Sheet Music - A Rock 'n' Roll Love Story
- Автор: Lister Ann
- Серия: Sheet Music #1
- Год: 2011
- Язык: голландский
- Год: Lulu.com
- ISBN: 9781105173578
- Жанр: Прочая древняя литература
Электронная книга - «Sheet Music - A Rock 'n' Roll Love Story». Краткое содержание книги:
“Mike, I’m sure they have her in there for a reason.”
“It’s unacceptable. She has no privacy. I don’t want people walking in to visit other patients and gawking at her lying there with her leg up in the God-damned air!”
The next day, Michael helped move Annie into a private room on the same floor. He had to use his celebrity status to make it happen. It meant him spending an hour in the Chief of Staff’s office describing the circus the hospital would have on their hands, and a safety concern, if Annie stayed where she was. It also meant him giving a rather large donation to the new south wing project, but it was done.
The new room had two beds in it and a window overlooking Lake Quinsigamond. Michael planned on occupying the empty bed. He had made up his mind that he wasn’t leaving until Annie could leave with him. Bull brought up a duffel bag filled with clean clothes, shaving and shower essentials, and a well used acoustic guitar. A security guard was posted at the door, warding off unwelcome visitors. Besides a few select people, no one was allowed into her room. Michael also arranged for two private nurses to care for Annie.
The days crept by, as Annie remained imprisoned by her coma, and Michael became a familiar fixture on her floor. His guitar riffs could be heard day and night, echoing down the halls. Only a few patients complained. Those that did were moved to another floor. The staff felt grateful to be witnesses to the musical process of the next Thrust album.
Every few days, Brian would visit, bringing news and well wishes to Michael. The nurses loved Brian’s arrivals and the spontaneous jam sessions that occurred soon after. The sick children on the other hospital floors often benefited too by the impromptu visits that Brian and Michael made.
Everyone was thrilled with the famous inhabitants in room 410. That is, everyone except Michael. Lack of sleep and poor nutrition were beginning to take a toll on his emotional state. He wanted Annie to open her eyes. Each day that passed without progress made his hopes strain to a breaking point. He was beginning to wonder if she would remain catatonic forever.
She had missed Sammy’s funeral, slept through her thirty-second birthday and periodic visits from her band mates. Even Gary had come to see her. Michael was less than thrilled to see him, which kept Gary’s visits brief and extremely tense.
Michael hated the loneliness of the night the most, and relentlessly worked on his guitar to keep his mind occupied. During the day the fourth floor was a continuous flow of energy but at night the floor fell to an eerie silence that depressed Michael to the core. He had barely slept since moving in to share Annie’s room and the stress was evident on his whiskered face.
“I’m going to miss your guitar playing when you leave here with Annie,” Nancy, the nighttime nurse, said to Michael, as she prepared to sponge bathe Annie.
Michael nodded his head, hanging it over his guitar, and stared at his hands. He felt like a broken man. “Sometimes I think we're never going to leave this place,” he sighed.
“Don't say that Michael. It will happen.”
He raised his eyes to watch Nancy. “The doctor said it would be a matter of days but it’s been two weeks and she’s still in a coma.”
“Like I’ve told you before, there is no medical reason she should still be in this coma. But sometimes, even though the body is ready to wake, the brain isn’t. In fact, if it weren’t for her leg, we wouldn’t be able to keep her here because all her other injuries have healed. She would have been moved to a rehabilitation hospital a week ago.”
Michael put his guitar down and walked over to Annie’s side and took her hand. “It’s depressing to see her like this day after day,” he sighed, flopping himself down into the recliner chair beside her bed. “I don’t know how much more I can take.”
“Then why don’t you go home, Michael, and get some rest? If her condition changes, someone will call you. Seriously, you need some sleep. Go home, I’ll make sure you’re notified.”
Michael shook his head, leaned forward and kissed Annie on the cheek. “I can’t.”
“You can’t or you won’t?” Nancy asked.
“Both. I want my face to be the first thing she sees when she opens her eyes,” he answered, staring lovingly at Annie.
“She’s a very lucky girl,” Nancy exhaled, wringing out a face cloth. “I wish I had a man that loved me the way you love Annie.”
“Want to know something funny?”
Nancy stopped cleaning Annie and glanced over at Michael. “What?”
“She doesn’t know I love her,” he said, forcing a weak smile onto his tired face.
“What do you mean?”
“The accident happened before I had the chance to tell her. Isn’t that pathetic? It was just starting to get serious between us, and boom, she ends up here.”
“But I thought you were together . You know – dating, whatever you want to call it. I guess I assumed, because of who you are, the two of you were living together or something.”
Michael smiled and stifled a laugh. “Nancy, chances are whatever you’ve been told about me isn’t true. Life as a rock ‘n’ roller is not anywhere as glamorous as the general public thinks. In fact, it’s a very lonely existence. The only people you can really trust are your band mates, and that’s when everyone is getting along. Even if you’re lucky enough to have a wife and family, you never get to see them. You’re always on the road living out of a suitcase for months, sometimes years at a time. So what’s the point?” he sighed, feeling the unnatural need to unload on someone. “Hell, I haven’t had a steady girlfriend in years! And if I see one more groupie strip naked for me, I think I’ll turn celibate. How glamorous is that?” Michael stopped himself, and rubbed his face with his hands, fighting the fatigue that plagued him. He realized he had given the poor nurse more information that she probably wanted, but he didn’t care. The loneliness had won and finally made him crack.
Nancy sat down in the chair opposite Michael. Usually, he was a man so quiet it unnerved her, but tonight he seemed hell-bent on being heard. “Then why do you do it?” she asked, hoping he would continue.
Michael drew a deep breath, and reclined the chair into a lounge position. “That’s a damn good question. I ask myself that every time a new tour begins. Truth is, I still love the music and I love to perform. I wouldn’t care if anyone showed up to listen to us, I’d still want to get out on stage and play.”
“And when did Annie drift into that picture?”
“That’s actually a funny story,” he chuckled, turning to face Nancy. “Are you sure you want to hear it?”
“I’ve got all night, Michael,” she coaxed, sensing he was close to exhaustion and would probably fall asleep before he finished his story.
Nancy listened as Michael’s story unfolded. She watched the stress slowly disappear from his face as he talked about meeting Annie and the instant attraction he felt. His eyes danced with life at the mere mention of her name.
“Yeah, so when you sell your story to the tabloids, make sure you get the facts straight. Make sure to tell them that, Michael Wade, the infamous rock ’n’ roll Casanova is in love for the first time is his sorry-ass life,” he laughed.
“Do you really think I’d try and sell what you just told me to the tabloids?”
“Why not? God knows, they’d buy it. You’d probably make a nice bundle of cash for it too!”
Nancy stayed in the room until Michael talked himself to sleep. Then she took a blanket from the empty bed and laid it across his body. His hand was still clutching onto Annie’s.