A Song For Us (Fallen Tuesday Book Two) (A Brothers of Rock Novel) (3 page)

BOOK: A Song For Us (Fallen Tuesday Book Two) (A Brothers of Rock Novel)
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(4)

 

Gray had to go back to his mother’s
house. It had been a couple hours now and he needed to find a way into Peter’s
apartment. Plus, he wanted to make sure his mother hadn’t actually switched
from coffee to vodka, at least not this early in the day.

When he arrived to the house, he
knocked again, still uncomfortable. His mother answered and let him back
inside. He smelled around and looked, only finding a half empty pot of coffee.
There were no signs of drinking.

“I’m sorry to bother you again,”
Gray said.

“You’re my son,” Alice said.
“There’s no bothering.”

“I need a key to his place. I need
to get in there to make sense of it.”

“A key?”

“You have to have a key, right?”

Alice shook her head. “I don’t have
a key.”

Gray clenched his teeth. This was
turning into one dead end after another. Maybe he was better off going back to
the band to spend some time in the studio, have a drink or two, and try to
relax a little. The hospital would call about Peter’s condition.

“But you could try his friends,”
Alice said. “You have numbers, right?”

“Yes, I can do that,” Gray said. He
rubbed his chin. This was what his life had become. Trying to track down a key
so he could get into his brother’s secret apartment.

“Anything else?” Alice asked.

“Look, Mom,” Gray said. “I didn’t
like the way this ended before, okay? I’m not here to accuse you of anything.
I’m not here to tell you what to do. The same for Peter. I’m trying to find
answers.”

“I know you are,” his mother said.
“I tried for a long time.”

“Are there answers?”

“Depends on what you’re looking
for,” Alice said.

Gray hugged his mother tight. When
he released her there was a tear streaming down her cheek.

“Don’t get into trouble,” she
whispered.

“I’m not. I’m going to the hospital
to check on Peter.”

“They will call…”

“I have to check,” Gray said. “Then
I’ll deal with his apartment. Please don’t get into trouble yourself.”

His mother smiled and Gray left
this time with a better feeling in his body. He drove to the hospital in
silence. When he saw the building rise from the horizon, he felt his heart
twisting like a wet rag. There was no reason to be at the hospital. That’s what
the nurses had told him and would tell him. That’s what the doctors said. Hell,
even his mother told him that. For Gray, there had to be answers.

When Gray parked his car, he sat
for a minute, thinking.

He missed the band. He missed the
music now. He really did. He hadn’t touched a guitar in days. He hadn’t been on
stage in what felt like forever. He knew he couldn’t stay here forever, digging
around his brother’s life. This would all come down to Peter and what he wanted
out of life. If he continued down this path he would end up dead, and soon.

By the time Gray got out of the car
and stretched his back, he was pissed off. He slammed the car door and it
echoed around him. Then he heard someone call his name. Not Gary, but Gray. He
turned, expecting it to be a Fallen Tuesday fan finally recognizing him. He was
actually surprised that more people hadn’t begun to recognize him and bother
him. Not that he would ever deny an autograph or a quick conversation with an
eager fan.

Gray gave a quick wave and started
to walk. Then someone else called his name. This time when he turned, he saw
four guys approaching him. Gray did a double take, blinking his eyes, and then
squinting.

“Like hell,” he whispered. “No
way.”

Gray stopped and watched as Luke,
Mack, Trent, and Jake walked toward him.

Side by side, shoulder to shoulder.
They were all smiling. Gray swallowed a large lump in his throat and opened his
arms. When the guys were close enough, they all shared a large hug.

“Shit,” Gray finally said. “What
are you doing here?”

“You don’t answer our calls,” Luke
said. “We come looking.”

Mack grabbed Gray by the shoulders
and shook him. “What’s going through that mind of yours, brother?”

“I know,” Gray said. “I know.”

“We don’t know,” Jake said.

“Luring me back to record?” Gray
asked with a smile.

“Not worried about that,” Luke
said. “Worried about you being up here, alone. How’s everything?”

Gray opened his arms and looked
around. “You’re looking at it. I’m back here for the second time today.”

“Is he awake?” Trent asked.

“Not yet,” Gray said. “Maybe soon.
Maybe never.”

“Is there… uh…” Mack shrugged his
shoulders and then tapped the side of his head.

“Is there what?” Gray asked.

“You know, is someone still there?”
Mack asked.

“Mack,” Luke said.

“What?” Mack asked.

“It’s okay,” Gray said. “You guys
can ask me anything. I don’t mind. As far as doctors can tell, yes, there’s
something still there. The problem is they don’t know what he’ll be like when
he wakes up. If he wakes up.”

“What do you mean?” Jake asked.

“He may not remember anything or
anyone. He may not be able to walk, to talk. He may not even really be there.
Just a shell.”

“Shit,” Mack said. “I’m sorry,
brother.”

“Not sure what there’s to be sorry
for,” Gray said. “He did it. He got messed up with that shit again. My mother
tried her best, or so she believes. I can’t blame her for anything. She has her
own way of living. Peter was an inconvenience to her. When he left, she was
probably relieved and just hoped nothing would happen.”

“He needs help,” Luke said.

“He’s gotten help before. Enough
about this. What are you guys doing here? How long are you staying?”

“Don’t know,” Luke said. “We wanted
to see you. Maybe grab a bite to eat. Talk. Make sure you’re alive and well.
Help out if we can.”

“Thank you,” Gray said. “You bring
any guitars?”

Gray smiled and Mack clapped his
hands together as he laughed. “That’s what I like to hear.”

“And yes, we did,” Luke said. “We
got a nice hotel.”

“Let me check on things with Peter.
I have something to do at his apartment though.”

“Can we help?” Luke asked.

“No,” Gray said. “Sorry. I need to
take care of something alone. Give me the name of the hotel and I’ll meet up
with you there. Okay?”

“You sure about this?” Mack asked.

“Positive,” Gray said. “Thank you
guys for coming here to see me. I needed it. I’m looking forward to tonight. We
can jam and have some drinks.”

“I second that,” Mack said.

Luke looked at Mack and nodded.
“I’ll be there in a second.”

Mack, Jake, and Trent hugged Gray
and then walked away. Gray looked at Luke and saw the look in his eyes. That
deeply concerned look. It wasn’t all that long ago that Gray had the same look
in his eyes when Luke was going about his rockstar life, hiding his serious
throat problem from the band.

“You sure you’re okay?” Luke asked.

“I don’t know how to answer that,”
Gray said. “Look at the situation around me.”

“What I mean is… I hope you know
it’s not your battle to fight. It’s not your problem to fix. I don’t want to be
an ass here, Gray, but I don’t want you to fall apart because of someone else.”

Gray nodded. “I appreciate the
honesty. All I’m doing right now, Luke, is trying to see if my brother is going
to live or die. And I’m trying to find my peace in it all. I checked up on him
a lot. He was doing well. Then he wasn’t. It started with a drink here and there
until he finally began to spiral. Then I let him have it one night on the
phone. Tore into him, thinking I was going to wake him the hell up. But I think
all I did was push him.”

Luke touched both of Gray’s
shoulders. “This is not your fault, Gray. I hope you don’t let any guilt get to
you. That shit is like a virus. It spreads and spreads and spreads. As far as
the band goes, we aren’t getting much done without one of our guitarists. I’m
not saying that to pressure you into leaving. I’m saying that to make sure you
understand and remember you have people who care about you. We’re waiting,
Gray, and we’ll wait as long as we have to.”

“Thanks,” Gray said.

Luke gave Gray the name of the
hotel and then after a quick hug, he walked away.

Gray was alone again and he hated
that feeling. He really did.

He went into the hospital and took
the elevator to his brother’s floor. Walking the halls of the hospital made
Gray feel even lonelier. The only sound was the hit of his shoes to the floor.
When he arrived to his brother’s room, the door opened and a nurse came walking
out. It was one of three nurses Gray had come to recognize. Her name was Laura.

“Oh, hello there,” Laura said. She
looked to be in her forties, tall and thin, bright blue eyes, and each time she
spoke to Gray, there was a little flush in her cheeks. She had made it no secret
that she knew who Gray was and that she did listen to Fallen Tuesday.

“Hey,” Gray said. “Just stopping in
for a visit.”

“Of course. Nothing’s changed.
He’s…”

Gray nodded. “Okay. Did doctors see
him today?”

“I’ll check his chart for you. If
they did it was just to monitor him for a little bit. There’s not much
happening right now. He’s going to have to make the decision before he passes
it along to you.”

“Passes it to me?”

“Well, I mean if you have a plan for
him,” Laura said. “This is something we shouldn’t be talking about. I’m sorry.”

“You mean if I wanted to pull the
plug?”

Laura frowned and nodded. “Not that
I think it will happen.”

“But it’s a possibility,” Gray
said.

“Anything is a possibility.”

“Even for an addict like my
brother?”

“Anything,” Laura said.

Gray swallowed and took in a deep
breath. Laura was at least the honest nurse. She wasn’t afraid to say things to
Gray that put the situation into better perspective. Laura was right; the time
may come where Gray may have to make the decision on his brother’s life. To let
him fight to wake up, or let him be at peace and slip away. The thought made
him sick.

“I have to make some more rounds,”
Laura said. “I’ll be back later to check on your brother.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

Laura backed up two steps and
stopped. She looked at Gray.

“Anything else?”

“Wow, I feel really foolish,” Laura
said. The color came back to her cheeks.

“Foolish?”

“My daughter… she’s a big fan of
yours.”

Gray smiled. “Okay.”

“She’s been asking me to ask you…”
Laura reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. “Can you sign an
autograph for her?”

“Of course I can,” Gray said.

“I’m so sorry to do this. I just… I
know I’ll never get a chance to see you outside the hospital, you know?”

“It’s fine,” Gray said.

“My boss would take my head off for
this.”

“Nobody has to know,” Gray said. He
took the piece of paper and paused. He looked at the hospital room door. He
looked at Laura. “Tell you what. I have one better for you.”

“Oh?”

“I’m in a rush,” Gray said. “I have
to take care of some business right now. But tomorrow, I’ll not only have my
autograph for you, I’ll have the entire band.”

“The band? You mean, Fallen
Tuesday?”

Gray nodded.

“Are they…” Laura looked around and
then whispered, “
here
?”

“I can’t answer that,” Gray said.
“But I’ll have an autograph for your daughter.”

“I’m going to be greatest mom ever
for this,” Laura said.

“And Laura, thank you for being
honest about Peter.”

“Sure,” Laura said. “I’m sorry you
have to go through this. It can’t be easy.”

Gray shook his head.

Laura walked away and Gray stood at
the door for a few seconds, knowing that going into the room would prove
nothing. This fight was up to Peter. And if it came down to Gray’s decision,
then he would have to make the hardest decision of his life.

“Stay safe little brother,” Gray
said.

He took out his cell and found the
number to someone who could help him next.

A voice picked up on the third
ring, as Gray stepped into the elevator.

“Josh, it’s Gray. I need to get in
that apartment. Right now.”

 

*

Luke stood at a window in the hotel
room and stared out. He wasn’t looking at anything really, he was just
thinking. He thought of his throat and his voice. Everything felt better, but
he really had no idea what it would be like to sing again and if he could carry
the same notes and actually sing a full show. There was a learning curve in all
this and it made it that much harder that Dr. Hornsbury lived in California. He
was the only doctor Luke trusted. Thanks to technology Luke was able
to see
Dr. Hornsbury twice a week via video conference. Dr. Hornsbury peppered Luke
with questions and made him talk, move his jaw, and even had Luke sing a
little. Luke wasn’t sure if that part was medically necessary or just for fun,
but whatever, it all seemed to be working.

It seemed fitting that as he
started to come back from his own world of hell, Gray was knee deep in his own.

“You have that distance again,”
Mack said as he came from one of the bedrooms. He held two guitars. “Throat
hurting?”

“No,” Luke said. “Not at all
actually. I feel really good.”

“You lying?”

Luke looked at him. “Let it go,
Mack.”

Mack put the guitars on the couch
and then said, “Just curious why you look the way you do right now.”

“Gray is up to no good,” Luke said.
“I can feel it.”

Mack let out a laugh. “Does that
surprise you?”

Luke glared at Mack. He never understood
how Mack could live without a care in the world. Mack believed everything would
fall as it may, so why bother to control it? Luke had a different outlook. He
wanted to change things. He wanted to help. Just like how he helped Amy. Her
bakery was open and busy and her uncle’s restaurant was busier than ever. Luke
wasn’t interested in taking any credit for anyone’s success, but he was
interested in helping those he loved who needed him.

BOOK: A Song For Us (Fallen Tuesday Book Two) (A Brothers of Rock Novel)
9.65Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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