This was just too much for Oz and Lizzy to handle. They both broke down in the ICU waiting room. They cried and held each other after the doctor left. There was no guarantee that Devon would survive the night. The combination of that much coke and that much alcohol was lethal. When they were finally allowed to visit, Lizzy forced herself stop crying.
She pulled a chair to Devon’s side and took his hand
“Oh Devon, Devon, Devon. This is all my fault, all my fault.” She was crying again when she laid her head down on his lifeless hand. Oz put his hands on her shoulders.
“No, no, it’s not your fault Lizzy. He was into drugs before the thing with you and he’s been drinking alcohol longer than I can remember. Don’t blame yourself for this. He’ll survive and we’ll get him some help.” His words comforted Lizzy more than he would ever know. She perked up and began talking to Devon.
“Come back to us Devon. We need you. Dev, please babe, come back to me. We love you, Dev.”
They had to go back to the waiting room but they could visit him again later. Lizzy and Oz fell asleep leaning against one another on the couch. Devon had picked a convenient time to OD, last night was the last show of the tour. They were supposed to start a new album in a week and they already had the songs together.
Lizzy and Oz spent every night and day at the hospital with Devon, only leaving to go home to shower and change. They canceled the session at the recording studio and made a press release so the hospital would stop getting calls. All they could do now was sit and wait. Every time they visited Devon, Lizzy would hold his hand and talk to him. The doctor assured her that Devon could hear her and she was helping.
“Hi Dev. Are you going to come back to us today? Please Dev, come back to me.” She still cried each time she talked to him, she couldn’t help it. That day as she talked to him she felt his hand stir under hers. “Oh god, Dev, wake up. Devon, come on.” He opened his eyes and began to move around. He groaned a little as Oz ran to get a nurse.
Devon awoke fairly unharmed and the doctors let him out of the hospital within a week. At Lizzy and Oz’s insistence he checked into rehab. They got him into a program where he could leave for a few hours a day to work on the album. Rehab was hard on Devon, he had to confront a lot of issues he had with his family. His heart wasn’t into making the new record. Neither was Lizzy’s, she still felt guilty about her involvement in Devon’s drug problem and she was still in love with Johnny. Ironically, the very things that distracted her from the record were what was making the songs great.
“Deliriously Dreaming” was nominated for two Grammy’s. She was ecstatic, of course, and Devon would be out of rehab by then. Oz was excited but he was incredibly distracted. He was planning on proposing to Silvia.
The night finally came and they all got dressed up. Devon looked drop dead gorgeous in a silver-pinstriped suit with a deep red shirt. Oz was wearing a classic black suit but made it look a little less stifled with a blue shirt that shimmered and turned green in the right light. Lizzy had a dress made for her, it was midnight blue silk and very low cut with a line of rhinestones right below her breasts. They had to change for their performance and somehow they all had managed to bring the exact outfit they wore the night Korn discovered them. Lizzy giggled at the symbolism of new beginning she saw in those clothes. The show went great, they were in rare form and they won one Grammy.
At the afterparty, Oz followed through with his plan and proposed to Silvia. Silvia said yes through her tears of happiness. Lizzy screamed and hugged them both.
Back at home for a vacation Lizzy temporarily abandoned her man using ways to spend time with Suzie. It had been a little over half a year since they had seen each other and Lizzy was anxious to talk to another female. Even though Silvia was on tour with them, Lizzy and Silvia had never really gotten along well. Oz always said, “Lizzy doesn’t play well with others, especially if they’re girls.” Oz was right, there were very few girls Lizzy could stand to be around but Suzie was one of them. She took Suzie out to lunch, Suzie knew what was going on but she wanted details.
“Where shall I start?” Lizzy asked as she sipped her soda.
“Hmm, let me think. The beginning would seem logical to most people.”
“Okay, smart ass. The beginning.” She retold the events of the past year beginning with recording the first album and all the way through the current album and the Grammy’s.
“Wow, you’ve had one hell of a year.”
“I know.”
“You over Johnny yet?”
“Hmmm, no and I don’t understand why either. They say time heals all wounds but it doesn’t seem to be healing this.”
“Maybe because this doesn’t need healing.”
“Huh?”
“I mean maybe this isn’t a wound and therefore does not need healing. Did you ever think that maybe he’s your soul mate? You’re one true love?”
“Oh that would be just wonderful. My soul mate belongs to another woman.”
“Hey, don’t shoot the messenger, I was just asking.”
“Sorry hun. Just a touchy subject.”
“I understand. So what about Devon, do you think that was it for him?”
“God, I hope so. A near death experience would certainly shock me back to reality.”
“And Oz is getting married. Sounds like you guys are on the verge of a great year.”
“I hope so. I know every star I see hears that wish. So what about you? How is Suzie’s life going?”
The rest of the meal they talked about Suzie but Lizzy could not get that soul mate comment out of her head. What if she and Johnny were soul mates. Oh, that would be even worse that being in love with a married man. Soul mates. Did she even believe in that?
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