A Rush of Blood to the Head

Chapter 10

Almost 3000 miles away, a confused Jonny, looked sheepishly at Will's phone, trying to make out what had happened in the last few minutes.

"Nothing happened...I know the truth now... Goodbye Jonny"  

Chris' voice echoed in his ears. His words reflected so much pain. A tear rolled down Jonny's face.

Chris...I am sorry...Don't leave me...Don't go away like this....

Chris sounded betrayed. He ought to be. After that night at Christmas eve, Jonny was surprised that Chris actually answered the phone. 

Why did I do this to him? Why?

A few more tears came down. He rubbed them off. He tried to focus. There was no way he could change the past, but he still could fix the present. He needed to talk to Chris. He needed to apologise. Chris would never like Jonny the way he did before... But at least this mess would be cleared. 

If only he knew...

Suddenly a dreadful thought came into Jonny's mind, leaving him absolutely terrified.

What if he....what if he...does something...something bad...to himself?

Jonny quickly shook off the thought. Chris could never do such a thing...Or could he? He remembered that time Chris had written "Amsterdam". Chris had been absolutely devastated at the time. He had shut everyone out, including Jonny. But he covered up so nicely. Minus the general avoidance of most people, Chris still looked like a bubbly ball of happiness. His eyes still glittered and gleamed. He practically jumped around the whole recording studio, when he had finished playing the piano part for "Clocks". 

But that was not it. 

Few could see the searing agony behind those stunning blue eyes. But Jonny could. He didn't exactly know what had happened to Chris but he knew a lot was going on. He knew Chris was suffering from clinical depression. He knew Chris was hiding it.

A lot had changed in their lives. After Parachutes, they had become popular overnight. They had been touring the world, the had started to have more and more fans. Beautiful women, who would practically have not even batted an eyelash had they not been in a band, wrote them love letters. Pretty erotic ones. One such letter addressed to Guy, had descriptions of how the lady would tie him down to a bed and...savour him. Guy seemed to love it, Will and Jonny didn't mind...But Chris...He didn't really care, which was unlike him. Chris had always been the kind who loved getting attention from beautiful women. This had given Jonny the clue that something was up. Jonny thought that it might have just been the change in their lifestyle. Even though it had been Chris' childhood dream to be part of a band, he didn't really quite accept major changes...or even minor ones. He just wasn't a big fan of change. Jonny thought that all this change must have had taken its toll on Chris. But could he be more wrong...

One fine day Chris had disappeared. Much like after Christmas eve 2015. They had searched for him...Everywhere...He wasn't at home... Or at his favourite restaurant...Or that bar he loved...He had texted Jonny, that he wouldn't be around for a while. Eventually after a thorough search, Jonny had found his car parked in an old motel. He had made his way in and after much enquiring he had managed to find Chris' room. 

It was unlocked.

Something was wrong. Millions of thoughts had played through Jonny's mind when he had entered the room. He was shocked to see Chris lying on the floor with a bottle of sleeping pills in his hand. The bottle was open. Instinctively, Jonny had bent down to check his pulse. He was quite relieved to find a regular healthy heartbeat. But then realisation kicked in. Jonny had realised that Chris had been trying to kill himself.