The Way Your Heart Sounds

Jimmy’s hands were trembling from nerves the next morning as he carried his bags out to the car. He wasn’t sure if it was from nervousness about the detox, or the fact that he hadn’t had a drink yet that day. Perhaps a bit of both.

Once Lauren and Jimmy arrived at the center, Jimmy was checked in and brought to a room. Dr. Kramer stopped by a little while later to tell Jimmy what he should expect.

“I will be prescribing you two medications. One is to help with the withdrawal symptoms. We want you as comfortable as we can get you, so I want you to let someone know if you’re having symptoms, okay?” Jimmy nodded.

“The second is an anti-anxiety medication. Since this process can be very nerve-wracking, it’s better for all involved that you stay calm. Once you detox, we can taper you off of both medications. I’ll be here once or twice a day to check on you and see how things are going.”

“Thanks, doc. I appreciate your help,” Jimmy said. Lauren thanked him as well.

“No need to thank me. You focus on getting well, Jimmy. You have a wonderful companion by your side,” Dr. Kramer said. Jimmy smiled and took Lauren’s hand into his own.

The first few hours weren’t much different than normal. Lauren and Jimmy chatted, watched tv, played cards, anything to keep his mind occupied. When he started to complain of a headache, she told him to lay back and relax. He eventually started to yawn, and said he was sleepy.

“You don’t have to stay here overnight,” he said.

“I don’t want you to be here alone.”

“I’ll be asleep. I’m fine. Go home and get some rest on an actual bed. I need you well rested.”

“You sure? I don’t mind staying,” she said, absentmindedly rubbing his arm.

“I’m sure. I’ll see you in the morning,” he smiled. Lauren nodded and kissed him on the lips gently.

“If anything happens, call me and I’ll come right back,” she said.

“I will,” Jimmy murmured.

“I love you, Jimmy. I’m so proud of you.”

“I love you too, Lauren. You’re the reason I’m here.”

They shared another kiss before Lauren left for the night. She had a hard time falling asleep because she was worrying about Jimmy. But she knew that she could trust Dr.Kramer and that Jimmy was in good hands. With that, she was able to drift off to sleep.

Early the next morning, Lauren was out the door and back to visit Jimmy as soon as she woke up. She was wondering if he had comfortably made it through the night. He didn’t call her, so she assumed that he was probably fine.

As she walked into Jimmy’s room, she smiled when she saw he was awake and waiting for her. His face lit up when he saw her, and she came over to give him a hug.

“How’d you sleep?” she asked.

“Not terrible, how about you?” he responded. He grabbed her hand when she hugged him and had yet to let go.

“Same. I was worried about you though.”

Jimmy scoffed. “I’m fine. The worst thing about this so far is being secluded from my friends. But at least you’re here.”

Later on when Dr. Kramer came by for a visit, he complimented Jimmy and told him he was doing really well so far. Besides a mild headache, Jimmy didn’t have much to complain about to the doctor. Pleased to hear the good news, Dr.Kramer said he would stop by later to check up on Jimmy again.

The worst thing so far was the complete boredom that Jimmy was facing. There was only so much chatting and tv watching the two of them could do before they started to get bored. They insisted that Jimmy stay in his room, so he started to pace around.

“Could you do me a favor?” he asked Lauren.

“Sure, what’s up?”

“Would you get me a notepad and a pen?” he asked. Lauren took a moment to dig through her pocketbook and pulled out both, handing them to him. He thanked her and sat on the bed, furiously scribbling. She wanted to ask him what he was writing, but he appeared to be completely in tune with what he was doing, so she didn’t want to interrupt him. She waited until his writing slowed down and eventually came to a stop.

“What was that about? Good idea?” she asked.

“Song lyrics. Sometimes they come completely out of nowhere, you know? I have to write them down before they slip away. Even if they end up being garbage, it’s still better that I get them out of my head,” he said. He ripped the top sheet of the notepad off, folded it up, and put it in his pocket. He handed her the notepad back.

“Why don’t you keep it?” she said, “just in case.”

Jimmy nodded and left the notepad and pen on the stand next to his bed.

“Are you guys making good progress with the new album?” she asked.

“I guess you can say that. We’re all writing like mad men, which is why now would have been a terrible time for me to disappear for three months. We really need to be together and jam stuff out,” he explained.

“I can imagine. Not like I understand completely, though,” she laughed.

“We haven’t toured or anything lately because we’ve been working on this new album yet, but we are planning a special show in June. You should come!”

“I’d love to. Have you guys named the new album yet?”

“Well… we have ideas. I think Matt would strangle me if I let them spill yet. However, I will divulge that we are planning on making it a concept album,” he said.

The rest of the afternoon was somewhat uneventful. They continued to chat and goof around. When Jimmy started to complain of dizziness, Lauren forced him to lay back down.

“The room is spinny…” he mumbled, staring up at the ceiling. Lauren frowned. She pressed the call button so a nurse would come in and she could let her know what was going on. After the nurse did a quick look over of Jimmy, she told Lauren to make sure he stays put, and that she would let Dr. Kramer know.

When it was time for the doctor’s evening visit, Jimmy had gotten over the dizziness, but was left with a terrible headache and trembling arms, as if he were freezing. The doctor didn’t seem to like Jimmy’s symptoms, and slightly increased his medication to help combat them.

“We have to be very careful when giving him medication,” Dr. Kramer said to Lauren. “Too much and we can overwhelm his heart, but too little and he has to deal with nasty withdrawal symptoms. It’s a fine balance,” he explained. Lauren understood and nodded along with the doctor’s explanation, but Jimmy just groaned and put his pillow over his head.

“You should start to feel better in a few hours, hang in there, Jimmy,” Dr. Kramer said.
The rest of the night, Jimmy wasn’t as chatty as usual. Lauren turned the lights down in the room, hoping that he would be able to fall asleep soon.

She got cozy in the chair next to his bed. Now that he wasn’t feeling well, she really didn’t want to leave him tonight. She made sure to double check with one of the nurses that it was alright for her to sleep there, and they assured her it was fine. Lauren knew it wasn’t usually allowed, so Dr. Kramer must have made a special exception for them. She smiled thinking about how nice he was being to them when he barely knew Lauren before all of this.

“Are you still there?” she heard Jimmy mumble.

“Yeah sweetie, I’m still here,” she responded, stepping back towards his bed.

“Don’t leave,” he murmured. She could hear the fear and pain in his voice, and rubbed his head.

“I’m not leaving, I’ll be right here all night,” she said.

Notes

Enjoy! Updates may be a little slow because I start school in a few days, but I promise I'll still be posting. :)