Water Ch. 63 - The Fighter

Jon kissed his children goodbye and told them he would see them in a couple of days, that should have been it, or so he thought. He tells Dorothea goodbye and leaves the NY apartment. 


Again, he gets down to the street and his phone alerts him to a message. He is really hoping its just a cute little text from Beth. Taking his phone out of the back pocket of his perfect fitting Levi's, he sees its another message from Dorothea. Just says, I'm sorry. You look great. Have a great time in Atlanta. I love you. He saves the message and decides to call Beth. Listening to her phone ring gave him butterflies as he waited for her to answer. Voicemail, he was bummed. He left her a message. "Hi babe, it's me. Call me when you have time and can use your phone. I leave for Atlanta in a couple of hours. I love you. Until next time."  He hangs up, quite bummed that he didn't get to talk to her.
Driving back to Red Bank, he kind of passed a neighborhood he's not been in, in many years. He had some time, so he decided to drive through Sayreville and check out the old neighborhood. It's pretty close to what he remembered from the last time. Being in no hurry to get back to pack, he took back roads from Sayreville to home.  Grabbing his phone from the cup holder, he called Beth again. Still, voicemail. This time he didn't leave a message.

Finally he made it home and forced himself to go in and pack, they leave for Atlanta at 4:00. When he finished packing his bag for the 2 nights he had a little time to kill so he went to the Shoe Inn and played with the vocals on Summertime. Although it was perfect, he knew he could get it just a little bit better, he thought. It was an upbeat song and he enjoyed listening to it. When he finished playing around with it, he locked up the studio and went back towards the house.

The car service was waiting as he walked out. He apologized to the driver, "Man, I'm real sorry, I lost track of time." he went inside made sure that all lights and stuff were off and checked the ground floor windows. All were locked and the house was secure, he was able to leave. With his bag in one hand and his phone in the other, leaving, he needed to lock the door, setting his phone down to do it. Once it was locked, he walked out the door closing it behind him. He was off to Atlanta.

When he arrived at the airport, everyone was waiting on him, and they were surprised he was early.
Tico laughs and says, Holy shit, the moons must be aligned, Jon is early."  

"It's been one of those mornings, let me tell you.  That damn Dorothea just won't stop."  He shakes his head.  They all boarded the Bon Jovi plane and were on their way to Atlanta, Georgia. With the exception of a show in Chicago and one in Detroit, their world tour would end in Atlanta. Detroit and Chicago were fundraising shows, so they aren't counted as part of the tour.  Jon was please about that, he was ready to come off the road. He needed to re-establish some roots and reconnect with his children.

Landing in Atlanta, they all were shuttled to the arena. Show was in at 8, and they needed to do sound check. Once they completed with the unnecessary task of doing sound check, they were then shuttled to the hotel.

Once inside his room, he got ready for the show and when he was done, he dug through his bag to find his phone. He was calling Beth again. He had to hear her voice, and he couldn't find his phone. He sat on the edge of his bed, rubbing his temples with his fingers trying to remember where he left his phone, "Fuck, it's in New Jersey", he said out loud.

It was not a good thing, his phone at home, he's a thousand miles from home, with no other way to contact Beth. No one else in the band had her contact info. Damn it! He got up and started pacing his room, when it came to him; Stephanie has her number, he'll call Steph after the show.

At the arena, the band did a meet and greet, put on their typical awesome show and they headed back to the hotel. David and his wife were going to take in some Atlanta night life and invited Jon to join them. He thought it would be a nice change of pace and decided he would give it a try. They hit the hip and upcoming clubs in Atlanta and didn't get in until 4:00am. Jon was tired so as soon as he was able to get ready for bed, he went to bed. He will call Stephanie later to get Beth's #


Beth had spent the rest of the day getting released from the hospital in St. Bart's and she still can't believe they advised her not to fly. The doctor told her that with the concussion and the small brain bleed, it's not in her best interest to fly, just wait a day or two to go home. She told him she would wait a day. One day.

She's settled back in her hotel room. Between getting situated and all the visitors, many of her co workers stopped by, she tried to find time to call Jon. She wasn't able to make a call before she left the hospital, now she just wanted piece and quiet with a dose of her pain medication. She figured she would call him tomorrow, knowing he's getting ready for a show.   She hops into the bathroom, she hated the crutches they gave her - she's convinced that they will cause her further injury, as she is quite klutzy.  But she needed to wash up, she felt like she's not showered in days, and that's the truth.  Tammy will help her shower tomorrow, Beth wasn't feeling like going through all of that today.

Running water in the sink, gathering her bathroom kit -- she takes another look in the mirror.  Her eyes aren't as bad, as they were, but they don't look good.  She still looks like she was run over by a truck.  She washes up and climbs into bed.  She is realizing that someone to help her might not be a bad idea when she gets back home.  Laying back in bed, she tells herself - tomorrow, you get to go home tomorrow.