*Trisha*

"Hey there." 

Ok, so Noah looks freaken HOT in his Fireman uniform. Maybe facetiming him on my short break wasn't such a smart idea because now I'm all hot and bothered.

"Are you at work??" I ask, seeing the brick wall behind him.

"Yeah, we just came back from a small house fire. Someone had one of those electric heaters plugged in on a third-floor apartment and it malfunctioned." Noah says, wiping some soot off the side of his face when he sees it on camera. 

"Oh my God! Is everyone ok??" I ask a little too loud for this small room but I'm the only one in here. Everyone else is in the Rec Room of the venue.

"I think they will be fine. It was a single mom with a three-year-old little boy and two cats. Fortunately, we were able to contain the fire to just that apartment and no other floors were affected but now the mom will have to go to a shelter for now." Noah says tiredly.  "They lost everything. All the little boy's toys. Everything."

"They lost EVERYTHING? How awful." I cover my mouth with my hand. Here I am complaining about this stupid job and Noah is in France saving lives and rescuing families.

"Is there a way I can help? Like a Go-Fund-me or something?? I want to help, Noah." I blurt out without even thinking. I can't stand to hear about things like this and thanks to Hollan, I have money to spare. If only every celebrity or rich person would help those in need..maybe our world wouldn't be so fucked up.

"Really?? Yeah. We are in the process of setting up a Go-Fund-Me for the mom and little boy today actually. Should be up by tonight. I can send you the link." His eyes brighten.

"Count on me to donate." 

"Wow. Thanks Trisha. That means a lot. Really." Noah leans back in his chair a little with a silly grin on his face right now. "I'd find a way to thank you...but ...you know. I'm here. You're there." He flirts and I feel a little flutter in my stomach. God, I could go for a little Noah action right now. 

Suddenly the room flashes red, and sirens go off. 

"Shit! Gotta go." Noah jumps up and disconnects our call. Another fire or emergency of some sort. Wow. I can't imagine that for a job. It really puts things in to perspective.

I head back to where everyone is and see Jonah checking Nate's blood pressure.

"Ooooh..." He says under his breath. "148/80"

Casey gives Jonah a little look but says nothing. She writes the numbers down in Nate's chart for him instead. She hands Jonah the chart and I watch him look over the numbers.

"It's been consistently higher than average all week." Jonah says while reading Nate's chart.

"What does that mean?" I ask.

"Could be nothing. Maybe you're coming down with a little touch of something. If it continues, we'll have to possibly tweak your meds, do some bloodwork. I can email your cardiologist to give a heads up." Jonah makes light of it but I can tell the wheels are turning in that head of is.  

Nate looks a little concerned and I'm sure I have the same expression on my face. He's doing everything right. There's nothing more he can do except eliminate his stress. And we eliminated Julia but Nate is still stressing out over her. I don't know how to get him to stop and let Paul handle her.

Right as I think that, Nate decides to call Paul. I roll my eyes the same time Jonah does, thinking the same thing. The stress of Julia will kill him. I leave the room, not really wanting to hear the conversation and both Jonah and Casey follow me out. They want to discuss Nate without Nate being there so we head back to the empty room I was just in.

"What's up?" I ask.

Jonah takes the chart from Casey and opens it, pointing to this weeks numbers.

"All week. His blood pressure has been high all week. He's putting too much strain on that tired heart of his." Jonah says and I see Casey swallow hard. They are both nurses. When they are concerned- we have a problem.

"I don't know what else to do." I rub my forehead while looking at Nate's chart.

"There's not much we CAN do." Casey chimes in. "But calling to check on Julia often isn't going to help his blood pressure. I really thought with her gone his numbers would be better. But they aren't. Not yet at least."

"If this keeps up he may need to take a break. From the stage. From traveling. From tour." Jonah closes Nate's chart and hands it back to Casey.

"We can't! We're not even finished with the first leg of tour! The managers will have Nate's head if he misses any concerts. He's already missed one because of Moretti."

"He will be missing all of them if he's dead, Trisha." Jonah stares at me.

My eyes widen. Jonah is a blunt man, but this caught me by surprise. My eyes water instantly.

"This is serious... that serious?" My voice cracks and Casey puts a hand on my shoulder.

"Dead serious." She says and walks out of the room. I look up at Jonah who nods.

"Don't say anything to Nate. It's going to stress him out more. He's doing all the right things and on all the right meds. There's nothing more he can do on his end. But he needs to rest when he can and stop worrying about shit he has no control over. Take this seriously, Trisha. Don't let him know right now. Please."

Jonah's right. If I tell Nate how concerned the nurses are it's just going to make everything worse. I nod and wipe a tear from my eye before we head out. What I need to do is cut Nate's conversation with Paul short.

"Holly will be here in an hour to get started. Did you eat?" I ask while breezing by Nate's dressing room He nods but continues his conversation on the phone.  Instead of walking down the hall I listen to Nate's half of the phone call.

"What? What do you mean butting heads with Mike Maloney??"

Mike Maloney?! Why the hell is HIS name coming up? Now I'm invested. I know Mike. We all do. He is...was a bodyguard. A good one. A hot one too. But drugs got the best of him and now he's in trouble with the law. Too bad. He really had a future in the business. I wonder if he's at The Avalon??? If so, Mike and Julia are FOR SURE going to butt heads. I can see it already.

"How so?" Nate asks. "Oh no, James said that??? Shit."

I furrow my brows. What the hell is happening in L.A.?  

*****

*James*

"Hey babe. Heard you had a rough day at the Avalon yesterday." I notice Julia is awake and she turns around in my bed. 

"Where were you all day?" She asks in a concerned or jealous sort of way.

"Ashley took me to the movies. We haven't hung out together like that in forever. I ended up just showering there. Katie helped me a little. not li-like she'll remember." I stutter. "I thought maybe you'd need to rest and didn't want to-"

"Want to come home and let me help you shower and do all the things I do to help you??" Julia sits up with a frown, taking offense.

"I-I just didn't want to bother you." I admit. It really was just easier to shower at Ma's house. Katie was good with helping me and didn't see a thing. Literally handed me the soap while looking away and sat on the counter with the shower curtain closed.  I have clothes at mom's house. I think we all do, actually. I didn't think it was a big deal but apparently it is to Julia.

"Are you purposely coming home later and later to avoid me, James? Tell me the truth. You know I'm gonna know if you're lying anyways." Julia gets right to what she's thinking.

"It's. It's just a lot. Nate was always so good with this stuff. I'm not. Babe, I just want you to get better. But I don't know how to take care of you when you get....."

"Crazy? Go ahead! Say it. When I get all crazy?" Julia bursts into tears. Shit.  I wrap my arms around her, but she stiffens right up, letting me know it's not ok, and lays back down in bed. She's shutting down and I don't know what to do.

I try to lay with her, but she doesn't want me near her, that much I can tell. I give up and head downstairs to let Maggie outside but then turn to Paul. 

"I'm not sure how to help her. She's pissed I spent all day out and took a shower at my mother's. I just thought....I don't know what I thought actually. All this is really hard, you know?" 

Paul nods while sipping his coffee at the counter. "We just need to ride this out, Gallo."

"Well right now she's up there crying and doesn't want anything to do with me." I sigh. "Hey... can you set up facetime so I can chat with Trish? No offense, but I could use another person to vent to." I laugh a little and Paul raises and eyebrow.

"Well, she's certainly more attractive to look at." He bellows out a laugh and grab the iPad, setting it up in the living room for me, then calling Trisha. She picks up right away and Paul goes upstairs to check on Julia and give us privacy.

"James the Receptionist! Hi! You called at the perfect time! I have a few minutes." Trisha looks good. I can tell she's in the rec room of the venue feeding her face. "How are ya sexypants??"

"I'm good. Just wanted to see your face. Miss talking to you." I sit back on my sofa and relax a little. It's nice to see Trisha's face. I really do miss her.

******

*Trisha*

"How's that hot mess of yours over there?" I ask while throwing my plate away and heading to Nate's dressing room.

"Just that. A hot mess. Paul is upstairs with her. She's mad at me."

"What did you do?"

"Who knows. She thinks I'm avoiding her because I spent the day with my sisters. To be honest.... I kinda am." James says in a softer voice. "It's a lot. She needs Nate. She wants nothing to do with me or Paul."

"I'm sorry, James. I know how hard this must be for you. But she can't be mad at you for spending the day with your family. That's not right!  She needs to be at The Avalon."I walk closer to Nate's dressing room. "Jesus Christ. Nate is on the phone with her right now."  I say, hearing Nate talking to Julia while sitting on the couch. "This stuff is stressing him out. I wait outside for a few minutes before entering.

"I know." James says then I notice Nate starting to get emotional on the phone. Evan the bodyguard notices me and shakes his head. 

"Sorry James, I gotta go. Can I call you later?"

"Sure thing, Trisha the Assistant. We'll chat later." James fumbles to hang up and struggles so I hang up first right before walking into the dressing room.

"Nate. Holly will be here soon." I come into the room, seeing Nate visibly upset while talking to Julia on the phone. He gives me a nod but then heads to the bathroom and closes the door.

"What the hell is going on now?" I look over to the bodyguard who just shrugs and keeps his eyes on his phone. Typical Paul style. Are they fucking trained to do this or something? Next thing we hear is the familiar sound I know so well. Nate yells "Fuck!" and he just threw his fucking phone against the door, didn't he? That SOB.

He opens the bathroom door and nonchalantly steps right over his shattered phone.

"Seriously, Nate? I don't have fucking time to go to fucking Best Buy to get you a phone. Do they even HAVE a Best Buy in Prague? An Apple Store? Jesus Christ, Playboy."  I yell but he brushes past me and leaves the dressing room.

You've GOT to be kidding me right now.

*****

*James*

"I'm not going to the Avalon today. Say I'm sick or contagious or something." 

I had a feeling Julia would get worse before getting better. My sisters are catching on too which isn't helping matters. To the point Kendall came over early to get me dressed and ready before Julia was even awake.

"You have to go." I sit on the corner of my bed. "You'll feel better once you get out of bed and dressed."

"James, you ready? " Kendall hollers from the living room. 

I purposely made sure Julia knew my plans for the day so she wouldn't freak out when I'm not home. I'm going out to breakfast with Kendall and Lindsay and then taking Maggie to Griffith Park. I'm also hoping to get to my men's bible study this afternoon, something I haven't done since the accident. I want to get back to doing the things that help me. My routine. Julia should try to do some stuff she enjoys as well. Maybe it would get her mind off her detox. But she doesn't want to hear it from me right now, so I leave well enough alone.

"C'mon sweetie. You're gonna get through this. Just try, ok?"

"Just go, James. Your sister is waiting."  Julia closes her eyes tight, wanting nothing to do with me. I frown and leave the room. Nothing I do is helping her.

"Sorry for the holdup Ken, ready to go." I lean down and pet Maggie who is already in her harness with my sister holding her leash.

"Now what's going on up there, Jamie?" Kendall asks once we are outside.

"She's just having a hard time today, that's all." I downplay it but Kendall sees right through me. Lindsay is in the car waiting and Maggie practically drags Kendall once she sees her owner.

"She's ALWAYS having a hard time..." Kendall sighs. She's not wrong.. but it still hurts to hear.

"She can't help it, Ken. Can we just drop it? I'm starving."

My sister helps me into the backseat with my dog and helps me buckle my seatbelt. I can pull it over my chest just fine but coordinating my hand to actually get it in the buckle is another story. I keep trying though. I'm not going to give up and I'm sure as hell never riding in a car without a seatbelt. It saved my life.

"Hey, Linds." I smile up at her. Seeing her two days in a row is very rare but when she heard we were coming home, she took some time off of work to visit. I know it won't last. She has to travel to Denver for work in two days.

We have a great breakfast at one of my favorite cafe's. Nate paid actually. Trisha venmo'd Kendall money to take us out and in the description box she messaged- "This one's on Nate- Just like old times."

"Old times?" Lindsay asks while helping me. She's actually good with helping me. She could tell when I was struggling with my fork and helped me hold my coffee cup. I was actually a little surprised how quickly she caught on to my little cues.

"Yeah.... Trisha used to swipe Nate's credit card whenever we would go out for breakfast or lunch or something. It was an ongoing joke because he'd never notice. "

"Oh my gosh. You stole from Nate Hollan??" Kendall looks appalled. 

"Nooooo. I didn't do anything. Trisha did. I was just the accomplice. Anyways, Nate doesn't care what Trisha does.  They both make enough money where it will never be an issue...like... for the rest of their lives. He once showed up with a new car for Julia and they weren't even dating. She was with me!" I remember that day and was furious at first. But then Julia showed me Nate's net worth and I said ..screw it...accept the car.

"That's pretty funny! Were you and Trisha ever an item?" Lindsay asks and I smirk. Linds isn't my best friend or anything like that, but we DO talk often.

"I mean... no.... maybe. I'm not sure. We started to show interest in each other, then we got into the accident, and everything was put on hold. You know... Comas will do that. Then it's been one thing after another with Julia and tour and... we-well, now...she's in another country so there's that." I stutter.

Lindsay nods, understanding but Kendall doesn't really understand. She has had some casual boyfriends here and there but nothing serious. 

"Ken.... eat .." I notice we are finishing up and my sister has barely taken a bite of her food. Please tell me we aren't back to this again. I can't handle Julia AND Kendall having eating disorders. Lindsay knows about Kendall's struggles. She's close to my family and all my sisters. She also knows how to snap Kendall out of it.

"Eat up so we can burn those calories while walking Maggie!" Lindsay says, twisting it in a positive way. Kendall nods and begins eating her breakfast, thank God.

*****

*Trisha*

The word exhausted doesn't even do what I am feeling justice. After running around all afternoon, I found an iPhone store and purchased Nate a new phone. He BETTER not fuck this one up. I set it up and programmed it for him ...again... and he's charging it now. 

It's late. We are all tired and settled in for the night in the tour bus. We had a four-hour drive overnight from Prague to Munich, Germany and already parked at the venue. Nate had an amazing concert tonight. The crowd was awesome, and everything went perfectly. Leslie was pleased and I was proud. But for Nate, it's all an act. The minute he comes off the stage and is no longer surrounded by people, he falls back into depression. The stress is going to kill him and he's not enjoying the tour like he should. Barely going to any of the afterparties and just in a funk all around. I hate seeing him like this. Granted the last tour he was on he was drunk and happy all the time, but this is different. This shit with Moretti is pulling Nate down and part of me wonders if he is going to have to cancel tour at some point. I hate thinking that, but I hate seeing him like this.

Apparently, Nate got news that Julia is sick on top of her detox. Another UTI which fucked with her bipolar disorder. I swear she really is the next Eric Furgeson guy. Poor Paul is stuck taking care of Julia and now at the Avalon. James has checked out...which I don't blame him for one bit and Julia may need to spend the night at The Avalon. Which..... part of me thinks would be a good thing... but part of me thinks, if Jeremy Donovan is there, she is in danger. And as much as I think the woman can be annoying and a downer, thinking she could easily get raped again puts a pit in my stomach. Jeremy is a sick bastard, and I wouldn't put it past him. He's got like... multiple personalities and is very conniving and smart. He's good at what he does but he also has some huge issues that would put any other man in prison for a long time.

We are all in our bunks and I think Casey and Jonah are both sleeping. Everyone has their curtains closed but I hear Nate's new phone vibrating. He must think I'm sleeping.

I hear Nate shuffle a little and then get off his bed and walk to the front of the bus. He may think by doing that, we won't be able to hear his conversation or maybe just assumes we are all sleeping, but I am not.

"What's going on, Paul?" Nate asks. Whatever Paul is calling about has Nate worked up quickly. "She can't stay there overnight Paul!" 

"I can't believe this is happening." Shit. This doesn't sound good. "You better."  Nate hangs up. Please don't throw this phone, please don't throw this phone. For the love of God spare me.

I can tell Nate is upset and right when I'm about to get up, I hear Jonah sigh as Nate heads outside now that we are at the venue.

Once Nate goes outside Jonah gets out of bed at the same time I do.

"I've got this, try and get some sleep." Jonah gives me a little nod before getting dressed and heading outside. It's like we are all taking turns watching over Nate. Someone has to. The stress is too much. I'm glad he has Jonah here though. They have become good friends and, in this business, having real friends is hard to come by. 

Let's just hope whatever is going on with Julia is minor.

*****