PTXperience(s)

Bang, Bang Part 2

The pain only seemed to get worse as time passed in spite of regular doses of morphine and his efforts to remain as still as possible. Nurses came to help him move when he was uncomfortable and Tabby was never far away, always willing to lend a hand in any way she could. After two days of pain-laced dreams and hours of waking boredom, however, he was almost ready to ask them to simply cut the leg off and let him go. It was a special kind of torture to have nothing but television and a few donated books to keep him occupied when he was alone.

Until Esther and the others came through with an old PS2, several classic video games, a blu-ray player, more than a dozen movies, an iPod filled with his favourite music (including their own albums), and, of course, take out from a nearby restaurant. He could've kissed all of them. Instead he opted for thanking them fifty or sixty times and trying his best not to weep in relief.

The only problem that remained was that of the concert - it was only a day away and Esther still had not managed to work out the details of any solution. Avi could not be moved according to the hospital staff, it really was too late now to cancel, and the show could not be done properly without their bassist. She spent most of their visits now chewing on her lip and staring at the floor.

Until the next morning when she burst into his room, her eyes shining excitedly. "I've got it!" she hissed at him, grabbing his good hand. "We can use Skype!"

Avi blinked. "Um...can we? How?"

"We bring in a laptop, set you up with a headset and a microphone - a good one - and pipe you in on a screen in the back. You'll be able to hear us, we'll be able to hear you; it'll work great!"

"Or it'll be an utter disaster."

"It's the only idea I've got."

"I know. I'm sorry."

"We'll do a test run this afternoon, okay? It'll work; I promise. I'll be back in a few hours."

"I'll be here."

He didn't hold our a lot of hope for it working as well as she seemed to think it would, but there was no point trying to talk her out of it. With a sigh he settled back into the mattress and tried to get some sleep.

When he woke later it was to see his sister, Scott, Kevin and a handful of the crew entering his room with a carload of lighting equipment, a laptop, a headset and microphone, and also one of the make-up artists. As they set everything up the cosmetician arranged a beanie over his rumpled hair, put some powder on his cheeks to give him a little colour and painted his chapped lips with something to moisturize them. Then she draped something over him to hide the fact that he was in a hospital gown and stood back to inspect the overall effect.

Kevin joined her. "Hey, man," he said, smiling. "Good to see you again."

"Really? I'm afraid to ask what I looked like before."

"Like mashed potatoes," Scott quipped.

Avi couldn't help a chuckle. "And now?"

Scott eyed the morphine drip and grinned. "Baked potatoes?"

He laughed and then winced. "True and necessary."

Once they'd finished setting everything up Esther helped him with his headset and microphone and connected him to the Skype network. "Mitch and Kirstie are with Damien at the venue. Once we're connected you should be able to hear them and they should be able to see and hear you. Let me know when sound starts coming through."

He waited for a few moments until the sound of static began to filter through. Then he heard the unmistakable sound of Mitch and Kirstie laughing. He smiled faintly and, taking a breath, boomed, "What's going on in there?"