The Life of Reba McEntire Blackstock

Part 23

Reba's P.O.V.

"Shelby!?! What the heck are you doing here?" Narvel sets me down on the hospital bed and picks up a clipboard from the foot of the bed. Shelby rushes to my side and replies, "I think the room we're in answers your question. Now, I think I'm speaking for all of us, what are you doing here?" He gestured to all of the people in the cramped room and demanded an explanation. I had to soak in all of my surroundings before I could answer properly. In my small hospital room was Shelby, Brandon, Kelly, River, Chassidy, Shawna, Ronnie Dunn and his wife, Kix Brooks, all of my band and crew, and Melissa Peterman with her family. All of these people just so happened to not know about my breast cancer. They were all in for some big news! Once I had settled in, I answered simply, "I had an anxiety attack on stage." Shelby was clearly put out with my bluntness and replied hastily, "Yeah Mom, we know that much because it's all over the news. Why did you have an anxiety attack? You never get nervous." I took a deep breath and made sure to make eye contact with everyone in the room. My eye contact with Narvel lingered and he read my mind. He closed the distance between us and wrapped his arm around my waist. "Okay," I started," I had an anxiety attack in my dressing room earlier with Brett, so he already knows. I had a much worse one onstage during I'm A Survivor, because I realized that I'm not a survivor yet. I get fan mail all the time about how that song has changed their lives. Well now God has a plan to make that song much more realistic to me. I have breast cancer." That just about shocked everyone. No one quite knew what to say. We sat in silence for a while letting everyone soak what I just said in. There was only one person that could change the mood of this somber occasion. I looked at Melissa Peterman in the eyes and she automatically knew what to do. She nodded her head and had a look of deep concentration on her face. Finally I saw her eyes light up and I sat straight up in anticipation of the upcoming scene. She looks at the ceiling and asks, "How many defibrillators do they have in a hospital?" Everyone snaps out of their shocked state and turns to face the Melissa. She then brings her eyes back down to the crowd and sees all of them staring at her and blankly states, "Oh! I guess I don't need to know anymore. You all just came to at the same time! This is absolutely amazing! A miracle work of Jesus, I'm sure of it! The news needs to know about this!!" She runs out of the room and I couldn't hold back my laughter anymore. It started out as a small, quiet giggle and eventually turned into a roaring laughter! Everyone turned to face me, clearly confused. One by one they started to realize that it was okay to laugh. Melissa returned to the room and received a rip-roarin' round of applause. Too soon, the nurses came by to tell us that we were being too loud. Everyone started filing out of the hospital room to the waiting room leaving Narvel, Melissa and I. I walk over to Melissa and she jumps on to me in a hug. She always gets parts on TV shows that show her true self. I often trouble myself deciding who I like the best; Melissa, Barbara Jean or Bonnie Wheeler! Anyways, she finally let me go so that I could breathe and I thanked her for all her help. We chatted about how much we have missed each other and made plans for her to come out onstage with me at Grand Casino Hinckley in Minnesota. Narvel comes up to us and says, "I always hate to break up the love fest, but Reba, you need to sign the release papers." I nodded and Melissa said, "Well, I ought to be going. I love you Red." She blew me a kiss and went on her way. I sat down on the bed again and gave my autogr- oops I mean signature! I looked at Narvel and whispered, "The only people left to know are my fans."

Melissa's P.O.V.

I pulled up Daily Mail on my phone while my husband was driving my son and me to Reba's home. I was so excited that I was getting to see my best friend today! I was scrolling quickly through the news articles and saw a flash of bright red that caught my eye. I stopped at it, and sure enough my best friends beautiful face was gracing the screen. I clicked on the article without fully reading the article's title. When the page loaded I was shocked to read the title, "Queen of Country Music, Reba McEntire, hits the ground after anxiety attack on stage last night!" My eyes widened and I yelled, "STOP!" My husband hit the brakes and I was lucky that I had my seatbelt on. I looked at him and said, "Turn around. We're going to the hospital. He turned the car around and didn't even bother asking why. We arrived at the hospital and I ran into the front desk, wild eyed. I practically screamed at the receptionist, "I need to know what room Reba McEntire or Blackstock or whatever name she's under is in." The receptionist told me to calm down and told me her room number. I walked calmly until I was out of view of her desk then took off running again. I made it to her room and realized that I wasn't the only one who was there. Her room was packed! Everyone from Shelby to Ronnie Dunn was in that room! I hugged everyone as they told me that Reba had left the room for a minute. I worked my way to the end of the greeting line and the room was once again quiet. Every time we heard footsteps coming down the hall we would get dead silent, but we had gotten psyched out more than a few times, so we ended up getting quite loud. No one even noticed Reba and Narvel come in until Shelby yelled, "Mom are you okay?!?" We all turned to face her as Narvel put her down on the hospital bed and she tried to analyze the situation she had just joined. She finally looked up to us and said, "What are you doing here?" Shelby was very protective of his mama, it must be in the genes because Narvel is too, and became annoyed very quickly when he didn't know what was going on. He replied snippily, "I think the room we're in answers your question. Now, I think I'm speaking for all of us, what are you doing here?" He gestured to all of us in the room and Reba looked at every one of us to see our expressions. She replied simply, "I had an anxiety attack on stage." I don't think she's been on her phone very often, because if she had been, she would've seen her face plastered onto every major news source out there. Shelby was clearly put out and replied hastily, ""Yeah Mom, we know that much because it's all over the news. Why did you have an anxiety attack? You never get nervous." She nodded her head and took a deep breath. She then looked up to us again and replied, "Okay. I had an anxiety attack in my dressing room earlier with Brett, so he already knows. I had a much worse one onstage during I'm A Survivor, because I realized that I'm not a survivor yet. I get fan mail all the time about how that song has changed their lives. Well now God has a plan to make that song much more realistic to me. I have breast cancer." Reba has breast cancer. That's not right. Not the sweet, happy-go-lucky, funny Reba that we all know and love. I look up to see everyone shocked. I scan the room and eventually meet eyes with none other than Reba herself. She has a guilty look in her eyes that pleads me to do something about it. I nod and the gears in my head start spinning. What do doctors use to bring their unconscious patients out of their state? Ah! Defibrillators! When I thought of that, my eyes must've lit up, because Reba sat up straight in anticipation of what I have in store. I waited until the perfect time then looked up at the ceiling and wondered aloud, "How many defibrillators do they have in a hospital?" I counted to 5 then brought my gaze back to the crowd. I gasped "Oh! I guess I don't need to know anymore. You all just came to at the same time! This is absolutely amazing! A miracle work of Jesus, I'm sure of it! The news needs to know about this!!" I pushed my way through the crowd of people and took off running down the hallway. I reached the end and saw a utility closet door open. I wondered, "Hm, someone forgot to close the door!" I walked back to Reba's room and was greeted by astonishingly loud laughter. I walked in and was greeted by a huge round of applause. I curtseyed and went back over by John. I hadn't even been back to the room for a minute when a nurse came by saying that we were too loud. A line forms to give Reba a hug and a kiss before they left, and I was last. When I made it up to the front, Reba got off her bed, knowing that I wouldn't settle for a half hug. I engulfed her small body then regretfully let her go. She thanked me a million times for helping her and I told her that that's what best friends are for. Since our plans for this weekend were ruined, she invited me to do a show with her! I have the greatest times onstage with her! Narvel came up to us and said in his rich Texan accent, "I always hate to break up the love fest, but Reba, you need to sign the release papers." She nodded and walked over to her bed. I said, "Well, I ought to be going. I love you Red." I blew her a kiss then moseyed out of the room, eagerly awaiting the concert in a week.

What's up fellow tweebas? Anyways, I have started an Instagram account for this story and would love if you would all follow it! It is lifeofrebamcentireblackstock! Thank you all so much for the Votes and comments <3 I am now the 2nd most popular Reba fanfic! Love you guys and keep reading!