The next two days went by very quickly. George returned to Glasgow to pack and say good-bye to his wife and daughter, who insisted on all the details of how Ryan was doing, even though he'd called them every night. As each of the boys had to leave, they each took some alone time with Ryan to sing him one last song and talk to him, telling him where they were going and that they would be checking in daily and praying for him, and would be back to see him as soon as they were home. Neighbors of the Kellys from the Moy, who had been checking in regularly as well, would be taking over staying with the Kellys in the waiting room, although they weren't allowed in Ryan's room.

Flying so far away was difficult for the boys, who felt very much as if they were leaving Ryan when he needed them most, but they all agreed that the best thing they could do now was to put on the best show they could in honor of him. Damian reported just before he had to leave that Ryan had done well with the recordings and was continuing to progress slowly. At least one trans-Atlantic phone call was placed every day, checking in with the Kellys. They reported simple changes that meant a great deal - Ryan began smiling or turning his head towards his parents and siblings voices; he began moving his arms and legs on his own, which meant he probably wasn't paralyzed; once in a while he even seemed to follow a simple command, although it wasn't consistent.

Meanwhile, rehearsals were awkward as well. Colm still hadn't gotten his visa so they were working around an empty space and missing voice, while Colm was madly trying to memorize as much as he could without actually having the other singers there to work with, and worrying if he would be able to learn the choreography quickly enough. Sharon was starting to get seriously worried that they'd still be a man down when they had to do the first show, and the strain was showing on all of them - they tended to be a bit more snappy with each other, a little less tolerant than they would normally be. Consequently some of the activities and pranks went a bit too far and either worried Sharon more or caused arguments.

Finally Colm called that he'd gotten his visa and was flying out - but it would give him only a day until the first show. He worked right through the flight on memorizing songs, and went straight into the theatre to start working on choreography. It was the first time he'd met any of the other singers and needless to say, he was nervous. For the most part, the boys welcomed him and did their best to help him out, working with him on choreography when someone else was rehearsing. He did notice that they all seemed a bit touchy and was hoping that it wasn't him - he knew, of course, that they were worried sick about Ryan, but he was afraid that they were thinking he couldn't cut it either. When they got a few minutes to breathe, George pulled him aside.

"You're doing fine, Colm, don't worry," he said. "I guarantee you that none of us could pick this up as fast as you are, and any of the others will tell you that I'm the slowest one on choreography - not that I agree, mind you, but that's what they'll say!" He smiled, seeing that he had made Colm grin. "And don't worry about the fans being upset if you mess up. They know how fast you've been thrown into this, and in truth they seem to enjoy it even more when we mess up - which we do all the time. You'll see. I know we're all a bit touchy, we're not usually this short with each other. It's just being worried about Ryan and having to be so far away from him, it's naught to do with you."

Colm felt better after talking to him, and more so after he'd made a mistake in rehearsal when George reached over and grabbed his hand and swung it, grinning at him. He knew then that the big Scot had taken him under his wing and would look out for him. Truthfully, he liked all the other guys, and he and Emmet were rapidly becoming the best of friends, but his nerves were still taking a beating.

The first few shows went well, a few minor and one or two major mistakes, but as George had said, the fans laughed with them and seemed to enjoy the flubs as much as anything else. Colm was still getting used to people wanting his autograph; as a back-up singer for Celtic Women he'd been fairly anonymous, so he hadn't been expecting to find fans outside the stage door looking for HIM after any show, much less his very first one. This was something all the guys remembered very well and, while they teased him about it, they also told him some wild stories of their first touring experiences as well.

One night Neil was to call Raymond for a late check-in before everyone crashed for the night - being they were now 5 hours behind Irish time, they had to be careful when they called. Nicole had ducked out of the room for a few minutes, and when she came back him, she found Neil with his head in his hands. She went to him immediately and wrapped her arms around him.

"What is it, love?" she said. "Is Ryan worse?"

"No," Neil said, raising his head, and she gasped at the joy in his eyes, even though there were tears rolling down his cheeks. "He woke up, Nic," he said, "He woke up and he knew Raymond, and he was talking clearly!"

"Oh, thank God," Nicole said. "Did you get to talk to him?"

"No." Neil shook his head. "Ray said he was only awake for a little while. He didn't know where he was or why Ray was there, and when Ray told him he'd had an accident and was in the hospital, he thought we'd been in an accident on the ABC tour and was worried I was hurt, too. He doesn't remember being home at all."

"Well, I remember you said the doctor told you to expect that," Nicole said. "Did Raymond say anything else?"

"Yeah," Neil grimaced. "Ryan tried to hit him and was cursing at him."

Nicole gasped. "Why?" she said. "Ryan wouldn't do that!"

"The doctor told us to expect that, too," Neil said. "He said Ryan would probably be agitated when he woke up. Raymond said Ryan was trying to pull his IV out because it hurt, Ray stopped him, and the next thing he knew Ryan was swinging at him and cursing a blue streak. He did settle down after the nurse came and took the IV out, but Raymond said just that little bit being awake completely exhausted him and he fell back to sleep."

"Oh well, it's a start," Nicole said. "Much better than I expected from what Sharon told us of the doctor's meeting with you all. And you'd better be getting everyone in here for an update, or they'll be after you!"

"Oh, man, I almost forgot about that part!" Neil said. "I feel like I'm on a roller coaster or something right now, stuff gets away from me before I even see it sometimes!" He quickly sent out a mass text to everyone: "My room, NOW! Big news! Mostly good."

Within minutes, the room was crowded as people sat on the floor, the beds, the tables, and anything else that wouldn't move - there were even a few attempts to sit on each other, resulting in some horseplay until Sharon got them all settled down. Neil had taken those few minutes to get things organized in his mind so he could tell them more coherently than he'd babbled the information out to Nicole.

"Ok," he said. "Good news first - Ryan woke up for a few minutes a little while ago, he was talking fine, and he knew Raymond." He had to stop for cheers at this point. "He doesn't remember being home after our ABC tour, and he thinks he and I had an accident on the tour and was afraid I was hurt, too." Heads nodded; they'd known to expect this. "This is the not so good part - he woke up in pain, trying to pull out his IV because it was hurting, and when Ray stopped him, he took a swing at Ray and cursed at him."

"No!" "God, I was hoping the doctor was wrong about that." "I can't imagine Ryan acting like that, I can't even picture it."
Finally Sharon got a word in. "Did he hurt Raymond?"

Neil stopped to think for a minute. "I don't think so," he said slowly. "Ray said, 'He tried to take my head off with a swing' I think were the exact words. He didn't say if Ryan actually managed to hit him."

"Thank Heaven for that," Sharon said. "Did Raymond say anything else?"

"Just that Ryan got exhausted really fast and fell back to sleep. I don't think he was awake for even 10 minutes, because Raymond told me that Ryan had woken up about 10 minutes before I called, and he was already back to sleep."

"That's probably not too surprising," Sharon said. "Sounds like it was an action-packed 10 minutes." Everyone smiled at that. "Anything else?"

Again, Neil thought for a minute. "Just that he hoped the agitation didn't get worse before it got better," he said. "I told him I'd let you all know and get everyone praying to get him through that part quickly."

Heads nodded all around. Praying was one thing they could do for Ryan, no matter where they were.