Zac was a week into his punishment, and his brothers were being really hard on him. Isaac and Taylor began to act like savages at the table. To them, it was all fun and games, but to Zac, it was all the more reason to hate them. But, Zac wasn’t the only Hanson brother taking a toll for the things that he had done. Isaac was literally awake all night for three days in a row, but he kept trying to persuade his family and Chris and Mark, that he was perfectly fine. Staying up all night, and watching HBO movies, listening to music, and writing in the dark was about to take a heavy toll on Isaac Hanson. A very, very heavy toll. But, how long before Isaac started to get better? Would they have to postpone the release of the upcoming CD due to Isaac’s illness? They sure hoped not. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was nearing 1 PM, and the three Hanson brothers were in the middle of a recording session. Everything was going fine and dandy, but people had noticed that Isaac wasn’t acting his normal self. He hadn’t for the past couple of days. The eldest Hanson sibling had been acting exhausted, but at all times, he denied the fact that he was tired, and was saying, “The show must go on.” And well, it did. It went on until this beautiful Saturday morning.
“Okay, guys,” shouted Mark, “from the top!”
They were recording the chorus instrumental part for “This Time Around”. This time, all the instruments weren’t recorded separately because they wouldn’t blend together if they were. So, it was all of the Hanson brothers in the room at once.
“And one, and two, and…” Chris gave them the ‘go’.
They all were playing beautifully, in perfect harmony. Soon near the middle of the chorus, Mark noticed the guitar began to get softer, so he spoke into the microphone, “Pick up, Isaac.”
Isaac looked up, and nodded, noting that he heard him. As Isaac played though, all he did was get softer and softer, until the guitar was no longer audible. Isaac just couldn’t do it.
“Cut the tape,” Mark commanded Chris, then talking to the brothers, “Isaac, what’s wrong? Why can’t you play today?”
Isaac set down his guitar, and walked into the room where Mark and Chris were standing, “Where’s the bathroom? I feel like I’m gonna throw up…”
As Mark looked Ike over, he saw a greenish color added to his complexion. Mark knew that usually, that meant sickness. Mr. Hudson knew better than not to let a person looking like that not to go to the bathroom.
“Down the hall, first door on your left. It’s open, and hurry,” directed Mark.
Soon, Tay and Zac came into the room, almost directly after Isaac left. Usually, their older brother was ready to go when it was time to play, what was so different about today?
“What’s wrong with Isaac?” Zac questioned.
“He’s not feelin’ too good, Zac,” informed Mark. “He feels like he’s gonna throw up.”
“I’ll go check up on him,” Tay declared. “Where’s the bathroom, again?”
“Down the hall, first door on your left, and it should be open.”
Taylor found the bathroom, and knocked on the door, “Ike, are you okay?”
A moan from the bathroom was the only response that Taylor received from his older brother, Isaac.
Taylor creaked open the door, only to Isaac leaning by the toilet, and looking weak. Some color was slowly coming back into his face. Isaac was definitely sick.
“Isaac? You okay?” Taylor said, kneeling by his brother.
“Tay,” Isaac coughed, “I think I’m sick…”
"I’m pretty sure we already established that,” Tay smiled. “C’mon, let me feel your forehead.”
Ike leaned forward slightly and let Tay press his palm to his forehead.
After taking away his head, Tay told Isaac, “Wow! You feel really hot, Ike. How long have you felt sick?”
“Well,” Isaac may have been sick, but he still was full of sarcasm, “Dr. Taylor, I’ve felt sick for the past two days. But I haven’t felt to crappy until now, when I just threw up.”
“Is there anything that would make you feel this sick?”
“Not that I know of,” Isaac shrugged, leaning back against the bathroom wall.
“Have you gotten much sleep?” Taylor eyed the subject of sleep, knowing Ike was pulling all-nighters.
“Just enough, I think,” Isaac lied.
Tay smiled at Isaac, laughing, “Well, actually, I’d say by the gigatic circles under your eyes, and your consecutive yawning throughout the day, I’d say that all of this is from exhaustion. I heard somewhere that if you get over tired, you can get really sick.”
“Ughhh, great,” Isaac groaned, as he shut his eyes.
“You gotta get some sleep, or else you might be sick for like, two or three weeks,” explained Taylor. “We also gotta get your temperature down a lot, too.”
Slowly, Tay stood up, and looked down at Isaac, “Don’t move…at all. I’ll be right back with a glass of water. You need to rinse out your mouth since you threw up. Then, we’ll take you home. We can take a small break and start recording again by Tuesday, okay?”
When Tay walked back into the studio room, immediately Chris asked, “Is Ike okay?”
“Yeah,” Tay said,” he’s alright. He threw up, so I’m going to get him a glass of water to rinse out his mouth with. I’m pretty sure our recording session ends here, for today, don’t you think?”
“Yeah, Zac and I were talking about that,” Chris recapped. “As soon as Isaac gets situated ya’ll are going back home.”
“Okay, thanks.”
Tay entered the Men’s bathroom only to see that Isaac had thrown up a second time, “Here, Ike. Wipe your mouth off and rinse your mouth off with this. After we clean you up, we’re going home.”
Isaac sipped the water and gargled. After spitting out, he thanked his younger brother, “Thanks for takin’ care of me, Tay.”
“No problem, Ike,” Tay didn’t need a ‘thank you’, he just wanted his brother better. “What are brothers for?” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When the Hanson family returned home they stuck Isaac directly in bed. They took his temperature, and it came back to be 100.3 Fahrenheit. Isaac didn’t seem to be getting any better, even when he tried to sleep. He was absolutely restless.
Mrs. Hanson came in, and sat beside Isaac on the bed, “How’s my big boy doin’?”
“Mom…,” he groaned, you act like I’m a baby. I’ll be fine, really.”
Mrs. Hanson put her palm to Isaac’s head the way that Tay did when he was in the bathroom, “You still feel really warm, do you want a cold compress for your head?”
“A cold what?” Isaac inquired, puzzled.
“You know, a cold towel for your forehead,” his mother explained. “Trust me, it feels really good.”
“Oh, okay, Mom, sure. Just do me a favor and don’t use those kinds of doctor terms around me, please? Otherwise, you are gonna leave me more confused than I am sick,” pleaded Ike.
Diana Hanson laughed, quietly, “Now, you gotta go back to sleep, okay? Like Taylor told you, you need your rest, or else you’ll never get better. You’ll only get worse if you don’t have your sleep.”
“Alright, Mom,” Isaac began to lie his head back against his soft pillow and shut his eyes, when his dad came bursting into the room.
“Isaac,” his dad called out his name, “I was just on the phone with Mark Hudson.”
Carefully, Isaac sat up, blinking his eyes, asking his father, “What did he say?”
“He asked me if you were feeling any better, and I told him you were having trouble getting to sleep and that you still felt sick. He told me to tell your brothers and you that he’s gonna give us until next Thursday off from recording so you can get better,” he informed his son.
“Won’t that push the release date back, though?”
“Maybe, I don’t know, honestly,” Mr. Hanson told Isaac.
“Man,” Isaac leaned back into his fluffy pillows, trying to sleep.
Only to hear his father’s voice again, “So, if you don’t wanna push that release date bck, work on getting your rest…and lots of it, got it?”
“Got it, Dad.”
Isaac knew that he had to get better, or else they would never be able to get their CD out, and that was the most important thing for them to do right now. They had to get that CD out, but with Isaac sick, how much effect would it have on the CD. The Hanson family hoped and prayed, that it would very little. But, there was the question: What happens if he doesn’t get better? If he only gets worse? This was just another that the Hanson family would have to ride out. But, this was going to end up being one long heck of a ride for his family…for his record company…for his fans…for Isaac.
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