Carey shifted uncomfortably in his hospital bed. With the help of some no-nonsense nurses he had changed into a gown and heaved himself onto a gurney. He had decided to let his family and friends wait outside while he was examined, his beaten up arm was surely not a Kodak moment. Even with the medication they had given him he was still rather coherent.
"All right Mr. Bell, my name is Dr. Nelson." A younger man in his thirties walked into the room bearing a chart, adorned in the ever-present coat and stethoscope. "It says here you slammed into a wall hand first when you rolled off of a couch on a bus?" The man was obviously confused.
"Let me explain a little better for you, and please call me Carey." Carey took a deep breath and began his six degrees of separation from his little accident. "I'm the guitarist for the Molly Phillips tour and I was sleeping on the couch in the tour bus and we hit a deep ditch and I was thrown from the couch and into the wall."
"That's quite a story." Dr. Nelson eyed the extensive damage on the boys hand. "I'm going to have to take numerous x-rays of your shoulder down to your fingers and everything in between."
Carey groaned. "How long will all of this take?"
"It will take almost an hour to take the x-rays and get them developed. It's a slow night so it shouldn't be that bad."
"Will I have to get a cast?"
"I think that's safe to say. You'll have a cast for a long time with special finger projections to hold your fingers in place while they heal." The Doctor could see the young man was becoming a little concerned with his situation.
"How long until I can play my guitar again?" Carey was starting to panic. He was yet to consider this consequence.
"It all depends on how severe the damage to your joints and fingers were." Dr. Nelson tried to reassure the boy of the best, even though both he and the doctor feared the worst. "We'll know a lot more once we take these x-rays."
A nurse entered the room with an x-ray machine followed by another man with heavy gowns for them all to wear. Carey blinked back his tears and sat up at the nurses command to position himself for the x-ray.
"Are we all ready?"
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"I hope Carey isn't hurt too bad. His arm looked so awful." Fi spoke up out of a silence in the calm waiting room where they all sat.
"I suppose the worst is he'll be in a cast for a while." Ned stated.
"I feel so bad about this but I'm going to have to call soon about getting a replacement guitar player. I know I can get Ben Wilkens but I'd have to call him by tomorrow night." Molly was solemn in her order.
"It's okay Molly, Carey will be fine with it, and he's a big boy." Irene replied from where she sat on the soft bench, leaning against Ned's strong frame.
"He wont be able to play for months though probably, right? I mean, all those months of being in a cast and then working up to the level he was at before." Fi shut her mouth quickly as she realized what she had just said.
"Fi..." Jack smacked his sister lightly with the magazine he was reading.
"It's okay Jack, we all know it. It's just going to be hard having to watch him go through that." Irene sounded tired, she wanted so badly to help her boy but she understood that he needed to do this alone.
"Come on guys, we're all jumping to conclusions. I'm sure after a few months he'll be fine and you know Carey will get back to speed quickly. Ben will be purely temporary." Molly tried to liven up the crowd with her optimism. She could see it was failing.
Fi and Jack were sprawled across the chairs section in the middle of the room reading magazines and catching worried glances at each other. Ned and Irene sat together silently on the long bench seat, they were obviously worried about Carey. Molly stood pacing as she debated how long to wait before calling Ben about joining them up. He knew all of her music and he was available. He loved to tour and he had been such a blast back when he toured with her and Rick. Molly had no doubts that he would get along great hanging with the other musicians and roadies.
"Call him Molly, before you wear the rug down." Irene's sudden comment broke Molly's thought process.
"I think I'll wait until we know about Carey for sure. I know he wont be playing in the next show but it seems cruel to replace him before he's even treated."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"All right Carey. We have your x-rays back." Dr. Nelson broke through Carey's semi drugged haze. "It's not as bad as it could have been luckily. Should I go ahead and call your family in here?"
"Sure. That way you wont have to explain this all twice." Carey was relieved to hear it wasn't so bad. His pain had dulled slightly with whatever they were giving him intravenously. He was able to doze once again, at least until the next disturbance. His dazed dreams were filled with beautiful guitars strumming perfect melodies.
"All right Mr. Bell, my name is Dr. Nelson." A younger man in his thirties walked into the room bearing a chart, adorned in the ever-present coat and stethoscope. "It says here you slammed into a wall hand first when you rolled off of a couch on a bus?" The man was obviously confused.
"Let me explain a little better for you, and please call me Carey." Carey took a deep breath and began his six degrees of separation from his little accident. "I'm the guitarist for the Molly Phillips tour and I was sleeping on the couch in the tour bus and we hit a deep ditch and I was thrown from the couch and into the wall."
"That's quite a story." Dr. Nelson eyed the extensive damage on the boys hand. "I'm going to have to take numerous x-rays of your shoulder down to your fingers and everything in between."
Carey groaned. "How long will all of this take?"
"It will take almost an hour to take the x-rays and get them developed. It's a slow night so it shouldn't be that bad."
"Will I have to get a cast?"
"I think that's safe to say. You'll have a cast for a long time with special finger projections to hold your fingers in place while they heal." The Doctor could see the young man was becoming a little concerned with his situation.
"How long until I can play my guitar again?" Carey was starting to panic. He was yet to consider this consequence.
"It all depends on how severe the damage to your joints and fingers were." Dr. Nelson tried to reassure the boy of the best, even though both he and the doctor feared the worst. "We'll know a lot more once we take these x-rays."
A nurse entered the room with an x-ray machine followed by another man with heavy gowns for them all to wear. Carey blinked back his tears and sat up at the nurses command to position himself for the x-ray.
"Are we all ready?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I hope Carey isn't hurt too bad. His arm looked so awful." Fi spoke up out of a silence in the calm waiting room where they all sat.
"I suppose the worst is he'll be in a cast for a while." Ned stated.
"I feel so bad about this but I'm going to have to call soon about getting a replacement guitar player. I know I can get Ben Wilkens but I'd have to call him by tomorrow night." Molly was solemn in her order.
"It's okay Molly, Carey will be fine with it, and he's a big boy." Irene replied from where she sat on the soft bench, leaning against Ned's strong frame.
"He wont be able to play for months though probably, right? I mean, all those months of being in a cast and then working up to the level he was at before." Fi shut her mouth quickly as she realized what she had just said.
"Fi..." Jack smacked his sister lightly with the magazine he was reading.
"It's okay Jack, we all know it. It's just going to be hard having to watch him go through that." Irene sounded tired, she wanted so badly to help her boy but she understood that he needed to do this alone.
"Come on guys, we're all jumping to conclusions. I'm sure after a few months he'll be fine and you know Carey will get back to speed quickly. Ben will be purely temporary." Molly tried to liven up the crowd with her optimism. She could see it was failing.
Fi and Jack were sprawled across the chairs section in the middle of the room reading magazines and catching worried glances at each other. Ned and Irene sat together silently on the long bench seat, they were obviously worried about Carey. Molly stood pacing as she debated how long to wait before calling Ben about joining them up. He knew all of her music and he was available. He loved to tour and he had been such a blast back when he toured with her and Rick. Molly had no doubts that he would get along great hanging with the other musicians and roadies.
"Call him Molly, before you wear the rug down." Irene's sudden comment broke Molly's thought process.
"I think I'll wait until we know about Carey for sure. I know he wont be playing in the next show but it seems cruel to replace him before he's even treated."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"All right Carey. We have your x-rays back." Dr. Nelson broke through Carey's semi drugged haze. "It's not as bad as it could have been luckily. Should I go ahead and call your family in here?"
"Sure. That way you wont have to explain this all twice." Carey was relieved to hear it wasn't so bad. His pain had dulled slightly with whatever they were giving him intravenously. He was able to doze once again, at least until the next disturbance. His dazed dreams were filled with beautiful guitars strumming perfect melodies.