Something's gotta give

17 - An impatient patient

"Shall we wait outside?" Drew said when they were gathering beside the trailer. "I'd rather be in a short distance but we can't do anything, anyways. And I guess I need a drink." "Like Brent said, he ain't gonna die. And I don't think they'll hospitalize him. We can wait in our trailer just as well", Zach said lightly despite a sorrowful expression on his face. "I'm gonna ask Tommy to inform us when they're ready." He spoke to the driver and Tommy promised to do as he was asked.

So they went over to the other bus. Charlie realized that Eddie was eager to keep his distance and wasn't looking at her at all. She knew she'd have to talk to him as soon as possible about what happened earlier. She was well aware of his anger when he'd seen her reaction finding Ryan unconscious on the bench - for that had been the real reason he'd left the bus. 'This is bullshit', she thought. 'He has no right at all to be angry with me. I was just worried. Nothing else. A blackout ain't a breeze.'

They sat around almost an hour, barely talking, just waiting. Zach's face stilled showed he was busy thinking. Brent finally spoke out loud what everybody probably was thinking. "Do you think we'll have to cancel?" "That's what's on my mind", Zach nodded. "If so, the decision has to be made fast."

"Let's wait out the diagnosis first", Drew murmured. "You said for yourself, it can't be that bad." "You know him", Brent replied. "He can hardly be stopped to go on stage. No matter what the medics will say." "Yeah. They got a history." Charlie's face was one questionmark. "He ruptured his Achilles tendon a few years ago", Zach explained to her. "We had to cancel some shows... but he went back on stage much earlier than the physician's had recommended. He performed sitting down. And it was hard to have him around during that time." "I can imagine that", she commented with a crooked smile. "He's difficult to bear in a healthy state, after all..."

There was a knocking at the door and Tommy climbed in. "Hey folks - they're ready to leave but want to talk to somebody responsible." "Our baby needs supervision", Drew chuckled. "Your turn, Zach." "You wish! We're all going. I cannot handle him on my own anyway."

So they all went out and listened to what the doctor had to say. "So... aah... sorry, my English's not the best. At first: It's all good. The wound is pretty deep but we cleaned it and made five stitches. He's supposed not to put any weight on that foot, at least for the next 5, better even 7 days. We applied a pressure bandage which needs to stay on for 3 days. And it needs to stay dry, so when he showers he needs to use a plastic bag, okay?" The man looked around. "Did you understand?" They all nodded.

Charlie decided to ask for more information in German. "Bekommt er irgendwelche Medikamente verschrieben?" The doctor looked at her in surprise. "Das hätten Sie mir auch früher sagen können", he said a little angry. "Ich komme nicht so oft dazu, Englisch zu sprechen, deshalb fehlen mir manchmal die Worte, so auf die Schnelle. Ja, wir haben ihm Antibiotika gegeben und eine ausreichende Menge da gelassen. Die Einnahmevorschriften habe ich notiert, der Zettel liegt auf dem Tisch. Sie haben verstanden, dass er den Fuß erst mal nicht belasten darf? Die ersten drei Tage auf keinen Fall. Sie sollten ihm Krücken besorgen." Charlie turned to Zach. "He's gonna need crutches." "No problem. We took some with us, there's always something happening on tour. Though it usually strikes a roadie."

"Wir haben irgendwo welche", Charlie explained to the medic. "Also: Druckverband, drei Tage. Keine Belastung, am besten 7 Tage. Antibiotika, ich vermute, drei Mal täglich?" "Richtig. Sie wissen, dass die nicht früher abgesetzt werden dürfen? Er muss sie zu Ende nehmen." "Das wird kein Problem sein, wir kümmern uns drum. Schwieriger wird es wohl, ihn davon abzuhalten, gleich wieder auf die Bühne zu rennen." "Er wird nicht rennen können, keine Sorge. Wir haben natürlich lokal anästhesiert, sodass er erst mal keine Schmerzen haben wird. Aber wenn die Betäubung nachlässt, wird ihm nicht nach Herumlaufen sein, glauben Sie mir. Sie sollten ihm Aspirin besorgen, es wird helfen, aber er wird nicht völlig schmerzfrei sein." "Irgendwie finde ich das gut." Sie lächelte und gab dem Mann die Hand. "Danke, Doktor. Wir kümmern uns um ihn." "Gut. Eines noch, und es tut mir leid, aber - die Herren hier sind Ausländer und dementsprechend sind sie hier nicht krankenversichert. Also... entweder, wir schicken eine Rechnung - dann müsste ich wissen, wohin - oder Sie müssen bar bezahlen."

Charlie explained to Zach they either need to pay for the treatment in cash or the doctor would be needing an address to send the bill to. "I've got our manager's calling card... here." He handled it to the doctor. "Das ist die Adresse des Managements. Senden Sie denen die Rechnung, in Ordnung?" "In Ordnung, danke. Viel Glück für Sie alle. Wiedersehen!" "Wiedersehen! Danke nochmals für Ihre Hilfe."

"Hey! Anybody out there?" They heard Ryan shouting from inside the trailer. "Great", Zach said devoted. "And the impatience's only just beginning. Let's get in there and be compassionate."

They joined Ryan who sat on the bench again. Only his injured leg laid on the bench. Drew said cheerfully: "Hey buddy... that is one hell of an impressive bandage!" "Yeah!" Ryan laughed. "Who volunteers on helping me with putting on a shoe?" "No-one", Brent answered sternly and everybody else shook their head. "You're not supposed to walk around for the next week." "Says you!" Ryan already sounded enraged. "Don't start", Zach insisted. "We all say that." He told Ryan what the doctor had recommended. "Recommendations are just recommendations", Ryan was as undiscerning as ever. "To me it's just a question of discipline and will. I got both." "And a pretty damaged foot. You won't go anywhere." "Watch me!" Ryan disagreed. "We will", Zach let that pass.

"We need to talk about the next shows", was the first thing Eddie said after his period of silence. Ryan glared at him. "What about it?" Zach interrupted. "I don't think this is the moment to talk about it", he said soothing and gave Eddie a warning look. "Don't get me started!" Ryan raised his voice. "What's going on?" "Listen, buddy... you've got stage ban. There's no way you can possibly perform within the next week. You're not allowed to stress your foot. You need to rest. That's the doctor's order - and no recommendation." "I don't care!" "But we do." Zach clearly wasn't in the mood to start an argument with Ryan.

Charlie couldn't help but chuckle. "What - have I missed out on a joke?" Ryan snarled at her. She wasn't even trying to avoid his look though it was glacial. "Possibly." "Well... repeat it!" "Charles... don't." Zach simply said. Charlie put him off in no time. "Why? He's behaving like a stubborn child. Somebody needs to tell him!" "Yeah? So... why don't you?!" Ryan was furious. "With pleasure", she replied ironically. "Since you're still doing what you're used to, defeating your mates' reasonable opinions once again... it's up to me, seemingly. You've got two options. Either you can take the med's order for granted and stay off stage for 7 days - or you can ignore it, go on stage and get knocked out for at least 14 days by a serious infection. It's that simple."

Ryan was stunned. Looking around at his bandmates, he said: "Why the hell did you call the fucking ambulance while we've got such a brilliant medical capacity on-board?" He leaned back, all satisfied with himself and his sarcasm. She replied all understandingly: "I'm just your bloody kindergartener, Tedder. Which is not a part of our contract." And she turned on her heels and left the bus.

Zach made a head movement towards Eddie, telling him wordless to follow Charlie for he knew she'd be in a current rage. Eddie tried to refuse by giving Zach an upset look. Zach only repeated his motion. Eddie obeyed with a shrug and went off, too.

Outside, he'd had to watch Charlie kicking one of the bus tires. She was cursing silently. He lit two cigarettes and went slowly into her direction. She turned to him with a fiery countenance. "Leave me alone!" "Calumet", he answered. "Take it or leave it."