Ch. 23

The Doctor was in Jon’s hotel room.

Jon sat on the side of the bed. He watched helplessly as the doctor shone a light pen down his throat.

The doctor’s positive attitude turned into concern as he continued to examine him.

Jon could tell by the look on the doctor’s face that something was very wrong.

Obie and Juanita watched nervously from the side of the room.

“Say ahhh. Mr. Bon Jovi? “ The Doctor asked him.

This time, Jon managed a squeak.

The doctor put the light pen away. He shook his head.

“You’ve got an edema on your vocal cords. Swelling looks like it’s starting to go down because you’re not speaking but if you sing you can potentially hemorrhage one of your vocal cords or both.” The doctor told him.

“Jesus! “ Obie said.

“How did this happen?” Juanita asked the doctor.

“Overuse. Jon’s been doing a lot of dates back to back for months. He and I had this conversation last tour. This schedule is too much for him.” The doctor said.

Jon glared at the doctor angrily.

“Look at me like that all you want. But if you keep this up, there’s no more singing in your future.” The doctor told him pointedly.

Trina opened the door and stormed through it.

“Okay Obie, I did it! Heather agreed to me doing the promos with Richie.” She said looking relieved. She looked at Jon who appeared furious. She looked concerned at Jon’s face, but then realized that she needed to focus on him getting better and not him having a temper tantrum. She turned towards Obie and Juanita.

“How’s the patient?” she asked.

“Well, he’s damaged his cords a little.” The doctor said.

“If he keeps it up he can damage his cords permanently.” Obie said.

Trina took a deep breath. She was shocked at the news.

“So, this has been going for a bit?” she asked.

“Apparently so.” Obie said glancing at Jon. Jon gave him the finger.

“Jonny, the least of your problems is telling me to fuck off. If Doc knew you couldn’t talk, that’d be it!” Obie said.

Jon closed his eyes. He put his hair behind his eyes and covered his face.

He knew Obie and the Doctor were right. He was angry with not only himself, but also Doc and Dorothea for pushing him so hard.

This was all he knew. He loved to sing and write. It was his outlet. He always thought he’d have this outlet. It never crossed his mind the one thing that made him who he was.

‘Oh my God, what I am going to do?’ He thought.

Trina kneeled down in front of him. She took his hands down and looked him straight in the eye.

“Listen to me. I’m here to help you. I’m not going to write about this. I promised you that I wouldn’t and I haven’t. You’ve done more for me that I could ever dream of.” She told him.

Jon rolled his eyes. He was in disbelief. As much as he wanted to trust her, he also knew she was a member of the press and could potentially turn on him at any moment.

“I get it.” Trina said. “You don’t trust me. I don’t know why you don’t by now, but to be honest you don’t have a choice.”

Jon snickered. He couldn’t believe she was giving him orders. To make matters worse, he couldn’t fight back.

Trina got up and began to walk to the door.
The doctor stood up from the side of the bed and walked in front of him. He took a deep breath and glanced at Obie, Juanita and Trina.

“I can get you through the show tonight with a cortisone shot and you absolutely not saying a word until you walk on that stage, however, you are not to talk, clear your throat or cough after this for 2 weeks. “ The doctor ordered.

Jon nodded his head. He whispered the words.
“No. We have the shows at Giants in three days!”

Juanita threw up her hands. “No! You don’t Jonny!” She said to him. She turned to Obie. “I see he managed to whisper that!” she told him.

“There are logistical problems with the stage set-up. Namely the catwalk, which could hold up these shows. Could take a week…maybe two to work this out.” Obie said as he looked proudly over at Jon.

Jon was furious. “ What?”

“It’s either your voice or 30,000 kids will see you fall to your death on the catwalk. Your choice.” Obie smiled smugly at him.

Jon leaned against the bed and folded his arms in protest.

‘I’m being held hostage by my own staff. What a crock of shit!’ He thought.

Trina looked at Obie smugly. “Okay, now that that’s settled, let me get Richie up so that we can get going.” She said.

She looked over at Jon. He shook his head at her in bewilderment.

“You’re welcome Jon. I’m more than happy to help with anything you need.” Trina said sarcastically walking out of the room.

~

Richie’s room was only a couple of doors down. When she knocked on the door, Ally fresh from her workout was there to greet her.

“Good afternoon Miss Trina.” Ally said still dressed in her workout clothes.

“Hey Ally. Is Richie awake? I need him to do all of us a huge favor.” Trina said.
Ally looked back behind the door. She hesitated for a couple of minutes. Richie looked as if he was struggling to get out of the bed.

“Ally? Is everything all right?” Trina asked as she continued to stand in front of the door.

Ally looked at Richie once more. He appeared to be very groggy, but he was at least sitting on the side of the bed. Finally, she opened the door.

“Sorry, I was just trying to figure out if he was going to get up or not. Come in.” Ally said.

Trina glanced at her strangely as she walked into the room.

When she saw Richie on the side of the bed yawning and rubbing his eyes. She understood partially why Ally was acting the way she was.

Ally went into the bathroom as Trina sat on the side of the bed next to Richie.

“Richie, you okay?” Trina asked.

“Better.” He replied. He was so tired that he given sounded groggy. He continued. “God, I’ve been so tired today. Feeling better though. What’s up?” he asked her.

“Jon’s lost his voice. The Giants shows are going to be postponed for a couple of weeks.” She told him.

“Obie told me earlier about Jon’s voice. What did the doctor say?” Richie asked.

“Well the good news is that the swelling is going down and the doctor is going to give him something so that he can sing tonight. “ Trina said.

Richie smiled weakly. He looked grateful. He put his hands through his long hair.

“Thank god.” He said.

Trina interjected. “The bad news is that Jon may have done some damage to his vocal cords. The doctors said that in order for his throat to heal properly that after tonight, no talking. He can’t even clear his throat or cough.”

Richie immediately sobered up from the sleeping pills Ally gave him after that announcement. He was in shock as he looked at Trina.

“What? For how long?” he said. He now appeared to be very serious and concerned about his friend.

“At least two weeks.” Trina said.

“Giants is definitely postponed then?” Richie asked.

“Yes, Obie wants us to say it’s due to logistical problems. Namely the catwalk.” Trina said.

Richie snickered. “That catwalk is as solid as a rock. Jon must be seething.” Richie laughed.

“He can seethe all he wants but he can’t say a word…for now, maybe that’s a good thing.” Trina said beginning to laugh. Richie joined in.

“Dear God. You’re not kidding. I can just see him trying to yell at someone over this and can’t. To be honest, we all after tonight can use a break. Doc is dealing with Motley Crue stuff overseas now anyways.” Richie looked down at his feet in satisfaction over the break. “Praise God, he isn’t here.” He continued.

“I agree. The less people who know, the better. Paul is dealing with tonight’s show. I didn’t want to bother him.” Trina said.

Richie took a deep breath. “He’ll know something’s up because there won’t be a soundcheck. He’s very cool when it comes to this kind of stuff. You can trust him. Besides, he knows we’ve all been burning the candle at both ends. If it were up to him, we would have postponed the start of this leg of the tour until Jon was better, but Dot convinced Doc otherwise.” He told her.

“What?” Trina said looking surprised. Richie stood up. He began to stretch his legs and arms.

“As you could probably tell Jon has been struggling with his voice a lot lately. To be honest, his problems have been going on since the last tour.” Richie told her.

“Are you serious?” Trina said with a frown on her face.

“Dead serious. He needs this break. I see what kind of spin Obie’s doing and it’s very cool. If you say it’s the catwalk not being cleared by safety inspectors then this will pacify Doc for a couple of weeks until we hear otherwise. That also takes care of anyone not knowing about Jon’s voice for now.”

“I see.” Trina said.

“Plus, the roadies can still get paid. All is well. No one has to know. That was smart.”

Trina nodded. “Okay.”

“So, what else needs to be done?” Richie asked.

“Promos for Giants.” She told him. “That’s why I’m here. Because Jon can’t talk, I proposed a little slant in the promos to Heather.” She said.

Richie smiled. He was bemused at how Trina was just stepping in to help when she didn’t have to.

“Okay…Go ahead.” He said.

Trina looked up at him.

“I told Heather that with your help, I’d do a formal introduction to the fans. I figured that some of them who have been backstage have to be wondering who I am and why I’m here. It not only gives publicity to the stories, but also puts a spin on the upcoming shows and a face to the byline name.”

Richie’s smiled widened. “I love it. Takes the attention away from Jon again. Love it!” He told her. “What would you like me to do?” he continued.

“Promote the hell out of the shows like I know you’ll do. If people see you, they won’t question why Jon isn’t there after we tell them. From the feedback I get, people love you just as much as they love him.”

“Aww. I love our fans too. This is great. Very nice Miss Trina. Very nice.” Richie said.

Trina took a deep breath.

“Jon was pissed.” She said looking sadly.

Richie rolled his eyes. “And?” he said sarcastically.

“No Rich. He was mad.” She said.

Richie sat back down on the bed.

“Oh darlin, he’s not mad at you. It’s the situation. He likes to be a part of every little thing that involves the band, but unfortunately he can’t control this. Honestly, I’ve never knew of him being this helpless.” He said to her.

Trina continued to look upset. Richie continued. “He’s gotta learn to trust people. Even just for a little while. But it’s going to be tough because of the pressure Doc and Dorothea put on him for these extra dates. But it seems like he doesn’t have a choice right now.”

“So what do I do?” Trina asked.

“Be there for him like you are now. The band and I will have his back. I’ll tell them everything and I guarantee you they’ll help out.” Richie said.

Trina was relieved.

“Oh thank god. Richie, thank you.” Trina said hugging him. He smiled warmly at her.

“Trina, we love him. He’s a brother to us. There shouldn’t ever be a question of any of us helping him or each other out.” Richie said.

She separated herself from him. She nodded her head.

“I never saw that expression on his face before.” She told him.

“His bark is worse than his bite.” Richie quipped. “This will work out fine.” He continued.

Trina got up from the bed. She headed towards the door. The two of them had no idea that Ally was done taking a shower. She had been standing in front of the bathroom door watching and listening to most of their conversation. She wore a white bathrobe and had her arms folded. She appeared to be both shocked and disturbed at what she witnessed.

“Give me ten minutes and we’ll both go and talk to Jon.” Richie told her.

Trina nodded and walked out of the room. Ally clapped her hands sarcastically at Richie’s behavior.

“Well that was an Academy-award winning performance.” She told him.

Richie looked up at her and rolled his eyes.

‘Not again!’ He thought.
“How long have you been standing there?” He asked her.

Ally shrugged. “Long enough to know that if Doc ever finds out. Trina’s history. So is Obie.” Ally quipped. She walked over to the bed. “You know maybe that’d be good thing because then I wouldn’t have to deal with Kendall calling you every five minutes whining over this and that.” Ally said.

Richie’s eyes flared. “No one’s getting fired. Trina’s trying to help out.” He said firmly.

“Who? Richie seriously? Herself? This is her big break. Breaking this kind of story by pretending to be in the inner circle would make her an instant star.” Ally said sarcastically.

“Oh Ally shut up! Trina’s not like that!” Richie said.
He got up and walked towards the bathroom. Ally snickered.

“You know it can happen Richie!” Ally yelled.

He turned around.

“You know instead of always jumping to conclusions, why don’t you try helping out? I thought you considered Jon a friend?” Richie asked her
Ally glared at him. Her brown eyes shot through his body like a dagger.

“Maybe as a friend I’m looking out for him. Perhaps all of you. Richie, we don’t know her that well. I just think everyone should use some caution that’s all.” She insisted.

“Maybe we should use some caution…from you.” Richie added. “I’m taking a shower. I’ve got to work in a little bit.” He said slamming the door behind him.

Ally snickered. She knew how bad the press could be. She wasn’t trying to start anything with Richie, but lately, their differences were far outweighing their similarities.

‘Now I can’t even give him advice. What the hell was that shit?’ She thought

They were drifting further and further apart. She had no idea of what to do to make things work between the two of them.