Uproar

Chapter 58

Intense/Disturbing material warning.

Chester

When I got home, I spent most of the day in bed, beer in hand. I sat there all afternoon, and most of the night, drinking. My stomach hadn't stopped hurting, it had gotten worse in fact, because of all the drinking I had been doing. I was getting a call from Brad. I lift my head groggily off the pillow, looking at my phone buzzing on the night stand.

I sigh and take the call. It was the fourth time Brad called and ignoring him wouldn't make him stop.

"Hello?"

"Hey, were you asleep?"

I rubbed my eyes and put on my glasses. "Kinda..."

"Huh. Well, we have to continue rehearsals today, like, in an hour. So try to get up and eat, or something."

"Okay, thanks Brad." I hang up, tossing my phone onto the bed and standing up. I stretched, wincing as my stomach and back began to ache some more. I was nauseous, the sour taste returning. I groaned and dragged myself into the bathroom to shower. I stood in the shower, not really bathing, just sort of staring at the water. I didn't feel like showering, I just wanted to forget rehearsal and just climb into bed. I didn't want to have to face Mike, or Rob, or anyone at all.

I eventually force myself to wash up and get dressed. I was really having a hard time, I was lacking so much motivation. And I was feeling so, so terrible to top it all off.

I finally arrive to the studio, only five minutes late from when Brad told me to arrive. I didn't care too much, and it seemed like the guys didn't either.

Mike was sitting at his keyboard quietly, playing chords from Crawling, fiddling with the keys. Dave and Brad were just tuning g with their techs, Warren and Joe were setting up Joe's rig. I didn't see Rob anywhere.

Dave and Brad look up as I approach them. "Hey, Ches...you alright?" Brad asks as he eyes me. I knew I looked terrible. I merrily shrugged, not really wanting to talk. I wanted to sing though. I was hoping and praying that my stomach would let me. I still didn't know what was going on.

Dave came up to greet me, hugging me. "You're a little warm. Are you positive you're okay?"

I nodded. Dave gave me a worried look, then turned back to keep tuning his bass guitars. I hear the double doors open, Rob walking in.

Mike looks up from his keyboard, then clears his throat. "Okay, hey um, we're gonna continue from Figure.09. So back to drop C sharp."

Everyone disperses to their own areas. My mic has already been set up and sound-checked. It's quiet for a while, then Rob begins to count us off. Nausea begins to tumble my stomach around as the band plays the intro to the song. Mike is rapping his part.

"And now you become...a part of..." I choke. A hand comes up to my mouth and I swallow thickly. The band stops, everyone's looking at me. Even the few techs who were there leveling the sound.

"Sorry...sorry. Don't stop if I stop," I rasped out, gagging, even as I spoke. "Just continue from the pre."

Everyone exchanges glances, Rob counts us off again. The band resumes playing and I barely choke out the chorus. I had to stop again on the second one. The band still played like I told them to. We advanced to the next song. I was able to get through the next track alright, but I was in pain again during the song after that. I could barely get a few words out, especially since it was such an aggressive song.

After we played the third song, everyone was losing their patience.

"You should've just not shown up. You're holding everyone behind," Brad eventually snapped. "I even called you earlier, you could've like said something."