Shout the Call

“Bea honey, it’s me, Aaron,” I heard someone say although I couldn’t be exactly sure if what I heard was real or a dream. I must have been asleep; all I could see was darkness. I tried to open my eyes but they weren’t complying.
“Bea. Can you hear me?” the voice spoken again and this time, I felt a flicker of recognition. It was Aaron, yes, it was definitely him. I forced once more and my eyes opened and then I felt intense relief and happiness as I saw Aaron’s face above me, looking down on me like a guardian angel. I opened my mouth to speak, to tell Aaron exactly how much I loved him but nothing, no sound wanted to come out. Tears began to fill my eyes and cloud my vision.
“Hey, shush,” Aaron said, bending down and planting a kiss on my clammy forehead, “don’t try to speak honey. It’s okay.”
I looked around the room and saw Jim slouched in a rather uncomfortable looking chair. He was snoring quietly. I suddenly realised I was in hospital. The room was devoid of any character and clinical looking. The only colour in the bright white room was the bouquet of roses on the windowsill. I looked at Aaron and nodded towards the blood red flowers, silently asking if they were for me. Aaron understood and nodded.
“Do you like them?” he asked.
I nodded back, wishing my voice would make a swift return. My mouth and throat felt as dry as the Sahara, something which Aaron picked up on instantly as he poured me a cup of water and dropped a straw into it.
“Here,” he said as he gently guided the straw to my dry, chapped lips, “you must be thirsty.”
I had always underestimated water really. I mean, it’s just so plain and well, nothing but the moment that first flood of water filled my mouth, it truly was the best thing I had ever tasted. I guzzled and slugged at it greedily. Aaron slowly drew the straw back out of my mouth.
“What are you doing?” I choked, realising I was finally talking even though I sounded like I had been smoking a hundred cigarettes a day.
“I’m sorry sweetheart,” Aaron answered, smiling awkwardly, “try not to overload your system straight away. Just small sips okay?”
“Okay,” I replied, swallowing to sooth my throat, “I’m sorry.”
Aaron looked at me in complete disbelief. Was he about to start crying?
“No. No you fucking don’t!” He said, his voice quivering; confirming my suspicion. “Don’t you dare apologise. You have nothing to be sorry about. If anything, it should be me saying sorry. In fact, I really should be begging you for forgiveness.”
Jim let out a bellowing snort and I half expected him to wake himself up but he simply carried on with his deep, uncomfortable looking sleep.
“What are you saying sorry for?” I asked back, wearing exactly the same look of disbelief that Aaron had done before me.
“If it wasn’t for me requesting you to be out on the road with us, you wouldn’t know what we are and therefore not lying here, in a hospital bed.”
He dropped his head on to my chest and I felt the wetness of his tears on my skin. I submerged my face into his mass of soft, unruly curls. Even though I could have happily stayed that way forever, I moved his hair out of the way and, placing both hands on his cheeks, I lifted his face up so it was mere inches away from my own. His brown-green eyes bored into mine, searching for forgiveness; forgiveness that really wasn’t required.
“Aaron, please don’t,” I said, stroking his cheeks with my thumbs, “I could have said not to this gig. It wasn’t exclusive to me. My boss gave me first refusal because he knows how much I love you guys; he knows how obsessed I am with the lead singer. There is now way on God’s earth that I would ever have passed this up.”
“Yeah but I should have been straight with New Music; Non Stop from the get go.”
“Right, and that would have really won you the coverage, wouldn’t it honey?” I said, “Can you imagine? ‘Hi, I’m Aaron Holmes, lead singer of Shout the Call. We’d like full coverage of our headline UK tour. Oh, I forgot to mention; we’re a bunch of blood-sucking vampires!”
Aaron smile grew from a tiny little smirk to a full on, toothy grin. We both burst into laughter. Our situation was hilarious and ridiculous but at the same time, it was wonderful.
“I love you so much Bea.” Aaron said as he leant in towards me, placing a long, deep, lingering kiss on my mouth. I hoped my breath didn’t smell as bad as it tasted.
“Me too,” I replied sincerely, suddenly forgetting all about bad breath issues and kissing Aaron like I had never kissed him before.