Right Here Waiting

The week passed by quickly for Eliza. She, Katie, and Val spent all their time in the studio with the guys, making sure the songs were perfected. Currently, Eliza was lying on one of the couches while Matt and Brian were in the studio working on vocals.

“I’m not insane, I’m not insane…”

“Shit gets addictive, doesn’t it?” Jimmy asked, lifting her feet to sit on the couch with her.

“Hell yeah, I haven’t been able to stop singing it for days.”

“Yeah, now try playing it.”

“I’ll pass,” Eliza said, laughing.

She could hear the guys in the studio singing, and she sang along with them. They stopped and Johnny played the recording back for them as they exited the booth. She sang along with it, watching Jimmy lightly drum on her legs.

Matt looked at her for a second, looked back at the guys in front of him, said something, and looked back at her. “Hey Eliza, come here.”

She groaned, feeling lazy, and got up slowly. She made a face as she walked to where they were standing. “What?”

“Go into the booth.”

“Why?”

“Just come on,” Matt said, grabbing her hand and pulled her into the booth.

He placed a pair of headphones on her head. “I want you to do some backup singing for us, okay?”

“Why?”

“Just listen to the music and let me know what sounds good to you, okay?”

“Sure.”

They spent the next thirty minutes trying different vocal ranges for Eliza, and Matt decided to sing part of the song to give her a feel of what she should be doing. Finally, they got a vocal part down for her, and she left the booth smiling.

“Alright, now the fun begins,” Johnny said, clapping his hands together and rubbing them.

“Hell yeah!” Jimmy said.

“Let’s do this!” Brian hollered.

“Wait, what are we doing?” Eliza asked, confused.

“You’re coming with us,” Johnny said and walked to her side, linking his arm with hers.

“We’ve got a treat for you,” Zacky said, joining her other side.

Twenty minutes later, they were outside of a house in a part of town Eliza hadn’t been to since before college.

“What are we doing here?” Eliza said as Matt parked the SUV and everyone filed out. She watched everyone else get out of the second black SUV.

“Just come on,” Brian said, linking her arm in his, smiling.

They walked in and the guys all said hello to a guy covered in tattoos.

“Adam, this is Eliza. Eliza, this is Adam,” Matt said and Eliza shook hands with the guy.

Eliza watched as the rest of the group minus Matt and Brian went to the living room where she saw Matt and Jason Berry sitting on a couch. She waved at them with a wide smile, having not seen them since the party when Katie had first gotten to Huntington.

“Adam here is our tattoo artist,” Matt explained, clapping Adam on the shoulder.

“Okay?” Eliza said, clearly still confused.

“Where do you want it?” Adam asked her.

“Want what?”

“Your death bat, bitch,” Johnny hollered from the living room.

“Excuse me?”

“I told you it was going to happen soon,” Brian said, nodding his head.

“So I’m here to get the death bat tattooed on me?”

“By our tattoo artist,” Matt said, grinning.

“So where do you want it?” Adam said, moving to the kitchen table. Eliza saw a lounge chair beside him, along with a lot of instruments in packages.

“I’m being tattooed in a kitchen?”

“Quit being a pussy!”

Eliza recognized Katie’s voice, and without looking at her, Eliza raised her middle finger in the direction of the living room. Katie laughed.

“So where do you want it?”

Eliza made everyone else show her where theirs were, even the Berry’s and Val. She looked at Brian, thinking. “I can’t decide if I want it on my stomach or on my chest.”

“Well, if you get it on your chest, anytime you wear a dress it’ll be visible. The only time someone would see it on your stomach is if you were in a bathing suit or naked.”

Eliza rolled her eyes and looked at Adam. “Let’s go with stomach, like Jimmy’s but lower.”

“Do you want it colored or just black and white?”

“None of mine are colored, so let’s go with black and white.”

Adam started drawing it out as she sat down on the chair and made herself comfortable. Brian moved to head toward the living room when Eliza called out to him.
“Oh, hell no. You’re staying in here, sir.”

Brian laughed and pulled a chair up to sit on the other side of her.

“Before I start, have you been drinking or doing any pills? Not that I care,” Adam said, looking up. “I just want to know to be prepared for blood or not.”

“No, I haven’t done anything.”

“Awesome. You’re not a screamer, are you?”

Eliza was about to answer when Brian beat her to it. “She won’t make a sound.”

Eliza turned her head to look at him, remembering what she said when he cleaned her knuckles, and she smiled. She lifted her shirt so that Adam could place the drawing above her pant line. She even had to pull her pants down a little bit to make room for Adam. She caught Brian staring at her exposed skin and she couldn’t help but be reminded of the kiss they’d shared. She quickly averted her eyes and thought of David, like she’d been doing every time she thought of the kiss between her and Brian which was every time she saw him. Even though he was being an asshole, she was still dating David.

When the buzzing of the tattoo gun started, her hand found Brian’s and she closed her eyes, feeling the needle penetrate her skin.



The next day, she got up early and headed to the hospital. She sat down beside her dad on the bed and looked at the monitors before turning back to his face.

“I miss you, dad. I wish you were here; you would know what to do. David’s a good guy and all, but he’s just not what I want. Brian gets me in every way possible, just like you do. You always understood my love for music, and helped me pursue that dream.”

She felt tears rise to her eyes, but they didn’t fall. She had made a promise she wouldn’t cry over him and she intended to keep that promise. She looked at her dad’s face for a few more minutes, holding his hand.

“The guys made me get a tattoo yesterday. They said it was initiation into the band. I sang some yesterday in the booth and Matt said it was going to be on the record. I know you said you hated tattoos, dad, but this one is great.”

“It looks great on you.”

She turned around to see Brian leaning against the wall.

“How long have you been there?”

“I just walked in,” he said and made his way to the chair beside her. “I went to your house and Katie said you were here, so I decided you needed company.”

“Thanks.”

“You really think he can hear you?”

“A lot of studies say that talking to comatose people really helps,” Eliza said and looked back at her dad. “They said it helps them; it keeps their brain functioning or some shit. I just want to keep him informed of things that are going on in case—”

She froze. Brian watched her for a few seconds. “In case what, Eliza?”

She wasn’t paying attention. He watched as tears sprang to her eyes and she stared at her father’s hand. Brian’s eyes looked down and saw Mr. Grey’s fingers were moving. They twitched once, twice and Brian’s eyes went to his eyes. They were moving back and forth.

“Brian,” Eliza whispered, not taking her eyes off of her father’s face. “Go get the nurse.”

Brian sprang to his feet and was almost at the door when Eliza screamed. He looked back and saw her father’s eyes were open, looking around. Immediately, he ripped open the door and hollered for a nurse.

“Eliza!”

“I’m right here, dad!” Eliza screamed, standing up to lean over him.

Suddenly the room was filled with nurses and doctors. A nurse pulled Eliza away from the bed and she was pushed into Brian.

“Eliza!” her father hollered again.

“Dad!”

More and more nurses were filling into the room, crowding the bed. Finally, a nurse broke away from the crowd and pushed Eliza and Brain from the room. “I’m sorry, you need to leave now.”

“That’s my dad!” Eliza yelled at the woman, trying to push past her. Brian held her back in the hallway.

The nurse went back in and shut the door. Brian watched as Eliza’s bottom lip trembled, fresh tears in her eyes. He had his arm around her shoulders and looked back at the door. Eliza was on edge; she was chewing on her lip, keeping her eyes on the door for any sign of movement.

What felt like hours but was only ten minutes later, the doctor came out, wrapping his stethoscope around his neck. Eliza immediately stepped forward to him. “My dad is alright, right?”

“I’m sorry, Eliza. We lost him.”

“NO!” she screamed, pulling away from Brian. “He was awake! He spoke to me! He yelled for me!”

“I know, and I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Eliza.”

She stared at the door as the doctor walked away from her. There’s no way her father was gone. He had yelled her name, opened his eyes and was looking around. She whirled around and looked at Brian. She still didn’t believe it. Brian’s heart ached at her face, and he wrapped her in a hug.

“He yelled my name, Brian. He yelled my name. He was awake.”

“I know, baby. I heard him,” Brian said as he stroked her hair. He pulled her closer, feeling her shallow breaths.

Eliza leaned into Brian’s chest and before she could stop herself, a wave of emotion came over her and she screamed. Once the sound had finished, she felt completely weak, and pulling Brian with her she slid to the floor. Every once in a while a noise would escape her mouth as Brian sat on the floor, holding her. She shook as she felt the tears falling from Brian’s eyes. She wished she could, but her eyes were completely dry. Her eyes glazed over as she rocked with Brian, repeating the same thing over and over again.

“My dad’s dead…My dad’s dead.”