Hide Your Heart

Doctor's Visit

After some soul searching, Paul made the call to Bruce who agreed to come over to see if he could talk to Tommy. He had told Paul he would do his best but couldn't promise anything.

Later the next morning Bruce showed up and was led to the guestroom. He opened the door and found Tommy just waking up. "B-B-Bruce? I-I-Is something wrong?" "D-d-did I miss something?" he asked in confusion. 

Bruce sat down and began talking to Tommy. He told him what had happened and asked if he'd be willing to go to the doctor. 

"ARE YOU IMPLYING I'M CRAZY??!!" yelled Tommy, taking Bruce by surprise. "I'M NOT, SO LEAVE ME ALONE!!"

"Hey, calm down, I'm not implying anything of the kind." "I'm just concerned. You haven't been yourself since you showed up sick at rehearsal and passed out." Bruce was very calm about the whole thing. "I don't know if you're still suffering from that or not. I'd just like to find out."

Tommy raised his hand to slap Bruce away, but had it gently pushed away. "You will not hit me." He lowered Tommy to the pillow again and took his hands. "I'm just asking as a friend. You're not crazy, by a longshot." "I think you're still sick."

Tommy suddenly hugged Bruce and agreed to go. "I'll go get ready." "I'm sorry."

Bruce looked up to see Paul standing in the door. "You heard I suppose." "I'll stay until the visit's over. I'll take him.'

"Thank you." was all Paul said before exiting.

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At the doctor's office, Tommy silently filled out paperwork and turned it back in. He felt awful.

Finally the nurse called them back. After taking the information and Tommy's vital signs, she wrote some things down and left. 

"Do you think it's possible to still have the flu?" 

"No, I think you have something else."

Tommy hadn't told Paul he knew he had pneumonia because he didn't want to miss touring. He had hoped by staying on medication he would get better. He also had hidden other things too. Knowing Bruce would soon find out, he decided to tell him. "Bruce, I have pneumonia. I knew this when I came back. I just didn't want to say anything. I'm sorry."

"You could have landed in the ICU. That was a stupid move, Tommy." The older guitarist looked at Tommy in shock. "I'm your friend, why didn't you tell me?"

"I -I-I d-d-d-don't know." "I thought it would go away on it's own."

Sighing, Bruce just stayed quiet. "You're warm. I bet you have a fever."

Finally the nurse came back in to draw blood. "The doctor wants to see the results before diagnosing you. " "Based on what you wrote down, he thinks you have pneumonia."

 Tommy winced and bit his lip as the blood was being drawn. "I do." he mumbled.

Bruce knew the visit would probably require a hospital stay so he texted Paul to tell him.

"Tell him I'll bring a bag by shortly. My god he's frustrating at times." 

"As are you."

Putting the phone away, Bruce turned back to Tommy. "Well, we know what's wrong with you physically but what about mentally? I think you want to address that too."

Tommy sighed and finally agreed.