It was 8 pm, right after dinner...

V

Brett sighed after he ended the phone call. His mother had been really agitated about what happened to her son, although he had told her a slightly less scary version of the events yesterday (he'd left out details like the breathing difficulties, the falling to the ground... basically everything that had led them to go to the hospital in the first place. He wasn't stupid!). She even threatened to fly to Singapore to look after him and he had to remind her, that she'd have to go into quarantine for two weeks and she had work and couldn't just leave for three/four weeks. Of course she had insisted on talking to Eddy to make sure he'd look after her "博堯小寶貝", her "precious little Bretty"! Yes, that's how she said it. To Eddy.
Eddy had to take deep breathes that prevented him from laughing out loud and Brett just rolled his eyes.

After the call, they filmed a short video for the stories on Instagram and YouTube, announcing the job openings. Eddy let Brett do the talking most of the time explaining his own situation, because he wanted to make sure Brett told the world only what he was comfortable disclosing. It went ok, despite Brett's nervousness level being on an all time high since June or so. After Eddy finished and uploaded the job description on their website, they put the video up on their socials.

"Editor-san is really looking forward to having a mate in the basement", Eddy said. They were sitting at the dining table, which was sometimes used as an office table when the one in the studio was too crowded or they simply wanted a change of scenery. Eddy was just reading responses from their team. "We should have done this long time ago. Poor Editor-san. Having to deal with our shit alone."
"Hmm...", was all Eddy got for a response. Brett was still not sure if they did the right thing. He normally wasn't the type to ponder about already made decisions. Like Eddy sometimes said, he'd just decide what he considered best for him and his surrounding in the given situation and move on. But this time, everything bothered him much more. Maybe because it was about him having to admit weakness?

A loud snap of Eddy's fingers five centimeters in front of Brett's face pulled him out of his reverie.
"Earth to Brett! You're in the stratosphere mate? Or already sucked into a black hole?"
Brett sat there, staring blankly at Eddy for a few seconds without really seeing him.
"I think I go practice", he finally mumbled, got up and left the room to go into the studio, where they had last left their violins. Eddy looked after him and sighed, before he went back to answering emails, his mind somewhere else.

Brett unpacked his violin and started tuning. At least the soothing sound of his instrument helped easing the turmoil in his head a bit. He played through some scales and launched himself into the Bach Partita No. 3 in E Major, concentrating on a clean intonation and a smooth, quick bow change. After fourty minutes of quite productive practicing, if he might say so himself, Brett heard a knock on the door. "Come in", he yelled. He put his violin down and moved his head left and right to release tension.
The door opened and he saw the plastic bags with bubbletea coming in before Eddy appeared.
"Brought you boba", he announced cheerfully.
"Thanks man, could really use one now!"

They sat on the couch and stabbed the straws through the lids of their beverages with a satisfying "Popp", happily slurping away. "You ok?", Eddy asked after a few sips in between chewing tapioca pearls.
"Think so, yeah. I'm getting there."
Eddy nodded, knowing Brett wouldn't say much more to that.

The rest of the day went by like crazy. After finishing their bubbleteas, they did some admin stuff and practiced. By the time they wanted to chill out a bit, like the doctor told them to do, it was 6 pm already.

"Let's order take out", Brett suggested, too tired to think of cooking.
"I feel like we should have something healthy", Eddy remarked and looked through the contents of their fridge. "Bro, we had homemade food yesterday, chill out.", Brett said. He sank deeper into the couch he was sitting on while scrolling through a take out app showing all the delivery options nearby. "There is healthy take out food too, you know."
"What for example?" Eddy plopped himself next to Brett and tried to take a look at Brett's phone. In the end they decided on pizza and salad, the salad just because Eddy insisted on Brett eating some vegetables. "You know the salad sauce they bring is usually not healthy at all", Brett said after they had placed their orders, "Also salad is basically 95% water and some fibres. I reckon even the pizza is healthier than this!"
"Just let me ease my bad conscience!"
"Why would you have a bad conscience?" "I let my sick friend eat unhealthy food, that's why!", Eddy huffed. Brett just waved it off and started to read the reactions to their story on YouTube and Instagram. In most comments, people wished him a quick recovery and suggested he'd take more time to rest. Some were nearly as histerical as his mum and some tried to take a guess on what he had.
I don't even know myself what I have, Brett contemplated, his mood dropping significantly at that thought. He just hoped that Gastroenterologist would find out more. He had called one nearby in the afternoon and got an appointment in six days.

"Our fans are the best, right?", Eddy said, knowing what Brett was looking at. Brett smiled. "Yeah, they are." The doorbell rang and Eddy got up. "You stay put and rest. Do as our fans say. I go get our dinner!"

And you're the best friend anyone could wish for, Brett thought, while Eddy got his wallet and went to open the door. The same, warm feeling, when Eddy made that comment about carrying him around, spread through him and he smiled.