Time After Time || Chris Cornell

20. Golden Words In A Broken Voice

L'Amours Brooklyn New York, March 17 1990

(Chris is 25, Andi is 20)

CHRIS: I drop the mic on the stage and everyone in the crowd cheers. I don't think I'll ever get tired of hearing everyone get their aggression out as we play as loud as we fucking can.

"Where's Andi?" I ask Susan as I pass her, one of the roadies tossing me a towel from all the water that Mike Patton had thrown all over me, the band and the audience.

"She said she had to use the washroom," She says as she follows behind me making our way down the fluorescent lit hallway. I make my way into the dressing room and in no time Kim and Matt follow in behind us.

"I uh, gotta head back to the hotel, I've got an early flight to catch back home for some meetings. I'll uh... see you guys back in Seattle?" Susan asks.

"You bet," Matt says cracking open a beer.

"Oh and Andi... has something to tell you Chris when she gets back from the washroom... I think you might like it," She smiles raising her eyebrow at me. I shift my eyes between Kim and Matt, then back at Susan and take a sip of my beer.

"Ok," I say and she says her goodbyes once more, then heads out of the dressing room.

"What is she talking about?" I ask. Matt shrugs at me and Kim takes a sip of his beer.

"Susan offered her a job... I think finances and marketing or something for us," Kim says.

"Oh... ok... did she say she would take it?" I ask.

"Don't know... my guess is as good as yours," Kim shrugs and takes a sip of his beer. Then I realize Andi seems to be taking a while in the washroom, and I hope she didn't slip again. After a few minutes I set my beer down and run out of the dressing room to make sure Andi's alright. I hear Kim and Matt follow behind me and I'm suddenly stopped by one of our roadies.

"Cornell! It's Wood... it's really bad,"

"What? What happened?" I ask.

"Xana found him earlier today... he's in the hospital,"

I could feel the earth suddenly drop out from under me. As Kim begins to ask more questions, it was like I wasn't inside my body anymore... something about an overdose of heroin... in the bathroom... Xana finding him completely unconscious... and I slowly turn and walk towards the bathroom, completely numb. Like everything was suddenly in slow motion. I open the doors, the faint conversations between Kim and Matt trying to figure out just how to get back, and I see Andi's clothes in a pile on the bathroom tile floor.

*****

Seattle Washington, March 16 1990

(Andi is 20)

ANDI: I take in a deep breath and find myself standing in what looked like a park, behind a large oak tree completely nude, trying to figure out exactly when I am and why I slipped again. I peak out around the tree and see that the park was bare so at least for the moment, no one can see me without clothes.

Ok Andrea... where can you find some clothes?

I wait a few minutes and see an older woman in a long grey trench coat walking her dog, and I wonder just what I could say to get her to help me without calling for help. I look around me and see that there was a small creek just a few feet away from me and the bottom of a little drop off and wonder if I could somehow make my way back home using the creek so no one could see me.