Show Me What I'm Looking For

Christmas vacation had officially started now and today, we were on your way to the airport to pick up Anny. We couldn’t all fit in John’s car so we had to leave two behind. So John, Pat, Garrett and I were on the road listening to cool stuff like Savage Garden as we devoured some sour patch kids. Anny’s flight was landing at 1:07 pm. She was staying for Christmas and for new years, we were both going to be heading back to our hometown to visit my grandmother and catch up with some friends. She was also coming because it was the boys’ first official gig today and she absolutely wanted to come support them although she would probably be so jet lagged that she wouldn’t even have to energy to watch them. The show was taking place at a local venue in Scottsdale and everyone was really nervous about it partly because someone informed them that a few record companies were going to be there hoping to sign some new bands.

Today also happened to be me and John’s two month anniversary and thinking that he had forgotten, I decided not to bring it up because he had enough things to worry about. However, there was a small part of me that was somewhat mad at him, but I was determined not to let it show.

Once we got there, John parked the car and we all walked into the airport; John holding my hand, Pat and Garrett walking close behind us. I then asked the lady at the information desk at which gate Anny’s flight was landing and she told us to wait at gate 22. We still had a couple of minutes to kill, so we walked very slowly, stopping by Starbucks to get a French vanilla latte for me and a white chocolate peppermint coffee for John. He wasn’t in much of a talking mood today, so I decided to just keep quiet and not annoy him. As for Pat and Garrett, they were over at the magazine stand, picking up their copies of Alternative Press.

“Flight 675 has now landed at gate 22,” the speaker yelled out as I took a sip of my latte.

“Come on! Hurry up, Anny’s waiting for us!” Pat said nearly pulling me out of my seat. I just rolled my eyes and decided not to explain to him that people don’t just magically appear in the terminal as soon as a flight lands.

After a couple of minutes, Anny walked out of the gate and ran to where we were standing.

“Anny!” I yelled out as I reached out to hug her.

“Ali, I missed you so much!” She then let go of me, leaving me a chance to breathe and proceeded to hugging John and the googley-eyed duo also known as Pat and Garrett. We then started to walk back towards the entrance; Anny already lost in conversation with Pat and Garrett and John and I walking in front, his arm around my shoulder.

We had just enough time to run into my house and leave Anny’s suitcase, before we had to be at John’s house to pack up everything. As soon as we got there, we noticed that both Kenny and Jared’s cars were already parked in front of the house, so we just ran in and helped them finish packing up.

“Pat and Garrett, for the love of all that is holy, can you both please leave Anny alone and go pack up your bass and your drum set,” John yelled and sighed.

“Alright, Alright; I’m coming, don’t get your panties in a bunch,” Pat said dragging his feet to where his drums were placed. Pat was really weird about his drums; no one was allowed to put them in their cases but him.

“Baby, don’t lift that it’s really heavy, you’re going to hurt yourself,” John said as I lifted another monitor.

“Don’t worry, I’m fine, go help Pat or we’re never going to get out of here.” Truth be told, I wasn’t fine. Something was very wrong. I felt my face suddenly lose all color and become pale white. I either had massive cramps or I pulled something when I lifted the monitor. Either way, the pain was too much to handle.

“Ali, what’s wrong you’re all pale? What happened babe?” John said, shooting me a worried look and running over to me. I wasn’t going to let this ruin their show tonight, so I decided not to tell him, because knowing how he would react, he would be even more worried and want to take me to the hospital, therefore missing the show. I wasn’t going to let him ruin his shot tonight.

“Nothing, I’m fine… It’s just that…I have my lady’s days.” Lies. I immediately shot a look at Anny; she understood my glance and ran over to me. She knew far too well that it was indeed last week. We’ve had the same cycle since junior high.

“It’s okay John, I’ll take her upstairs. Maybe your mom has something to give her,” he stayed silent for a while before he agreed and helped Kenny load in the guitars.

Anny helped me support my weight as we walked up the stairs and ran into the bathroom. I was about to faint.

“Ali, what’s wrong?” She said, putting a cold compress on my forehead.

“Feel this,” I responded, taking her hand and putting it on my rib cage.

“Oh my God, what did you do? It’s like… loose,” she said as she moved my rib up and down.

“I lifted the damn monitor and I heard something snap, that’s what happened!” I yelled at her, tears running down my cheeks, as John’s mom knocked at the door.

“Why did you lift it? You should’ve listened to John, Ali. Now you’re going to have to go to the hospital.”

“Honey, are you okay in there? What’s the matter? John told me you weren’t feeling well.”

“Oh, she’s fine Mrs. O’Callaghan, just those monthly cramps. Can you please get her some Advil’s?” She requested for me. Within seconds, she had brought Anny the little bottle and locked the door.

“Okay, now take three of these and as soon as they step off that stage, you are going to tell John and your parents and we are going to the hospital, alright?” I nodded, drank up my glass of water as Anny helped me up. It didn’t hurt as much if I pressed my hand to it, so my hand was permanently glued there. We then walked down the steps that led to the driveway and sat in the van.

“Feeling better?” Kenny asked as soon as I laid foot in the car.

“A little thanks, I—”

“I think you’re getting a temperature. Does… that stuff give you fever?” John asked as he placed his cold hand on my burning forehead.

Loosing patience, I added, “Look, everyone stop asking. I’m fine so just drive. End of story.”

“It might not give you a fever, but it definitely makes you a bitch,” Pat added.

“That’s natural, Patrick,” I responded.

We eventually got to the venue just in time to load in and set up. I immediately ran to the nearest couch which I wasn’t planning on moving from until the end of the show. John brought me a glass of water and sat by me.

“You look bad,” he said, petting my hair.

“Thank you?”

“No, I mean you look sick. Maybe I should bring you to the clinic if—“

“No, I’m not going anywhere until after you guys play. Now go rehearse.”

“Alright, I’m going, but wait… I wanted to give you something,” he announced as he got up and went to the fridge that was set up in the backstage area.

“What is it?” He then turned around and was holding up a little cupcake with a number 2 candle planted in the middle. He lit it and came to sit by me again.

“You thought I forgot, didn’t you?” he added, putting the cupcake right under my nose.

“No… I just thought you were too busy to remember,” I added.

“Baby, I’ll never be too busy for you. Now, blow it out.”

As I did, a sharp pain hit me. I crouched down, holding my head to my knees as tears ran down from my eyes.

“Ali, you’re not alright. That’s it; get in the car right now. We are going to the hospital,” he said, getting his keys from his pocket.

“John, sit down right now. I’m not going anywhere until you guys play. I’m not going to ruin your night. So please, go rehearse!” I said as Anny appeared with some ice. It seemed to dull the pain a little.

“Alicia Marie D’Angelo, we are going—“

“Don’t you full name me, John Cornelius O’Callaghan the Fifth! You know how stubborn I am so go rehearse!”

He took a long pause before adding, “As soon as I step off that stage, I am driving you to the hospital, do you hear me?” I nodded; he kissed my forehead and walked away.

“Here, take this,” Anny said as she held out a plastic cup with 2 blue tablets at the bottom.

“What is it?”

“Pain killers.”

The last thing I remember was the sound of the boys doing “We like to party” before I blacked out. The next thing I knew, they were all walking off the stage; John nearly running to me while the other four were standing around some guy in a business suit.

“Anny, help me get her in the car,” John ordered as I tried to stand. She nodded and helped me walk to the car. The pain was just getting worse and worse.
“I missed your show?” I asked, still not very alert.

“Yea baby, you’ve been out cold since 5 o’clock,” he responded as he sat me down in the front seat, Anny taking her seat behind us.

“What do you mean? Why didn’t you wake me up? I’m so sorry for missing it.”

“It’s okay Ali. It went great; the crowd loved us and some guy from Fearless Records asked us for our demo,” he explained as he pulled into the parking lot of the hospital. He then ran in to get me a wheelchair and came back to the car to get me.

“You know my legs are still functional,” I reminded him as Anny called my parents to tell them what had happened. They were going to be very, very pleased.

“Just sit. With your luck, you’ll probably find a way to fall before we even enter the hospital.” Good point, I thought to myself, so I caved and sat in his stupid wheelchair as he pushed me into the hospital. John and Anny went to speak to the nurse at front desk as I sat there in the waiting room.

“Okay baby, they are going to take you to get some X-rays. I’ll be waiting out here with Anny and your parents are on the way,” John said as he took a seat beside me and the nurse started wheeling me away.

“Wait lady, I’m not done talking here,” I said, irritated. She made an annoyed face and started tapping her foot on the ground.

“Do you promise?” I asked as she started wheeling me away again.

“I do baby, now get in there so you can get better.” He kissed my lips and the mean nurse pushed me through the white doors.

John’s point of view

“John, sit down. She’s going to be fine. Stop worrying.” Anny said as I paced through the waiting room.

“X-rays never take this long Anny. It’s probably something super serious. Ali’s parents are going to be here any minute. They already hate me and just wait until I tell them what happened. I won’t be allowed to see her forever,” I explained.

“First of all, the doctor is going to come out to talk to us soon. Second, I’ll tell her parents and third… crap, they are here. Smile,” she said as we both turned to face the door. Ali’s mom came rushing in, her dad close behind.

“John, Anny; where’s Ali? What happened?” her mom asked.

“You guys are so late. What took you so long?” Anny asked.

“We were at work Anny and then we decided to get a bite to eat before we came. What happened to her?” her father demanded.

“Your daughter is in the hospital and you guys go out to get something to eat?” I replied.

“She tried lifting a monitor and something snapped apparently, she went in to take X-rays about 2 hours ago and the doctor should be coming to talk to us soon,” Anny explained as Ali’s mom took a seat. Ali’s dad on the other hand, was starring me down with glaring eyes as if he demanded an explanation from me.

“I told her not to lift it, I’m really sorry sir,” I added. Just as he was about to speak, the doctor called us to the front.

“Alicia D’Angelo’s parents?” he announced as her parents almost ran to him.

“Who are they?” the doctor demanded as he looked at Anny and me.

“The boyfriend and the best friend,” her dad responded.

“Alright. So, the X-rays showed that she had a hernia and her bottom ribs are shattered in 3 different places. We have done a hernia repair operation and her ribs will heal. She’s in the recovery room right now. We’ll have to keep her here over Christmas. I’m so sorry. As soon as she wakes up, I’ll tell the nurse to send you in.” We thanked the doctor and went to sit in the waiting room once more. Anny kept bringing me an endless supply of coffee so I was sure to be awake when the nurse came to call us in. Ali’s parents were almost sound asleep.

“How could they sleep? Seriously, their daughter is fucking unconscious, just went through surgery and they are sleeping!” I yelled out as Anny brought me a fifth cup of coffee.

“Come on John, relax. Deep breaths, happy thoughts. She’s going to be fine,” she responded as she finally sat down for the first time tonight, she had either been outside telling Pat and everyone what was happening, getting us some coffee or annoying the lady at front desk about when we could see her. Ali was lucky to have such a great friend.

After another two hours, her parents were still sleeping, Kenny was in the waiting room with us as the rest of them were waiting in the car and Anny was eating some cafeteria Jell-O.

“D’Angelo family?” The nurse finally called out. Ali’s parents woke up and we all greeted the nurse.

“She is awake now. You may go in to see her, but only one at a time and not for very long. We want her to rest. Just go past those doors and to the left, she’s staying in room D-07.” We each thanked the nurse and she disappeared back behind those white doors.

“So… who is going first?” Anny announced.

“I’ll go. A daughter needs her mother in times like these,” Mrs. D’Angelo responded in her self-righteous way as she gathered her belongings. I was sick and tired of being polite to her parents. It’s one this that they treat me like shit, but they had no right to be this way to Ali.

“Excuse me Mr. and Mrs. D’Angelo but with all due respect, I’ve been waiting here, awake, for 6 hours. It’s 4 in the morning. I’ve been up since 8. I’m exhausted, I’m dirty, I’ve drank more coffee than humanly possible while you guys had to get a bite to eat while your daughter was being opened up on an operating table. You both have been sleeping all this time not giving one fuck if she was alright while me, Anny and even Kenny have been worried sick. So once again, with all due respect, I think I’ll be the first to see her,” I said as I walked passed the white doors and turned left and there she was, laying in the hospital bed, wearing that blue paper dress as a white blanket laid over her pale skin. At first, her eyes were closed, so I pulled up a chair to her bed and waited.

“Hey baby, how are you feeling?” I asked, placing my hand on her forehead as she tried to smile.

“What time is it?” she asked.

“It’s 4:09 am.”

“What are you still doing here? Go home to sleep. Your mom is probably worried sick,” she replied.

“You know… you just got operated and you’re worried about me not getting enough sleep,” I said as I laid my head on the bed next to her.

“I know… I’m sorry. You’re amazing for waiting with me all this time, who else is waiting out there?” she replied as she put her hand on my face.

“Anny is waiting to come in next, your parents well… I don’t think they like me at all now and—“

“What do you mean? What did they do now?”

“I told them off before coming to see you…” She smiled as if she was proud of me and closed her eyes for a little while.

“I love you Ali,” I said. It had been weeks since I wanted to say it, but tonight, or today rather, just finally seemed right.

“I love you John.” I lifted myself and pressed my lips to hers. She wrapped her arms around my neck, as all of the tubes that were plugged into her got tangled.

“Excuse me sir, she needs to rest,” the nurse barged in, breaking us apart. I wanted to pull away but the tubes where tangled around me. The nurse came over to help out and I was asked to leave because her parents wanted to see her.

“I’ll be back in a little alright, just going to go home and shower and I’ll be back in a couple of hours,” I told her as I kissed her forehead.

“Alright, bye John,” she said as the nurse was checking something on her chart and I left, walking back into the waiting room. I told Anny to go in and said bye to Ali’s parents who pretended not to hear me. I walked out the sliding hospital doors and drove home.