What The Heart Remembers - The Heart #2 (Complete)

Chapter 14 - Part 1

Adonis

I had been on stage more times than I could count but this time was different. Unlike every time before I was nervous. I smiled at the fans screaming in front as I sat down on a chair in the middle of the stage. My heart was beating so fast I thought it was going to burst from my chest. My nerves had nothing to with the thousands of eyes on me.

Only one pair had the power to make me feel like a fumbling teenager. She was standing backstage watching from the sidelines. I could feel the heat of her gaze on me. Fearing that looking at her would make me more nervous and I'd stuff things up I kept my gaze fixed on the sea of girls in front of me.

It was the first time she was watching me perform live. I swallowed hard before I started.

I began to sing a song. The words pulled at my core because when singing about love and love lost all I could think about was Lacey. I closed my eyes for some parts, struggling with the emotion flowing through me. To feel the loss that I was singing about made my emotions more amplified.

For what felt like too long I'd been resisting my emotions, not wanting to feel them too deeply for fearing of being hurt. But I had made my decision. I was done trying to close myself off from how I felt about Lacey. For the first time since she'd been diagnosed with the tumor I was allowing myself to fully feel the love the I had felt for her from the first day I had fallen head over heels in love with her.

If I could do things over again I'd do them very differently but there was no turning back time, all I could control was what I did now.

I was only human and the fear of losing her had made me go into self preservation mode. Even now to think of what had nearly happened to her was hard and I had to move past that. She was here now. I had made more than a few mistakes in the past few months that I regretted.

In the darkness of the stadium lights held by the audience swayed to the music. I wanted Lacey to know that this time I was serious, this time there would be no wavering on my part. I loved her and I wanted her to know that from here on out I wasn't going anywhere. Through thick and thin I would be by her side.

The last few words of song left my lips and the crowd began to scream as I stood up giving them a smile.

I had decided that simply sitting down and telling her face to face wasn't enough. I wanted her to make a statement big enough that there would be no doubt how I felt about her. Nerves tightened in my stomach which was a strange feeling especially on stage where I felt most at home. But then again I had never done what I was about to.

I let go of my guitar and it hung around my neck by its harness. I took the mic in my hand. Suppressing my nerves I took one last look at the girl who held my heart in her hands. The sight of her standing there watching me looking as affected by the words of the song as I had been made my heart stutter before it lifted.

Taking my eyes from her I looked back to the audience.

"Letting that someone special in your life know that you love them is important," I said. There was still that chance that despite what I had decided she couldn't trust me to stay. Time would be the only way to gain her trust and I was willing to give her all of mine to prove that. The crowd quietened. And I was pretty sure my bandmates were confused.

"I have someone special in my life," I told the crowd and they began to scream. I had to wait a few moments before the noise quietened slightly. "Loving someone isn't always easy. There are ups and downs but the moment I fell for her my life became extraordinary."

I didn't want a chance another look at Lacey until I finished what I was going to say.

"But even knowing I loved her still didn't stop me from making some very stupid decisions."

The noise from the fans was overwhelming. I wanted to look over to Lacey to see her reaction but fear kept my eyes fixed to the faces at my feet in front of me.

"Decisions I regret." I paused. "But I'm hoping she'll give me another chance to prove I can deal with anything life throws at us. I am strong enough to love her the way she deserves. Unconditionally."

I was feeling vulnerable speaking out aloud to the world my innermost thoughts. Swallowing hard I looked over to Lacey to see her reaction. My eyes narrowed when I took in her pale expression.

Sam was looking at her with concern. I frowned.

The crowd continued to scream.

He asked her something but she took no notice. She lifted her hand and touched her forehead.

Her eyes glassed fixed in the distance. There was something very wrong. I put the mic back in the stand and left the stage without a backward glance. As I reached her I handed my guitar to someone. My eyes scanning her face trying to figure out what was going on.

My heart began to hammer in my chest when I reached her.

"Gray?" she questioned. The panic clear in her voice. Her eyes where on my face but it was like she wasn't seeing me.

The protective instinct in me reached for her arms just as she collapsed. I held her up.

"I'm here." Despite my growing fear I kept my voice calm.

Her hands gripped my shirt like a lifeline. The alarm and fear in her eyes sent me into overdrive. Her eyes fluttered. What was happening? My heart began to speed up as fear increased. She looked so pale, her breathing laboured. The fear that I hadn't felt since she's been diagnosed with a tumor unlocked and flooded thorough me like a tidal wave.

"Someone call a medic," I shouted at Sam.

Her grip on my shirt tightened, like she was scared I was going to let her go.

"Don't leave me."

"I'm not going anywhere." I said softly. "I'm here with you."

Guilt for all the previous times I had left her when I should have stayed by her side swept through me leaving a renewed determination to do it right this time.

Moments later the medical team that we had on standby backstage were examining her. I didn't want to let go of her but I had to so they could check her over.

My band mates stopped the show. The opening act went back on to keep the audience from rioting. I didn't care. The only thing that mattered was lying unconscious backstage.

I gave the paramedics her history. After checking her vitals they told me she was stable but because of her major brain surgery they wanted to go take her to hospital. I nodded.

I looked back to Link.

"Go," he told me. "We'll finish the last few songs and meet you at the hospital."

I nodded.

Lacey remained unconscious for the ride to the hospital. I insisted she had a private room. Not even sure what the time was when I called Dr. Clarke. He asked to speak to one of the nurses. Once she was done bringing him up to date on Lacey's condition she handed me my phone back to me.

"I've asked them to keep me updated on her progress."

I nodded.

"What happened?" I asked him. The nurses and doctors had used jargon I didn't know so I was still at loss for what was happening to her although they'd assured me she was stable.

He didn't answer me straight away which made me fear what he was about to tell me.

"It's similar to a breakdown but we're hoping it will be temporary."

A breakdown. That didn't sound stable at all.

"I don't understand." Rubbing my forehead. The fear I'd managed to keep at bay began to overwhelm me.

"Was she under a lot of stress lately?" he asked.

"No." Not believing any of our emotional mess had been upsetting enough to cause this.

There was another pause.

"Just tell me," I said, knowing that he was holding something back.

"This type of thing is consistent with patients regaining their memory."