The show must go on

Chapter 12 - nothing else matters like us

Perrie POV

Later, Leigh and Jesy also come back and are told the same half-truth as Norma, only this time Jade speaks herself. I certainly wouldn't have the heart to do it again. At her request, we tell her exactly about the show, joke, laugh, order some food so she doesn't have to endure the awful hospital food, and generally try to distract her from where she is. And I almost think we even succeed to some extent. As she sleeps we watch her, silent and scrolling through our phones, all of course getting stuck on instagram and twitter.

"We should explain to the fans what's going on. They think Jade is dying," Jesy says laughing, which makes me look down at the floor for a moment to keep from bursting into tears again. If only they knew.

"Oh god yes," Leigh interjects as she also seems to see the posts reviewing the last few weeks and posts of numerous pictures that have captured Jade's modest state of health quite well. Pictures of one of us carrying her backpack, or of her looking as pale and lifeless as she does right now or showing her definite weight loss. The video of her throwing up on camera is still around and has even become a meme. The internet can be really cruel.

"What should we do?", I ask, bereft of ideas.

"We could take a picture here that looks more like fun and partying and then explain that she has pneumonia," Leigh then explains. "Because they know she's in hospital."

"No offence, but Pez and Jade don't look like the life of the party right now," Jesy counters, but Leigh quickly pulls out a bag full of makeup and says with a sly grin, "I've got that covered."

When Jade wakes up again, we fill her in on Leigh's plan, which she reluctantly agrees to, and first I freshen up before we put life on her face. We position ourselves around her, take a few pictures that look like we're having the time of our lives. But this alone seems exhausting for her.

Finally we send it to the management so that the picture can be posted on the band's account and now we actually turn our attention to the pizza we ordered. While Jade seems to have trouble keeping her eyes open, the rest of us talk quietly about the logistics of tomorrow. 

Actually, we were supposed to take the bus to Vancouver tonight, but Jade won't be released from the hospital until tomorrow morning. The new plan seems to be that we'll take the bus to the hospital as early as we can tomorrow, get Jade and then go straight to the scheduled interviews that Paul has conveniently rescheduled. I don't like this at all, as I can't imagine that she will be able to take part in any interviews by tomorrow. During the day Sam, who is still in London, contacted us to enquire about Jade. The label remained silent. On the one hand I was glad that we had our peace today, on the other hand I found the apparent lack of interest quite disturbing. But I left it uncommented.

I am suddenly pulled out of the conversation by my own phone. Astonished, I look at the screen, wondering who could be calling me at this hour. The sun has just set here, which means it must be the middle of the night at home. I'm even more confused when I see Alex's picture on my phone and immediately guilt plagues me, both towards him and Jade, who looks at me sadly.

"I have to take this," I apologise and quickly leave the room.