It's Got a Beat, Mr. Jones

You Were My Best Friend

John stood waiting quietly. He looked extremely nervous. He kept running his fingers through his hair. Eddie was sitting to the right of him, and Bobby was next to Eddie. Jeff and Mary were getting some food for everyone.
It was dark out, and Bobby had made reservations at a hotel and had even dropped off their luggage. All of them wanted to be asleep. John stood up and began to pace around.
"What's taking so long?" He asked.
"Babies don't just fall out, Johnny," Bobby said.
John ran his fingers through his hair again. "I know, but I hate this waiting," He said.
Eddie looked up at John. Jeff and Mary walked in. Jeff was holding two bags of food, and Mary was loaded down with drinks. Mary was smiling.
"We have food," She said.
Eddie looked extremely relieved. "God, I was starving," He said.
Mary handed Eddie a drink, and Jeff dug out a burger for him. Eddie started to open the packaging of burger when a nurse walked out of the doors to the maternity ward. John stood up quickly and knocked Eddie's burger out of his hands. Eddie gave John a dirty look.
The nurse looked over at John. Her brow furrowed slightly. "Are you the father?" She asked.
"Yeah," John said.
"It's a boy," The nurse said.
"Can I go see him?" John asked.
"Umm... Yes, you can," The nurse said slowly and almost nervously. "You all can."
Eddie walked over and picked up the burger that had been thrown on the floor. Luckily, it was still in the package. John looked over at Eddie. "Do you want to come with me?" He asked.
"Uh... sure," Eddie said passing his burger to Bobby. John smiled at Eddie in relief. John was really nervous.
Eddie and John headed towards the maternity ward. John kept running his fingers through his hair. It was a complete mess, which was weird for John. He, like the rest of the band, had quite an obsession with his appearance.
They reached the room that Denise was in. Eddie opened the door and poked his head into the room. Denise was laying on the bed with a bundle of blankets in her arms.
"Hey, John and me are comin' in," Eddie said.
Denise's eyes widened. "No!" She exclaimed quite suddenly.
The baby began to cry. Eddie walked into the room, and John followed. Denise pulled the covers over the baby.
"What's wrong?" John asked sitting down beside her.
Denise looked at him with eyes wide with fear. Eddie stood back with his arms crossed. John pulled down the covers. The baby was still screaming. It's red face contorted in a way that only babies can achieve. John stared at the baby for some time. He looked at its dark hair that was all over its small head and the crystal blue eyes that stared back at him.
John stood up slowly. He gave a disdained look at Eddie. Eddie stared back at John with as much surprise as John had had.
"You were my best friend," John said walking out of the room.
Eddie opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out until after John had left the room. "Johnny!" Eddie exclaimed running towards the door.
Eddie turned to look at Denise. He gave her a look of disgust. "How could you?" He asked.
Denise looked like she was about to cry. Eddie gave her one last look of contempt before he left the room. He ran after John. Eddie nearly ran over the nurse that had given him and John the news. She saw the look on Eddie's face and bit her lip. John, Bobby, Jeff, and Mary were not in the waiting room.
Eddie ran out of the hospital and towards the bus. The bus was running. Eddie climbed inside. Bobby didn't even give him a sideways glance. Eddie walked towards John.
"Johnny, let me explain," Eddie said.
John turned his head away from Eddie.
"Johnny, it's not mine," Eddie said.
John didn't even react. Eddie groaned and sat down on the seat opposite of John.
Bobby started the bus. He drove it to the hotel they were staying in. He stopped it and Mary, Jeff, and John got out of the bus. Mary gave Eddie a worried look before stepping off. Eddie placed his face in his hands. He felt a burning feeling in his chest. Tears were welling up in his eyes. His shoulders shook.
Bobby looked back at Eddie. Bobby was quiet for sometime listening to Eddie's sobs. "I believe you," Bobby said quietly getting off the bus.
Eddie sat crying in the bus. The door was open and the cool night air was blowing in. Eddie began to shiver. He knew he needed to go inside and he probably needed to sleep, but he was afraid to face John. He didn't know why he was afraid. The baby was not his.
Eddie saw a cigarette package under one of the seats. A cigarette always helped Jeff when he was nervous or upset; maybe it could help him.
Eddie got down on his hands and knees and fumbled for the cigarettes. He pulled one out of the package and held it in his hands for a little while. He found one problem with his plan. He didn't have a cigarette lighter.
Eddie felt more tears pull at his eyes. He crushed the cigarette in his fingers. The tobacco scattered all over the floor. Eddie took a deep breath. He remembered the pain pills he had for his back and shoulder pains. He stood up and got off the bus.
Eddie walked very calmly towards the room that Bobby had reserved. He walked inside. Jeff was putting up his stuff and Bobby was already asleep. Eddie's bags were open. They had been shifted through. Eddie looked through his bag for the pills. He found the bottle and went into the bathroom. He sat down on the toilet then opened the bottle. It was completely empty.
Eddie gasped. The bottle had almost been full before. He threw open the bathroom door.
"Where's Johnny?!" He exclaimed.
Jeff looked up at him. Bobby sat up sleepily.
"Where's Johnny?!" Eddie repeated.
"He went for a walk," Bobby said sleepily.
"We have to find him. How long ago was it?" Eddie asked.
"About an hour and a half ago, I think..." Jeff said.
"We have to find him!" Eddie exclaimed waving the empty bottle of pills above his head.
"What are you waving about?" Bobby asked rubbing his eyes as he sat up in his bed.
"My pain pills, they're all gone!" Eddie shouted.
Bobby jumped up. Jeff dropped a shirt he was putting in the drawers. Jeff stood up and ran towards the door. He opened it and ran out. Bobby raced after him and so did Eddie. Eddie dropped the bottle on the way to the door. They ran out of the building and started shouting John's name.
Eddie was behind the building. He was shouting then he tripped over something. His knee hit the ground hard, and his breath was knocked out of him. He looked over to what he tripped over and saw somebody sitting on the side of the building with his leg out and his head leaning on his chest. Eddie crawled over to the person. Eddie let out a pained cry. He felt sick. It was John.
"Johnny," He sobbed.
Eddie wrapped his arms around John's body. John was still. Eddie knew he was gone. There was no breath on his lips and he no longer had warmth in his body. Eddie hurt so terribly. He couldn't stop the tears that were rolling down his cheeks. Jeff ran towards him. He saw Eddie crying over John. Jeff kneeled down beside Eddie and placed his hand on Eddie's shoulder.
Bobby came much later. Bobby was tired and his feet hurt. He was walking towards Jeff and Eddie. He saw them sitting together and then ran towards them. He kneeled beside them. He began to cry silently.
Eddie and Jeff and Bobby stayed there for over an hour. John was cold and lifeless, but they stayed with his body. They were unwilling to accept the fact that John was dead.