The New Family Member
Phonecall
Tony’s POV
We had just gotten on stage and the crowd was going wild. This was why I was still alive. Coming out and seeing people so excited was the best feeling ever. The only thing that would have made it even better would be having Noortje here with us. But she wasn’t, and it was for a good reason. In a couple more months there was going to be a small Perry joining us, and to say I was excited would be an understatement. I couldn’t wait to hold my baby boy or girl; I could already tell they were going to be my whole life.
I looked to my right and saw Vic, Jaime, and our substitute, Jesse. He fell in before for me, and he managed to learn different guitar parts in no time again. We could always rely on him; he was talented and could probably fill in for two people at once, even though it was physically impossible. These guys really were my best friends, but I couldn’t wait to get back home to Noortje. Just three more weeks to go.
We played a couple more songs and Jaime suddenly walked up to me in between songs. He was saying something, but I couldn’t hear him.
I took out my in-ear monitor, “What?”
“It’s Jay, he’s saying you need to go to him, now,” Jaime shouted at me.
I gave him a confused look to which he shrugged back. Vic was looking at us as well and Jaime went up to tell him what was going. I honestly didn’t know what was happening, but I ran off stage. This didn’t feel right, it felt serious.
I found Jay and he looked so relieved to see me, “it’s Noortje.”
My eyes widened and I quickly took my phone from him, “Noortje, baby?”
“Tony?” she answered in a small voice.
“What going on?”
“Tony, I’m scared.”
“Noortje, what’s wrong?” I started panicking, was she in danger? Nobody was with her at the moment. Her brother had gone back home a couple of days ago and as far as I knew, nobody came to visit. She normally had at least one person around her for the last couple of weeks.
“Tt hurts so bad,” she moaned in pain. I could hears some shuffling, a toilet lid opening, and throwing up.
“What’s hurting, babe?”
She started sobbing, “Tony, I’m so scared it’s hurting so bad.”
It suddenly hit me. The baby. Something was wrong, “Noortje, I’m coming home. Call Danielle and go to the hospital.”
“I- it’s not that bad.”
“No, I’m getting a plane ticket home. Now. As fast as possible. Stay on the phone with me, ok?”
“Ok.”
I knew she wasn’t going to be ok. She might not want to go to the hospital, but I was going to go home, whether she liked it or not. I could not leave her by herself like this. So, I ran around, looking for Jay again. He gave me a concerned look when he saw me running up to him.
“I need to go home,” I said out of breath, “now.”
Jay forgot about the show and ran to his laptop. While he was typing away, I kept hearing groans of pain. Why couldn’t he just hurry up already?
“Umm, next ‘plane leaves in 30 minutes, do you think you can make that?” he asked me.
“Yes!” I said without doubt, the airport was just a couple of minutes away, “I need to go!”
“It’s only business class, though.”
“I really don’t care how much it costs.”
he clicked a couple more things, “ok, I sent it to your phone.”
----
Vic’s POV
Jaime came up to me and told me that Jay had asked for Tony. I decided to wait for him, but minutes passed and he still didn’t come back. What was going on? We either had to stop the show or continue now, this was taking too long.
I looked around, “do we continue without Tony, or…?”
The crowd booed and I didn’t get any official replies. Where the fuck was Jay when you needed him!
I tried again, “I don’t know what to do here.”
I looked over at Jaime, he was talking to one of the crew members. Once again he walked over to me and I lowered my head so I could hear him better. He said something along the lines of Tony going home, but I couldn’t exactly hear what he said.
“Went home?” I asked, but it unintentionally went over the speakers. She crowd suddenly went really silent.
Jay was finally back side stage, so I made my way over to him, “what the fuck are we supposed to do? Where’s Tony!”
He shook his head, “something’s wrong with Noortje.”
“What! Is she ok? What wrong?”
“I don’t know, he only told me he had to go home as soon as possible. You’re going to either play without him or cut the show short. You decide. You’re going to have to play the next shows without him, I don’t know when or if he’s coming back.”
“Ok, we’ll have to figure out how to play the next shows, but I think we’re going to have to stop this one. There’s no way we can play now.”
Jay agreed and I walked back out on stage. This time the crowd went wild again, but I had to tell them bad news, “so… Tony’s had to leave. There’s some issues with his family and he needs to go support them,” I looked over at Jaime and he knew exactly what I was talking about, “So, I’m sorry to say it and as much as it pains me to say this, we’re going to have to stop here,” the entire crowd booed me, “I never thought I would have to do this. But to make it up to you guys, we’ll be outside in a bit and we want to meet every one of you!” This seemed to get the crowd to cheer again, “We’ll see you in a bit!”
This was our cue to leave the stage. We immediately went back to the bus to see if we could still catch Tony. He was throwing stuff in a backpack while talking on the phone.
I listened in. Tony sounded distressed, “seriously, go to a hospital. Now. I don’t care if you say you’re fine, I know you’re not. I can hear your cries of pain. Don’t wait for me. Seriously, Noortje!”
I walked up to him, “is everything ok?”
“I’m so sorry, guys, I have to go,” He walked off the bus, leaving us without any answers.
I turned to the others. We all gave each other worried glances. Something was very wrong with Noortje; it was bad enough for Tony to go home in the middle of a show! What were we going to do now?
“Do you think she’s ok?” Jaime asked.
I shook my head. It really didn’t seem ok.
----
Tony’s POV
I had just managed to get on the plane, it was about to leave but I ran through security just to get there before. Let’s just say it was really awkward to be in business class looking like this. Sure, we’ve been in it before, but I was still sweaty from the show and looked like a complete mess. Luckily, the flight wasn’t that long and I was able to get home in a couple of hours.
So that’s where I was now; at home, running up the stairs to find Noortje. I knew she hadn’t gone to the hospital. She kept on promising she would, but I knew her well enough to know she was lying. Just like I had expected, Noortje was still in the bathroom, curled up in a ball, clutching the toilet.
I rushed over to her and kneeled down, “oh my god, baby.”
“Tony,” she sobbed, “I can’t have another miscarriage. Not again.”
“I know, it won’t happen,” but the blood stain in her sweatpants was telling me differently, “let’s get you to a hospital, ok?”
“I don’t wanna go.”
“I know, I also don’t want to face reality right now. But I’m not risking losing both of you,” I tried helping her up, but she yelled in pain again, “ok, this is not going to work.”
Instead, I took out my phone and called 911. They asked me questions, and I replied in as much detail as I could, telling them about her previous miscarriage, that she was 26 weeks pregnant, and about the blood and throwing up. I was not going to lose this child, and if I would lose Noortje in the process, I wouldn’t be able to live anymore. Our lives were fucked up, but they were fucked up together.
I got up and started rummaging through our bedroom. Just incase she had to stay at the hospital, I packed a bag with some of her stuff. Leaving her now for a couple of minutes was better than having to leave her alone at the hospital for an hour or so.
“Tony…” I heard from the bathroom, “where are you?”
“I’m just getting you some stuff to bring to the hospital, I’ll be there soon,” I replied at I stuffed the last couple of stuff into a backpack.
Soon the paramedics came and took Noortje with them. I didn’t even have time to register what was going on. People were rushing up with a stretcher and seconds later Noortje was being taken out of the bathroom. She was screaming and clutching her stomach. Once again she was in pain and on the verge of dying, and I could help her.
The last thing I was being told was that I couldn’t ride in the ambulance with her, they had too much to do. I had to follow in my car.
We had just gotten on stage and the crowd was going wild. This was why I was still alive. Coming out and seeing people so excited was the best feeling ever. The only thing that would have made it even better would be having Noortje here with us. But she wasn’t, and it was for a good reason. In a couple more months there was going to be a small Perry joining us, and to say I was excited would be an understatement. I couldn’t wait to hold my baby boy or girl; I could already tell they were going to be my whole life.
I looked to my right and saw Vic, Jaime, and our substitute, Jesse. He fell in before for me, and he managed to learn different guitar parts in no time again. We could always rely on him; he was talented and could probably fill in for two people at once, even though it was physically impossible. These guys really were my best friends, but I couldn’t wait to get back home to Noortje. Just three more weeks to go.
We played a couple more songs and Jaime suddenly walked up to me in between songs. He was saying something, but I couldn’t hear him.
I took out my in-ear monitor, “What?”
“It’s Jay, he’s saying you need to go to him, now,” Jaime shouted at me.
I gave him a confused look to which he shrugged back. Vic was looking at us as well and Jaime went up to tell him what was going. I honestly didn’t know what was happening, but I ran off stage. This didn’t feel right, it felt serious.
I found Jay and he looked so relieved to see me, “it’s Noortje.”
My eyes widened and I quickly took my phone from him, “Noortje, baby?”
“Tony?” she answered in a small voice.
“What going on?”
“Tony, I’m scared.”
“Noortje, what’s wrong?” I started panicking, was she in danger? Nobody was with her at the moment. Her brother had gone back home a couple of days ago and as far as I knew, nobody came to visit. She normally had at least one person around her for the last couple of weeks.
“Tt hurts so bad,” she moaned in pain. I could hears some shuffling, a toilet lid opening, and throwing up.
“What’s hurting, babe?”
She started sobbing, “Tony, I’m so scared it’s hurting so bad.”
It suddenly hit me. The baby. Something was wrong, “Noortje, I’m coming home. Call Danielle and go to the hospital.”
“I- it’s not that bad.”
“No, I’m getting a plane ticket home. Now. As fast as possible. Stay on the phone with me, ok?”
“Ok.”
I knew she wasn’t going to be ok. She might not want to go to the hospital, but I was going to go home, whether she liked it or not. I could not leave her by herself like this. So, I ran around, looking for Jay again. He gave me a concerned look when he saw me running up to him.
“I need to go home,” I said out of breath, “now.”
Jay forgot about the show and ran to his laptop. While he was typing away, I kept hearing groans of pain. Why couldn’t he just hurry up already?
“Umm, next ‘plane leaves in 30 minutes, do you think you can make that?” he asked me.
“Yes!” I said without doubt, the airport was just a couple of minutes away, “I need to go!”
“It’s only business class, though.”
“I really don’t care how much it costs.”
he clicked a couple more things, “ok, I sent it to your phone.”
----
Vic’s POV
Jaime came up to me and told me that Jay had asked for Tony. I decided to wait for him, but minutes passed and he still didn’t come back. What was going on? We either had to stop the show or continue now, this was taking too long.
I looked around, “do we continue without Tony, or…?”
The crowd booed and I didn’t get any official replies. Where the fuck was Jay when you needed him!
I tried again, “I don’t know what to do here.”
I looked over at Jaime, he was talking to one of the crew members. Once again he walked over to me and I lowered my head so I could hear him better. He said something along the lines of Tony going home, but I couldn’t exactly hear what he said.
“Went home?” I asked, but it unintentionally went over the speakers. She crowd suddenly went really silent.
Jay was finally back side stage, so I made my way over to him, “what the fuck are we supposed to do? Where’s Tony!”
He shook his head, “something’s wrong with Noortje.”
“What! Is she ok? What wrong?”
“I don’t know, he only told me he had to go home as soon as possible. You’re going to either play without him or cut the show short. You decide. You’re going to have to play the next shows without him, I don’t know when or if he’s coming back.”
“Ok, we’ll have to figure out how to play the next shows, but I think we’re going to have to stop this one. There’s no way we can play now.”
Jay agreed and I walked back out on stage. This time the crowd went wild again, but I had to tell them bad news, “so… Tony’s had to leave. There’s some issues with his family and he needs to go support them,” I looked over at Jaime and he knew exactly what I was talking about, “So, I’m sorry to say it and as much as it pains me to say this, we’re going to have to stop here,” the entire crowd booed me, “I never thought I would have to do this. But to make it up to you guys, we’ll be outside in a bit and we want to meet every one of you!” This seemed to get the crowd to cheer again, “We’ll see you in a bit!”
This was our cue to leave the stage. We immediately went back to the bus to see if we could still catch Tony. He was throwing stuff in a backpack while talking on the phone.
I listened in. Tony sounded distressed, “seriously, go to a hospital. Now. I don’t care if you say you’re fine, I know you’re not. I can hear your cries of pain. Don’t wait for me. Seriously, Noortje!”
I walked up to him, “is everything ok?”
“I’m so sorry, guys, I have to go,” He walked off the bus, leaving us without any answers.
I turned to the others. We all gave each other worried glances. Something was very wrong with Noortje; it was bad enough for Tony to go home in the middle of a show! What were we going to do now?
“Do you think she’s ok?” Jaime asked.
I shook my head. It really didn’t seem ok.
----
Tony’s POV
I had just managed to get on the plane, it was about to leave but I ran through security just to get there before. Let’s just say it was really awkward to be in business class looking like this. Sure, we’ve been in it before, but I was still sweaty from the show and looked like a complete mess. Luckily, the flight wasn’t that long and I was able to get home in a couple of hours.
So that’s where I was now; at home, running up the stairs to find Noortje. I knew she hadn’t gone to the hospital. She kept on promising she would, but I knew her well enough to know she was lying. Just like I had expected, Noortje was still in the bathroom, curled up in a ball, clutching the toilet.
I rushed over to her and kneeled down, “oh my god, baby.”
“Tony,” she sobbed, “I can’t have another miscarriage. Not again.”
“I know, it won’t happen,” but the blood stain in her sweatpants was telling me differently, “let’s get you to a hospital, ok?”
“I don’t wanna go.”
“I know, I also don’t want to face reality right now. But I’m not risking losing both of you,” I tried helping her up, but she yelled in pain again, “ok, this is not going to work.”
Instead, I took out my phone and called 911. They asked me questions, and I replied in as much detail as I could, telling them about her previous miscarriage, that she was 26 weeks pregnant, and about the blood and throwing up. I was not going to lose this child, and if I would lose Noortje in the process, I wouldn’t be able to live anymore. Our lives were fucked up, but they were fucked up together.
I got up and started rummaging through our bedroom. Just incase she had to stay at the hospital, I packed a bag with some of her stuff. Leaving her now for a couple of minutes was better than having to leave her alone at the hospital for an hour or so.
“Tony…” I heard from the bathroom, “where are you?”
“I’m just getting you some stuff to bring to the hospital, I’ll be there soon,” I replied at I stuffed the last couple of stuff into a backpack.
Soon the paramedics came and took Noortje with them. I didn’t even have time to register what was going on. People were rushing up with a stretcher and seconds later Noortje was being taken out of the bathroom. She was screaming and clutching her stomach. Once again she was in pain and on the verge of dying, and I could help her.
The last thing I was being told was that I couldn’t ride in the ambulance with her, they had too much to do. I had to follow in my car.
Notes
I thought the transition between the last chapter and this one was too sudden, but I couldn't think of anything to write as a filler chapter. In case you didn't know, this takes place a couple days after the last chapter.
So, what's wrong with Noortje? Is she going to be ok? Or will bad things happen? And how will the tour continue with two members missing? Will it be canceled?
@Nickyvlxx
You still have one epilogue to go ;) but it's still in progress, so now you also have to wait patiently :P
Good luck with the ATL stories, by the way, I hope they don't bore you.
4/22/16