Alive and Breathing (Adopted By Alex Gaskarth)

Chapter Five

Morgan
"Shh, you're going to wake them,"a voice whispered. "They look so cute,"someone else whispered. I groaned. Flashes of light appeared in my closed eyelids so I slowly opened my eyes. Rian, Zack, and Jack were crowded around the bed. They had their phones and a camera out. "What the fuck?"I mumbled. I shifted slightly and my elbow clipped something soft, causing Alex to groan in pain. "Ow, the fuck?"he coughed out, opening his eyes a crack to see the guys staring. "IT WAS JACK'S FAULT!"Rian and Zack yelled, running from the room. "FUUUCCKK, GUYS!"Jack shouted, pouting.

"Why all the yelling?"Alex mumbled. "The guys were taking pictures of us sleeping,"I mumbled back. "Hmm, okay,"he replied and fell back asleep. I too found myself drifting off. "SHIT!"I shouted, jumping out of bed and running to my room. I found myself out of breath and coughing as I shoved my nubbins in. I tried catching my breath as I prepared my morning medications. My hands were shaking and I couldn't open one of the prescription bottles. Alex apparently saw my struggle from the doorway and popped it open.

I shoved all 8 pills in my mouth and swallowed them with water from my water bottle. "Are you okay, Morgan?"Alex asked. I nodded, taking slow breaths to steady myself. I sat on the edge of my bed. "Can I do anything?"he asked. I nodded. "Can you prepare my nebulizer?"I asked. "Sure,"he replied. I grabbed my aflo vest and put it on. I watched him pouring the medication in, and plugged it in before handing it to me. I took it and turned both of them on. "I'm gonna go make breakfast. Are you good here?"Alex asked. I nodded and coughed, the mucus in my chest coming free.

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My treatments were finished so I changed into jeans and a tshirt. I brushed my teeth quickly and walked down the stairs. The guys were all in the kitchen. Alex sat a plate down. "Here ya go, Morg,"Alex told me. I took a seat. On the plate was two slices of toast with peanut butter and some scrambled eggs. "I know you're doctor told me you have to eat a minimum of 5000 calories a day,"Alex said out of the blue. The other 3 guys turned to look at me. "What?"I asked through a mouthful of food. "You're so tiny. How does a tiny human eat that much?"Jack asked. I started laughing. I knew exactly where this conversation was going. I've had this conversation before with every person I meet.

"Guys, I have an illness. It's hard for me to gain weight at all so my doctor sets a minimum amount of food for me to eat. It's the same thing with every CFer you meet. For me, I eat a lot of food by mouth but I also have a tube in my abdomen called a g tube that I feed liquid nutrition directly into my stomach,"I explained. The guys still looked amazed but stopped looking at me like I had 3 heads.

After breakfast I retreated back upstairs to my room where I began doodling in my sketchpad again. A light knock sounded at my door. "Can I come in?"Alex asked from the open doorway. I nodded and he walked over to the bed, sitting down beside me.  "Whatcha drawing?"he asked, trying to peek at my sketch. "Nothing, it's not done. Can I pleeeaaasse show you later?"I begged, giving Alex puppy dog eyes. "That's fine. I just came up to see if you wanted to go shopping for clothes and stuff since tour is coming up? I called your doctor. We also have to pick up supplies and medications,"Alex explained. "Absolutely!"I said.

*****timeskip to tour day*******

Morgan
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! "Ugh...."I groaned, slapping my hand down on the snooze button and falling back into sleep. "Morgan, wake up sunshine! It's time to get loaded up on the bus,"Alex's voice sounded awfully close to my ear. I tried to slap him away not wanting to get up. He sighed. Luckily I had already packed up all of my meds and clothes and any other things I deemed necessary, I triple checked to ensure nothing was forgotten.

Someone scooped me up in their arms with all of my blankets wrapped around me. I peeked my eyes open to see that person was Zack. I sighed and relaxed as he carried me down the stairs and onto the bus. I was slid onto something soft and something was pulled closed, leaving me in darkness.

*********

Alex
We had a wakeup call at three thirty in the morning to load the bus to make sure we were at the first venue in plenty of time to soundcheck before the first show. I heard Morgan's alarm blaring then shut off. I didn't hear any movement or sound from her room so made my way inside and tried to wake her. Eventually, I gave up. "Zack, Morgan won't get up, can you carry her to the bus?"I asked as he came in from loading his bags. He nodded and began walking upstairs. I began searching her medication bag to make sure we packed everything she would need. "Nebulizer, Aflo Vest....."I mumbled the names of everything under my breath as I touched them. "Damn, Alex, you good?"Jack asked, probably seeing how stressed I was. I nodded. "We've got it all. She's going to be fine, it's going to be a good tour,"Jack promised. I nodded in agreement and tried to shake of the anxiety I felt that something was going to go wrong.

A/N: Hey y'all! Sorry this update took so long I've had a lot going on in my personal life to deal with. I hope y'all are having a good summer! Enjoy the chapter and stay safe! Much love!

B