Not Just A Roadie / Queen Fanfiction

33 • Breathe

I was asked to sit on a high wooden stool which, of course, I required help with clambering onto. there were two doctors in here, one young man, younger than me and another middle-aged woman. she reminded me slightly of my mother, kind twinkling eyes and a loud voice, yet one that you'd want to sit and listen to.

once I was on the stool and questions had been asked and la dee la dee dum, the doctor had a bit of a poke around the shoulder. he said everything seemed fine and I won't need surgery, but I'll be consciously sedated whilst they performed the closed reduction.

to put that in words that I understood, I was given a sedative that loosened the muscles and made me drowsy so I was less likely to feel anything. a bracket was placed around the stool so I could hold onto it whilst the doctors popped my shoulder back into place.

I felt hands on my back, but that was it. there was no pain, just the feeling of something on my back. and just like that, the procedure was done. easy peasy.

the only reason I couldn't walk back by myself was because I was still slightly drowsy from the sedation, which I was told would last between 15-20 minutes.

once I was back in bed, I saw Jenny there! she was sitting in a chair next to my bed. even the sight of her relaxed me. my hair was all in my eyes but I could still see her.

not only was I chuffed as hell to see Jenny, but I also longed for the presence of the band too.

JENNY's POV

Roger did not look well. at all. his hair was everywhere, straggly and limp, his lips had lost their colour and eyes lost their shine. my poor Roger, how had this happened from a simple accident on tour?

"hi darling," Roger said with a smile, but before I could say anything else, his eyes widened dramatically and I could see his breathing become rapid but short. something was wrong. Roger didn't play games like this. sure he could be the trickster at times, but I was confident something else was going on here.

I raced across the ward and to the reception desk: "we need a doctor, bed four, Roger Taylor, he can't breathe!"

this was all I needed to say before the lady at the reception desk yelled across the room for a doctor to follow me. I led her to Roger's bed, where he'd gone completely pale, once rosy skin paper white.

of course Queen chose the best time to return and when they entered the ward, they were greeted with a haggle of nurses and doctors surrounding Roger's bed, trying to steady his breathing.

"I can't watch!" I began to cry and leaned into the nearest person's shoulder, which turned out to be Brian's. I only came up to about his chest and I felt very short.

BRIAN's POV

"maybe we should head outside for a moment?" I suggested as Jenny started to audibly sob. I didn't want to upset the other patients and doctors with distressed sounds, and to give Jenny her privacy.

when we left, I saw the doctors pull the blue curtain around the bed and a weight formed in my stomach. I knew this could happen with overdosing conscious sedation and the doctors who did it would get a right bollocking afterwards.

silently we made our way outside into the fresh air. the day had brightened up a bit and the sun was feebly gleaming through some of the gaps in the grey clouds. the four of us sat on a bench and John and I wrapped our arms around Jenny's shoulders whilst she cried.

her crying probably didn't help the rest of our nerves but currently we had to push that to the back of our minds as we had a panicked friend in need.

"he's going to be perfectly alright m'dear, just give the doctors some time." Freddie tried to soothe and I knew he was partially trying to convince himself too.

Roger was a heavy smoker, did that contribute to anything? of course there was nothing wrong with his lungs or heart but smoking and sedation possibly didn't go hand in hand.

we all sat in an uncomfortable silence whilst we waited for what felt like decades, but was possibly only 10 minutes. there was no signs of life whatsoever out here, so much so that even the trees barely rustled in the lack of a breeze.

on this bench I could see Deaky's leg bouncing in my peripheral vision, Freddie fiddling with his nail polish on my other side and Jenny's occasional sniff as she overcame her panicked grief, head rested on Deaky's shoulder.

today must have knackered her out, poor thing. and I was sure that she'd now feel obliged to look after Roger when he came home, she was just like that.

"reckon we can go in now?" Freddie asked not many moments later and we all pounced upon his proposal as if it was the best idea ever. the four of us ambled back to the ward nervously.

when we got in, Roger was laying in the bed, looking surprisingly better.

"Roger!" Jenny cried and went marching upto him, throwing her arms round his shoulders. he could only reciprocate with one arm and head movements, but the look on his face was one of pure relief. she leaned away from him and they shared a short but passionate kiss.

"alright...what?!" Freddie spoke for all of us. did we just see that? did that just happen? was that the first time that's happened?

"please, I feel like shit right now. let me be happy to see Jenny and you three, alive and recovering." Roger tried to bargain.

I threw my hands up, almost hitting Deaky in the face accidentally. sometimes I forgot that I was so tall. "alright, alright, but expect an interrogation later," I walked to the other side of his bedside and took a seat in the wooden chair next to it.

I swung my left clog-clad foot onto my right knee and took a moment to assess Roger. the glint in his eyes were back, suggesting that he was feeling much better; his face still looked ghostly, telling me that his recovery was going to be painful. he was a tough nut though and my only fear was when he was going to be able to get back in the studio as we were die to return in a couple of days and Roger didn't like being deprived of his favourite hobbies.

"so what actually happened?" Jenny asked, evidently changing the subject away from her mysterious embrace with our drummer. she still had one arm over his shoulder, perched on the edge of the hospital bed upon Roger's instruction.

it didn't take a genius to fathom out that the pair were a thing now, but it did take one to find out why he hadn't even told us about it. I gave him a questioning look, which he caught. "later," he said and turned to answer Jenny's questions.

Deaky and I shared a look whilst Freddie stood with his jewellery clad hands on his hips.

"well..."

I'm scared to say this may be the last chapter in a while...but I promise I will continue to upload chapters at some point!! we're well into the second half of the story now and I've released so many chapters in the past couple of days that I need some time to do some solid writing on it. i don't know about you but I feel like I've lost the knack of the story and so I need to get stuck back into it to make this the best it can be! I promise this isn't the end, I just need a bit of time :) x