The Original Taylor Daughter

Montreux

October 1990

Watching Queen working in the studio is Alice's favourite thing to do, it's one of her fondest memories as a child and now she's an adult and can help them she loves it even more.

They're at Queen's studio in Montreux working on their next album, Innuendo. Deep down they all know that this will probably be the last album.

Freddie is deteriorating a lot more and only has the energy to it bits at a time. He does most of the singing in one go then sits back letting the others working imputing when he likes.

John finished recording his bassline and Brian took his spot in the recording booth. Needing an afternoon to recuperate his creative flow, John turns to Alice, "You up for that sighting afternoon I promised?"

"Yeah, I've already ticked off my day with Uncle Brian and Uncle Freddie on my bucket list, it's your turn. You own me an ice cream," She grins grabbing her bag.

"Alice," Roger warns dragging out the first letter of her name before she leaves the room, handing her the oxygen device. "You won't last the afternoon without it," She has been reluctant to wear it lately and he's not sure why because it's never bothered her much before, "and be careful."

"Thanks," She mutters, dropping it into her bag and leaves the room.

"I'll make sure she puts it on if she needs to," John assures him before racing to catch up with his niece.

One thing John has always found when sightseeing with Alice is they hardly exchange any words because they don't need to, they have the same fascination for photography and love the quiet so they can take in the sounds around them.

They take their time walking about the streets and sights of Montreux, on the way back to the studio they stop at the Lake Geneva shore. Alice chooses a bench to sit on and John grabs them an ice cream, "Here you go," He passes her the cone when he comes back.

"Thank you," Alice smiles, trying to hide her ragged breathing.

John doesn't miss it, "Alice, why don't you wear your oxygen tube anymore? You never had a problem with it before and you know you need it."

Licking at her ice cream, she sighs, "Because people keep staring when I have it on, I never used to notice but it was something Rory said, she didn't mean in a bad way she was just being curious. She asked me if people staring when I'm wearing it and I said no but then I released I'd actually never noticed, so I made the mistake of wearing it out and saw that people do actually stare. It's made me self conscious."

"But you need it, Ally. We don't want to lose you any sooner than we have to but if you purposely let your lungs struggle then eventually they'll fail," He takes her ice cream from her, "Put it on or your ice cream goes in the bin."

"Fine," She rolls her eyes, hooking the tube to her nose and turns it on, "Happy? Can I have my ice cream back now?"

John passes it back with a triumphed grin, "Really though Alice, you shouldn't care what anyone else thinks. You know why you have it and that's all that matters." Finishing their ice cream in peace, they head back to the studio.

------

After a hearty meal with her Queen family, Alice went to bed, all smiles and a full tummy to go with.

Fast asleep, dreaming and then burning. Her chest feels like it's on fire, it pulls her from her sleep and she realises it's her lungs. Her lungs aren't drawing in enough oxygen.

She tries turning up the oxygen tank on the side of the bed, but it hardly makes a difference. She doesn't know whether to try and make it to the nearest bedroom or just scream for help with what breath she does have.

Sitting up she gets a little more air into her lungs and screams, "DAD!!!"

Roger is in her room like a shot, the others not far behind him. She's thankful that her dad has become a lighter sleeper since she became ill, "C-can't... bre-athe... dad."

"Call an ambulance," He throws the order over his shoulder praying some takes it. He tries upping the level on her oxygen some more, again it does nothing.

"It's not working," Roger cries, he's watching his daughter suffocate, "Where's that fucking ambulance?"

Brian tries to calm Alice down since Roger is too panicked to do so, "Alice, look at me," He gains her eye contact, "Trying breathing through your nose, use the oxygen supply."

She tries, she tries with all her might but it doesn't work. A blue ting shows on her lips and inwardly Brian panics too, "Deaky?! Where's the ambulance?!"

"They're outside!" John shouts from the phone.

Freddie dashes to the door, no care in the world for the fact that his joints hate him for it. He lets them in, "She's down the hall. First door on the left," They rush past him.

Alice doesn't remember much after that, she feels herself weaving in and out of consciousness. She can hear drips of conversation and who's speaking, "Don't let her die, please." Her dad begs.

"She's lost consciousness," A paramedic.

"If... lose... output... DNR," Another paramedic.

"WHAT!?" Her dad shouts.

There seemed to be a break in the voices and the burning stops, then the voices start again, "You knew!" Her dad is angry.

"Asked me... to myself," Brian tries to defend himself.

"My right...! I'm... Dad!" She can hear footsteps then sobbing and, "Please don't give up yet."

Consciousness returns, she slowly takes in her surroundings. Her dad is asleep with his head on the bed, her hand in his and it's dark outside. She moves her fingers to play with his hair until he wakes.

Roger sits up, seeing her awake brings tears to his eyes, "Thank god you're awake, I thought I'd lost you."

"What happened?"

"There was fluid on your lungs preventing oxidization. They've drained the fluid and will keep you under observation until we go home tomorrow."

"Where are the others?" She can remember her dad having a go at Brian for the DNR, she hopes her dad hasn't done something stupid.

"Freddie and Deaks went back to the apartment, Brian has gone to get a coffee I think."

"You didn't tell him to piss off then?" Roger frowns, not knowing she heard the argument, "I heard it."

He sighs, "Why didn't you tell me about the DNR? Do you trust Brian more than me?"

"No, of course not," Tears build behind her eyes and she sobs, "But I knew you wouldn't be happy about it and at the time you were struggling to cope with the news, I didn't want to add any more bad news to that. I'll admit though, last night I was scared that was it and I wasn't ready to go."

Wiping her tears away, she calms her sobs, "But please don't take it out on Uncle Brian. I asked him to keep it to himself."

"Then I'll apologize but you must promise to hold on a bit longer. You'll have a new brother or sister to meet soon and you've got to beat Melrose's prediction."

"I'll try," She's determined to meet her new sibling but she's not sure she'll outlive the prediction.

A time jump ahead and I should warn you that this book is reaching its end, with not many chapters left.