Baby of the Band

Prologue

"Ow–son of a fuckin' bitch!"

Wincing as he made his way backstage after his band's most recent show in Mears, Michigan, twenty-seven-Year-old Rob Bobby Dall cradled his throbbing, broken hand to his chest. He'd slammed it in a car door a couple stops back when some fans drove him to their show in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, leading to him spending the Night in the ER. After that, he'd spent nearly a week sacked out in his bunk, too stoned on his painkillersta even try playing a show. It was only 'cuz he was sick of laying around when his band needed him that he'd tried a show on July third, and now–four Days later–he was really starting to regret being so stubborn.

        "Ya need one of your painkillers again, Bobby?"

        Looking up, he saw his band's drummer, Rikki. "Yeah, I think so, or I'm prolly not gonna get any sleep tonight."

        "Damn, still throbbing that bad, huh?" the blonde asked with a wince of his own.

        "Yeah, and trying to play ain't helping it," Rob answered.

        "Then let's get that painkiller in ya, and you in your bunk," he told him, gently steering him into the bus' bunk room.

        "Thanks, man," the bassist sighed, kicking off his boots once he was seated on the edge of his bunk.

        "Look, I know we're starting to get on each other's nerves again–it happens with every tour we go on," Rikki told him as he brushed his sweaty hair back outta his face. "But even with the rifts caused by that, we're still brothers."

        "I know that," he told him, sounding only a hair sheepish. "We've all got each others' backs, no matter what."

        "And if that means I've to babysit your stoned ass so ya can sleep–well, I'll lose a few winks of my own, if that's what it takes," the drummer chuckled.

        "You've no idea how much I appreciate that, man," Rob told him.

        Letting out another chuckle, he moved to get his friend's scrip bottle outta his suitcase so he could shake out one of the pills for him. He knew how Independent and stubborn his friend was, but he couldn't really hold the damn thing to get the lid off right now. Even though being unable to do a lot for himself right now was driving him crazy, he knew when it was Time to break down and ask for help.

        The one thing that sucked for the bassist–aside from barely being able to do his job, that is–was that he couldn't drink while on such high-powered drugs. It'd been hitting him a lot harder than he'd let his friends and band mates think, and it seemed the painkillers were helping with even the cramps of alcohol withdrawal. Maybe that was all in his head from getting so stoned on the painkillers, or maybe it was true–he didn't really know at the moment, and he didn't care. All he cared about was getting a decent Night's sleep instead of being woken up by a throbbing hand and nausea.

        Once Rob was settled in his bunk, the painkiller already starting to kick in just a few minutes after taking it, Rikki settled in to watch over him. He was still too wound up from their show to sleep just yet, and he wanted to be awake, just in case he woke back up and needed anything. Thankfully, the painkillers knocked him into a deep enough sleep that not even the band's Melody section boarding the bus–and loudly, at that–coulda woken him back up.

        Bret and CC eventually headed off to bed, alongside their manager, and the tallest blonde was the only one still awake besides their driver. With it now so quiet that all he could hear was the familiar rumble of the bus' motor and the adrenaline starting to wear off, he wasn't sure how much longer he'd be able to stay awake. It was starting to get hard to keep his eyes open, and only the fact that the bassist hadn't once twitched like he was gonna wake up made him start dozing off. As his eyes drifted shut for the final Time and stayed that way, the drummer totally missed the Light that suddenly engulfed his lone brunette friend–and brought with it a helluva Change.

Okay, so I'm not totally outta my funk I've settled into–who knows how long it'll be before that happens? Anywhore, I've had this idea bouncing around my brain pretty much the whole Time since my last post on my message board, and it's Time I did something with it before it drives me nuts.

~Banshee