Gorillaz' Big Day

Chapter 7

Days after the incident, things at the apartment came back to normal - at least as normal as things can get. Murdoc and Russel made amends with each other after their fight. Noodle was also feeling better with her cold, though still a little bruised and shaken by her run-in with James. The band decided to keep Murdoc's secret from her.

2D, on the other hand, was not feeling good. His agonizing headaches were constantly recurring since Noodle's incident, and each one was worse than the other. Dizzy spells were beginning to go with them. He brushed off each one as another isolated incident, until one morning.

It was a stormy morning in late July. 2D and Noodle were sitting in the kitchen. This was a rare morning when Noodle decided to cook breakfast - usually it was Russel who did most of the cooking. This was also the first morning all month she felt like herself, the vibrant, happy Noodle everyone knew. 2D was sitting at the table with his laptop updating the band's social media pages. He was already feeling a migraine coming on.

"What's going on today, 2D?" Noodle conversed.

"Nofink much, just" - he stopped for a second - "some new fan mail." He put his head in his hands and started crying from the pain. This migraine beat all the others in severity.

"Are you okay, dear?" Noodle asked concernedly.

"Not really," he answered weakly. "I.. I feel faint. This migraine... it hurts ev'rywhere."

"You should go lay down. This will be waiting for you later."

2D nearly fell over when he stood up. He had to hang on to the side of the counter to walk. Just as Noodle was about to assist him... *thud* he hit the floor, passed out.

"2D!" Noodle ran over to 2D, who was lying on the floor. "Stuart! 2D! Wake up, please!"

Nothing she could do would wake him up.

She called for an ambulance, who came and rushed him to the St. Peter's Hospital. While in the back of the ambulance, Noodle left a frantic message for Russel and Murdoc on the answering machine. They arrived at the hospital half an hour later, when 2D was taken to be examined and Noodle was left in the waiting room, alone.

Russel was the first to wake up and listen to the message. It was confusing at first because of the background noise, but then he heard Noodle's voice: "Russel! Murdoc! 2D passed out this morning! I couldn't wake him up, and I don't know why. We are on our way to St. Peter's Hospital, and when you get this, rush over, quickly!"

Murdoc and Russel rushed into the waiting room with Noodle soon after. She was still alone, crying.

"Noods, we're here," Russel whispered, consoling the hysterical girl. "How is he?"

"I don't know, they haven't come out yet to tell me."

"What 'appened?" Murdoc asked.

"He got dizzy and fell, and he passed out. He had a migraine and went to lay down, but he fell over when he stood up."

The doctor came into the room. "Are you three with Stuart Pot?"

"Yes, we are," Noodle answered.

"I have some bad news. We found a tumor on his frontal lobe. It was the cause of his fainting." He pulled out the x-rays he took to show them. "It has fairly shallow roots, which is good news because it means we can operate and it's curable. However, the process is long and expensive."

"How long?" Noodle asked. "I don't care about the price, just please make him better."

"We're looking at two to three months."

"Oh no," she muttered under her breath.

"What's wrong?" the doctor asked.

"They're gettin' married in December," Murdoc answered.

"Don't worry, miss. We will work the best we can to make him better long before then."

2D spent the next three months undergoing treatment for his tumor. Everyday, Noodle and his parents were always by his side. Some days, Noodle would spend every hour by side, working on the wedding. She went a couple nights straight once without sleep.

But Noodle was not without moral support of her own. While she worked so hard to support 2D, she needed someone to support her as well. She received help from everyone - Murdoc, Russel, 2D's parents, and even their friends Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett. They would do things for her, such as relieving her of long night watches, helping with the wedding planning, or bringing her food when she forgot to eat.

She was too stubborn to accept anyone's help at first, being the strong-willed person she was, but she finally decided she couldn't do it on her own. All she wanted to do was be supportive of 2D and his time of need instead of drawing attention to herself. Once her own health was beginning to take a hit, she finally caved and reached out for support.

One day in late September, 2D was wide awake after a treatment session and Noodle came in with his dinner. She was looking sleep deprived, having only slept seven total hours in three days. The bags under her eyes were painfully obvious.

"Noodle, thank you for ev'rything yew've done for me."

"Thank me? For what?"

"Yew've been so good to me these past weeks, and I don' know how to repay yew. Yew've spent more time on me than anyfing else. Yew're one of the strongest people I kno'."

"I'm just being a good wife, that's all. Besides, if I was in here, you'd be doing the same for me." Noodle smiled at 2D and he smiled back. There was that moment of eye contact when he knew - he was marrying the right person.

He came home on October 31st, Noodle's 22nd birthday. Life at home was relatively uneventful - that is, for a few weeks anyway.