Chapter Four

An hour later, Patti hung up the phone. She had just finished speaking with Natalie’s doctor (Patti thought of her as ‘Natalie’ now, not just ‘the person who sent the card’), who confirmed everything Michael had told her. The doctor had let her know that Natalie’s heart was worsening, and without a transplant, it was unlikely she’d see another Christmas.

Patti wrote everything she knew in a memo, attached it to the card, then hesitated. She was supposed to put the whole thing in the band’s personal correspondence basket. The personal assistants would be by later to collect it. But, Patti didn’t want to wait. She called Joanne, Jon’s assistant, and told her what she had. Joanne was quiet for a moment, then told her, “I’ll be right down.”

The pair called Michael again from Patti’s desk, Joanne wanting to review the notes Patti had taken. She wanted to hear this story for herself. At the end of the phone conversation, both women had tears in their eyes. Michael had only asked that they pass his sister’s message along to their employers – he still had no idea who they worked for. They promised him that they would.

At the daily meeting she had with Jon each afternoon when he was in town, Joanne handed him the card, and told him about Natalie and Michael. As succinctly as she could, she related the story from the doctor, while Jon read the card quietly. When he was done, he looked up at Joanne, his expression thoughtful. “Get the other guys in here would you?”

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

“What’s up, boss?” Richie asked, as he entered the room. “Got writer’s block or something?”

“No, man,” he answered. “I just need to talk to all of you. Where are the others?”

“Right here,” David answered, as he and Tico entered the room. “What’s going on?”

“Shut the door, man,” Jon answered, “and take a seat.”

Jon then told his friends about the card his assistant brought him; a card addressed to all of them. He read it to them, then looked into each one of their faces. The guys all looked at each other, then back at their leader.

“So what? We get cards and letters all the time,” Tico said, to break the silence. “Ones that spin sadder yarns than that. What makes this card so special?”

Jon told them about Joanne’s discussion with the woman’s brother and doctor, how it was important to the woman that her words reach them because she was dying, and how her brother intervened on her behalf.

Richie looked thoughtfully at his friend, a man he knew almost as well as he knew himself. This story, this woman, has touched something in him, I know it, he thought. “Hey, what do you want us to do?” he asked.

“I want us to write her a song,” was the reply.

2 comments:

TaraLeigh said...

Well stab me in the heart why don't you? Write her a song? Ga! I can't even imagine! And the awful part is I'm reading this with 'The One That Got Away' in the background.
Yeeeesh. Talk about breaking my heart.

Anonymous said...

Oh, man. Write her a song? Oh, boy! This has got me hooked. Thanks!