I'm The One (A Van Halen FanFic)

21

{August 7, 1978; Nevada}
We weren't supposed to be preforming again until August 9th, so I slept out in the waiting room until I could visit with Mary. Sam, the nurse who snuck me in a couple hours ago, woke me up and told me visiting hours were starting. I rubbed my eyes and thanked her.
Groggily, I walked to the cafeteria and grabbed some coffee and a muffin. I grabbed a muffin for Mary too and made my way to her room.
"Good morning," I smiled as I walked in. She was watching the news. Seeing me, she smiled.
"Morning, Ed."
"I brought you a blueberry muffin." I handed it to her.
"Mm, thank you."
"So are you ready to-"
"Wait! Shh!." Mary cut me off. She pointed to the news.
"...Following up on the case of Mary Randall, it has been discovered that former bodyguard, Erik Samuels, formulated the plan for Mary's kidnappers to go after her. He phoned the police this morning and told them he hired local thugs in the prison he was at to find and kill Mary. They broke out of the San Jose, California prison and found out the band he was a guard for, called Van Halen, were in Japan. With connections, they got on a plane and stalked young Mary, for she was a bus-keep for the band. Lucky for them but very unfortunate for Ms. Randall, she showed up alone in the hotel they were staying at, making her an easy target. After she escaped from them after a week of being held captive, they reported back to Erik and he told them to just let her go, as he said himself he felt he made a mistake for putting a hit on her. But, they were dead set on finishing their task; which, thankfully, they failed. Erik wanted to confess for he felt guilty, and for being the mastermind of this crime, he is now sentenced to 30 years for attempted murder."
I was stunned and angry. As I sat there fuming, staring at his mugshot on the tv screen, I remembered something. He called me from prison just a few nights ago. Maybe, just maybe, he was trying to confess to me.
"Ed, what's wrong?" Mary asked.
"It's Erik...a few nights ago before they found you, he called me from the prison. But I was so angry that he called I didn't give him a chance to speak. I think he might've been trying to confess to me.."
"Hmm..maybe. It doesn't sound like something he'd do. I feel like he wouldn't have the balls to confess to you."
I shrugged. "I dunno. But I want answers. I think I'm going to call the prison he's at."
"Don't do that Ed. It'll just make you more angry and it's not worth it. All that matters is I'm okay and that we can be back on the road together." With that said, she rubbed my arm and smiled at me.
"Doesn't matter? Mary, of course it matters. For gods sake, he put a hit on you. I mean, doesn't it make you wonder why he did that? Well besides the obvious that he couldn't have you. The fucker's crazy! He-"
"Yeah, Ed, i do wonder why he'd do such a horrible thing; but, I want to move on. I get that you want to know, but I'd rather we get out of here and just go back to being happy.." She started to cry. "It would feel nice to be happy again."
"Mary, I love you, and I respect your feelings, but you're being naive. You can't just move on from this; you're going to be stuck in the same funk that you were when your dad died. It's so much emotional trauma. I think if we get you some therapy and find out what happened it can get you some real closure; not just burying it inside and trying to hide it."
She looked at me for the longest time, going over in her head what I said to her. Finally, she nodded.
"Yeah...yeah. You're right. I suppose I can't just say I'm fine and move on. I'm having nightmares about it. I get scared every time a door unlocks for crying out loud. But how will I be able to be in therapy if I'm on the road with you?"
"Well...you might have to stay with my parents in Pasadena."
"Ed, I've never even met your parents. How could they be comfortable staying with me?"
"They're good people, Mary. And they know I love you and once they meet you it'd be even easier for them to be comfortable around you."
"I don't know Ed. It just doesn't sound like a good idea..."
"We'll figure it out, Mary. Don't you worry. Now, I'm going to go see if you can be released today." I got up and headed down to the lobby. The nurse told me Mary needs at least another week for her wounds to heal and for her to leave. Also, she has to deal with the legal issues of her kidnappers. I sighed and thanked her.
"Well, they said you still have a week here," I confirmed as I walked back in the room.
"Yeah, I figured I wouldn't be able to go so soon." She muttered.
"Well...I will stay here with you again today, but you know I have to go back for the shows."
"Yeah...hopefully my brother will stay with me."
"Someone has to; that's for sure. If not him, a police guard."
"No. They have more important things to do thank babysit me. Besides, the nurse checks on me all the time. I'll be okay, Ed. Really. I took care of myself for a while, remember?" She smiled at me. Sometimes I hated how reassuring she tried to be.
"I guess...but I'm going to make you do something. You have to see the psychologist here."
"I-"
"Mary," I looked at her with all the frustration and power I could muster. "I need you to do this. It will help you; I promise you that. You agreed with me therapy is a good idea, so why not start now? Please, do this for your own good."
She studied me, again. Like she always did. "Okay." She finally muttered. I relaxed a bit more.
"Good. I'm going to talk to Sam about it when she comes back."
So, it was settled. Mary was going to get help for the time being from the psychologist for the week, and I would call her as much as possible. I didn't want to leave. But, duty calls. And her brother was staying, so I knew she was in good hands.

{A/N: I finally got the ball rolling! The next chapter should be up sooner than this one. Thanks for reading!}