Time Makes You Bolder

July 2024

Waddy was pacing in his room. He'd been agonising over whether to call Lindsey for the past 15 minutes. He didn't want to scare him, but he knew he'd be upset when he found out they'd kept it from him.

He needs to know.

Taking a seat on the edge of his bed, he pulled out his phone and scrolled through his contacts.

"Hey man! How's Scotland?" Lindsey answered, surprised to hear Waddy's voice.

"Hey Linds, listen, don't panic OK, but Stevie's in the hospital," Waddy said, trying to keep his tone neutral and calm.

"What?!!" Lindsey exclaimed, shifting in his chair to sit bolt upright.

"I said don't panic," Waddy sighed, though not surprised at his reaction. "It's her knee. She woke up in agony. Karen and Mary have taken her to get it checked out. We haven't heard anything yet. I'll keep you posted, OK?"

"I'm coming."

"Lindsey..." Waddy exhaled, taking his glasses off and rubbing his eyes. "I said don't worry. We've got her. She'll be well looked after."

"I should have never agreed to stay home in the first place. I'm coming."

~~~~~

"How's she doing?" Waddy asked, cracking the door to Stevie's private room open just enough to pop his head through.

"She's a little..." Mary began.

"High. She's as high as a kite." Karen added, peering up from behind her laptop.

Karen was in no mood for this. She was sat on a small couch in the corner of the room, trying to figure out how they'd go about salvaging the European leg of the tour. It was a logistical nightmare.

She knew they immediately had to postpone the shows in Glasgow and Manchester. She'd been exchanging calls and emails with the venues all day, exploring their options. The festival in London couldn't shift, so they were working around that.

Looking at the calendar, and with Stevie's post-tour commitments in mind, she knew it would be difficult to make the show in Antwerp. They were expecting to have to cancel that one altogether, and she wasn't looking forward to telling Stevie about it. It'd break her heart.

"Hey Stevie! Glad you're doing OK," Waddy said, his head still poking through the door.

"Wad! Come in, come talk to me," Stevie answered in a sing-song voice.

"I can't right now, but I'll swing back later, I promise."

Waddy gestured for Mary to come with him. She excused herself and followed him into the corridor.

"He's arriving into Manchester in a couple of hours, I'm taking the jet to pick him up," Waddy whispered, conspiratorially.

Mary smiled.

"Don't tell her, OK? Let's give her a nice surprise."

"We should at least tell her he knows, right?" Mary asked.

"OK, tell her he knows, but not that he's coming," Waddy confirmed.

Mary nodded and went back into Stevie's room.

"Hey Mary...! I missed you!" Stevie slurred. "Everything OK?"

"Hey, I missed you too!" Mary replied playfully, walking over to her bed and reaching for Stevie's hand. "Listen, don't get mad, but we called Lindsey."

"My Lindsey?"

"Yes, your Lindsey."

"Oh, I loooooooooove my Lindsey." Stevie said dreamily.