heaved a sigh like my own. We all knew how hard Maddie took to any patients dying. This would probably be the worst—she loved kids.

Pulling up to the house, I didn’t even wait for the others before leaping out the door. Luckily, I had a spare key. The whole house was pitch dark except for where the moon shined through the windows. Turning the corner, I spotted the light over the stove on, and in a heap on the floor was Madison. I rushed towards her, skidding to my knees beside her and lifting her into my lap. She curled up in my arms, sobs shaking her like a leaf.

“Shhhh…I’m here. It’s ok.” Keeping an ear out for the guys, I rocked the woman in my arms back and forth gentle, attempting to soothe her in any way. She asked softly if she was too soft-hearted for this kind of work, but I shot that idea down. She just cared about her patients. She looked up at me with tears glistening down her face.

“I couldn’t save him…he was only a little boy.” I rubbed small circles on her back as more tears slid down her cheeks. My heart ached to see her so upset. Resting my chin on her head, I whispered words of comfort to her and started to sing. It hurt to watch her cry. Slowly, she calmed down and I tried to get a look at her to see if she were ok. I slid my hands up her neck and pulled her face up to look at me.

“Don’t think on it…” She was going to destroy herself if she let every loss get to her, and I told her as much. She blinked back tears and gave me a watery smile.

“Ok…” She fit perfectly in my arms, and my heart gave a small flutter as I realized the other two hadn’t yet come in. Shifting my legs to sit more comfortably, I leaned back against the island.

“Would you go with Shannon, Tomo, and I?”

“What?”

“We’re taking a short vacation, and I want you to come with us…we all do.” Turning her head, Maddie and I nearly brushed noses before she leaned back a bit.

“But I have work.” I pouted. The last thing she needed after tonight was to go to work and face the same mess again.

“You need it. Please? Just for a week?” In the pause between my request and Maddie’s response, I finally placed the tight, sharp tugging in my chest. I longed for her to say yes. It wasn’t the idea that was so odd to me so much as the strength of it. I don’t think I’ve ever really wanted someone to hang around with as much as I did with Maddie.

“Promise?” I nodded eagerly. “Ok…I’ll go.” Hugging her tightly, I let out a small cheer.

“Yes! You’ll love it. Come on! Let’s get you packed.”

“Tonight?” The startled look on her face made me laugh.

“Why not?” Her response was to huff and stand up, dusting off her pants.

“Can I at least shower?”

“Can the others come in?” Shannon’s voice echoed from the doorway, startling the two of us. Maddie recovered first and waved the pair in.

“Sure. My home is your home. I’ll be down in a bit.” I smiled at her as she headed off upstairs, ignoring Shannon’s expression. This vacation would be the perfect thing for all of us.

(Maddie POV)

Humming softly while ruffling my hair with the towel, I stared at the empty duffel bag and wondered what to bring… I stuck my head out of my door and called downstairs to the guys.

“Hey…what should I pack?” Footsteps neared and Jared leaned over the banister.

“A bathing suit…and casual stuff. Maybe a dress or two?” I sighed heavily, leaning on the door with my arms crossed. Men—so unspecific.

“Well, where are we going?”

“The Caribbean.” The nonchalant way he said it made me wonder if I had misheard him, but I couldn’t think how I would misunderstand that.

“You’re kidding…”

“Nope!” The grin on his face could have been seen from a mile away. Eyes widening, I dropped my arms to my side in shock. It was so easy to forget they were used to traveling everywhere. I’d never even flown before, let alone gone to such exotic and wonderful places like the tropics.

“Jare…this is too much. I can’t ask you to bring me along. It’s so expensive!” The look he gave me made me blush.

“Maddie, if you don’t start packing, I will come up there and start packing for you. You need a vacation just like the rest of us, and we’d love for you to come along.” Right behind him, Shannon leaned over the railing and grinned up at me.

“Yeah we would. We miss hanging around our little princess.” I hope my glare was enough to make the man wither as I threw my hands in the air and stalked back into my room.

“I HATE when you call me that!” Seriously…I swear he does it just to irritate me into not arguing. Knowing where we were going, packing took me only a few minutes. The worst part was trying to decide which bathing suit I wanted to bring. In the end, I just packed all three. Once everything was all said and done, I only had two pieces of luggage—a duffel bag and a small rolly suitcase. As I trotted downstairs, I found the three men gathered around the island in my kitchen, seeming in serious conversation. I set my bags on the bottom step and leaned on the wall, not wanting to interrupt.

“The guitar part still needs some tweaking. I just don’t know what to put for the opening or for the chorus. Tomo, what do you think?”

“It could be replaced with a piano opening or something electronic. Or you could just have drums until around 12 seconds in and then come in with guitar or whatever. I think we’ll just have to noodle around in the studio for a bit.”

“Yeah…probably. Hey, you ready?” I nodded the affirmative, walking over to stand between Tomo and Shannon. Jared smiled softly across the marble slab, straightening himself with a stretch. “Well, we’ve got a flight to catch. Let’s go!” And thus we were herded out the door.