Chapter seventeen

Carefully Dot opened the door to Kris’ room. She shook her head smiling lightly at her sleeping husband. For five days now he was sitting in that armchair next to his daughter’s bed. He was even sleeping there, wouldn’t leave her a single minute out of his sight.

“Jon.” Dot put her hand softly on his right shoulder.

“What? What’s wrong?” he nearly jumped out of the armchair.

“Nothing’s wrong, she’s sleeping…” Dot calmed him watching the steady breathing of the pale girl in bed.

Jon sank back into the armchair and sighed relieved. “Thank God.”
Dot watched her husband and she had to admit he didn’t look like a Rockstar at all right now. If his fans would see him now…not shaved, red tired eyes and most importantly smelling. “Jon, you really need to take a shower!”

“I promised not to leave her alone.” Jon said while rubbing his tired eyes and stretching his aching back.

“You ain’t leaving her alone, you just take a shower. I’m sure she’ll appreciate it when she’ll wake up.” Dot said with lightly wrinkled nose.

“What do you mean?” Jon was confused.

“Jon, you stink!...Remember the time after the New Jersey Tour? Only the alcoholic smell is missing…”

Jon raised his arm and sniffed. “Oh…” he grimaced. “Maybe you are right.”

“Go take a shower, shave, and put some clean clothes on. I stay with her. I call you immediately when she wakes up.” Dot pushed him softly towards the door.

Shuffling Jon walked to their bedroom door. “Oh, and Jon...” he turned around. “…when you come out of the bathroom and you’ve brushed your teeth, take a bite of that sandwich.” He looked through the open door and saw a sandwich set on the table next to the small couch.

He grinned. “You are the best, Dotty.”

She smiled. “I know!” and walked back into Kris’ room.

She knew he would never ever go downstairs. The last five days she brought him his meals to Kris’ room. He promised not to leave her, so he wouldn’t leave her. Dot shook her head lightly. Does she know how much he loves her? He would do the same for Steph, Jesse and her, no question about it, but the bonding between Jon and Kris was so fast…it’s unbelievable.

Gently Dot put a hand on Kris’ forehead. The temperature was finally going down. She was breezing much easier already in the last two days, but the fever wouldn’t go away. They were close to bringing her to the hospital, but were hesitant because of her fear of doctors. Jon was sure she would freak out when she would wake up in a hospital. So Doc Miller prescribed her an additional medication and finally things got better.

Luckily her blood test was negative; no virus had taken over and more importantly she didn’t have hepatitis or HIV, well that’s what the rapid test said. They had to wait a little longer for the final results. Seems that in all those years she was able to avoid the needles of her mom; especially for a small curious kid a miracle.

Doc Miller assumed that the bronchitis came so suddenly, because her stress was gone after she told them about her mother. She finally allowed her body to relax and got sick. But hopefully things would be better soon.

Nevertheless Kris was still sleeping nearly the whole day. Dot and Jon had problems waking her up when it was time for her medicine and to get her drink some water. She didn’t eat in the last five days and Dot hoped that she would wake up soon, because otherwise they needed to worry about her loosing so much weight. You could already see it in her face. This stupid cold cost her all her strength.

Richie, David, Tico and Hugh were there yesterday. They thought they would cheer her up a bit. David was already warming up downstairs, but Dot had to stop them. They all were shocked when they saw her lying completely exhausted, pale and with labored breathing in her bed. Dot wasn’t even sure Kris realized that the guys were there. She barely opened her eyes or reacted to the band’s voices.

Shortly before Richie left he asked Dot to call him everyday so he’d know how she’s doing. Dot could see that he was really shocked about her condition. She smiled. It seems that she already touched his heart as well.

Kris moved slightly, something she hadn’t done in the last days. Maybe she would wake up this afternoon…and hopefully hungry. Dot cooked a consommé yesterday and hoped it would help her to get her power back.

“The fever is going down, right?” Jon asked from the door, his hair still wet from the shower and the last bite of the sandwich still in his hand, but he had shaved and changed into fresh clothes.

“Yeah, finally. I think she’ll maybe wake up later. She really needs to eat something.” Dot answered.

Jon nodded. “Yeah, you are right. Uhm…did we inform the school btw?”

Dot grinned at him. “I called and told them what’s going on.”

“Thanks, darling.” Jon kissed her softly.

“Oh, and a girl…Alex…calls everyday to ask how Kris is doing and she told me that she’ll collect all the papers at school and when Kris is feeling better again, she wants to come over and give them to her and help her. Seems they have the same classes.” Dot told him.

“So, she really found a friend.” Jon asked surprised.

“Well, I’m not sure she knows about her friend yet.” Dot smirked.

Jon looked at her confused.

“Alex said something like ‘I know she doesn’t want help, but I really think she needs it now and I will not go away before she sees that.’” Dot chuckled.

“Wow, seems she can be really persistent.” Jon replied.

“Well, she has to be, she’s going up against the Bongiovi stubbornness.” Dot said still chuckling.

Jon looked at her and frowned slightly, then sighed. Maybe she’s right. He placed a soft kiss on Kris cheek and sat down in the armchair again.



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“Jon?” Kris sat up slowly.

“Hey, sweetie. You are awake. How are you feeling?” Jon asked concerned and happy at the same time.

“I’m fine I guess…nothing’s spinning anymore. Did you sit here the whole day?” She asked surprised.

“Nope...the last five days.” He replied with a smirk.

“WHAT?” Kris was shocked. “Why?”

Jon sat down next to her on the bed and hugged her. “Because you are my daughter, you were really sick and I promised not to leave you alone.”

Kris just stared at him. He really did that. Tears started running down her cheeks. Nobody ever did something like that for her.

“Aww, sweetie…it’s ok.” Jon kissed her forehead and wiped the tears away. “Hm, that’s my job…” He added smiling.

“Thank you.” Kris snuggled close to him and rested her head on his left shoulder. Jon shook his head. She still had problems to understand all that. Hopefully she would learn to count on him and the family in the next couple month. One thing was for sure, she would never be alone again with her problems.

“So, how about something to eat?” he asked still holding her in his arms.

“Uhm…I don’t know...” she wasn’t really hungry. “How about a shower?” she had the feeling her clothes were sticking to her and that she didn’t smell so nice.

“Well, I don’t think that’s a good idea. Your temperature is not back to normal already, we shouldn’t risk it to get higher again.” Jon replied. Kris sighed. “One more day, sweetie, ok?” She nodded.

“So, do you want something special to eat?” he asked again.

“I’m not really hungry.” Kris said and looked up at him.

“You have to eat something to get your strength back, sweetie.” Jon told her with a stern look on his face.

She sighed. “Maybe you are right.” He nodded.

“I go downstairs and tell Dot that you are awake. She already prepared something for you.”

“How did she know I would wake up?” Kris asked surprised.

“Mother instincts, I guess.” Jon said smiling before he left the room.

Mother instincts? But she wasn’t her mother. Well, actually Dot was more a mother for her than her REAL mother ever was. I need to think about it.