KISS: In The Band

Ch 45: Hey Doc (Eric C)

"Hey, Eric. Hey, wake up. We're back." 

"Hmphw-what?" I mumbled, stirring. "I said wake up, we're back in the States!" Bruce said with a laugh, shaking me even more. "Alright, alright, I'm up," I said, swatting his hand away and sitting all the way up with a wince, massaging my chest. "I'm up, relax!" Bruce gave me a concerned look. "You good?" he asked. I nodded, taking a deep breath. "Yeah, yeah, it's fine. My heart's just kinda skipping a bit and shit. Like when I get really anxious and all that jazz. It's probably just because I'm really excited to see Carrie and Charlie!" I said with a grin. 

He didn't smile back. "You're seeing a doctor though, right?" he asked in a worried voice. I nodded, rolling my eyes. "Damn man, lay off! Yes, I'm seeing a doctor tomorrow. And he's gonna tell me I have like a cold or flu or something!" I said, standing up and immediately blacking out for a second. 

Bruce caught me as I fell, sitting me back down in the seat. "Eric! What the fuck man, are you okay?!" he cried. By this point even Gene and Paul had stopped talking in favor of staring at me. "Yes, I'm fine! Fucking hell man, I was just asleep and my legs were asleep still! I'm fine, damn," I said defensively.

"Alright. But seriously. See someone tomorrow." "I will!" I hissed, rising to my feet and heading out of the plane. Despite the fact the mood had been killed a bit by Bruce being overdramatic and stuff, I couldn't help but smile as I stepped off the plane and saw my wife and son waiting for me. 

"Carrie!" I shouted, dropping my bag and running toward her, scooping her into a hug and giving her a kiss. She laughed, kissing me back. "Oh Eric I've missed you!" she cried. "But Charlie's missed you more!" I took him from her arms, giving him a kiss. "Charlie! Look at how big you've gotten! Wow, you're two months old now, aren't you?" Carrie grinned, giving me a huge smile. "Guess who slept through the entire night on Tuesday?" 

I stared at her in shock before giving Charlie a huge smile. "Good job, Charlie!" I said. To my absolute delight, he gave me a wide smile back. "Oh my gosh Carrie he just smiled at me," I said in a hushed voice. She stared at me before letting out a stunned laugh. "Oh my gosh! His first smile!" Giggling, I gave her a kiss, holding Charlie against my heart. "We have the smartest son in the world, tell you what." 

"I'm glad to see he takes after his father," she said softly, leaning against me. "Now let's go home. I've missed you." "I've missed you too. Both of you!" I said, handing Charlie back to her and picking up my bag, waving to Bruce and Gene and Paul before getting in the car and driving home. 

After dinner, the three of us sat on the couch, with Carrie in my arms and Charlie in hers. "You think he'll sleep through the night tonight?" I murmured. She smiled, kissing me on the cheek. "I sure damn hope so. I want to spend the whole night asleep in your arms again." "That's the only way I like to sleep with you," I said with a smile, massaging my chest absentmindedly. 

She frowned, putting a hand on my cheek. "Hey, you alright? You've been doing that all night," she said gently. I jumped, startled out of it, before forcing a smile. "I think I just have like a chest cold or something. It's been going on for like half the tour. I'm seeing the doctor tomorrow though, I already scheduled an appointment." 

"Good. You better not be getting sick though, I don't want you giving Charlie a cold or anything." "Aw come on Care Bear you know I would never do that! But if I am sick I'll just stay away from him a bit. Which would suck, because I love him," I said, kissing him on the forehead. "And he loves you and I love both of you." 

The next day, I pulled on my shoes and gave Carrie a smile. "Alright Care Bear I'm going to the doctor's, I'll see you in a few hours! Bye Charlie, I love you," I said, blowing him a kiss as he cooed softly, drooling. Carrie smiled, eyes shining. "Love you Eric, come home healthy!" "Wouldn't have it any other way," I said, heading out the door. 

I ended up being taken back to a room pretty quickly and was sitting on the exam table, waiting. Finally, the doctor walked in, giving me a smile. "Mr. Carr, what's brought you in today?" he asked, sitting in his chair. "Please, call me Eric," I said reflexively. "Alright then Eric! I'm Dr. McGee, it's a pleasure to meet you. What can I help you with?" 

I frowned, massaging my chest again. "Well...for a few weeks now it's been kind of hard for me to breathe when I'm lying down especially, but even a little bit just in general. And I've had a cough and some chest pain too, almost like when you have a really bad cold or something. Also my heart kind of feels weird. Like it feels more noticeable than usual, almost like it's out of whack." 

Dr. McGee nodded, unfolding his stethoscope from his neck. "Well, let's have a listen to your heart and lungs." I did as he said, taking deep breaths when he told me too and letting him listen to my heartbeat. He sat back with a slight frown when he was done. "Hm. Your heartbeat sounds irregular. If possible, I'd like to run some more tests here." "Yeah, yeah of course, whatever you think is best," I said. 

He nodded again, looking at his clipboard. "Alright, I'd like to run some blood tests and get you a chest x-ray and an MRI, as well as an EKG. I know that sounds like a lot, but it should only take a few hours." "Sounds good, just tell me what I need to do!" I said cheerfully. 

Turns out it was a lot of things I had to do. They took some blood and scanned me with a bunch of things and I waited for a long time for someone to come back and tell me to move on to the next test. Finally, I ended up back in the room I had started in, with a nurse giving me a smile and telling me to wait here until the doctor came back. 

After almost anther hour, Dr. McGee walked into the room, looking at his clipboard, and closed the door behind him, before sitting down across from me. There was a long pause before he looked at me, letting out a quiet sigh.

"Mr. Carr? We've received the results of your tests."