Adam watched as his bassist fell to the floor, the bass guitar crashing as it hit the floor with him, and the thud as Tommy's body hit the stage in a rush. Adam rushed over to his side. "stop the music" he said sharply into the microphone before switching it off. He sat down beside Tommy on the stage and placed a hand on his friend's shoulder, shaking him slightly to try and wake him up. "Tommy? Tommy can you hear me?" he asked. His voice panicked and quiet. Monte set his guitar down and came rushing over too. "Adam you need to get him off this stage away from everyone. Get him backstage" Monte told Adam. Adam nodded, yet he wasn't sure if he could comprehend the words that left Monte's mouth. Monte bent down and in one movement picked Tommy up and carried him backstage. Adam followed and watched as Monte lay Tommy's lifeless body on a couch backstage. Adam hovered over his friend, panicking now as the reality set in. "Tommy!" he half shouted. Monte remained calm "we need to try wake him up" he stated, and began checking Tommy's eyes, pulse and any sign of life. A small noise escaped Tommy, and his head flopped to the side. "Tommy" Adam repeated, his hands holding Tommy's head gently. Tommy's eyes fluttered a few times before they slowly opened. He blinked, dazed and confused and unaware of the environment around him. "Wha What's happening?…..Adam?" he asked sleepily. Monte rushed away to get some water. Adam kneeled beside his friend, his forefinger slowly stroking tommy's face. "You fainted, glitterbaby." he said softly. Tommy blinked again, his eyes becoming wide and panicked. "on stage? Adam im so sorry…" he began stressing out, trying to push himself up. Adam slowly helped him into a sitting position, he leaned tommy's back against the wall, then slumped down to kneel in front of him. "You eaten today?" Adam asked, cautiously. Tommy still looked out of it, his head hung to one side. "No" he answered quietly. "You gotta eat man. This tour is brutal, but you gotta keep eating and try and keep sleeping otherwise you're ganna crash and burn" Adam told him. Tommy nodded knowingly. Adam placed his hand on Tommy's knee, rubbing it slowly in reassurance. "You rest up back here…" his eyes suddenly focused on Tommy's brown eyes, usually so bright, now just dull circles under the eye makeup. The image made his heart sink. It was his tour, he should've been looking out for everyone in the band, making sure everyone else was good…making sure Tommy was good. he felt selfish all of a sudden and withdrew his hand. Adam seemed to sink into himself. "I ruined your show" Tommy said quietly, his eyes met adam's. Adam opened his mouth to say something then closed it again. Tommy felt guilty - he'd let everyone down, the band, the fans, Adam. He just wanted to curl into a ball and hide in a dark room. "you gotta go out there and carry it on". Adam looked up at him, battered by inner turmoil. "im sorry, tommy" he almost whispered. Tommy looked confused, and then Adam was gone.
After sitting in the chair and sipping on the water Monte had bought him, Tommy retreated to the bathroom to go and freshen himself up. He looked in the mirror at his worn out reflection. He'd never felt so tired and lifeless before. He didn't even recognize the zombie looking back at him. Slowly, he dug into his pocket and pulled out a small canister of pills. he poured them into his hand and shifted the tiny red tablets around in his hand. "2 more days" he repeated, and threw the lot into his mouth, swallowing them back with a gulp of water. He gasped for air afterwards, running his hands under the water. He suddenly felt calm again and somehow awake. He heard the door open and quickly shoved the remaining pills back into his pocket. Noone had to know.