This Masterpiece Will Fall Apart

Marque went with Airin into the ER while the rest of us stayed in the waiting room. My hands were clasped together, and my legs were shaking slightly. Zack kept rubbing my back, and Keith was pacing back and forth. Jason had gone gone for a little walk to clear his head. “Keith, can you please sit down?” I agitatedly asked. Keith stopped, and looked at me. “Your pacing back and forth isn't helping me keep calm.”

“Oh...sorry,” Keith said. He sat in a chair next to me. Jason walked back into the waiting room.

“Hey, have you learned anything?” He asked, sitting in a chair across from us.

“No, still nothing,” Keith said.

“He's been in there for almost 2 hours now...I wonder what could be wrong...” Jason said, brushing hair out of his face. He no longer had the mohawk cut he had 5 years ago. It was now spiked in the back, and he had some bangs too.

“He should have gone to the hospital sooner...” I said.

“Did you know he was coughing up blood?” Zack asked.

“I did. I thought maybe he would have told Marque,” I replied.

“You know, this could all be from voice overuse,” Keith mentioned. “He has been doing a lot of extra work.”

“That's true. But I highly doubt that. Airin has always taken good care of his voice,” I said. Just then, a doctor came out. We were the only ones in the waiting room, so he had to be there to talk to us. I stood up, “Is my brother okay?” I asked, taking Zack's hand out of nervousness.

“He's okay, but I'm sorry to have to tell you this,” the doctor started. My heart started beating faster, “but he's in between stage 2 and 3 of laryngeal cancer.” I stared at him in disbelief. Zack was the first to speak out of us.

“Laryngeal...what is that?” he asked. The doctor, who's name was Mike, was about to say something, but Keith cut him off.

“Larynx cancer, or throat cancer,” Keith explained. Doctor Mike looked at him strangely.

“Are you a medical student?” He asked.

“No, I minored in Bio-chemistry,” Keith said. Mike nodded and continued.

“Airin mentioned that he had been having difficulties eating, and breathing. He has also been coughing up blood. Those of signs of Laryngeal cancer.” He explained.

“You mentioned stage 2 and 3? What does that mean?” I asked. “How many stages are there?”

“Stage 0 means that the tumour can be easily removed. Stage 1-2 means that the cancer has spread through out the larynx and the local tissue, but it's still in the body area. And stage 3-4 means that the tumour has spread beyond the local tissue and trying to remove the lump by surgery could be fatal.” Mike explained to us. “It's very good you got him here when you did.”

“He always refused to go to the doctors...” I said. Mike looked at me sympathetically.

“Is it alright if we see him?” Jason asked. Mike nodded and told us to follow him. He led us into Airin's room. Marque was sitting in a chair next to him, holding Airin's hand. Airin looked over at us and smiled weakly. Marque looked over and I walked over to hug him. When I let go of him, I looked over at Airin. I felt a few tears threatening to escape my eyes.

“See, this is what happens when you don't listen to me,” I joked lightly. I could see a faint smile on Airin's face. “Why do you have to be like dad and be stubborn?”

“Because he's a man. All men do that. We will not see a doctor unless we are dead, or something is sticking out of body that isn't a boner,” Zack said absentmindedly, probably not realizing there were other people in the room with him. Airin started laughing, then coughing.

“Okay, that's not a good thing to do,” Airin said. Marque squeezed Airin's shoulder lightly.

“Zack, stop trying to kill Airin!” Keith said.

“But...but...” Zack had a mock-horrified look on his face. “But laughter is the best medicine!” He concluded.

“I think medicine is the best medicine, to be honest with you.” I said. “Especially in Airin's case. Because if he laughs, he can't breathe, and he could die!”

“Can we not talk about me dying?” Airin asked hoarsely. Everyone went silent.

“What are we going to do about tonight?” Marque asked quietly.

“We might have to cancel...” Jason said.

“We can't do that to all those fans waiting outside the venue!” Zack said. “I was talking to one girl and she said she drove 12 hours and had been there since 8 in the morning waiting for us.”

I frowned. I would really hate to cancel any shows on such short notice.

“I can fill in for the drums,” Jason said. Jason was a drummer in another band back in Vancouver.

“But what about the songs he sings? We can't cut those from the set list,” Marque said. I folded my arms across my chest.

“I'll do it,” Zack nearly whispered. Everyone looked over at him.

“You'll do it? Can you even sing?” Keith asked.

“Kind of...” Zack said. “I was classically trained back when I was 12, but I haven't really sung since then.”

“Well, sing then,” Airin said.

“W...what?” Zack sputtered.

“If you're going to sing in front of a couple hundred of people, you're going to have to be able to sing in front of us,” Airin explained. “It's just us.”

“I...I don't know what to sing,” Zack said quietly.

“Anything. Just give 'er,” Airin said. Zack's eyes darted around the room. He finally started singing a song that I didn't recognize. I stared at Zack in amazement. He only sang a verse, but it was great. His voice was very similar to Airin's, but it was a little higher.

“Where the hell did you learn to sing like that?” Marque exclaimed. Zack shrugged, obviously embarrassed. “You've got a voice on you!”

“Do I?” Zack asked. I had never seen him so embarrassed in his life. We called him Mr No-Shame because he rarely ever was embarrassed.

“You really do! Why didn't you tell us that you could sing?” I asked him.

Zack shrugged, “I figured since there were already 4 singers in the band, there would be no need for a fifth.”

“We could always use extra voices,” Keith said, clapping his hand on Zack's shoulder. Zack smiled at him.

We stayed with Airin for another half hour before we had to go back to the venue. The other crew members and Surviving Nightlife were all waiting for us. John was the first to speak, “What happened?”

“Well, Airin has...what is it Keith?” I asked my cousin.

“Laryngeal cancer, or throat cancer,” Keith explained. Adam gasped and clasped his hands over his mouth.

“Is...is he alright?” Damien asked.

“He's fine. They were taking him into surgery as we left,” Marque said.

“So...does this mean we have to cancel?” Curtis asked. There was hushed murmur among the crew.

“Not at all,” I said. Everyone looked at me oddly. “Jason will fill in for the drums, and Zack is going to sing.”

“But...Zack can't sing,” John said.

“Oh, just you wait Mr Baker. Just you fucking wait.”