Lovebirds | Kavi

TB

Kirstie sighed, playing with Avi's hand as he slept. She always did this; when she was sad, when she was nervous, even when she was excited. But now, she was just worried.

He was home now. He had been for a few days, but she was still concerned with him. Was he really okay? Would he get sick again? Was he hungry? She had all these questions running through her head but she didn't know any of the answers.

Avi's eyes slowly fluttered open, and he saw her drawing circles on the back of his hand. It relaxed him, but he knew that something was troubling her. She didn't notice that he was awake until he suddenly grabbed her hand.

"Oh, you're awake. Do you need anything?" she asked, cupping his hand with both of hers, trying to make sure he was comfortable.

"I'm fine." he said, his voice raspy, trying to sit up.

"No, no, no, stay there!" she scolded him. She didn't want him to strain himself.

"But-" She put a finger to his lips before he could continue.

"Just...rest. For me, please?" Avi sighed and sank further into the million pillows that Kirstie made him sleep on. She smiled at him, kissing his cheek before standing up.

"You're out of water. I think I'll go get you some." She took the tall glass (that was still half-full) and went to go refill it. While she was gone, Avi sneakily grabbed his phone from the side table next to him and opened up Twitter.

He was happy to see so many 'get well' tweets. He hadn't really caught up on social media yet. Only a few days before, he was in the hospital being treated for tuberculosis. It was basically a singer's worst nightmare. It started with a cough. More of a tickle, really. He ignored it, like everyone else did.

Then it got worse. It turned into a harsh hacking that happened every few minutes. It hurt his chest and made it hard for him to breathe. Scott suggested cancelling the rest of the tour but Avi kept telling everyone no. He didn't want to let anyone down.

It wasn't only coughing. There were other symptoms that worried everyone, especially Kirstie. He was constantly tired. A flight of stairs would make him dizzy and one simple song would exhaust him to the point where he'd need to sit down. Along with that, he started to push away food and reject restaurant plans. That was especially concerning. Avi Kaplan, who could eat out a whole kitchen if you asked him to, lost his appetite. The first time he said no to barbecue everyone froze and looked at him questioningly. Esther jokingly put a hand to his forehead to see if he was delirious from a fever or something, and then pulled back instantly when she realized that he actually had one. He told everyone he was fine and he just needed a rest and maybe some flu medicine. Even though they didn't want to, they left it at that.

And of course with the loss of appetite came the loss of weight. Avi got skinnier and skinnier, to the point where he was at least three sizes smaller. All his clothes were baggy, hanging around him like flowers wilt around a vase. He got dark circles under his eyes and he seemed to be losing the life in them as well. Even the fans noticed his lack of energy, the difference in his voice during performances, but they were mostly concerned with his weight and how much smaller he looked onstage.

Nobody really pushed him to go to the hospital until they found him in the bathroom coughing up blood into the sink. It was Mitch who saw him first, hearing gagging sounds from behind the door and opening the door which was surprisingly unlocked. When he saw Avi holding onto the granite countertop for dear life, spitting out red onto white he almost fainted. He called for everyone and had to catch Avi before he fell onto the tile. That's when it all got serious and they hurried him to the hospital. He seemed incoherent, rambling nonsense while slipping in and out of consciousness, talking to Kirstie casually, like nothing was wrong. He didn't notice her tears until they fall onto his hand while he was holding hers. He reached up weakly and wiped it, before being rushed into the ER.