Steele Untitled Part 7

Steele Untitled Part 7Date: Monday, July 15, 2002
Sinead O'byrne <MTMeetBuddyHolly@Imabadlittlegirl.com> Ok, you thought it looked like a soap opera BEFORE. Hint hint. well, anyway, here's part seven! The cheesiest one of all. hope yall enjoy! Sinead Chapter 7 It didn't take me long to slip into the familiar jeans and leather jacket that I played in. I tuned up my guitar, and noodled around on it for a while, trying to come up with a good song. I had come up with two verses, when the bassist, Scott Sharp came in, and started playing along. "Hey, Tabby-cat, that's pretty good!" He said, coming up with the perfect bass line. A few minutes later, the band's drummer, Ducky Cuomo walked in. "Hey, Duckster, listen to what Tabby came up with!" Scott yelled out to him. I rolled my eyes, and began playing. "Damn Tabitha! That's great! Let's play it tonight!" Ducky said, and I put on the look that I always wore when I didn't want to play something. I spent the rest of the time before the gig just relaxing, hanging with the rest o "Hey you guys! 5 minutes, get out there!" The bar's manager, a good friend of mine, Jim Alesakis, shouted through the door. "Hey Jimmy!" I shouted after him. "What?" "If you see Harry, give him drinks on me, k? He just went through a tough breakup." I said, and he just gave me the gunman's salute. About halfway through our act, I noticed two people. The first was Harry. The second was Laura. They were on completely opposite ends of the bar, but I knew it wouldn't be long before they noticed each other. I started the riff of the song that I had come up with earlier, and Scott and Ducky just gave me looks, but played along. Sleepin' alone in the middle of the bed Tossin' and turning with you in my head I tried to forget all the things that you screamed Hoping that things weren't all as they seemed Try to forget all the pain that's inside You took away places that I used to hide I cannot believe now that you are not here That you would ever give in to fear Where have you gone, my angel Where have you gone? Where have you gone, my angel Where have you gone? The weekend is gone, and you still are not here I'm watching my anger ferment into fear Afraid of the arms, that I know you might fall in When you're sick of it all, then it doesn't feel like sin I know that you said we were better apart But I'm standing here with a hole in my heart The bed is much colder without you in here I can't believe we gave in to fear Where have you gone, my angel Where have you gone? Where have you gone, my angel Where have you gone? For six long years we were better than friends Nothing could stop us from loving back then But something changed somewhere, someplace down the line I knew you were gone when your dreams became different than mine There's a scent on the pillow that still smells like you Refreshing my mind of a memory or two There's a place on the chair where you're coat used to lay And a place in my heart that is empty today When red is the color that you used to see You'd get so angry when talking to me It's easy to say how much you belong here Please don't give in to fear. Where have you gone my angel? Where have you gone? Where have you gone my angel? Where have you gone? Sleeping alone in the middle of the bed Cryin' with you in my head. I could see the song was starting to get to Laura. But I finished it before it could really do anything. I kept going through the set, until the last song. "OK! Now, all the fans of ours know I don't usually do this--.but-.we're going to take a short break, and when we come back, I'll have a special guest for y'all!" I said, jumping down off the stage to a loud set of cheers. I grinned at Harry, and called him over. He shook his head no vigorously. I held up the keys to the Auburn. He finally came over. "I'm NOT playing on stage." "If you want your car back, yes you are." "That's blackmail." "No, you should know that it's bribery. You're Mr. PI." "Not anymore." He said with a slight frown. "Tell ya what, one song-----pleeeeeeeeaaaaaasssssssseeeeeeee????" I begged him. "Only for you Tab, only for you." He said, and I grinned. "Now, what songs do you know how to do?" "A couple." "Like what?" "Like I can't remember the names." "Well then, I just hope Ducky and Scott know them." I said, yanking him backstage, giving him my spare guitar, and running out onto the stage. "OK! Folks, here we go my guest star for the night, Harry!" I shouted into the mike, and got something between cheers and boos. I watched as he came out, and Laura's face contorted into a look of pure shock. I grinned even more, as Harry started the first riff that he knew. I picked it up immediately, providing backing vocals, along with Scott. Somebody new I wish you all the best, love Love and happiness, love And everything you'd ever want to have, see or do. And from the bottom of my heart I hope you never find somebody new. Anyone that tells you that broken hearts mend easy Has never, ever loved the way that I have loved you. As long as there's a chance for us I hope you never find somebody new. You have not convinced me yet you're gone My heart still says there's something going on And until I know that we're finally through I hope you never find somebody new. I'm acting like an actor Dancing like a dancer But when the curtain falls I always Call out for you And from the bottom of my heart I hope you never find somebody new You have not convinced me yet you're gone My heart still says there's something going on And until I know that we're finally through I hope you never find somebody new. I hope you never find Somebody new That did it. I watched as Laura turned around, and left. I grinned, and looked at Harry, then Scott then Ducky, they all grinned back. "T-that's A-all F-f-folks!" I said, doing a rather good Porky Pig impression. As I walked off stage, harry looked at me. "Keys?" He asked, holding out his hand. I gave him a little pouty look. "A deal is a deal." "One condition." "What?" He asked impatiently. "You bring my gear back to my place. I feel like walking." He rolled his eyes. "Be careful. It's 20 blocks from here to your place." "So?" I said, walking out, handing him my guitar. I had walked maybe 5 blocks when I got bored of walking. I looked around for a cab, and when I couldn't find one, I locked for the nearest place to stop and rest my feet. Regent's park was near by, but, then again, so was Laura's hotel room. I walked down to the hotel, and up to Laura's room. I knocked once on the door. When she opened it, I was taken aback at how-well-trashed she looked. "What do you want?" "To see if you were alright. Obviously, you're not." "Gee. Wonder what gave you that idea." "What's ammater?" "What went on back at that bar." "Look, the only reason I had Harry come out was because I wanted to make him work to get his car back." "What?" "I æborrowed' the auburn. Well, anyways, I had no clue he'd pick a song that heartbreaking." "You TOOK his car?" "Yeah. He wound up getting it back. Sadly. Which means I'm stuck with old Betsy, who's falling apart." She smiled a little. "It can't be as bad as my Rabbit." "Yes it can. You're Rabbit looks like a Corvette compared to my old compact car." "It can't be that old then." "No, you see, it wasn't a compact car when I bought it. My æparallel parking' turned it into one." She laughed. "Why'd you come here?" "Because I was going to walk home till my feet started to kill me. This was the closest place." "No seriously." "That was why. Seriously. Besides, I'm not an evil bitch ALL of the time. Just 9/10 of it. When I saw you fly out of that bar, I knew you were upset. So I decided to come see if I could do anything while I was in the neighborhood." "Yeah. You could turn back time." "I wish I could. Maybe then I could get that editor position at the NY times. But I can't. Now, I started off trying to help out your relationship. And I don't stop something till it's finished. And things are going to be finished when you and Harry are back together." I said, and waited for Laura's response, when my pager let off its familiar annoying beep. I looked down at the number. Daniel's house. "Excuse me one sec." I said, walking over to the phone and dialing Daniel's number. A very nervous sounding Harry picked up. "Harry. You sound like a wreck. What's ammater?" "It's Daniel." "Oh shit." I said, hanging up the phone. "I gotta go." I told Laura, and prepared to jet out of there. "What happened?" "It's Daniel." I said, running out of the door. I didn't even know what was wrong with Daniel. But just from the tone of Harry's voice, I knew something was very, very wrong. I ran top speed the last ten blocks, and arrived very out of breath at Daniel's apartment to see an ambulance in front. I raced inside, trying to catch my breath. I found Harry slumped on the couch. I sat down next to him. "What happened?" "Daniel. He-he had a heart attack." "Bloody Hell. Bloody goddamn hell." I said, almost in disbelief. "Daniel, picture of perfect health had a heart attack?" "Yes." "Oh my God." I said, that being the last thing I could remember. I woke up about half an hour later in a hospital room. I sat up, and paged the nurse. "Why am I sitting in a hospital bed? Last thing I checked, I was supposed to be offering support for someone who just had a heart attack." "You collapsed from shock." "Great. Gives a new meaning to when it rains, it pours. Where's Daniel?" "ICU" "Thanks." I said, getting up, and walking into Daniel's room. I found Harry sitting in one of the two chairs next to Daniel's bed. "Hey." I said, sitting in the other chair. "How is he?" "Not too great." "He'll get better." "You think?" "No." I said. "I know he will." He gave me a very weak smile. "Let's hope." "Tell you what, you look worse for the wear, you go home, get some sleep, and I'll stay here with Daniel." "You sure?" "I'm sure." I said, and gave him a little smile. As he left, I looked over at the still form of Daniel. "I'd never thought I'd see you in a hospital bed Daniel Joseph Chalmers. Never thought I'd see the day. God, please get better Danny. C'mon, get better for your two kids." I took out my wallet, and pulled out the picture of Daniel, me, my mom, and Harry, to reveal another photo. This one was just of Daniel and my mother. And it seemed to have been taken when they were both young. And when they were obviously in love. I had known that Daniel was my father for quite some time. Almost as long as I had known Harry was my brother. I learned Harry was my brother at the reading of my mother's will. I remember the line exactly. "To my oldest child, Harrison Daniel Chalmers, I leave 1 third of my estate. To my younger child, Tabitha Catherine Chalmers O'Sullivan, I leave 1 third of my estate. To Daniel Joseph Chalmers, I leave the remaining third." My mother didn't need a lawyer to write her will. She just divvied up everything between me, Harry, and Daniel. And Harry never knew that he'd gotten anything. And I knew Daniel's will too. I had found it lying in a drawer one day, and couldn't help but see if I got anything. And sure enough, I did. "To my son, Harrison Daniel Chalmers, I leave 2/5 of my estate. To my daughter, Tabitha Catherine Chalmers O'Sullivan, I leave 2/5 of my estate. I leave the final fifth of my estate to whoever works on the estate." Or something to that effect. I couldn't remember exactly how it was worded. But that was how I found out that Daniel was my father. Of course, me and Daniel were the only two who knew this. Well, only two living people. I had always wanted to ask him why he never told me, or told Harry for that matter. But I never got up the nerve. "Please God, let him get better. Let Daniel live." I prayed. I'd never been very religious. But it was times like these that make you stop and question your faith. I took the photo of Daniel and my mother out, and laid it on the pillow next to Daniel. I thought back to that afternoon. How soon I had put the fact that Daniel had mentioned heart problems out of my mind. I felt someone else there, and looked up to see Harry, changed, and with wet hair. "I couldn't sleep, so I just showered, changed and came back. Now, you look like you could use some sleep. Go home. Feed you dogs. You can hear em half a block away." Stifling a yawn, I nodded. "OK, I'll be back in the morning." I said, and quickly left. I just barely remembered walking out with my dogs, going half a block before turning around, and crashing onto my bed. The next thing I knew was all of a sudden the phone was ringing. I reached over and picked it up. "Hello?" I said groggily. "Hi. Hope I didn't wake you up." It took me a few minutes to recognize the voice. "Laura? How the HELL did you get this number?" "Phone book." "Oh. Now mind telling me exactly why the hell you're calling me?" "I was just wondering what happened." "If it HAS to be your damn business Daniel had a heart attack. Now, I have to go back to the hospital, Harry's probably fallen asleep." "Oh." "Goodbye." I said hanging up. I suppose she had a RIGHT to ask what happened. But when you get woken up after maybe 5 hours of sleep, you're kinda cranky. I sloped out a dish of food for the furballs, walked them quickly, and sped over to the hospital. As usual, the first thing I, as well as anyone could notice was the smell. The smell of a hospital. That very distinct one. So overly clean. It reeks of sterilization. And it's like baby crap. You just can't seem to get rid of the smell. It hangs under your nose for hours after you leave. I headed to the ICU, but stopped short when I saw a doctor walk into Daniel's room. I listened to what the doc had to say from the other side of the door. "I'm sorry, but the diagnosis doesn't look to great. We're going to do surgery on him to fix the artery that ruptured, but even after that, they're's maybe a 25 percent chance that he's going to live. It's amazing that he's lived this long. If you'd have waited another few minutes, he'd have been gone. I'll send someone over to bring to surgery in a few minutes." I paled at this. 25%. One in four. Five in twenty. Not good. I went to open the door to the room, when I noticed something very odd. Harry had sank to his knees next to Daniel's bed and was praying. Now it wasn't AS odd for me to be praying as it was for him. I at least tried to make it to church every Sunday. Harry, as far as I know had only been to church for weddings, funerals, and the occasional baptism. Never for a normal service. I walked into the room as quietly as I could, and waited for him to finish. I sat down in the other chair, and rubbed his back as he sat back up. "It'll be ok. It's Daniel. It'll be ok." I said, hoping that there was truth in my words. When it rains, it really, really does pour. tbc--- _____________________________________________________ OK, if you were wondering, the two songs were Scott Lippencott-Where Have You Gone, you can find it on www.scottlippincott.com and Billy Ray Cyrus, Somebody New, which is a lot harder to find. As usual, if you can find a title, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE TELL ME!
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