"Well... as long as there's progress, right?" Jared looks down at his legs, withholding a sigh. He'd become a little quieter since lunch, as if something were weighing heavily on his mind.
"I guess I just wish I knew how long it would take to get back on my feet, if I'll ever get there at all. I thought I was bored when I was first released from the hospital. Now, every day, it seems to get ten times worse."
His eyes drift to the window. "But even though there's so much I want to do... I'm not sure the world wants me back."
Out on the sidewalk, Rosalyn slides her hand down Chad's arm until he finds his fingers to link with. "Mmm... I don't care where we walk. If we go a few blocks down to the right, there's an older part of town that has some old shops. I always like to look in the windows."
Soaking up the sunshine, she walks closely to Chad, falling silent for just a little while until her thoughts were gathered. "I stayed the night with Clint and Wendy," she admits. "I just... couldn't go home. Then this morning Clint kidnapped me. I wasn't sure I really wanted to come but... I couldn't disappoint him... or you again."
Stopping to look in a little antique shop, her eyes roam the quaint items through the glass. "My uncle that was missing in action - he turned up at home yesterday. I'm hoping the excitement at seeing him alive will soften up Dad a little bit, but... I don't know."
Kip's feet pound the pavement as he runs full-speed down the
sidewalk. There was little point in checking his watch. He knew he was
late. He also knew it was completely his fault. He hadn't filled up his
car with gas yesterday like he should have. He shouldn't have told Karla
just to meet him there. He should have charged his phone. He should
have checked pockets in his laundry. As a result of the horrid
combination, he'd woken late from a nap, he had run out of gas, he had
no wallet, and his phone was dead.
Barely slowing to
open the back door of the events center, his ears pick up the sound of
music. Still in panic mode, he forces his pace down to a walk, making
his way through several halls until he makes it to the backstage
entrance and has to argue with volunteer security before they let him
in.
Quietly slipping to a spot where he could see
onstage, the music reverberates in his head. The band was well into
their second song, and Twila was on bass.
Kip's heart
sinks. He was hot, sweaty, breathing heavily and had no right to be here
in this state. He had no idea if anybody had been worried about him or
not, or if anybody had tried to call him. But if he had to guess, he'd
say they probably had not. He wasn't exactly the early bird of the
bunch, and he'd been late plenty of times. Although...he'd never missed a
concert opening before. They'd set up and practiced the night before -
an unusual luxury, but it's just how it had worked out this time. Today
should have been a piece of cake. But he'd screwed it up. And they'd
been forced to go on without him.
What he didn't know was how things had transpired back here...
"Where is he?" Kyle throws up his hands, irritated that they were still waiting on Kip. It should have been an easy gig. Hometown. Early setup. Small crowd. But here they were again, waiting on Kip. The youngest band member had been going through a lot, and they all understood and were quick to forgive. He'd seemed to have pulled out of his emotional fog and was healthier than he had been. But even so, he had not been keeping up with the band well at all. Whether it was trouble learning new songs, bouts with hyperactivity, forgetting about practices or being late to gigs, it just seemed he was always one step behind everyone else, and as such, it was starting to wear on the team.
Twila checks her phone one more time. "I left him two messages. I don't know what else to do. It's going straight to his voicemail though, which means his phone is either off or dead."
"I'd bet on it being dead." Theo rolls his eyes. "I've never seen a guy forget to charge his phone as much as him."
Erik sighs deeply and looks out into the auditorium to see more people filing in. "He was going to take a nap this afternoon..." His voice was drenched in disappointment. "I wouldn't be surprised if he overslept."
"What if something's wrong?" Russ fiddles with his drumsticks.
Kyle shakes his head. "We would have heard one way or another." He sighs and follows Erik's gaze to the growing audience. He didn't want to sound as though he didn't care - he did care very much. And he was worried. But things like this had happened too often for him to believe there was something wrong this time. More likely than not, Kip was just running late. "Twila?"
She tosses Karla a worried look before acknowledging Kyle. They'd ridden over here together and they'd even talked about stopping to check on Kip, but had decided to just meet everyone here. "Yeah..." She turns back to Kyle. "I already made sure his bass was tuned. I'll fill in the cracks as long as you take care of the spots where I was supposed to solo."
Backing away from the concert scene, Kip finds a
chair backstage and slowly sinks down into it. Leaning his elbows on his
knees, he hides his face in his hands. He imagined Karla sitting off to
the side of the stage, watching and waiting. He knew the other band
members were probably too lost in the music to be thinking about him
right now. Were they more worried or irritated? He could guess it was
the latter. Either way, he'd let them all down. Whether he was getting a
handle on the rest of his life or not, it seemed the struggle to keep
up with the band was never ending. And... once again, the thought
crosses his mind that he should just walk away altogether.
