Stevie tossed and turned all night long, finding it impossible to actually get comfortable long enough to get any rest. First she was too old, then too warm, then the fan was too loud, and hall light was too bright, but the real issue was... Lindsey's side of the bed was awfully empty.
Of course, she'd slept alone before, but usually it was only after an argument and Lindsey went to pout in his studio... It had been along time since they'd actually spent the night apart.
The thing about working with one another and being married was that there wasn't a whole lot of alone time allotted. They were on the road together, even when they toured solo in their later years and then lived together, vacationed together, spent every holiday together... they were as close as any two humans could be, so it was hard to be away from him, even if he didn't realize it.
By six that next morning, she was up with a cup of coffee in one hand and the phone in the other. She had worried about him since she'd left, so she figured it was just time to give him a call... just check in on him.
However, after two calls that went right to voicemail, she dialed the hospital number instead.
"Hello?" His morning nurse answered on the first ring, which caused a gentle sigh to escape the blonde.
"Good morning, Cindy." She was staring down at her devout, lightly running the tips of her fingers along the lace fabric. "This is Stevie... Lindsey's wife, and I tried to call him a few minutes ago, but he didn't answer the phone." She lingered. "I just want to make sure that he's alright."
"He is doing great, and actually asked about you as soon as he woke up." Cindy really felt for the older woman, so she was sure to add that in there for reassurance.
She chuckled softly, tears in her eyes as she nodded lightly. "As long as he's feeling okay and-"
"I'll transfer this call to his room and pick up the line in there for him." She didn't mean to cut her off, but it was clear Stevie intended to hang up after that. "He might be having a hard time answering it." She added, which suddenly made a lot of sense to his wife.
"Yes, please." She wanted to hear his voice... she needed to hear him.
It took only a moment, and then he answered the line in his room. "Stevie?" He sounded confused... which wasn't surprising.
"Good morning, honey." She couldn't help but smile, even though there were tears rolling down her cheeks.
She wanted him to remember more than anything in the entire world. She didn't want the Lindsey with the twenty- five year old mindset... she wanted the Lindsey that she'd spent every milestone in the last forty years with.
"Did you sleep okay?" She wondered, pursing her lips to one side.
"I slept pretty good." He assured on the other end, sounding incredibly distant, but she could understand why.
He didn't know her. He didn't know anything about her. She wasn't the same person that he remembered her being. She was now a mom, she was a grandma, a wife, a famous singer and all these other incredible titles that he knew nothing of.
"You're coming back today, right?" Lindsey creased a brow, a little bummed that he hadn't seen her since early the day before.
It was difficult because under any other circumstances, his room wouldn't have ever been empty. They had five children, and seven grandchildren... there would have always been someone in the room to occupy his time, but it wasn't that easy.
Lindsey hadn't even met any of the kids and Stevie didn't want them to until he was back home. So until then, he was really relying on the company of the woman that had aged 40 years over night... in his eyes, at least.
"Of course, I'll be there to see you." She had planned on being there before noon anyway but to hear him ask encouraged her to get motivated a little sooner.
"How's your ankle?" He wondered, wanting her to stay on the line a little longer.
Her voice was different. It was raspier but also more gentle and reassuring in some ways.
That voice felt like home to him, no matter what their situation was.
"Oh, it's alright." She shrugged as if he could see her. "Did you eat breakfast?" Stevie wondered, changing the topic of conversation.
"Ehh..." he wrinkled his nose. "It looked suspicious." His choice of wording caused her to giggle. "I'm serious, Steph." He repeated the name he'd called her forever as a light chuckle escaped him.
With a soft smile, she nodded. "I'll bring you something when I come." Stevie figured that he hadn't been eating there- picking at his food maybe, but not actually eating any of it.
"Thank you, Stevie." He shifted in bed, so tired of sitting in that room. "I woke up and I missed you..." Lindsey admitted something that he didn't think he normally would.
When they were in their twenties, they hardly ever told one another anything like that, but he really felt the urge to... He missed her, a lot and he didn't know why, considering that he'd just seen her the day before.
Her heart sank, eyes falling closed as she leaned back into the headboard. "I'll see you in a few hours, Lindsey." She assured.
"Okay..." his voice was very somber and tired m
"I love you." She had said it a million times before, but it felt different... She knew that he wouldn't repeat it. "Bye- bye, Lindsey." Stevie didn't give him a second to respond to any of that before she hung up the phone, not at all in the mood to get her heart broken that morning.
~~~
It was just shortly after eleven when Stevie slipped through the door of the room that Lindsey had been occupying. She was happy to see that he had moved from the bed to a chair by the window.
He was in a t- shirt, sweatpants and a pair of slippers, one arm wrapped in a bandage and feet kicked up on the coffee table.
"Hey." He greeted her the moment she stepped into the room, a gentle smile traveling across his face.
"Hi, honey." She returned the smile, using one arm to hold her crutch and the other to carry in the to- go bag they had picked up on their way there.
"You're getting pretty good with that." He motioned lightly to the crutch, a light smile on his face as he watched her head his way.
She nodded, chuckling faintly as she set the food down on the table in front of him. "Eat something, please." She motioned towards the bag as she slowly took a seat in the empty chair not far from his.
He couldn't help but watch her for a moment, seeing as she finally slid her sunglasses to the top of her eyes to reveal tired brown eyes. She wasn't wearing an ounce of makeup and her long blonde hair was in loose, natural curls.
She was the most gorgeous sixty- six year old woman he'd ever laid eyes on... he was certain of it.
"Nora has your pillow and a couple of other things, but she's going to drop it off at the nurses station." Stevie added, shifting in the chair awkwardly since he'd been staring for a long moment. "When we were in Italy, your back was bothering you from the bed and the pillows..." she lingered, finally making eye contact. "I want you to be comfortable here, Lindsey." She added, even though she really wanted him to be back home.
It was very hard to understand their new situation when they were only together for a couple of hours every day... He still knew nothing about his life, even though it had been a few days already since he's woken up.
He could tell she was starting to get a little teary eyed, so he cracked a little grin. "Back hurts from sleeping on the wrong pillow?" Lindsey nodded lightly. "I really am sixty- six, huh?" He teased with a gentle weak, which instantly caused her to giggle.
"A very good sixty- six, yes..."
