Winter Queen (Roger Taylor fanfic)

26. ...she didn't have the flu

In the begining of October, Josie cought a bad cough. She blamed the London's autumn. Queen were in the middle of tour preparations and she liked to spend time with them, watched rehearsals and couldn't wait to see them play live again, although the first leg was in America.

Things were calm now between her and Roger, he barely paid her any attention, except for a few comments every now and then.

She watched their rehearsal and tried to cover her fits of coughing with a handkerchief, but their sound engineer Geoff gave her a withering look everytime.

Whether she wanted to or not, her eyes always rested on Roger and she couldn't look away.

When they were done, they sat on the couches and evaluated their own perfomance. As soon as Josie complimented them, she got another fit of coughing. All of them watched her worried, her forehead was covered with beads of sweat.

"Do you have some aspirin?" she asked.

"Aspirin? You should be in bed." Brian told her.

"Come in, it's just a flu." Josie waved her hand. "I'm gonna make some tea, it's nothing."

She got up and after a short try to find her balance, she fell back to the armchair.

"Josephine!" Brian dismayed, but she waved her hand again.

"I just got up too quickly."

On the second try she got to the kitchen, and they heard her terrible cough.

"Was she at the doctor?" Roger asked and the boys shrugged. After a while they heard the kettle whistle, but nothing happened. They exchaned looks, got up and ran to the kitchen.

She said in the corner of the kitchen units, her head down, eyes closed.

"Call the ambulance." Brian commanded.

"No, it'll be faster to drive her." Roger refused and kneeled by her side. He touched her neck and felt very fast pulse. Her eyelids fluttered.

"What are you doing?" she mumbled. Roger and Brian grabbed her under her arms and got her up.

"Leave me be."

"We're taking you to the hospital."

"No way, I just sat for a moment, I was tired from the cough and had trouble breathing."

"God, you're insane." Roger mumbled.

"I don't want to."

"There's no discussion." Brian told her. Freddie found her coat and got her dressed, while Deaky tied her shoelaces.

"We'll wait here, call us." Deaky said.

"We will? I'm going too." Freddie objected.

"No, we would just hinder, we'll wait." Deaky insisted.

They laid Josie on the back seats, Brian sat to her and Roger drove to the nearest hospital. They almost dragged Josie to the emergency, an orderly appeared with a stretcher, they laid her there and the orderly took her to the doctor's office.

The waiting felt unbearably long, before the doctor call them in.

"Mrs..." the doctor started, then look to the papers with apologetic look, before impatient Roger completed him: "Andrisova."

"That's right, excuse me. Good thing you brought her here, she wouldn't walk that off." He fastened her X-ray to the viewer. From what Roger knew, healhy airy lungs shouldn't look like that.

"Bilateral pneumonia. Here and over here." the doctor showed them. "Who's her closest relative?"

"He is." Roger pointed at Brian, who tried not to look too surprised.

"I am." he agreed. "I mean, she's from Czechoslovakia, so rather her closest friend."

It flashed through Brian's mind, what will the ambassador say, that they denied him that way. He knew he should call him as soon as possible.

"She'll stay her for a couple of days or weeks, she needs i.v. antibiotics, oxygen and we'll see then. Until this" he pointed at the X-ray "improves, she needs to be under medical supervision."

"But she'll be alright?" Roger asked.

"Sir, you need to understand she arrived very late, she's getting into sepsis. I can't promise you anything, we just need to hope for the antibiotics to work."

They found phonebooths, Brian tried to call to her home and talk to Scott, Roger called to their studio and told Freddie and Deaky everyhing. Brian tried to reach Scott a few times, unsuccesfully.

The doctor went from his office and told hem Josie'll be in her room, the boys insisted on a premium single bed room. The nurse already told him, who they are.

"Can we see her?" Roger asked.

"Of course, just don't wake her up, let her rest and listen to the stuff. Come on, I 'll take you to the ward."