The first thing Em saw as she exited the gate was two adorable blondes. One jumped up and down excitedly while the other just took off running, weaving his way through the crowd till he latched on to her legs.
“Hey Cammers.” Em said, no longer able to walk. “I’m sorry I missed your birthday buddy, but…” He cut her off, yelling;
“BUT YOU WERE ON TV! MOMMY LET ME WATCH, YOU SAID MY NAME AND EVERYBODY KNEW IT WAS ME!” Em laughed and looked up when she heard Mae’s voice nearby.
“Cam baby, what did Mommy say about yelling in public?” She said prying him off Em’s legs. She straightened and held out her arms. “Where’s my love huh?” Em laughed again and hugged her old friend.
“It’s good to see you Maebee-baby.”
“You too, Emenemmers. I should know better than to ask this, but did you check luggage?” Mae asked as she released her hold on Em and scooped up Cameron.
“Ha! I laugh in the face of suitcases.” Em said as they walked away from the gate. “I can fit a weeks worth of clothes in my back pocket!” Mae snickered.
“Not those tents you’re wearing these days.” She began to laugh. Em joined her but kept her tone slightly indignant.
“Hey now now, I still have pictures of you before you had the munchkin, you were no petite flower.”
“Point taken.” Mae said, throwing her free arm around Em in a quick hug. “It’s all goo.” At the reference to their old inside joke, the friends laughed their way to Mae’s car. Once they hit the highway and were headed toward Renee and Scott’s house the conversation turned serious.
“So what’s really up with Reny? If she’s really bad she should have called me or Jacks.”
“All I really know about it is that she’s bleeding. She says it’s not too bad and that the doctor thinks it’s nothing to be real worried about. But I also know how scared she sounded on the phone. She’s such a tough cookie, she can fool almost anybody into thinking that she’s ok, but I know she’s scared.”
“Christ.” Mae said under her breath. “I even just talked to her last week, maybe two weeks ago. She was fine.” Mae glanced over at Em. “I wish I had noticed something was wrong.”
“Aww, Honey it’s not your fault.” Em patted her arm. “Two weeks ago she probably was fine. And besides, she didn’t even tell Scott.”
“She didn’t? I didn’t think he was that big of an a-s-s to leave her if something’s going wrong.” Mae glanced into the rearview mirror to make sure Cameron hadn’t learned what “a-s-s” spelt yet.
“Yeah, he doesn’t know. So no spilling the beans.” Em turned to face Cameron in the backseat. “Hey Cammers?”
“WHAT AUNTY EM?” Em raised an eyebrow and Mae laughed.
“He just watched The Wizard of Oz before we came.”
“Oh, ok. Anyway, do you know why Aunt Em is visiting Cam-man?”
“YES!” Cameron yelled. Em held up a finger to him and turned to Mae, who was stifling a giggle.
“Ok Maebee-baby, what’s with the yelling?” Em asked. Mae burst out laughing.
“I have no idea. Other than the fact that my mother always threatened me that I’d have kids that were just like me when I grew up.” Em laughed too, and turned back to the little boy in the backseat.
“So Cutie. Why am I here?”
“BECAUSE YOU LOVE MOMMY SOOOOOOOO MUCH!”
“Ya know Mae, I think your mom was right.” The two women laughed and Cameron just bounced up and down, happy to make them laugh. They pulled into Renee and Scott’s drive way and Mae leaned over and gave Em a hug.
“I’d come in, but I don’t want to leave the Cam-man out here. And I think the last thing she needs to see is him.”
“I’ll tell her you send your love. And you’re right; I think it’d be best if we were alone tonight. Thanks for the ride Beebs; I’ll call you tomorrow to tell you what the doctor says. Bye Cammers.” Em was met with a series of goodbye shrieks from Cameron that left her shaking her head and laughing as Mae pulled away. She turned to the house and was greeted by an open door and a worried looking friend.
****Flashback****
Renee was laid out on the tour bus couch. Her eyes were shut but tears still managed to squeeze out anyway. The chiropractor that traveled with them was useless.
“It’s her hip, I can’t do anything. She should go to the emergency room. At least they could give her some pain killers.”
“No!” Reny gasped. “There are people waiting for the show to start.” The guys of Unison began to speak, but Em interrupted them.
“Reny, are you insane? You can’t even sit up, let alone do a show. I don’t care how many damn people are out there, you aren’t going on stage. You aren’t going to tough this one out; I’m not going to let you. You will be carried, very gently, to one of the vans and taken to the hospital. Don’t worry about the fans, I’ll go out and tell them what happened, and then they’ll get to see the guys do an extra long show to make up for us not going on.” She turned to the guys. “Right guys?” They all agreed, too afraid to say no. If they did, Em would have their butts, and knowing her, Reny would actually try to go on.
“Fine.” Reny whispered. It was then when it hit them how much she must be hurting.
“Good.” Em said. “Ok guys, go get ready cause you’re going on early tonight.” She put a hand lightly on Renee’s forehead and smoothed her hair a bit. “I’m going to talk to the fans Re, I’ll meet up with you at the hospital. Don’t worry about anything, I got it covered.” Em left Reny with Dr. Marder and walked backstage to see Anna, their tour manager. She explained that Renee’s notoriously bad hips had finally given out on her. Anna took care of everything else, the van, bodyguards, and everything else that Renee would need when she went. Em took her place in the wings and waited for the opening acts to finish. When the singer was done, Em took the stage to a mixture of screams and concerned mummers.
“Hi everyone.” She said into the mic. “I know that you’re all very excited to be here tonight to see Spark and Unison.” The crowed cheered and she smiled. “But I’m afraid I have some bad news.” The crowd became suddenly quiet. “As many of you know, Renee has very bad hips, and tonight she fell and popped one of her hips out of place. Right now she’s in a lot of pain and is being taken to the hospital. She wanted to come out here and try to do the show but I wouldn’t let her. I knew that all of you would want her to get better instead of hurting herself more. Right?” The crowd screamed back in approval. “Good. I’ll tell Reny you’re all pulling for her. I’m sure it will help her feel better. So, thank you again for coming out and for being so understanding. We love you guys! Have a great time tonight!” And with many screams and applause Em left the stage and went to Unison’s dressing room. “I’m going guys. Have a good show.”
“Wait, Em.” Scott said, he pulled her into a hug. “She’ll be ok, don’t worry.”
“Thanks Scottie. I’ll let her know you guys are worried about her too.” She pulled away from Scott only to be pulled in by Alex. Then Jamie, Andy, and finally Anton.
“Should we come when the show’s over?” He asked, holding her tightly. She didn’t mind the closeness but she pulled away, she had more important things to do than hug a guy who’d never be interested in her.
“Naw.” She smiled. “You guys should be pretty ready for bed with this extra long set, but call me when you get to the hotel and I’ll tell you what’s going on. Thanks guys, Reny really appreciates this.” Alex slung an arm over Em’s shoulders as they all walked out of the dressing room.
“What are friends for? We don’t just tour with you guys because we think you’re good. It’s all just pity really.” Em laughed.
“Thanks Alex. Bye guys, have a good night.”
“See ya Em.” They chorused as she left them to get into the awaiting van.
At the hospital Em was led into Renee’s room. She lay, heavily sedated, but finally comfortable. Ron, the bodyguard that had come with her, took Em outside and told her that the doctors were going to have to operate and that Reny wasn’t going to be able to finish the tour.
“Shite.” Em said biting her lip. “She doesn’t know yet, does she?”
“No.” Ron looked down at the ground. “I didn’t have the heart to tell her.” Em smiled sadly. They all knew how important performing was to Renee; she lived for it.
“I’ll tell her. Can you get me a soda Ron?”
“Sure.” He smiled; glad to be absent when Reny got told. Em walked quietly into the room. Reny turned to her and smiled.
“I’m feeling much better Em. I’ll be fine for Phoenix.”
“I don’t think so Honeybear.” Em said as she took Reny’s hand. “The doctors say you need surgery. No big deal, but it’ll put you out of commission for the rest of the tour.”
“No way.” Reny replied. “I just need an adjustment or something.”
“Not this time Sweets. You need to get your hip really fixed, not just adjusted. I’m not going to let you finish the tour.”
“It’s not your decision Em, it’s mine.” Reny said, pulling her hand away. She cringed at the sudden movement in her body.
“You’re wrong Reny. It stopped being just your decision when we signed a contract together. The things you do affect me too, and I don’t want you permanently messed up because you want to finish one tour.” Em smiled. “Don’t make me get Butch to fly out here.” Now Reny relented.
“Alright.” She said. “But we’ve got to make sure it’s absolutely necessary first.”
“Well duh Kid. You think I’m just going to let them cut up my fake little sister for no reason?” Em giggled and took Reny’s hand again. Reny squeezed it, closing her eyes.
“Thanks Em.”
“It’s my job to take care of you. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“I know. Get some sleep Re.”
“Kay.”
****