Love of the Ages

Eight

After a couple months of serious rest and relaxation for all of them, Poison decided it was Time to get back into the studio. Convincing the rest of the guys to do such a thing wasn't very hard for Bobby, mostly 'cuz they were all feeling that Creative itch like he was. Even convincing them that they were supposed to name whatever album they managed to record Open Up and Say...Ahh! wasn't very hard for him. Bret was all for the wild theme of the album as much as the other two blondes, and they all liked the idea of a demonic-looking woman as the cover Art to as an eye-catcher like they'd done with their previous album's cover.

However, the poor bassist still seemed a bit shaken by what his friends swore was a fever-induced Dream while he was comatose in the hospital. There were Times that he'd swear he heard Aerin's voice, only to realize she wasn't actually with him wherever he was. Dreaming of her almost every Night–sometimes to the point of waking up hard as a rock or covered in his own cum–was a fairly regular occurrence, too.

The rest of the guys were starting to get worried about him by the Time Valentine's Day rolled around a few months later. Every Time he'd tell them something like he'd Dreamt of the young woman again, that she'd a message she wanted him to pass on to one of them, they couldn't help wondering how much more of his mind he'd lost. None of them wanted to believe the things he'd tell them, like CC was eventually gonna get fired and replaced by that Richie Kotzen he'd mentioned, if he didn't get help for his coke addiction sooner rather than later.

Returning home from grueling Days–and sometimes equally long Nights–in the studio was always a treat for them. They'd lounge around the living room, just bullshitting and watching TV while they ate whatever take-out they ordered before they called it a Night. Most Times, the lone brunette was the quietest of them, but he'd always been that way, so the others didn't really think much of it.

"All right, guys–I'm off to bed," Bret said, groaning as he pushed himself up off one of the couches that Dominated their living room.

"Feeling better, now that you've eaten?" the drummer asked.

"Yeah, I can tell my sugar's come up like it was supposed to," he answered, nodding. "I doubt you're gonna find me dead in the Morn, or anything crazy like that."

"Might be a good idea to recheck your sugar, just to play it safe," Rikki told him. "I think we'd enough seizures and shit when Bobby was in the hospital a couple months ago."

"Ain't that the fuckin' Truth?" the frontman laughed. "Fine, I'll recheck it before I actually go to bed, but I'm not far from heading that way."

"I think we can all live with that," CC chuckled, still nursing his beer.

"Yeah, I'll second that," the bassist agreed with a chuckle of his own.

Bret headed to the kitchen so he could recheck his sugar like he'd said he'd do, all of them knowing he stored his supplies in the cabinet next to the fridge. It mighta been an odd place to store such shit, but it was closer to where he needed to keep his insulin, so it kinda made sense. At least he wasn't fighting them after what their friend had been through, which was always a plus in their books.

Reassured that his sugar really was fine once he'd checked it and said it was around one-twenty, the rest of the guys let their frontman head off to bed. They knew that his diabetes acting up could cause him to feel more tired than normal, and it could get really bad from there. None of them wanted to see him wind up hospitalized again for not taking his disease seriously, but Bobby prolly didn't wanna see that happen more than anyone else. He knew what was still likely to happen to his friend several Years down the road, but he also knew he couldn't tell anyone else.

Since they weren't quite ready to go to bed yet, the other three members of Poison decided to just stay in the living room. They were careful to keep the noise to a minimum, all three of them knowing just how cranky their friend could get, if they kept him up. It might not be quite what they wanted, but at least they'd the Time to kick back and relax since they knew what was coming soon. With the release of another album, they knew another tour'd soon follow, and it was back to the grindstone for them.