The Dance We Shared

10

October 24, 1997

They were in Hollywood for one brief day before they would be going to Las Vegas and as soon as Stevie woke up in the morning she wished she hadn't. Lindsey was eating something that made her gag as soon as her eyes opened.

"What the fuck are you eating?" She asks her hand going to her nose and mouth.

"It's a bagel with Cream cheese, lox, onion, tomato, and capers on it. Do you want a bite?" He asks holding it up to her.

"No, I want it out of the room that smells disgusting." 

"It's probably the brined Salmon," He shrugs.

"Oh God, I'm getting in the shower please have that gone when I get out." Stevie groans rolling out of bed and making her way over to the bathroom.  

She retched as soon as she got in there and then she gripped at the side of the sink to try and steady herself. She was so exhausted and all she wanted to do was curl back up in bed and sleep but the smell of whatever shit Lindsey was eating was making her nauseous so she had to get out of the room. 

She was in the shower just standing under the stream when Lindsey came in and started brushing his teeth and he looked over at her cocking an eyebrow.

"You...kay?" He asks around his toothbrush and it made Stevie glad she was fluent in Lindsey. 

"I'm so exhausted it's stupid and I don't know why." She sighs.

"Maybe...to...catch...up....wit....you." 

"It's possible that the tour is catching up with me but it just came out of nowhere. I just want to go back to bed. Is that Lox, shit you were eating gone?" She asks.

"It is...put...it." He stopped to spit, "Out in the hallway." 

"Have you showered yet?" She asks.

"No," He answers.

"Get in here and come wash my hair for me." She demands.

He obeys stripping off his clothes and climbing under the shower stream only to jump back to the corner pushing Stevie out of the way.

"What is your problem?" She asks.

"Is this water or fire from the pits of hell?" He asks.

"It feels nice. My bones are aching and this helps." She sighs standing directly under the stream. 

"Turn around face the showerhead." He tells her. 

She hands him her shampoo and then she does and she fights back a wince as the massaging shower head stream hits her nipples and her breasts hard, because it hurt badly, not like it was burning her but like her boobs were sensitive and tender. She hid her wince as he massaged the shampoo into her hair and then he turned her around and dipped her head back. 

"Steph." He states washing her hair.

"Hmmm?" She asks her eyes and lips closed.

"Your boobs look a little bigger." He tells her.

"Probably my period it's supposed to be here this week. Why do you not like them?" She states. It's a lie, her period was supposed to be there last week but she was still hopeful that it was going to show up because she wasn't ready to face the prospect of menopause. 

"No, I'm actually quite enjoying the view." He says and she can hear his smirk so she just whacks his chest. 

***

At the concert, Stevie still felt like complete and utter shit. She was exhausted, and she just didn't feel good. She hadn't worn a bra to the venue because after she got out of the shower she actually examined her breasts while Lindsey showered and they were heavy and they hurt so she was grateful that she wouldn't have to wear a bra on stage but she was dreading it because the dress she was wearing had a built-in corset and it was going to be tight and she had an inkling that it was going to hurt getting zipped into that thing. And she was right as soon as she had Karen zip her up she wanted to either rip it off or cry because it hurt so bad, but she bit the tears back and hid the wince on her face behind her hair as Karen zipped her up and then she entered the greenroom where everyone was eating dinner and much like that morning, the smell of salmon hit her full force and she quickly backed out of the green room, thankful no one saw her, and she bolted right to the bathroom where she actually puked this time instead of retched like that morning. 

"What the fuck is going on with me?" She asks looking in the mirror after she flushed the toilet and rinsed her mouth. 

"Alright Steph, shake out of it...go on into the green room eat some food, it'll be okay. Not the Salmon, don't touch the salmon. Breathe in and out of your mouth, you got this let's go." She gives herself a brief pep talk 

Miraculously as soon as she got onstage she forgot all about the ailments that were inflicting her. The Nausea went away she had a sudden bolt of energy and she sang her little heart out and twirled around in delight. But as soon as she got off stage it was like a train had hit her full force and she had to latch onto Lindsey to even make it back to her dressing room.

"Steph maybe we should take a couple of days off, I'm tired, it' s clear that you're exhausted." He shakes his head.

"No, I just want to get onto the plane and I just want to go to sleep." She shakes her head.

"I'm serious maybe we should think about it." He sighs. 

"We do, I just have to get through tomorrow and then we'll have three and a half days off for me to sleep all I want. I'll be fine." She shakes her head. She wasn't going to dare tell him about the vomiting. 

As soon as they got on the plane to Vegas, Stevie passed out before they even took off. And the hour ride was hardly enough for her to rest and when Lindsey tried to roused her it just made her super foggy so he had to practically carry her into the hotel and then once he checked in he did pick her up in the elevator and carried her the rest of the way.