Bullets in a Music Box

An intense pounding and sharp pain swirled throughout my brain and made me feel like vomiting. Almost all morning I’ve been stationed in front of the toilet, waiting for the next round of nausea to hit. Andy was still sleeping in the bedroom as I laid on the bathroom floor. It was cold and smooth, which made me feel a little better. All of my muscles hurt and if I opened my eyes, the room began to spin, which made me want to throw up. I swallowed and attempted to lift myself off of the floor, but the second I opened my eyes, the room began to spin past me so fast that I fell back to the floor and had to put my hand over my mouth. I don’t know what is going on, but I really hope it stops.

While I laid on the floor, trying to not throw up, I heard Andy begin to stir in the bedroom and then heard him open the door. He gasped quietly and knelt beside me. I took a breath and felt him put his hand on my back.

“Are you okay Sadee?” He asked me quietly.

“No, I’m not,” I whispered and he sat down fully on the floor.

“How long have you been in here?” He asked and I shrugged. I honestly don’t know.

“Is it your head again?” He asked and I nodded. He then put his arms around me and lifted me off the floor, bridal style. We walked into the bedroom and he laid me down on the bed. Then he closed the blinds and drapes, to make it darker. After that, he pulled the comforter over me and kissed my forehead.

“Go to sleep, I’ll go make you some tea,” he said. I nodded slowly and tried to calm myself down, but my head was killing me. It was like someone was constantly stabbing my head with a burning hot blade. It was painful and was almost making me cry. When Andy walked back into the room, I had begun to cry and he quickly set the tea on the table before wrapping his arms around me and rubbing my back.

“Do you want to go to the hospital?” He asked. I shook my head.

“No, I,” I stopped because a sudden sharp pain hit and made me gasp and cry harder.

“Alright, I don’t care, you’re going to the hospital,” he told me before he quickly changed into normal clothes and grabbed me some slippers. He picked me up bridal style again and walked me downstairs and out into the car. I was crying and my whole body hurt. When I was situated in the car, Andy quickly ran to the drivers side and started the car. As we began driving, I put my arm over my eyes to block out the light.

“Why haven’t you gone to the doctor before this?” He asked me.

“Because I could handle it,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper.

“Alright, but, you’ve been getting headaches for the last two or three weeks Sadee, what if it’s not just a headache?” He was getting worried as he drove.

“It’s not anything more than a headache, I promise. It’s just really unbearable right now for some reason,” I said as another sharp pain shot through. We only lived a short distance from the hospital so we got there within five to ten minutes. Andy helped me out of the car and into the ER. He sat me down on a chair before going to the desk and telling them about me. When he returned to me, he had a clipboard.

“Do you want me to fill this out?” He asked and I nodded. As he filled out the papers, the room began to spin and I got really dizzy and felt myself lean over to the side and the second my head hit Andy’s shoulder, I was gone.

Andy’s POV

Hospitals have never been a place I like being. So when Sadee's headache made her cry, I thought about it hard, but decided to bring her here. As I filled out the forms for insurance and all that, I felt her head lean on my shoulder, but it was different than her just setting her head on my shoulder. Her body was limp and she wasn't moving. I shook her shoulder but for a response. When there was none, I started to panic.

"Hey can I get some help?" I asked out loud and looked over at the desk. The nurse behind the desk walked over and get eyes got wide. Immediately after that it became chaotic. There were nurses and doctors all over the place. They got Sadee up onto a gurney and brought her back. I went with but my mind was freaking out. What the hell is going on with her? When we got to a room, they did a head scan right away and began taking vitals and all the important things. I stood off to the side, waiting for some answers.

It seemed kind hours went by before a nurse could tell me anything. She brought me out into the hallway and looked up at me. She was around Sadee's height but was smaller.

"Mr. Biersack, your wife-"

"Girlfriend, we aren't married," I told her. She nodded and continued.

"Your girlfriend is in a serious condition. The head scans showed some swelling in her brain and her vitals are abnormal. You told the attendant that she was getting headaches?" She asked me and I nodded.

"Yes. For two or three weeks she's been getting small headaches. This morning she was in the bathroom with a migraine," I told her and she nodded.

"Alright, well, thank you for telling me that. We have admitted her and we are keeping her sedated. They are moving get to a room right now. Why don't you come with me to fill out some forms," she puked me down the hallway and back to the ER desk. I was handed a clipboard and began filling out the boxes. When I finished with that, the nurse gave me a name tag and then brought me up to Sadee's room. When I walked in, Sadee was sleeping but had a pained look on her face. I sat down on a chair next to the bed and grabbed her hand.

Seeing Sadee laying in the bed like that was killing me. Hell seeing her in and kind of pain kills me. My thumb absentmindedly rubbed circles on her hand as I watched her. From my pocket, I felt my phone begin to ring. I grabbed it and answered it quickly.

"Hello," I said and waited for them to answer.

"Where are you man? We have a meeting with Tyler in like ten minutes," I heard Ashley ask me.

"I'm at the hospital," I told him and heard him make a noise.

"Why?" He asked.

"Sadee collapsed because if a migraine," I said and heard him walk somewhere.

"Is she okay?" He was worried.

"She's sedated right now. The nurse said she had swelling in her brain and her vitals are abnormal," I explained and sighed. A nurse came into the room and smiled at me before taking more vitals and stuff from Sadee.

“Wow, do you need us to come up there?” He asked. I thought for a second. Should they? I mean it would be a support system, and I’d have someone to talk to and someone to keep my mind from freaking out. But I kind of want to be alone right now.

“Andy?” I heard and then realized I hadn’t answered.

“Um, why don’t you guys do the meeting with Tyler, tell him why I’m not there, and then come up here,” I said and Ashley said something to someone.

“Zara wants to know what’s up with Sadee, because she wasn’t answering her phone,” he said.

“Give her the phone,” I told him and then heard the exchange.

“Andy, what’s going on? Why does Ash look worried? Is Sadee okay?” She asked all three questions really fast.

“Um, no she’s not necessarily okay. She’s in the hospital right now, sedated,” I told her and she gasped loudly.

“Oh my god, what happened? Did she fall?” She asked.

“There is apparently swelling in her brain and her vitals are abnormal or something, I don’t know but they have her sedated to let the swelling go down,” I told her and she was quiet for a minute before speaking.

“I’m coming up there, not only cause Sadee is my best friend, but because you need someone who can help you better than your band,” she told me and I licked my lips.

“Whatever, text me when you get here,” I told her.

“Alright, I’m handing you back to Ashley now,” she said and then I heard the phone be exchanged again.

“Okay, I will let Tyler know, but I gotta head in there. Zara just left the studio, and she is rushing, so yeah. We’ll be up there soon-ish,” he told me and I swallowed.

“Alright, thanks Ashley,” I said to him and he sighed.

“Sadee is like family to all of us, no problem,” he said and then hung up. I dropped my phone down into my lap and looked back at Sadee. She was laying there, motionless except for her chest rising and falling.

“Her scans are pretty unique,” I heard the nurse say. I looked up at her and furrowed my eyebrows.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Well, her brain is swollen, but there is no apparent cause. She has no brain bleeds, no trauma to the brain itself. Her head looks like a normal 23 year old head, but for some reason her brain is swollen,” she told me and I swallowed again.

“Is that bad?” I asked and she shrugged.

“It depends on the actual reasoning behind the swelling. We have a wonderful team of neurosurgeons and doctors looking at it. Don’t worry. For now, the best thing for her is exactly what she is doing, sleeping,” she said and then left the room. I swallowed, again, and looked back at her. Seeing her so idle and not moving was weird, she is always moving around, doing something. For the last few weeks it has worried me every time she had a headache, I always attributed it to stress because she was stressed from recording the EP, but she always said to not worry, so I didn’t worry. Maybe I should have worried.

Notes

So I know this chapter is posted a day early, but I have the stomach flu so I might not be able to post it tomorrow. This is part one, I'm going to either post part two on saturday or next week, I haven't decided. But there are two more chapters, part two and a final chapter to wrap things up.

I hope you guys have enjoyed this story! I know I did. The sequel thing to this one won't be started until April, so look out for that. It'll be another tour type one, but shorter and it'll be in the future and star Falling For Fatality and Evanston.

Peace <3