Lost In The Music (Black Veil Brides Fanfic)

Chapter 9 : Ritual

We missed performances in Salt Lake City, Cleveland and Philadelphia before arriving in New York a week later.

Everyone seems happy to be going back to our usual ritual today. I help Mike and Jake in setting up the amplifier.

Satisfied, we then gather to do a practise and warm up.

***TIME PASS***

Before I know it, I am stepping out onto the New York stage with the biggest audience I could ever imagine. Dazzled by the lights, I struggle to focus my eyes at first but manage to open the show successfully.

Feeling proud after my performance, I watch from the wings as the guys wander on stage. CC is first, and cheers rise as he plays a quick drum solo before calling Ash, Jake and Jinxx onto the stage. The crowd raises even further to a deafening roar as Andy appears.

"Greetings to everyone, here in New York! Hope you're ready to rock n' roll motherfuckers!" Andy yells into the mic.

All I can hear is girls screaming as CC kicks in the beat to Fallen Angels.

The next three songs are Heart of Fire, Faithless and I am Bulletproof, before they advance on to sing Perfect Weapon.

Halfway through the song I notice that Andy is moving ponderously about the stage. The other guys had noticed it too, and kept giving him anxious looks. I think I see Ashley's lips whisper 'Are you okay?' then, prior to a response, Andy falls to the floor.

Gasps fill the air when the security guys show up on stage. They attempt to calm the troubled audience as the unconscious Andy is carried off.

Jinxx's face is ashen. Jake throws his guitar into the wings and CC is pacing around his drums.

"We are super sorry about this guys; and we can assure you that Andy was okay before we performed. We will take care of him now and news will be informed on how he is later." Ashley ressures the tense fans.

I somehow feel proud at how calm Ashley is in this difficult situation.

The audience instantly falls silent as the rest of the stage is cleared. I can hear the siren of an ambulance in the distance and rush to see it arrive.

Andy remains unconscious as the paramedics load him in. I think to myself: Why did he faint? I mean he was fine yesterday and this morning...

"Do you want to come to the hospital?" A paramedic asks me as I see Blasko and Ashley get in the ambulance. I nod and place myself next to Ash. It was a little crapped, I remained silent as the second paramedic shut the doors before climbing into the driver's seat.

The ambulance then takes off and we tear through the streets of New York ignoring red lights and making other cars pull aside. One taxi driver gets annoyed as he is forced to push back into a clump of traffic that builds behind the ambulance. I remain watchful over Andy as the paramedics try to work out the cause of his collapse.

Ashley tells them of the accident last week and they immediately move on to check his chest and blood pressure.

I spot that Andy's skin is a slight bluish colour and his breathing is rapid and coarse.

"I think it is most possibly a collapsed lung." One of the paramedics declares as we pull into the nearest New York hospital.

Once in the emergency department, a doctor places Andy in for a CT scan on his chest and head. The scan confirms a collapsed lung and the doctor inserts a chest tube. Due to his oxygen levels being extremely low he is given extra ventilation in an Intensive Care Unit.

A few minutes later, Andy finally comes round and is moved to a quiet ward that is kept under strict supervision.

"Heeyy..." Andy murmurs bleakly, his eyes trying to focus.

"Whoah there man! You had us worried!" Ash retorts.

"W-what happened?"

"You collapsed, idiot! That's what happened! Doctor says you've got a collapsed lung on your right side."

Looking at Andy now, I can tell he must be in severe pain as he doesn't try to sit up. He's in too much pain to talk any further?

Andy closes his eyes.

"What are we gonna do with you, Andy?" Blasko comments. "Don't worry, you just get some rest."

A bit later on, a senior doctor comes to check on Andy. The man, somewhere in his mid fifties, had a slight puzzled look on his face.

"According to the CT scan you have no puncture wounds in your lungs. Last week you only bruised your ribs not fractured them, therefore your lung collapse is what we classify as 'spontaneous' which means that it collapsed on its own."

"So that means that last week's injury had nothing to do with this?" Blakso asks.

"It may of had an impact if the lungs were already weak; but other than that, no. Are you a smoker?" The doctor directly questions Andy.

"Urm... Y-yes."Andy immediately guesses what this means.

"It is said that spontaneous lung collapses are more likely to occur in men, and also if you are tall and thin. This is due to the lungs being a different more 'elongated' shape and means that the lung walls are more likely to collapse in on themselves. Therefore I can conclude that a spontaneous lung collapse is quite likely for you, and even more so by being a smoker."

Quote: "Ritual is the passage way of the soul into the Infinite." Algernon Blackwood

Author's note: Please don't hate! I wanted this scene to be as realistic as possible. Post and share if this makes you want Andy to stop smoking! Thanks again for reading! Sorry for the slightly late update, still gathering things together. Hope you understand. Please vote and comment! :)