A Helping Hand

Indy quickly manoeuvred around Zacky to put his seatbelt over his bad arm, and gently shut the car door, not wanting to jolt him in anyway as she made sure he would be safe on the ride. The last thing he needed was for his arm to move around as she drove.

“Where are we going?” Zacky asked Indy as she hoped in the driver’s seat, his voice soft as he tried to breathe through the pain.

“Straight to the hospital. You need to have that checked out,” Indy replied, turning on the ignition to the car and buckling her seatbelt at the same time. Before another word could be said, she slammed the car in reverse, and drove out of the parking lot.

“Thanks,” he muttered in reply, not being able to say much more.

The drive to the hospital was all but silent, only the soft sounds of Chopin playing from the car’s stereo. It was what Indy turned to when she needed calming down, so it was perfect to play this morning on the way to the studio, her anxiety still being through the roof from the altercation yesterday. Luckily, it was beginning to work now, as well. The adrenaline was easing from her system as she drove, her mind too focused on surviving the LA traffic. She routinely checked on Zacky, trying not to make it too obvious that she was looking over at him. He was pale white, and his eyes closed as he tried to calm himself.

Thankfully with the peak hour traffic over, they managed to reach the hospital in 15 minutes. It was almost an act of divine intervention that there were no accidents on the way, and that Indy had lucked out with getting every single traffic light green. If she hadn’t had such a terrible morning, she would have thought it was her lucky day. Maybe just someone was looking out for her. Or more likely, someone looking out for Zacky, making sure he hadn’t permanently injured himself.

Indy pulled into a parking space and was out of the car in seconds, pulling open the passenger door to free Zacky. Working in reverse, she leant over, unbuckled his seatbelt, and stood up straight.

“Will you need a hand getting out?” She asked him, awkwardly reaching out to offer any support she could.

“No, I’m ok,” he replied, opening his eyes for the first time since they left the studio. He was astounded that they reached the hospital so fast. It took him at least two hours to get to the closest hospital in Huntington when he had first broke his arm, and at least 30 minutes of that was waiting for the ambulance.

Indy waited helplessly as Zacky slowly got out of the car, making sure he was protecting his arm as he manoeuvred out of the passenger’s seat. Zacky had to mentally laugh at himself, only imagining how awkward he looked trying to pull himself out of the car and was thankful Indy had said nothing.

Once he was out, the pair walked slowly towards the emergency room, Indy once more trying to gauge how Zacky was feeling while trying not to be too obvious. She didn’t want to appear too overbearing, or make him feel self-conscious about anything. The doors slid open on their approach, and they made a beeline straight for the reception desk. With another stroke of luck, there was no one else in line.

“Hi, my friend just fell on his broken arm and has shattered his cast. He needs to get it checked out,” Indy said to the woman, taking charge of the situation and letting Zacky hang back. By the limited amount of conversation they had since the fall, Indy thought it would be for the best.

“Please fill out these forms, and we will let you know when someone is available,” the lady told her in a monotone voice. Indy, surprised at the accuracy of the medical worker cliché often seen in movies and TV, silently accepted the clipboard from her and turned back to Zacky. “What is your name? We will put you on the list while you wait.”

“Zack Baker,” Zacky replied, hoping with everything he had that the hospital were well staffed.

“Uh, lets’ grab a seat, I guess?” She said, leading the injured guitarist over to the closest row of seats. Indy took the chance to take in the rest of the room, noting that it wasn’t too busy, about half a dozen people were scattered around the room with various maladies.

With a ‘humph’, Zacky sunk down into one of the green vinyl covered seats, trying to breathe through the pain. His adrenaline was now wearing off, and the pain was making a full appearance, shooting from his fingertips to his shoulder. He took a minute and closed his eyes, trying to remind himself that the pain would be over soon, and that the pain killers were coming soon.

Indy busied herself with the form in front of her. Her eyes soon bulged at the sheer volume of details she had to fill out for Zacky. She could get through maybe 2 questions on her own, the rest she would need his help with.

“Hey, Zacky? I need you to help me fill out your form, I don’t know a lot of these,” She said to him, looking over at the man beside her. He had his eyes still shut, and it made her feel awful for breaking his Zen.

“Shoot,” he said, finally opening his eyes and looking at Indy. He took in her concerned appearance, her eyebrows crinkled and her mouth in a slight frown. She looked beautiful even when she was pitying him. He instantly reprimanded himself for thinking that, blaming the thought on the mixture of natural chemicals that were coursing through his body from the fall.

“This is going to be really embarrassing for me. I really should know these things,” she prefaced, already cringing at the first question she had to ask. “Uh, full name?”

Zacky couldn’t help what happened next. He let out a laugh. It was almost comical that she had to ask that. They had been working side by side for almost 6 weeks, and had discussed everything under the sun, yet never got around to any sort of personal details. How is that even possible?

“I know, ironic, right? How can I know that your favourite movie is ‘House of 1000 Corpses’, but I don’t know your name?” Indy said, having a small chuckle of her own. “It’s like a bad hook up after meeting someone at a bar!”

“That is uncomfortably accurate,” Zacky agreed, having to laugh at the parallels. He had his fair share of one-night stands, and had to agree with the similarities. You meet someone equally as drunk at a bar, talk about one subject you have in common, and then next thing you know, you are trying to sneak out of their room later that night while they have fallen asleep. The thought made him cringe slightly, not only reliving the party days of his past, but also the idea of Indy having done the same. He had to scold himself once again, reminding how hypocritical he was being. These damn chemicals were making his head a danger zone. “Um, full name is Zachary James Baker.”

“Thanks,” Indy replied, quickly jotting down the information. She consumed her thoughts with filling out paperwork, rather than thoughts of Zacky’s romantic past. “Date of birth?”

“December 11, 1981.”

“How did the injury occur? I think they mean the most recent.”

“I fell.”

“Again?” Indy asked, the word slipping out before she could even realise what she had said. Her eyes went wide and she quickly covered her mouth with her hand. “Sorry! I didn’t mean it like that!”

Zacky just laughed. He could already hear what the guys were going to say about it, and Indy’s reaction was a lot nicer than what he was in for.

“Hey, those parking space wheel stopper things are sneaky,” he defended weakly.

“Oh yes, they are definitely ninjas.”

“Zack Baker?” A voice called out. The pair looked up and saw a man in blue scrubs and a white doctor’s coat looking up from his clipboard and scanning around the room. “Zack Baker?”

“Coming,” Zacky replied, getting out of his chair.

“I haven’t finished the form!” Indy said, getting up with Zacky and starting to panic. How could she fill it out without him? A new lot of anxiety washed through her. “I can’t hand it in like this!”

“Come along and keep filling it out. I’ll probably just go to another waiting room anyway,” Zacky replied, smiling at Indy. He couldn’t help but find her panic-stricken look endearing. He hadn’t realised what a stickler to the rules she was.

“Oh, ok,” she agreed, nodding while the pair made their way to the man.

“Are you his wife?” the man asked, raising an eyebrow at Indy. Even she noticed his eyes sweep her form.

“Oh, no. I just drove him here,” she replied, taken aback at his question.

“Oh, how sweet of you. Sorry, but you will have to wait here for him.”

“But I need to fill out the form.”

“I’m sorry, patients and immediate family only. No exceptions, even for someone as cute as you.”

The obvious come-on made Indy pause. Did that just actually happen? Did this guy just flirt with her? It made Indy blush, but not with embarrassment, but with anger. Her brain was working at overtime to try and stop her calling him out. Yes, he was attractive, and being a doctor definitely helped, but this was not the time, or the place. She may not be Zacky’s wife, but what if she was his girlfriend, or fiancée. Would he still be trying to flirt with her then?

“Indy, just call Brian. He will help you out,” Zacky told her, breaking the tension between the pair. He was stunned at the doctor’s nerve, part of him wishing he had the balls to say things like that, but the bigger part of him frustrated at Indy’s flushed reaction.

“I can’t, I don’t have his number,” she replied, pulling her eyes from the doctor and looking over to Zacky.

“Here.” Without a second thought, Zacky pulled his phone from his pocket, and handed it to Indy. “His number is under ‘King Brian’. Long story.”

“Thanks, and good luck, I guess?” Indy said, shrugging. The miserable look on Zacky’s face told her the pain he was in, and how he wished he could have company.

Without a second thought, Indy threw her free arm around him in a quick hug, and pecked his cheek. She rationalised that the latter action was to send a message to Doctor Flirty.

“See you soon,” she said, looking down at her arms as she fixed the clipboard and rearranged the papers after she let go.

“Yeah, sure,” Zacky replied, a smile creeping on his face. He looked over at the doctor, and saw his cocky exterior fade. It made Zacky smile wider. His arm didn’t feel as bad now.

Indy looked up from her arms when she felt it was safe. She was still reeling at her action. Today was really turning out to be something else.

An incessant ringing made Brian howl with frustration. That was the third take he had ruined because his cell phone he threw across the room would not stop buzzing. With a huff, he put his guitar down and strode over to it.

“Whoever the fuck this is, fuck off! You’re ruining me!” He screamed into the phone. His patience was done for the day.

“Uh, hey Brian, it’s Indy,” Indy said timidly, not expecting that reaction at all. She was scared to take much more of his time.

“Why the fuck are you calling me? Just come over and talk to me,” Brian said, his mind already back on tracking the solo he was trying to fix. The one for ‘Strength of the World’ was driving him nuts. It wasn’t quite where he wanted it to be.

“Well, ah, I just had to drive Zacky to hospital,” she started. Hadn’t they noticed them missing?

“Hang on, what?!” Brian shouted. He was not prepared to hear that! “Hospital?”

“Yeah, he fell on his broken arm, and fucked it up pretty bad. I had to get him here as soon as I could because he was in agony,” she explained, once more debating if it had been a good idea not to tell anyone. Should she had waited the extra few minutes to grab one of the other guys to take him?

“Holy shit, fuck. Thanks for taking him, I guess,” Brian replied, not really knowing what else to say. He could only imagine the pain his bandmate was in.

“No problem. I just needed to get him here. He was in pretty bad shape,” she said, ranting a little. In the background she could hear Johnny yelling for Brian to get back to tracking. She couldn’t have counted the amount of obscenities in the few short sentences if she had tried.

“Ok, give me 5 minutes and we will be on our way,” Brian told her, his brain already switching gears.

“Oh, don’t worry about coming to the hospital, there is no point everyone hanging around a waiting room,” Indy said, shocked at the kind gesture from the guitarist. “He has gone in with a doctor now, and I assume they are fixing up the cast and doing more x-rays. There isn’t anything anyone can do.”

“Really? That was quick!” Brian exclaimed. He had visited the ER many times in his past, and was always there for hours before anyone even glanced his way.

“Yeah, we were pretty lucky. So I don’t mind hanging around until he is done. I will have to bring him back to the studio anyway. I can’t exactly drive him home when I don’t know where he lives.”

“If you’re sure?”

“Yeah, no problems,” she confirmed. At least she was being useful here. “I just need your help answering questions on the form I have to fill out for Zacky? We only got through a few questions before he was called.”

“Sure, give me one second,” Brian said. He pulled the phone away from his face and started talking to the others in the studio. After a few muffled minutes, he returned to Indy. “Ok, shoot.”