Road Doc

Chapter 34

The tension in the air of the arena was thick. A combination of the impatience of the crowd and the strange things going on backstage left everyone in an foul mood. Brian and Nick wouldn’t even be in the same room at the same time. Everyone noticed the lack of the nightly high-jinx and even Theresa had noticed that Nick seemed distant when she had checked on him before the show. Kevin was quiet and brewing as usual and AJ even seemed especially quiet and somber.

Despite the odd funk that seemed to hang over the entire performance, Howie was in the most spectacular mood of his life and gave the best performance he had in years. Having Theresa off to the sides watching put an extra spring in his step and extra emotion in his voice.

As soon as the boys came off of the stage after their final encore, everyone disbanded as quickly as possible. They all had two days off before having to perform in Denver and each had their own plans. There was no time to be wasted when it came to free time.

AJ and Suzy had made plans to find the cheesiest Elvis impersonator show in Vegas. Suzy was headed home to Wichita the next morning and AJ was wanting to spend as much time with her as possible before they separated. Suzy was planning on driving the nine hours to Denver to see him again in two days, and from there they would follow the buses in her vintage Thunderbird convertible. AJ was like a kid waiting for Christmas, as Suzy had promised him he could drive, something he rarely got to do while they were touring.

Brian was flying home to take care of some important business that had arisen, though he was being secretive about just what it was that warranted a trip back to Kentucky with such little time available before the next show.

Nick had opted to just hang out during the two days off, expecting to take advantage of the time to recover a bit more from his attack. He planned on drowning his sorrows in massive amounts of pizza and video games...in his book, the best medicine on the planet.

Beth had told Theresa about what she had found in Kevin’s bathroom. Theresa, although not surprised, was furious. Beth calmly told her that she had a plan to get Kevin back on track. She told her that she loved Kevin more than she loved life itself, and she was going to do everything within her power to help him get better. Theresa, a bit skeptical about Kevin being able to kick his drug habit without professional intervention, questioned Beth’s ability to help. Beth explained that she knew just what it would take and that everyone would notice a huge difference in Kevin when they saw him again in two days.

Despite the odd funk that hung over the evening, Theresa had a good feeling about the days to come. She quietly sang to herself as she walked down the long hallway to her 'office'.

"What can I do to make you mine? Falling so hard so fast this time. What did I say, what did I do? How did I fall in love with you?"