restless_heart_syndrome_

Chapter 86

Brian: We were both frozen when Evelyn told us what was wrong with Charlie. It was terrible to hear what pain the poor man had to go through the last few months. I wanted to say something to comfort Evelyn, but my mouth didn't move. Billie sat frozen next to her and couldn't find the right words either. For a few seconds neither of us said anything. It took us some time to sort of process the whole thing. Billie suddenly jumped up and shouted, "but, but... what? No!! Evelyn there must be a cure. I... I'll call our private doctor. He'll look at him or call a special doctor who can help him. He won't die, we can do that," he stammered to himself. Evelyn shook her head. "You sound like her, my darling. He's been to several doctors, it's always the same diagnosis..." she said sobbing. "I did pray for months. But he won't survive this, Billie." He stood there leaning against the wall and mumbled *no, no, no.* I got up and walked over to him. "What do you want to do? We should go to Adie!!" "Brian, he can't die... please don't. She wouldn't bear that. She would break down, she loves him. We have to help him." I carefully took his face in my hands. "We can't prevent what is going to happen. But we will be there for her. I can talk to Bill right away. She needs you now. It is important that she is not alone now, and as Eve said, she has to say goodbye before he leaves us." Billie just nodded silently and tried to control his emotions. "I'll call Bill and the others right away. We'll cancel the rest of the tour dates and go to see Adie right now, okay?" Billie nodded again. He leaned against the wall, dazed. I did see that he did not want to have this conversation with her. He knew that he would hurt her. He can't stand this. But Evelyn was right, if anyone can make her understand everything, it's Billie. Adie always listened to him. She can only cope with this pain with his help. Out of respect for Charlie, I wanted the whole thing to be kept confidential, so I called Mike first and told him what was going on. He didn't hesitate long and assured me that everything would be sorted out as quickly as possible and that he would come to Minnesota with the crew immediately...