Jon woke up when he heard his name being called out. He opened his eyes quickly fearing Rachel was hurt, but soon realized that she was still asleep and dreaming. From the look on her face and the throaty way she was calling out his name, he knew she was having a very good dream. He watched her for a few minutes until she whispered that she was his forever just as long as he didn’t break her heart. Jon kissed her slowly and intensified the kiss until she started to respond.
"Baby, I promise I’ll never break your heart." He whispered into her ear.
"Huh?"
"You were dreaming earlier and told me that you were mine forever as long as I didn’t break your heart."
"Oh."
She moved her leg a little bit and sucked in air, forgetting about her knee that hurt. She gingerly moved her arm and found that while it hurt a bit, being careful with her movements was a good idea. Jon shifted away from her and tossed the covers off her. He smiled at the sight of her naked body and then bent over to look at her knee.
"The doctor is here now, to inspect your injuries."
Her knee was a little bit swollen and the big red blotch had turned into a slightly bigger deep dark bruise. He gently kissed it better. He inspected her arm which looked the same, he couldn’t see anything underneath the bandage.
"What did Tom tell you about your arm?"
"Not to pick at the glue, that it would flake off on it’s own when the skin was healed. I’m not suppose to put creams etc., over the area. I can wash it gently and pat it dry."
"How long are you suppose to keep the bandage on?"
"He said to leave it on until it started to come loose then you could take it off. You can use some soap and water to get any dried blood off. You know make it look presentable for my sake."
"You are such a wuss."
"Many people can’t stand the sight of blood, so there."
"Chicken."
"What time are we leaving today?"
"We aren’t, we have a show in Pittsburgh, Saturday night. When you showed up, I figured you’d rather stay the day here instead of Pittsburgh. We leave the hotel at 9 tomorrow morning."
"That’s early. Call Dave and ask him if he wants to join us for tea this afternoon."
"I will, I’m starving now though. Your little exercise in blood letting sort of knocked all thoughts of dinner from my mind."
"I could eat, what time is it anyway.?" Rachel glanced at her watch and realized she could see it read 9:06 am. "Hey my contacts are still in."
"I wasn’t going to try to get those out, thank you very much."
"I’ll have to take them out now and wear my glasses until tonight."
"I like your glasses, you look very sexy in them."
"Yeah right."
"I’m serious. How about French Toast for breakfast?"
"Sounds good to me. I wouldn’t mind doing some book shopping. I have an idea of what I can get Steph for Easter. Are you man enough to be seen in public with me?"
"Man enough? You better watch it Missy or I’ll slobber all over you in public!"
"Order breakfast you goof ball. I’m going to take my contacts out and throw some clothes on."
"You don’t need clothes."
"I may not need them, but it’s bad enough Rich saw me naked, I draw the line at the room service guy."
"Spoil sport!"
"That’s me."
After a leisurely breakfast, they walked the few blocks to the bookstore and spent two hours inside shopping. A couple of fans quietly came up to Jon and asked for an autograph. He happily obliged them and personalized each request. He never had a problem signing and talking to his fans when they didn’t draw attention to his presence. They did a little more shopping and went back to Michelle’s Wine Bar for lunch. Since they were having tea they split a sandwich but not the frites. When they got back to the hotel Jon suggested he help her take a shower. He aimed the water towards the wall and used a tumbler to wash the soap off her to keep her arm dry. She was seconds from falling asleep against him as he massaged the shampoo into her hair. He hated to keep her awake but he didn’t want her slipping down and hurting herself again. He dried her off and applied her satsuma scented lotion to her body. He told her that the scent always reminded him of her and last time he was home Stephanie was using a similar orange scent and it made him day dream about her. He told his daughter that the scent made his eyes water and asked her not to use it when he was around. They were cuddled up in bed when Jon remembered her dream.
"What were you dreaming about this morning? You were calling my name out and you looked very happy."
Rachel smiled, "It must have been the rain dream. I haven’t had it in a few months."
"Rain dream? Tell me about this rain dream of yours."
"We are having a picnic when thunder booms and lightening strikes and we run for the closest shelter which is a gazebo. The rain is sort of blowing in and the only part that is dry is right in the middle. You lay the blanket down and we end up making love very slowly. I get up and run into the rain naked, getting soaked, you join me for a few minutes before whipping me back under the gazebo and bending me over the rail. We go from making love to X rated, mid blowing sex."
"Now that is a dream I can get behind."
Rachel hit him in the stomach. "It’s not the sex you dork. You know I love the sound of rain and being there with you felt so special. We kiss for eons and you don’t make the first move. I ask you to make love to me and it’s so slow, gentle and meaningful, it’s like the first time I ever made love. Well what I would have liked the first time to be like."
"What was your first time?"
"I was 17, he was 23. I’d left my friends at the Chateau Marmont, they were getting stupid drunk and I just knew that they’d get kicked out. I went out to the lobby and Charlie was there. We started talking, he was there on business. We started kissing and he asked me up to his room. We made out and it got hot and heavy. He told me he wanted to have sex with me and asked if I wanted to. I had nothing else to do and I liked him so I said sure. He actually told me if I wasn’t comfortable I could just say no and he’d stop. We had dinner the next night before he had to take a plane home to.......Atlanta. Dorothea was your first right?"
"Yeah, but I wasn’t hers."
"Really?"
"Yeah, she’d never tell me who they were but there were two guys before me."
"Not bad, I never figured she was the slutty type."
"No, she wasn’t. How’s your knee?"
"Better. Think we have time for a nap before we meet Dave?"
"Yeah, two hours is enough time. I’ll set the alarm."
After tea, Jon brought her into the ballroom and sat her down beside him on the piano bench. He played and sung Hallelujah for her and asked her to return the favour. He started playing Rubber Ducky and after she stopped laughing she sang it to him. She asked him to just play and Jon went through a number of pieces until he ran out of music. Rachel played her created piece and her fingers kept going for twenty more bars. He asked her to repeat it but she couldn’t do it without starting at the very beginning. He flipped his cell phone open and called Dave down.
Dave brought down the blank sheet music he had scored the first part on, to check if he was right and then scribed the new part down. The piece of music was gorgeous but was not meant to have words sung over it. Dave could hear it being played in a symphony hall and heard parts where flutes and violins could be brought in. He played it, trying it an octave above and below and went back to the original. She started humming the last few bars and continued it for a few more bars. Dave figured out what notes she was humming and scribed them too. After watching Dave play the newest addition a few times she was able to recreate it. Her creative muse decided she’d done enough and left her temporarily.
"I never thought you were musical Rach." Dave commented on the elevator.
"Me either, I can read music and play it but I’ve never been able to create it."
"Maybe I should pay attention next time you start humming something. It could be our next hit." Jon replied with a grin.
"Odds are it is something you’ve already made a hit." Rachel laughed. "I tend to hum Born to Be My Baby a lot."
"Rich still pissed at you both?" Dave asked.
"He’s none to pleased with me." Rachel answered.
"He called me a stupid, fucking horny teenager, what do you think?"
"I’ll take that as a yes. He’ll come around. I think he’s just realizing how much he hurt Heather and feels helpless."
"Maybe I should go home for Easter."
"No, if Dorothea had a problem with it, believe me she’d tell us."
"Jon’s right, we’d all hear it. I’d just stay out of public places guys. The last thing she needs is more pics of you two together, regardless of how innocent they are."
"You’ve got a point Dave. Thanks."
"Anytime, my Preppy Princess. How’s the arm doing?"
"Good, my knee is stiff though, I must have banged it a lot harder than I thought I did."
"You realize that only you, would trip like that. It’s those ten inch heels of yours. You should sue Mr. Louboutin for damages."
"I’d never win, the exculpatory evidence would kill me. They’d take one look in my shoe closet, see about two hundred pairs of Louboutin’s and make the case that I’m keenly aware of the associated risks of wearing very high heels."
"I suggest you look where you are going then." Dave teased as he gave her a kiss on the cheek and headed down the hall to his room.
On the way out of the hotel Saturday morning, Rachel insisted on pulling Jon into the ballroom to say goodbye to their piano. He chuckled at her before she engaged him in a long kiss that left him breathless.
It was an uneventful flight to Pittsburgh, the landing couldn’t have been any smoother. There was snow on the ground, but the sun was shinning brightly. Rachel headed down the stairs to the tarmac, talking with Tico. Dave warned her that she should watch where she was going, but she stuck her tongue out at him. Four stairs later, she stepped to the ground, missing the bottom step. She tried to correct her mistake in mid air but only succeeded in falling backwards instead of face first. The small off her back connected with the last step as she fell down on top of her right ankle. Jon stood at the top of the stairs and looked down at her, utter disbelief on his face. He muttered I don’t believe her a few times as he carefully walked down the stairs.
Tico and Dave helped her up and she tried to put weight on her right leg, but it hurt too much.
Dave looked at Jon very seriously. "Instead of an early lunch, looks like we’ll be spending all day in the ER. Rach, now I know the really reason you only visit the tour, you couldn’t survive a full blown tour."
"David, I’m in pain cut the comedy routine. It’s my ankle."
"Face it Baby, you are a klutz." Jon said softly as he picked up her carry on bag and purse and handed them to Dave.
He bent over and picked her up as gingerly as he could and carried her over to the waiting limo. He bashed his head trying to get her inside and muttered a few profanities. Dave, opened the mini fridge and took out an ice pack. He leaned over just enough to pull her five inch heel off her foot and placed the ice pack around her ankle. Jon called to find out which hospital they should go to and explained what happened. By the time they arrived at the ER, an orthopaedic surgeon was waiting for them and whisked them straight into a private exam room.
"Hi, I’m Dr. Kaye. Miss what happened?"
"I fell down a few stairs getting off the jet. I hit my back on the bottom stair and landed with my right leg under me. It hurts to put weight on my right leg. My name is Rachel."
Dr. Kaye examined her right ankle and found that she hadn't really done much damage and the immediate application of ice had prevented any swelling. He looked at her back and found a red welt that would turn into a nasty bruise but her mobility told him that she hadn't pulled any muscles. He helped her off the table and noticed her wince.
"What hurts?"
"My right knee."
Dr. Kaye had her back on the table and lying on her back. "Rachel, I want you to totally relax. Let me manipulate your leg, don't try to help me."
He bent her leg with little resistance but when he rotated it to the left she cried out in pain. When he rotated it towards the right she hissed, he straightened her leg once more and she winced. The pants she had on happened to have a wide bootleg so he was able to easily lift the material up to see her entire right knee. He noticed a large bruise on her kneecap and swelling on the inside of her right knee and applied an ice pack.
"The bruise was from two days ago, she tripped going up the stage stairs." Jon offered.
"It looks like you pulled or tore a ligament in your knee, the lateral collateral ligament. The fact that straightening your knee also hurts may mean a meniscus tear too. I want to do a CAT scan so we can get a series of clear cross-sectional images of the knee tissues on a computer screen. CAT scan images show soft tissues more clearly than normal x rays. I may want to order a MRI too but let's start with the CAT scan."
"Doctor Kaye, I'll priority one order the scan for you." One of the nurses stated.
"Thank you nurse." Jon replied with a smile.
"Doctor, doesn’t CAT stands for computerized axial tomography?" Dave asked.
"Yes that is correct."
"Learned that on Jeopardy." Dave said to Hugh, proud of himself.
"Can we get back to the person in pain please? Me!" Rachel demanded.
"Are you allergic to any painkillers?"
"No, thankfully."
"Good, I'm going to give you a painkiller to take the edge off when we move your leg for the tests."
"Oh joy, oh bliss." Rachel muttered.
Forty minutes later, she was back in a private exam room waiting for Dr. Kaye to come back after reading the results of the CAT scan. When he returned he told her that she did tear both ligaments and they were both borderline which meant they could do arthroscopic surgery on them or try to give them rest and time to heal . Without surgery, she'd be looking at strengthening excersise and a temporary knee brace to help prevent the knee from moving the wrong way and making the tears worse.
"Dr. Kaye, I do not like pain even though a have a medium pain threshold. If my knee is still going to be aching in six weeks, I'd rather have the surgery."
"I understand, but I don't like doing surgery when it isn't absolutely necessary. Why don't we keep you off your leg for a week and I'll give you a prescription for a combination pain killer, anti inflammatory drug. I'll take a look at it again then and see what is going on. I'll fit you for a brace to help you not move it the wrong way."
"I can live with that but there is a problem. We are only here overnight. Next week we’ll be in......"
"I can get her back here, no worries Doc." Jon stated.
"It’s Easter Saturday and we’ll be in Jersey." Rachel complained.
"Where in Jersey? I could search for someone to refer...."
"Thanks Doc, but it won’t be necessary. I’ll have her here by eleven in the morning." Jon replied giving her his don’t mess with me look.
"That would be great, continuity of care is very important. I’m actually off Saturday myself but I can pop in here no problem. I’ll give you my cell number and if there is any delay you can let me know."
"Thank you. I guess I can go pay the bill now."
"Jon, I pay a small fortune for medical coverage, I’m using it. Doc would my pills work on a bad back? Tico here is in lots of pain."
"Rachel!"
"What Tico? It’s true!"
"Hey, you are here, I’d be happy to look at it. I’m off in half an hour anyway. Becky, can you get Rachel set with a 4 knee brace and crutches?"
"Sure."
With Rachel off the table Tico took her place and the doctor examined him. Tico mentioned his back brace and the doctor made a suggestion how he could raise one section and lower another to give him better support. He also wrote him a prescription for a similar combination pain killer, anti inflammatory drug but there was a lower dose of the pain killer. He did a quick chart stating it was confirmation of treatment that would only cost $50.00.
"Wow, do you work for Bon Jovi?" Becky asked as she measured Rachel’s leg.
Rachel laughed, "Heavens no, they can’t afford me! I’m an Entertainment Lawyer."
"Ah, bailing them out of jail were you?" she teased.
"No, but that is a good guess. They are all incorrigible, especially Jon. I’m a very good friend of them all. I’ve known them 23 years, before Slippery was released. I actually visited them when they were recording it.."
"Cool, so you are going to the concert tonight?"
"I was planning on it until my untimely exit from the jet. I’m hanging out for a week of the tour. Are you going to the concert?"
"Yeah with my best friend."
"If you are willing to give up your tickets to someone in the nosebleeds, you can have my front row seats. I’m not going to be able to stand up for two plus hours."
"Seriously!"
"Seriously, do I detect a Grey’s Anatomy fan?"
"Oh my God, that is so sweet of you! Thank you soooo much. Yes I love the Docs of Seattle Grace."
"Do you happen to have your tickets on you?"
"Yeah I’m going straight from work to meet Jodie."
"Great, give them to me and make sure I have your cell number and both of your names. Your tickets will be in the will call and I’ll arrange for the upgrade to your old seats."
"You are my favourite patient ever. I’m going to wrap the top of your crutch then put a larger rubber rest on top of it. It should be a hell of a lot more comfortable on your underarms."
"Thank you."
An hour later they were leaving the hospital. Tico’s pill had kicked in and he felt a lot better while Jon carried Rachel back out to the limo while Dave held her crutches. Richie and Hugh had left for the hotel when the foursome were dropped off. An argument over lunch, more specifically Dave and Rachel wanting McDonald’s and Tico and Jon wanting pasta broke out.
"Hey I eased your pain, vote with me!" Rachel demanded.
"Sorry kiddo, do you know how bad that crap is for you? I want pasta."
"Ah but we could use the drive through and not have to worry about moving the klutz."
"Nope Italian it is. Len, what do you recommend for good Italian with a chance of us eating in peace?" Jon asked.
"I recommended Tambellini to George Clooney and he went back twice."
"Yeah that place is out." The four of them said in unison.
"OK, if you want to go out to South Hills there is a great placed called Sarafino’s Pasta and Pizza."
"Sounds perfect. You two stop pouting or I’ll make you pick up the check!"
The moment they walked in, Dave and Rachel stopped pouting because they knew they were in store for an amazing lunch. The hostess did a triple look at the guys but didn’t say anything. She sat them in the back where there was a bench Rachel could rest her leg on. They ordered a simple margarita pizza to start without looking at the menu.
"Wedding Soup!" Dave exclaimed like a ten year old and Rachel actually bounced in her seat in delight.
Jon rolled his eyes, he’d completely forgotten that Dave and Rachel were a match made in food heaven. They both started combing the menu trying to figure out who would order what.
Dave went with home-made tortelacci: chestnut-sized and shaped like fat hats, plump with fresh ricotta and herbs, and served with sweet roasted zucchini, yellow squash and tomatoes in a light garlic cream. Rachel settled on The Pasquale's: spinach, pine nuts, mushrooms and feta over penne in a light aglio e olio and a side order of Sarafino’s meatball in a pomodoro sauce. Jon went with Joey's Pazzo: linguine laden with tender grilled chicken, sauced with pomodoro and flush with fire-roasted tomatoes. He also got a meatball. Tico ordered Della's Spring Diavola: with fresh peas, pancetta and thick rotini pasta with a spicy sauce.
Jon and Rachel were moaning over the meatball. They agreed it was the best meatball they ever had. The meat was succulent and melt in the mouth tender, spiked with shards of fresh julienne basil, moored in the thick, plummy pomodoro sauce.
"Forget your clotted cream, this is an orgasm on a plate." Jon whispered to her and she purred in response.
Dave and Tico looked at each other and both dug their forks into the meatballs. Jon and Rachel were too busy hovering in heaven to notice a precious chunk of each had been stolen.
"Damn this is some meatball."
"Oh wow, I know what I want for dinner. Three of these should do it." Dave agreed.
"Jon, I know what dinner should be. Think they would deliver a tureen of wedding soup, a couple of pizza’s and two bakers dozen of meatballs? My treat."
"I’ll spring for six Antipasto salads (piled with imported provolone, fresh Parmesan, olives, sliced meats and intense fire-roasted tomatoes) and some polenta." Dave offered.
"I’ll pick up dessert, the gelato looks good." Tico added.
"Let’s ask the manager. Dave can you call Kathy and tell her to cancel the food order for the band. Tell her we’ve taken care of it."
Rachel talked to the owner who was thrilled that they loved his restaurant so much and said he’d be happy to make an exception and deliver the order himself. She handed over her black American Express Card and told the guys they could figure out the bill at the Arena.
They were stuffed and sleepy by the time they made it to the hotel and only had 3 hours before they had to leave for the arena.
"Rach, you are going to be bored in the dressing room and they is no room for your leg in the pit. How about you sit beside me and rest your leg on the podium. I can look at your pretty face instead of Jon’s ass for a change."
"I work out every day to keep my ass looking great for you. You ingrate." Jon said in mock anger."
"Baby, I’ll be happy to watch that fine sculpted ass all night long." Rachel replied.
"I can’t remember, do you play the drums Rae? There might be an immediate opening."
"I’m so scared." Tico laughed and headed to his room.
