Ashley marched through the house, searching for the source of the sounds, bumping into furniture several times since he still wasn't completely alert. As he reached the living room, he realized that the sounds were coming from the direction of Aerin's bedroom, so he jogged down the hall and through the open door, where he was able to hear at least two voices other than whoever was screaming coming from the bathroom. He immediately recognized one of them as Aerin, but couldn't place the other until he stepped into the doorway and saw Richie and Aerin apparently trying to support Bobby, who seemed to be having difficulty standing on his own.

      "What the hell's going on in here?" he inquired, and both Aerin and Richie snapped their heads around to look at him. His roommate instantly demanded that he go and bring her a pair of pajama pants for Bobby, and since his brain still hadn't reached full wakefulness, his first response was simply, "Um, why?"

      He was somewhat startled when Aerin practically barked, "Just do it, Ashley! Cuz if I'm right, then we need to get him as cleaned as possible and to the ER."

      Then Richie said something that swept the remaining cobwebs from his brain: "Have I lost my mind, or did Bobby literally just shit his guts out?"

      "Unless I'm mistaken, the answer's yes," Aerin answered, as she carefully moved herself closer to the sink.

      Now thoroughly unnerved, Ashley stammered a reply and stepped back into the bedroom, barely hearing the thanks that she shouted after him. Spotting Bobby's suitcase, he upended it onto the bed, rummaging through the contents until he found a pair of pajama pants, which he quickly took to Aerin. Between the three of them, they managed to get him into the garment, then Ashley stepped in to help support the older man while Aerin dashed out to move her Tahoe to the front of the house. 

      By the time they reached the living room, everyone except CC and Blues had gathered in the living room, confused and rattled by the chaos they'd woken up to, but after a hurried explanation, the group of men had quickly managed to pull together a plan to transport their friend to the truck while causing him the least amount of pain possible. After carrying him out to the vehicle face-down, almost in a crowd-surfing position, they carefully laid him down on a mattress that Aerin had placed in the back of the vehicle, and determined that Zach and Rikki would go along, lying one on either side of Bobby to keep him from being jostled any more than necessary. Noticing that his sister was nearing hysterics, Zach took a moment to reassure her before climbing into the vehicle, seeming somewhat relieved when Aidan came forward to wrap an arm around the younger woman's shoulders and gently turn her back toward the house.

      Once the group had sped off down the street, the others simply stood in the driveway, staring at each other in shock, until Aidan broke the silence by saying, "Okay, we can't just stand out here collecting dew until we hear from one of them, so let's go inside, and I'll make breakfast."

      The other four turned to stare at her as though she had just spoken to them in a foreign language, but then Zoe practically shrieked, "Are you crazy? My dad just got driven off to the damn hospital, and you're worried about breakfast!? Do you really think I'm worried about that right now?" 

      Aidan simply crossed her arms and gave the girl a calm, level stare. "So are you trying to say that you don't plan to eat until your Dad gets home? If so, that's not really fair to him, is it? He needs to be able to focus all of his attention on getting over whatever is wrong with him, and he's not gonna be able to do that if he as to worry about you making yourself sick, is he? And what good are you going to be to him when he does come home, have you thought of that?"

      Bret opened his mouth to respond, but she stabbed a finger at him and snapped, "Don't even. Because if you think there's a chance in hell that I'm gonna stand here and let you throw yourself into insulin shock or something of that nature, and end up in the hospital with Bobby, then you're an idiot. I'll hit one of the others up for your number and call your girlfriend myself before that'll happen!" She then flapped both hands toward the door and grumbled, "Shoo, all of you!"

      From just inside the door, someone began to clap, and then they heard CC's distinctive New York accent saying, "No idea what brought that on, but bravo! This one's obviously not gonna take any shit from you, Bret." Then he glanced around at the group, taking note of Zoe's tear-stained face, and inquired, "What the fuck is goin' on, anyway. What are you guys doing out there this early, and where's everybody else?"

      Ashley finally managed to herd everyone inside, and asked CC to go and wake Blues, so they wouldn't have to repeat themselves. The guitarist quickly agreed to the request, and dashed downstairs while everyone else made their way to the kitchen. Aidan looked through the refrigerator and pantry while they waited, pulling out several items before asking Ashley where he kept his pans and mixing bowls. He moved to gather what she asked for, then turned his attention to helping Richie explain the morning's events to his other guests, who were stunned into speechlessness for a couple of minutes at the news. Once they had recovered themselves, they moved to comfort Zoe, while Ashley made his way back to where Aidan was filling two smaller square baking pans with various ingredients. "What are you making, hon?" he queried.

      "It's a potato and egg casserole, with some green onions and mushrooms thrown in," she informed him. "I know that you don't do dairy, so there's one pan with cheese, and one without."

      "Sounds good," he replied. "And thanks for being so calm, and trying to keep everybody from freaking out."

      "Oh, trust me, I'm a little freaked myself," Aidan stated. "But everyone here knows Bobby a lot better than I do, even you, and I know that things are kind of hard for all of you right now. So the only thing I can really do right now is to figure out how to ease things up for y'all, and food is usually a pretty good start."

      She placed the pans into the oven, and announced that if anyone wanted to take a shower or change before breakfast, it would be ready in around forty-five minutes, so Richie and Blues excused themselves, while Ashley, Bret, and CC decided to wait until after they had eaten. Then once the food was taken care of, Aidan moved to the table and sat down next to Zoe. "Hey, I'm sorry if I sounded too bossy or anything awhile ago, but..." she began, but the younger woman held up a hand to cut her off.

      "It's okay, don't worry about it," Zoe responded. "I know you were just trying to help, and if I'm honest about it, you making it more about Dad than about me was probably about the only thing that would have gotten through to me right then." She waved her hand to indicate the rest of the group, and explained, "I mean, these guys have basically been family for most of my life, and I know they still think of me sometimes as the little girl that needs to be protected from the big bad world, and want to sort of coddle me, but I guess a little shot of reality might be more helpful sometimes."

      "So no hard feelings, then?" Aidan questioned.

      "Absolutely none. Instead of being a spoiled little Daddy's girl and expecting him to be there for me, like he always is, I need to pull myself together and be there for him when he gets out, so thanks for helping me remember that." 

      Before long, they were gathered around the table, enjoying the casserole, along with some toast and a fruit salad that Ashley and Bret had whipped up, but everyone kept sneaking glances at Ashley's phone, which he'd placed next to his plate, willing it to ring, and disappointed when it didn't. Once they had finished, and cleared the table, everyone scrambled to find something to occupy their minds as they waited for news, which they finally received when Rikki returned to the house mid-afternoon. He explained that Bobby had undergone surgery for a rectal prolapse, and was currently in recovery, sleeping off the surgical drugs and being monitored for possible complications, and that everyone except Zoe would have to wait until visiting hours the next day to see him, but that she was permitted to go and spend the night there with Zach if she chose. She considered this, then decided that she was going to allow Aerin to take her place, as she didn't really care for the idea of seeing her father in a hospital bed covered in tubes and bandages. She also reasoned that, "I'd rather spend time with Daddy when I'm sure he actually knows I'm there, instead of when he's so out of it he might not even recognize me."

         **********************************************************************

    Over the next two days, Ashley was impressed with the way that Aidan had taken it upon herself to look after his other guests, watching as she gently reminded Bobby's children and bandmates to take care of themselves, and not let their concern for Bobby make them ill as well. She also made sure to spend time with Aerin whenever she came home to shower or change, offering her the opportunity to vent the worries that she wouldn't express in front of Bobby, not wanting to cause him any undue stress that might set back his recovery. He congratulated himself on being lucky enough to have caught her interest, because, as he told Richie and Zach, though they didn't entirely understand the meaning of his words, "She's definitely more than just another pretty face. I've finally managed to find one where the wrappings don't overshadow the contents of the package."

      This meant that when she had to leave Sunday morning to return to Missouri, Ashley was greatly disappointed, and already thinking ahead to when he might be able to see her next. He drove her to the airport himself that time, not willing to give up any more time together than absolutely necessary, and as he sat in the airport cafe with her, waiting for the flight to be called, he questioned, "When can I see you again, darlin'?"

      "I can probably come out for a few days during our holiday shutdown," she told him. "I don't have enough vacation days left to get any more long weekends except holidays until after New Years. I'd love to see you sooner, but I'm kind of stuck with that right now. Is there any way you might be able to come out for Thanksgiving? I have four days off, but not enough money to drive to Nashville. If you don't mind the idea of having dinner with my family, that is?"

      "If you don't mind, why would I?" he inquired. "Who knows, maybe we can road-trip out to Berger one day while I'm there, and you can meet my family, too." He paused for a moment, shaking his head and letting out a small chuckle before saying, "Wow. I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've ever said that." 

      "You mean none of your girlfriends have ever met your family?"

      "Well, yeah, Kina did, but I don't think it was anything I actually planned out," he clarified. "We were on tour, in St. Louis, and she was spending a few days on the road with me. Nan and Pop, and a few other relatives all came to the show, and she met them backstage. But I never actually planned out taking her home to meet them."

      "Ooh, aren't I special?" Aidan teased, with an impish grin. 

       This slowly changed to something else when Ashley looked at her very seriously, and simply replied, "Yes, you certainly are."

      At that moment, the boarding call for the flight to Kansas City blared from the overhead speakers, and Aidan flung her arms around Ashley's neck. "I wish I didn't have to leave so soon. I haven't even left yet, and I already miss you."

      "I know, darlin', I feel the same way," he replied, dropping a kiss on her temple. "But just remember, this isn't goodbye, it's just..."

      " 'Til next time," she finished for him, and he nodded.

      "Exactly. Until then, we can call, and text, and Skype as much as we want," he observed. "I mean, if Bobby and Aerin can make this work, I'm fully confident that we can, too, if we want it badly enough."

      "Oh. I definitely want it," Aidan declared, "And I'm more than willing to put out the effort to make it work."

      "Me too, darlin'. Me too."

      They called the flight for the second time, so after a thorough kiss, he reluctantly let her go, watching until she had turned the corner out of sight. He then turned to make his way out of the terminal and back to his car, and as he walked, he muttered, where only he could hear his words. "Yeah, Bobby and Aerin 'make it work'. And when I get home, someone had better explain how I'm supposed to manage without losing my damn mind!"