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"What happened, exactly?" Laurie asked as she and the others accompanied Axl backstage.

"I don't know," the lead singer grunted, holding his left foot about three inches off the ground and limping painfully on his right. "All I know is that someone's gonna get sued off their asses tonight."

"Now, now," said Doug Goldstein, coming out of nowhere as usual, "let's not jump to extremes, huh?"

Axl glared at the manager. "Yeah, easy for you to say. You're not the one who feels like your ankle is full of broken glass and like your shin is on fire."

Laurie glanced at her ex-boyfriend and winced in sympathy as she was painfully reminded of the fact that even the most high-maintenance rock stars were human beneath their rough exteriors.

"Put him there," said Slash, and Duff and Izzy directed Axl to a sofa. The vocalist propped his foot up (with Laurie's help) on a pillow and leaned backwards, sighing.

"God almighty," he muttered, "what the hell did I do wrong?"

"Nothing," murmured Laurie soothingly, reaching out and smoothing his hair back off his face. "Absolutely nothing, baby."

Slash and Duff exchanged did-she-seriously-just-say-that-without-him-killing-her? looks. Then the bassist said:

"Uh, dude, it looks like you're in good hands, so...we're gonna go back out, okay?"

"I called 911," Izzy informed them, returning from a pay phone. "They'll be here soon."

"Great," muttered Axl, shutting his eyes and wincing. It was impossible to tell if he was being sarcastic or serious.

"How are you gonna keep playing without--"

"We'll do instrumentals," said Slash, looking harried. "I'm sure...I'm sure the audience will understand."

Then the three men hurried out, leaving Laurie alone with Axl.

"Do you need anything?" Laurie asked after a bit.

Just you, Axl thought, though of course he didn't say it out loud. His heart still thudded harder than ever when he was this close to his ex-girlfriend; he still felt that same electric shock in his body when her skin brushed his. He regretted more than ever allowing Erin to think they were back together; not necessarily because it was leading her on, but because it meant that Laurie would think she had no chance of ever getting him back.

And, of course, that was the last thing Axl wanted her to think.

"Well," he said finally, in response to her question, "could you move my shoe?"

Laurie looked at his foot, propped up on the pillow, the ankle swollen and yellow around the mouth. She moved to the sofa, knelt down beside his leg, moved her fingers deftly over his skin and to the laces. He swallowed hard and shut his eyes; surely, he thought, she must be an angel, to have such a perfect touch?

She began to untie his shoe slowly; when it was loose she slipped it off slowly, trying to ignore the way his muscles tightened, how hard his fists clenched. Axl gritted his teeth and snapped, "Jesus, Laurie, couldn't you be a bit more careful?"

She paused, glared at him. "I am doing this as slowly as I can, Axl, and if you say one more word to me, I will leave the room and let the paramedics take care of you on their own."

His eyes flashed, but he did shut up.

Once Laurie had completely removed his shoe, she sat on the sofa, pulled his foot into her lap, and started carefully taking off his sock. His ankle was swollen grotesquely; Laurie pressed one finger against it and he let out a yelp of surprise and pain.

"Great," said Laurie. "You're still feeling down there."

"Aw, really, Laur? No fucking kidding, babe. I'm in so much pain right now I'm about to go commit suicide."

She narrowed her eyes at him and muttered something under her breath about where she'd like to stick his sock once she was finished taking it off his foot.

At that moment, Doug Goldstein, along with three paramedics and a stretcher, came running backstage.

"Oh, Axl, thank goodness you're still conscious! I was so worried--"

"Yeah, right," said Axl, shifting a bit on the couch as the paramedics approached him with the stretcher.

"Be careful," whispered Laurie softly as they began lifting him onto it. "He's in a lot of pain."

One of the paramedics, a young man with a large mustache and a small goatee, smiled at her. "Yes, ma'am," he said. "In fact--would you like to ride in the ambulance with him?"

Laurie looked at Axl, who shrugged noncommittally, though every part of his body was screaming, if she doesn't go, then neither do you!

"Sure," said Laurie quietly, and she followed them out to the ambulance, which was parked directly behind the arena. They were joined a moment later by Doug, Slash, and Izzy.

"Hey," said Slash softly to Laurie as the ambulance started down the street. "He let you ride with him?"

She blushed, bit down on her lower lip, and nodded. Izzy reached over and touched her chin.

"You still like him, huh?" asked the rhythm guitarist, but Laurie didn't answer, only looked away.

When they arrived at the hospital, they were immediately admitted into a room off the emergency ward, where Axl's ankle was numbed and set.

"Good news," said a doctor, "is that it's not broken."

"And the bad news?" Laurie asked.

"It's badly sprained," said the doctor. "He'll be in a walking cast for several months, two to three at the most. And I hate to disappoint everyone, but it would be in Mr. Rose's best interest if you cancelled your next week of tour dates."

Laurie looked at Slash and Izzy, who were standing in the doorway. They both looked back at her, alarmed. Cancelling tour dates meant losing money, especially from sold-out arenas, like what they had in Denver and Wyoming.

"All right," said Laurie quietly. "If that's what he needs...look, how soon are you gonna have him in the walking cast?"

"Right now," said the doctor, "but it'll take a while, so you might want to leave and come back in about two hours."

Laurie looked down at Axl, who shook his head slightly, his dark eyes flashing in alarm.

"No," she said, "I'll be fine." And she sat down at the bedside and took Axl's hand between her own, pressing her lips to his fingers, reassuring him without words that everything was going to be okay.

~~~

"Where's Axl? Where's my baby?" screeched Erin Everly, dashing down the halls at top speeds.

Axl, lying in his bed in the hospital room, groaned softly and tilted his head back. Even from inside the room he could hear her, for Christ's sake.

"Shit, here comes the White Queen," muttered Laurie, and Axl laughed. She'd stayed with him throughout the entire process of getting the walking cast fitted and set and then put on, which took much longer than either of them had expected. She'd distracted him from the pain by telling him humorous short stories; she'd held his hand and let him squeeze as hard as he needed to when it hurt the most. Gazing at her now, Axl saw all their past written on her face and realized, with a sudden shock that left him reeling, exactly how much he'd lost three years ago.

"I'm going to leave you now, briefly," said the doctor, straightening up. "When I return, the cast should be finished drying, and you may leave."

"Yeah, all right, thanks," said Axl. Once the doctor was gone, Axl turned to Laurie and whispered:

"Jesus, Laur, you really went over the limit, staying here for this long. You could've been out, partying, you could have--"

"No," said Laurie softly, tightening her grip on his hand again, "I couldn't have. Leaving you alone was never an option--" She stopped abruptly as she realized the sore subject she was about to brush against. A shadow flickered across Axl's face as he realized it too, but a moment later it was gone and he said:

"Not tonight, anyway." Then he leaned over and gently brushed his lips against hers, readjusting his grip in her hand so that their fingers were more tightly entangled. His tongue swept the space between her lips, asking for entrance, and she gave it to him--willingly--for the first time in a long, long time. He noticed, as he lifted his other hand to press against the back of her head, that she still tasted the same: like peppermint and Dr. Pepper, like Listerine and Doublemint gum. Cigarette smoke tainted the inside of her mouth now, but to Axl that didn't matter; it added to the exotic flavor of the one and only woman he had ever truly loved.

Laurie pulled away from Axl after a bit and, staring into his eyes, said, "What was that?"

He didn't know how to answer her.

"Because--I wouldn't mind if it happened again," said Laurie, and she gripped him and pulled him to her and kissed him, hard, so that he didn't have time to sort out all the emotions that rushed into his head, increasing his ecstasy level by at least one hundred percent.