I Can't Not Love You

[Jack]

I was in the hospital for four more days before I was finally released. My breathing had gotten better after the third day and I was finally taken off oxygen. The antibiotics they gave me in the hospital had seemed to work well, because I was getting better. I was still really weak though. I had been released around eight o’clock this morning under strict orders to not drink alcohol until my week of antibiotics were done. I also wasn’t allowed to move around too much for a few days; I would have to gradually get used to exerting energy. My lungs were weak so I was definitely not allowed to run around much on stage for most of the rest of the tour.

“Home sweet home,” I said happily, walking up to the tour bus with Alex, Flyzik, and Zack. It was about eight-thirty now and we had just gotten here from the hospital. Flyzik opened the door and Zack held out his hand to help me up the steps. “I can do it myself.”

“Dude, you’re wobbly as fuck. We had to help you from the taxi to here,” Alex chuckled.

“That’s what the rail is for,” I said, sticking my tongue out at him. I walked up the steps slowly, Zack close behind me. I grinned when I saw all of the others in the front lounge, who all cheered and hollered when I appeared. I hadn’t seen anyone except for Alex, Zack, Rian, Danny, and Flyzik while I was in the hospital.

“Look who’s alive!” Alex shouted, coming up last and shutting the door.

“You or him?” Vinny chuckled. “You’ve both been gone for over four days.”

“It’s been extremely quiet here without the two of you,” Evan said, and everyone else agreed. Alex had refused to leave my side in the hospital, especially for the first few days. He slept in the chair beside me every night. Luckily Flyzik had brought him a few pairs of clothes, so he wasn’t stuck in his smelly ones from the first night.

“Well everyone’s back now, and it’s time to get going,” Flyzik spoke up. “I just told the driver to head out now that everyone’s ready.”

We had two days of driving ahead of us now that I was finally back; we had to cancel a few shows because of me. We needed to get from Minneapolis, Minnesota – where we were now – to Boise, Idaho in the next two days.

“Someone go help Jack into the back lounge to lie down. He’s not supposed to be up and walking around today,” Flyzik added when I suddenly went into a coughing fit.

“C’mon,” Zack said, nudging me in the back to push me toward the back of the bus. I walked back there and lay down on the couch, getting comfortable. I was going to be here for a while.

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The best part about being sick is that I literally didn’t have to do anything for myself. Alex, Rian, Zack, and Danny were constantly babying me. The others were too, but those four were the most. Rian brought me a pillow and blankets to keep me warm because the heat on the bus wasn’t working too well and I was freezing. Danny kept popping in every once in a while to see if I needed anything. Zack was chilling out in the back lounge with me, watching movies. Alex brought me all my medicines, my orange juice, and food whenever I mentioned I was hungry.

Flyzik noticed this by the second day and shook his head at everyone. Alex had just brought me my antibiotic with orange juice, and Rian was handing me a different blanket because he wanted mine. “You guys are treating him like a child. He’s a grown man, you know.”

“Shh, I don’t mind,” I said, making the shushing gesture against my lips. “I don’t have to get up at all!”

“That is kind of the point,” Zack chuckled. “He was told to not strain himself.”

Flyzik rolled his eyes, “Well he’s definitely got that covered.”

“No, I’m straining myself a lot! Lifting this glass of orange juice is hard work!” I exclaimed, acting like it was hard to lift. The exclamation hurt my chest and made me cough, causing me to spill some of the orange juice as I set it down.

“Lovely. Clean that up,” Flyzik sighed, shaking his head in amusement as he left the room.

“Someone grab me a paper towel. I got it,” I said, sitting up and stretching. Alex ran up front to get a paper towel roll and brought it back, handing it to me. I mopped my mess up off the floor and Alex tossed the used paper towels into the garbage.

“Do you want some more juice?” Alex asked me, reaching for the cup.

“I do, but I’ll go get it. I need to stretch my legs,” I told him, taking the cup and standing up.

Zack chuckled, “This should be fun to watch.”

I flipped him off before walking up front, my legs still feeling weak. I set the cup down on the counter so I could dig the juice out of the fridge. The bus suddenly hit a bump when I was walking to the fridge and I squeaked, immediately losing balance and falling onto my ass. “Ow,” I whined, ignoring the others up front who laughed at me.

“Told you it would be fun to watch,” Zack called out from the back. I heard him laughing along with Alex and Rian. I rolled my eyes and poured my juice before walking back to the back lounge. I set my juice down and lay back down on the couch near Zack, curling up into a ball under the blanket.

“Doesn’t Home Alone ever get boring?” Rian asked me with a sigh.

I smiled, “Nope.”

The others were quiet for a few moments while we watched Home Alone. Alex spoke up, looking around at us, “Hopefully Jack’s okay to play in Salt Lake City in a few days. We’re probably going to have to cancel the Idaho show tomorrow.”

“No way,” I protested, looking up at them. “I’m playing tomorrow.”

“Jack, you just fell while walking into the front. You’re still too weak to play on stage,” Rian said, looking at me doubtfully.

“I don’t care what you guys think, I’m playing tomorrow. We’ve already cancelled three shows, and we’re not cancelling a fourth one,” I argued.

Alex shook his head at me, “You’re still sick.”

“I’m playing,” I said firmly. “I’ll just stand in front of the microphone and play, because I know I can’t run around. We can cut the set short if we have to. That’s better than not playing at all.”

“I guess if we cut the set a little short, he’d be better off,” Zack admitted with a shrug. Alex and Rian frowned at each other, not convinced.

“Come on, you guys. I’m getting restless just lying here day after day. I’ve been on bed rest for a week now,” I whined.

Rian sighed, “I guess you might as well play. We can play a shorter set and get you used to playing again.”

“Yay!” I cheered in triumph, immediately coughing afterward.

Alex snorted in amusement, “But until then you better keep drinking that orange juice and taking your medicine so you stop coughing. I’ll kill you if you spit phlegm onto me on stage.”