The next day they were all at Joe's house cleaning up the mess, the police had given them the ok. Joe was still very upset. He hadn't even bothered to change his bloody shirt. Steven wondered if perhaps Joe thought that her blood would be absorbed into him if he kept it on; because when Steven offered to wash it Joe yelled at him and told him no.
"I'm sorry for your loss Joe" Joey said "If it makes it any better Rory is heart broken too. Melody was her best friend." He said sweeping a little pile of bloody glass shards.
"BUT SHE DIDN'T LOSE HER LIFE" Joe said the sadness had left his voice, and now there was anger just like he had had with the paramedic but this time he let it loose. How dare Joey compare his pain to hers? Why did he think one person's heartache would make his any better?
"Holy shit man…calm down." Joey said taken aback by the sudden burst of anger flinging the shards around that were in a neat pile when his broom jumped with him. Joe looked down at them as a particularly bloody one came to a spinning stop in front of him and sighed then looked back up to Joey.
"I'm sorry Joey." Joe said with sadness back in his voice. Tears glistened in his eyes that were red and puffy.
"It's ok Joe" Joey said calmly but a little bit shaken by the sudden burst of anger. Joe looked around to all his friends and jumped when he saw a huge gash on Tom's arm, right below his elbow.
"Tom what the hell happened to you, that looks nasty." He asked grimacing. Tom looked down and jumped too as if he was seeing it for the first time.
"Oh yeah, this morning I was working in my yard, cutting down tree branches, when I was attacked by one. It's okay Joe, you should really be more concerned with those legs." Tom said covering the wound on his arm with his hand.
"Tom is right you should really get off your feet. Your legs look horrible" Brad said truthfully "Maybe you should go lie down and take a nap." He suggested. Joe's legs were bandaged and he had gotten out his old cane to help him around, he looked pretty tired.
"You're right, Ok I'll be upstairs if you need me," Joe said limping up the stairs. They all doubted that he was actually going to sleep, they just knew he needed to be alone. As he walked away, they could see tears coming from his eyes with each step up.
"Poor Joe" Steven said looking at his friend in a helpless manner. Who would do this? Why did someone do this? Well whomever it was Steven was going to find out. They cleaned up the mess a short while later and said their goodbyes. Steven went up to tell Joe that they were leaving. Joe's bedroom door was cracked open. Steven went and listened through the crack. What he heard next shocked the hell out of him.
"Melody, why did you have to die? Why didn't you let me call 911 for you? Why couldn't you have just fought harder? MELODY! WHY?" Joe screamed in rage. He fell off of the bed and landed hard on his hands and knees. Steven heard the thump and came rushing in and ran to Joe's side.
"Joe are you alright?" Steven asked. He helped Joe sit back down on the bed. Joe looked up at him sadder than he had ever been.
"She wouldn't let me call 911 for her. She was being selfish. She would surely still be alive Steven." He cried to his friend. Steven shook his head.
"Joe she knew that she had limited time and she wanted to spend her last few moments with you. She loved you so very much Joe." Steven said patting Joe's shoulder.
"I know I could see that love in her eyes. I'm just so mad that she had to die. Why not me? I wish I had died in her place." He sobbed. Steven got real stern real fast.
"Joe, why the hell would you wish your pain on Melody?" he asked angrily. Joe looked shocked.
"What? Melody is dead" he said dumbly.
"No listen to me, just think, if you had died protecting her, she would feel exactly how you feel now." Steven said.
"I know that, but she would be alive." He said desperately defending his views.
"Alive and miserable! The fact that you would even say that leads me to believe that you really didn't love her at all." Steven said. Just as he expected, Joe jumped up angrily, grabbed Steven by the collar and pinned him against the wall.
"Don't you ever fucking say that again, I loved Melody more than anyone will ever know" Joe spat violently. Steven was wincing in pain; Joe was pushing all his weight into him. Somehow Steven managed to be fierce back.
"Then don't you wish your pain on her again be grateful that the damn killer didn't come upstairs and murder your ass." Steven said. Joe's grip loosened and he stepped back, sobbing.
"I'm sorry Steven, I know Melody loved me as I loved her, I wouldn't want her to have this pain. Thank you for putting my ass in line." Joe said. Steven smiled at his friend glad to see he was finally listening to reason.
"No sweat man, get some rest for us please. The funeral is in a few days. We'll all be there for you. Please call me if you need me." Steven offered. Joe just nodded and went back to the bed.
Steven shut the bedroom door slowly and winced. Joe had just managed to break one of his ribs, well cracked at least. That was alright he thought as he reached the front door. Joe was in pain and didn't mean to do it and, he laughed to himself, he had provoked anyway. Steven walked across the yard and slid behind the drivers seat of his car as he turned it on he couldn't stop him self from thinking what would happen if someone took Teresa from him. That thought carried him all the way down the highway. He couldn't imagine it, plus having her die in his arms, there was no way he could go on. While stopped in a bit of a traffic jam a thought occurred to him, what if Joe really couldn't take it? He had already told Steven that he wished he was dead.
The wheels of Steven's red Lamborghini spun wildly as he sped across the grass medium. How could he be so stupid as to let Joe be by himself at a moment like this? The car was floored but still not going fast enough for him, he decided that he had to call Joe because he was sure Joe was doing the unthinkable right now. He dialed the numbers as fast as he could and waited anxiously for Joe to pick up, and hoped that he would. His heart fell as the answering machine picked up.
"Hi you've reach Joe and Melody. We can't get to the phone right now but you know what to do after the beep." Joe and Melody's voices said happily. Steven smiled but then the beep came and he snapped back.
"JOE DON'T YOU DARE KILL YOURSELF! WE CAN'T GO THROUGH TWO FUNERALS! JOE PLEASE YOU STUPID ASSHOLE!" Steven screamed into the phone hoping that Joe would be able to hear it from his room. Steven called the police and just as he finished pulled once again into Joe's driveway. He flew across the yard and into the front door. Rushing upstairs he had so many ideas, all of them horrible, about what he would see. Flinging the door open he did see Joe lying still on his bed. In his left hand was an empty pill bottle; in his right was an empty glass. Steven went over and smelled the glass, just as he had sadly expected, it had been filled with alcohol. Steven felt around Joe's neck and he found that he barely had a pulse. Suddenly Joe opened his eyes and looked at Steven, who looked back into his glazed over eyes. Joe reached up and touched Steven's cheek.
"Melody, I'm so happy to see you not covered in blood" Joe whispered. Steven gasped in surprise. Joe was so close to death that he was seeing things. He actually believed that he was Melody. Steven sighed.
"Joe, why did you do this? You know we love and that you would not be alone. You shouldn't have done this." Steven said
"We, who's we Melody? Darling, you're already dead, so know we can be together forever." Joe said smiling up at Steven. Steven realized that to keep Joe alive there was only one thing to do, he had to pretend to be Melody. He looked down at Joe.
"No sweetheart we can't. I went to heaven and you are on your way to hell" Steven said a tear falling down his cheek.
"Why?" Joe asked a little more animated.
"Joe, you took your own life. You're a sinner before the eyes of God, the gates will not be opened for you and we shall never meet at them." Steven said. To his relief he heard sirens coming.
"But I love you, we have to be together. I did it for you." Joe said. Another tear slid down Steven's cheek, he had to stay strong just a little longer.
"Then repent Joe, you have been giving another chance, Steven is on his way right now to save you. You must live out the reminder of your days in peace." Steven said. The sirens were here.
"Okay honey I will, I love you and will be with you many years from now at those pearly gates." Joe said as he closed his eyes
"I love you too Joe" Steven whispered as the paramedics rushed into the room.
Steven let them do their work as he went silently downstairs to the living room. He looked at the blood stain on the floor that they could not get up and sighed. Who would want to take Melody's life? She was a kind sweet person without, or so he thought, an enemy. Who had had Melody pissed off so bad that it was worth taken her life? He turned around to see the paramedics bringing Joe down the stairs on the stretcher. The same paramedic from last night came over to Steven.
"We got here just in time, we are fairly sure he's going to make it. We'll just take him to the hospital and have his stomach pumped. He set himself up for lots of pain, combining a whole bottle of aspirin with 100 proof whiskey. He'll be put into I.C.U, and we will call you when he can be picked up." The paramedic said politely. Steven nodded. The paramedic placed his hand on Steven's shoulder and gave a single nod and walked away.
Steven turned back to the blood stain and stared. They could not get that spot out no matter how hard they tried; it was if Melody didn't want it to leave, like it held some clue to her killer in it. That was silly Steven thought, the police had scoured the room, they did find one clue and that was the bullet that went all the way through her. But what Steven wanted to do now was not think of Melody, but of Joe, in so much pain. He'd take his own life to be with her again, she was special to him. He lingered in the living room with thoughts like that for a long time.
It was night before he left Joe's house, but when he jumped back into his car he was not going home. He had to tell another person in the band, the closet person he could get to because he wasn't sure how long he'd be able to drive as shaken as he was.
He pulled into a drive way 5 minutes later. He walked slowly across the yard, each step carefully placed until he reached the front door. He knocked and a moment later Tom opened the door already dressed in black to mourn Melody. It was obvious that he had been crying, his eyes were very red. Tom stared at Steven in surprise.
"Steven? What are you doing here?" Tom asked. Steven sighed, to say it out loud was to admit it actually happened.
"Joe tried to commit suicide. He's at the hospital right now, he'll be fine I guess but I'm just a bit shaken." Steven said trying to keep his tears down.
Tom was visibly very surprised, his hand started to shake making the door knob rattle. He quickly took it off and stepped aside. He motioned for Steven to come in and have a seat. Tom looked down and went into the kitchen. He came back with two mugs of coffee. Steven took the cup and thanked Tom. They both sat in silence for a while until Steven finally asked Tom if he could use his phone to call the guys over. Tom said yes, and the band was together within the half hour. Steven explained in detail what happened in detail; the only part he left out was how Joe thought he was Melody. When Steven finished they all looked at each other unable to speak, they were all too shocked.
None of them went home that night, they stayed up all night. When they were finally able to talk they just talked about Joe and Melody, all the good times backstage, all the wonderful parties, but mostly how much Joe had loved Melody. Joe had never loved anyone as much as he had Melody, everyone knew that. Suddenly Steven jumped up.
"I swear what ever it takes I'll find the unlucky bastard who did this to Melody and I'll kill him myself!" Steven said angrily. Everyone in the room nodded. They were all in this together. They took the belief that if you hurt one, you hurt them all and they were a force to be reckoned with. Tom noticed that the sun was coming up and that they should get some sleep. They all agree and silently went on their way.
Steven said goodbye to his friends went across the yard and hopped once again into his car. He was finally heading home Teresa was no doubt worried by now, he hadn't called her. So much had happened in the past few days he couldn't make sense of it all. His grim thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the playful ring tone of his phone. Thinking it was Teresa, he answered not bothering to check the number, but it was not Teresa on the other end.
"Is this Mr. Steven Tyler?" The male voice asked politely.
"Yeah, um hey if you're a fan I'd loved to hear from you but this is my personal phone and I can't have every fan calling me." Steven said trying to be nice.
"No, no Mr. Tyler I got this number from Mr. Perry's phone he said to call you, I am Doctor Parker from the hospital. I would like to speak to you about Mr. Perry." The man said, Steven's heart dropped, something had happened he knew it.
"Is he dead?" Steven asked quietly, he had pulled over to the side of the road.
"No Mr. Tyler he is doing fine, in fact he can go home today that's what I was calling about." Doctor Parker said. Steven breathed a sigh of relief.
"Awesome Thank you so much, do you need me to come get him?" he asked
"Later on this afternoon, Mr. Perry is doing much better no complications he is still in a fragile state so someone must stay with him at his house for maybe a week, and it might be a good idea to stay with him after the funeral as well." Doctor Parker said. Steven nodded.
"I'll stay with him." Steven said excited to see his friend.
"See you this afternoon Mr. Tyler." Doctor Parker said and hung up.
Steven went home and kissed his wife and gave her a hug. He loved Teresa and never wanted her to go away from him or to be taken from him like Melody had been. They had a quiet lunch and then Steven went to get Joe from the hospital. When he arrived he found Joe in a cheerful mood, which was surprising. He became somber however when he was apologizing for what he had done. Steven forgave him and they went back to Joe's house. All the way Joe was retelling his tale of how he had seen Melody at the gates of heaven and how she had saved him. Steven kept his tears down; he wasn't going to tell him that it was him who was Melody that would be his secret. When they went into the house he saw that Joe was a little shaken to be there. He looked back at Steven and he gave him an encouraging smile. Joe smiled back and ushered Steven into the kitchen for a cup of coffee, they never once set foot in the living room. A couple of days later they were all at the St. Johns funeral home.