*Trisha*

"It's been a full week, James." I clasp my friend's hand, desperately hoping for a response. Nothing.But his hand is warm and soft, not rough or calloused, as he doesn't use his hands as often as the rest of us due to his weakened fine motor skills.

Since getting the call from Paul and rushing to the hospital, the night I took my turn by James's bedside like everyone else, this is the first time I've actually sat with him. Alone.

"You know I'm not good with this shit, hotpants. Why do you keep messing around with us...going all out into a coma and crap?" I smirk but the tug on my heart brings me back to what I need to say. I study the man's emotionless face. He looks so calm. But then again, James always looks calm.

"I've been avoiding this. A-avoiding you." I stammer, holding back tears. "Even before your seizure. I was staying away from everyone. From the Avalon. Only visiting when absolutely needed. What kind of fucking friend am I? Who does that? I'm no Julia and I know I'm not your best friend but, buddy please. You need to wake up."

Tears leak from my eyes and I know my mascara looks like a dirt road path down my face. I look around and grab the box of tissues to clean myself up.

 "Christ, I told you I wasn't good at this shit!" I sniff and blow my nose, throw it away, take a pump from the hand sanitizer and make my way back to James, taking hold of his hand again.

"Listen, I'm running out of time. I already wasted all that time ignoring you and now..." I close my eyes when I hear the suite door open and continue but in a whisper, unsure who entered behind me. "We're leaving soon. I fucked up, didn't spend enough time with you and now we're leaving."

Unfortunately, even though I've had just as much media training as Hollan over the years, I can't hold in this emotion and burst into tears. I drop my forehead down to James's hand and sob. 

A gentle hand rests on my shoulder, and before I can comprehend my actions, I stand and wrap my arms around his torso, sobbing  into his chest.

"I wasted all that time!" I cry out.

"He's gonna wake up." He holds me a little tighter and rests the side of his face on the top of my head.

"You don't know that! You don't fucking know that." 

"No, I don't know. But I know James and he is not one to give up easily.  He's not a quitter, Trish. If he were, he would have thrown in the towel years ago, given the challenges he has faced.."

No truer words have been spoken. I let that sink in, lift my head and nod in attempts to pull myself together more.

"Who the fuck made you such a good hugger?" I lighten the atmosphere and gain a smirk.

"I certainly didn't learn it in 'bodyguard' school." Paul takes a deep breath and gazes down at me. "He's gonna wake up."

*****

As the day goes on, I become more aware of the tasks at hand. The constant reminders from Richard and Leslie make it hard to forget. Even with all that's going on they still expect me to work and make all these deadlines? I thought I was Nate's personal assistant, not theirs!

I have no choice but to have a meeting with Nate and Evan to go over the itinerary.  Some of the bodyguards are taking a much needed break in the small waiting room down the hall so we sit in the living room portion of the hospital suite. Nate and I sit on the couch while Evan sits on the cushioned chair. Julia bathes James on the other side of the partition.

The infamous "Tour Binder" is pulled out of my bag. The thing weighs more than Moretti but has years worth of planning, hard work and dedication to make the tour possible. We dive right in and get to it.

"So, once we land we will have the night to relax before you have your first interview the next morning. Then you get on stage that night. The crew has already flown down and is currently setting up. The catering company as well."  I read from my open binder. Nate leans into me a little so he can read along.

"Miss Banks." Evan gets my attention. "Regarding security, how many personnel are directly staffed by our company, and how many are provided by the venue team?"

I flip through a few pages to find the answer for the first night's concert. 

"Well, we employ 83 CPOs during the concert," I pause and keep reading, aware Evan knows a CPOs is short for Close Protection Officers from being a bodyguard.  "And 140 stationed around the venue where needed. The venue team provides another hundred, give or take. A Quartet Formation of four CPOs will always be with Nate in the halls and such but you are obviously his personal bodyguard so where Nate goes, you go."

"Just don't go on stage. I've heard your singing voice." Nate cracks a joke. "Showers aren't soundproof, mate."

Evan takes the joke in stride and chuckles as I open a red folder that had to get shoved into the mix last minute. Nate inhales sharply when he sees the name on the agenda folder and gives me a slight nod, knowing it's part of the meeting. He lowers his voice a decent amount so Julia can't hear him.

"Does Mila fly down with us or is she taking her own private plane?" Nate addresses the elephant in the room. 

"She's with us." I answer softly. "I tried, Nate. You know Richard. I think he wants some footage of our travels to put in the music video."

"Right." Nate replies.

There's a few beats of silence. 

"Nate. You should go home for the weekend. Go back to your apartment. Get some sleep.... relax a little before we travel."

"I'm not even checked out of the Avalon yet, Trisha. I haven't been signed off."

"I'm sure Jeremy can sort that out."

"I'm not leaving her here alone, Trish." Nate whispers, giving me a look like he desperately would love to go home and sleep in his own bed but doesn't want to hurt Julia's feelings, which makes me sad for him. Everyone's always walking on eggshells around Julia. Nate should be able to rest before tour without having to worry about her flipping her lid.

"On Monday you are though. Nate, time's up. Whether you have some grand plan set in place or not, Monday morning Ren is picking you up, bringing you to the airport where your plane is ready and waiting. This is happening, sweetie. Whether you want it to or not."

I take a much needed breath and make sure I'm whispering. "Make some time just for you, playboy. Order take-out, soak in the tub, do whatever you need to do to relax because the minute tour starts Mila will be by your side. People will be watching. And all that media training you've learned begins. You'll put on an act and get through it but you need to take some time for yourself beforehand. Take the weekend and get into the mindset you need to be in. It's exhausting and I worry about that heart of yours." I press my hand flat against his chest and feel his heart working heavy to keep beating.

"Yeah, maybe." He whispers back, agreeing with me.

*****

After our impromptu meeting and everyone goes off to do their own things, I step out into the hall for a moment. Jonah and Casey come off the elevator holding their coffees and weak smiles, trying to be in love despite the heavy burden of the current situation. They notice me, share a look and a nod to eachother and approach me.

"Hey, can we chat for a minute? Alone?" Jonah is always the one to initiate conversations while Casey stands by his side.

"Yeah," I look down the hall one way and then another. "The other waiting room is occupied though."

"That's fine, it'll be quick." Jonah ticks his head towards the corner of the hall where only one bodyguard is, away from the crowd of protection for Nate.

"We need to make sure Nate isn't biting off more than he can chew on tour." He begins, his dark eyes sadden a little and Casey scratches her neck nervously.

"Okayyy..." I give him a weird look, not sure where he is going.

"His blood pressure has been rising. I know it is most likely from the stress here and all, but, Trish it was high this morning. Really high." Casey informs me. "I did it twice and even had  Jonah do it, thinking I was doing something wrong or going crazy. I know how to take people's blood pressure. The numbers were right."

"How high?"

"High enough to remind us Nate's heart  is weak." Jonah goes right into nurse mode. "His heart is forced to pump blood against high pressure, making it work harder than it should. We need his numbers to stabilize. He's on ALL the right meds. Eats the right foods and exercises. It all comes down to stress. Limiting his stress is the only thing we can't  seem to check off the To Do list." 

"I'm trying, Jonah. I've got people constantly on my back, piling on more tasks, and I'm working to sort through what Nate absolutely and positively doesn't need to do." I huff. "And that's just work requirements. I have no control over all this." I gesture around with my hand, reminding Jonah we are in a fucking hospital, "and the stress of it. I always have Nate's health in mind. Why do you think I planned a full week in London for him to rest before tour? That plan went to shits with this whole Mila thing and double shits when James got sick. I'm always thinking  about his heart and trying to keep things stress-free."

"I know you are. Just, if you can, try not to overbook him. He will need down time." Jonah leans against the wall a little, looking around to make sure we remain somewhat private.

"I know. I just mentioned that to Nate. I told him he should go home for the weekend. Get checked out of the Avalon a few days early and go sleep in his own bed. I told him he needs to have time to decompress before things get crazy."

"Oh good. What did he say?" Casey chimes in.

"He said 'maybe' but I could tell in his eyes he meant 'Not happening." I snort. "Not if it takes time away from Moretti."

We all sigh at the same time. All knowing Nate won't take the weekend to relax like he needs to in preparation for tour. It's not the stress of work or James that'll give Nate a heart attack. It's the stress of Julia that will do him in.

*****