Hi -This chapter is quite possibly one of my favorites of all the stories I've written so far. It's different than a lot of the other scenes, as it's pretty emotional, but I love the way it flows...I hope you like it too. Nothing else to say, except thanks for reading and reviewing. I love you all! Hope you enjoy!
"Jude! Jude! Wake up!" Speed cried at her collapse, looking around in panic. "Get a doctor! Someone call 911!"
Kyle, who looked completely shocked, nodded quickly and ran out of the dressing room, slamming the door behind him while Wally whipped out his cell phone to call in the emergency.
Speed returned to Jude's unresponsive body in front of him. He shook her slightly and continued to call out her name, his face becoming redder out of fear and desperation.
Suddenly, they heard footsteps outside the dressing room and looked up to see Georgia, EJ, Kwest, and Tommy appear in the doorway. They all stopped moving at the sound of EJ shrieking. They looked down to where Speed and Wally were crouched and saw Jude's still body on the ground.
"Oh my god…" Tommy said in a panic, pushing Georgia out of the way and rushing over to her.
"Jude! Jude! Can you hear me?" he called, leaning over to hear her breathing.
"There's a doctor on the way," Speed said hastily, moving towards Jude's feet. "And Wally called 911."
Tommy stooped over her and continued calling her name, his voice becoming more and more frantic. He brought his hands to her pale face, stroking her cheeks and trying to get her to open her eyes. But she lay motionless, lifeless, as he continued to talk to her, growing quieter from the surge of emotion at the sight of her.
Georgia, Kwest and EJ watched the scene before them in alarm, as they heard racing footsteps down the hallway. They all turned to see Kyle breathlessly enter the room, pointing at Jude on the floor. He was accompanied by an older man with glasses, along with Mrs. Harrison, Josh, and Sadie.
Victoria immediately screamed at the sight of her daughter on the ground and rushed to her side, pushing Tommy out of the way. He backed up a little, holding on to Jude's hand. The man with the glasses, who they all figured to be the doctor, rushed to her other side.
"Okay, I need everyone to back up!" he yelled, beckoning for the crowd to move towards the other side of the room, which they did. "You too," he said to Tommy and Victoria, who both hadn't budged.
Tommy hesitantly dropped Jude's hand and stood up, keeping his eyes on her and backing up towards the wall. His expression was one that none of them had ever seen, full of fear and despair, looking like he was about to break down at any moment.
Victoria sobbed loudly, standing up and stumbling towards Sadie, who was also in tears. Josh stood in shock, his jaw opened, not knowing what to say or what to do, and wrapped his arm around Sadie for support.
The doctor listened to Jude's slow breathing and pulled her eyes open to look at her pupils.
"Is she going to be okay?" Victoria called out in between hysterics. "Is my baby going to be alright?"
"Mrs. Harrison, I need you to calm down. You're not helping matters," the doctor said evenly. He was checking Jude's vital signs and pulse. "Has she been sick at all lately? Been eating normally and sleeping? Does she have any allergies?"
"No allergies that we know of," Victoria answered through a quiet sob. "And she hasn't been sick in the last two years. Everything has been perfectly normal."
"That's not true," Tommy piped in. "She hasn't been eating or sleeping."
"What?" Victoria questioned, staring at him through tears.
"Look at her! Haven't you noticed how frail she is?" he yelled. He looked down at her, visibly getting choked up. "She's not well, she hasn't been well for a few weeks," he muttered quietly. Georgia and EJ looked at each other in concern, both noting his tearful expression.
The doctor glanced over at Tommy and nodded in understanding.
"She's just been stressed, Doctor," Victoria attempted to explain.
"It's more than that," Josh muttered from behind Sadie. Everyone turned to look at him the second he spoke. "She hasn't been herself lately. Tom's right—she hasn't been eating much at all. I took her on two dates last week, she just ordered coffee on both. That's not Jude."
"And she's been up late at night," Sadie chimed in. "I hear her playing her guitar almost every night until 5am."
"How come you didn't tell me?" Victoria asked, eyeing Sadie in annoyance.
"Mom, isn't that your job? She's your daughter!" Sadie yelled back.
"Enough!" the doctor shouted, silencing the discussion. "Is she on any medication?"
"No," Victoria answered, crossing her arms and watching the doctor crouch directly over Jude's body. He scrutinized her face for a moment and then clapped loudly once or twice in front of her eyes. He looked back at Victoria, who was still crying, and said to her, "Come here, I need you."
She immediately rushed over to Jude's side, looking at the doctor for instructions.
"Talk to her, say something. She needs to hear familiar voices."
Victoria nodded and leaned over towards her daughter. "Jude, honey, we're here for you…you gave a great performance tonight. And even if you failed your History test last week, we love you anyway. And even though we got a call from your principal saying you were failing Physics too, it's okay. If you wake up, we won't ground you..."
"Mrs. Harrison, you need to be supportive!" the doctor hollered. "She needs to hear soothing, warm voices, not reminders of the stress she's under."
"Can I try?" Tommy asked quietly, biting his lip in an appeal to the doctor.
"Go ahead," the doctor agreed, as Tommy rushed over to Jude. Victoria backed up a bit to let Tommy in, watching him skeptically as he grabbed her hand and leaned over.
He began whispering something into her ear. No one could hear what he said to her as they all stood around in complete silence, questioning what was going on before their eyes. He gently smoothed her hair and continued whispering into her ear, tears welling up in his eyes as he spoke.
Everyone in the room was startled, seeing the one person who always was so strong and so put together, crumbling before their eyes. Georgia was especially affected, quietly crying, watching the exchange and the way that Tommy was reacting. Though her anxiety was entirely for Jude, she couldn't help being moved by his display of emotion.
As he lightly kissed her forehead and saw a few of his own tears fall against her skin, he felt a small tug on his hand. He looked down in shock at his hand and then back up to Jude's face, her eyes fluttering.
"Jude?" he asked hopefully.
The group standing around the dressing room remained motionless and silent as they all saw the edge of Jude's leg start to move ever so slowly. They all let out a gasp at the slight movement, realizing that she was coming back. Victoria was the first to rush back over towards her daughter, calling her name and crouching in back of Tommy. They looked closely at Jude, while the doctor grabbed her other hand and took her pulse again.
She slowly started to open her eyes, hearing voices above her but feeling like she couldn't move. The images in front of her were hazy as her eyes opened a little wider.
"Tommy?" she asked softly, almost in a croak.
"Yeah, girl, I'm here," he said, brushing her cheek.
"Where am I?"
"You're at Glow. In your dressing room," he answered shakily, still choked up.
"What happened?"
"You collapsed, Miss Harrison. Please don't move an inch," the doctor ordered, seeing her try to shift a little more.
"The ambulance is here," Kyle announced, seeing the paramedics rush down the hallway towards the dressing room.
"Good. Perfect timing," the doctor said, standing up to allow the paramedics in. He pulled Tommy and Victoria back as well, rattling off a list of conditions as the paramedics swooped in and started to examine Jude.
Tommy and Victoria slowly retreated, both still in tears, and taking a huge sigh of relief that their girl was going to be okay.