I could barely contain my excitement as our driver pulled into the arrivals lane at the St. Petersburg airport. Nikki was flying in today and was going to join me on the road while my arm continued to heal. Her parent’s had graciously offered to watch Everette so she could come out.
“I’ll be right back,” I told the driver as he pulled into the 15 minute parking space. I collected the flowers and chocolates I had bought for her and rushed into the baggage claim area.
“These are for you,” I finally unwrapped myself from her long enough to give her the presents.
“Thank you, darling.” She took them and kissed my cheek. We held hands as we walked to the baggage carousel to collect her suitcase.
I reached for her bag when I saw it coming towards us, but she handed me the lighter things in her arms and said “I’ll get it. You aren’t supposed to put strain on your shoulder.”
“And you are supposed to let me take care of you.”
“You do take care of me. You going back on tour so soon shows you do. I can do a few things for myself while you get back to one hundred percent.”
“Fair enough,” I said. “Is that the only one you brought?”
“Oh yes. I remember all too well the limited space on the tour bus. I tried to pack light.”
“Smart thinking. The driver is in 15-minute parking and I think our time is just about up.”
“Alright, lead the way, darling.”
The driver helped her load her suitcase in the car and we made our way back to the venue. If traffic wasn’t too bad, we would make it back in time for the walk. Nikki had been on a few, and she was so sweet to the fans that made small talk with her.
“Another day, another House of Blues,” she commented as we pulled into the alleyway.
“Oh yeah, they can’t seem to get enough of us around here,” I showed my badge to the backstage security guard and led her back to our dressing room. “We have just about an hour until the walk,” I told her.
“Are you still doing those? What if you cut your foot? The doctor said you need to be careful while you are on blood thinners.”
“I know. I still wear my shoes, but I think it’s still important that I go.”
“Okay, as long as you are being safe.”
“I’m trying to be as careful as I can while still making a living for us.”
She tapped on my jacket sleeve with her hand. “Why don’t you let me look at that arm? I need to see if you’re in trouble or not.”
“We’re leaving for the walk in a little bit. I’ll show you after. We will have some time before the show.”
“Not much between sound check and meet and greet.”
I laughed. “You know the routine better than Bex.” I slipped out of my jacket and dress shirt and showed her the bandage on my arm.
“It looks clean. How often do you change it?”
“Usually in the afternoon and then again before I go to bed.”
“Hmm, that should be good. It doesn’t feel warm, like it’s getting infected, does it?”
“Nah. It doesn’t really even hurt too much except right after a show. The painkillers seem to help with that quite a bit.”
“That’s good. I bet they help you sleep well on that bus.”
“They do. I used to like to go out after the shows, but now I just want to go right to bed because I know that I will sleep so well.”
I started to put my shirt back on, but Nikki rubbed her fingers up and down my chest. “I’m not finished.” She whispered.
I glanced over at the door to the dressing room. Even though I was enjoying this, I was well aware of the lack of privacy backstage.
“We are grown and married. We won’t get in trouble,” she said.
I relaxed a bit. “Maybe I don’t want everyone to know how lucky I am.”
“Hmm, okay, fair point. I’ll help you get dressed.”
She buttoned the last button as soon as Taylor, Zac, and Rebecca rushed through the door.
“Five minutes until we’re walking, Ike,” Bex said.
“We’re ready,” I told her. “What’s the rush? Fans are used to us being late.”
“This show has to start exactly on time and end on time because of our schedule. We let that radio interview run over.”
“Tay and I did it all by ourselves,” Zac pointed out.
“Well, it was mostly me,” Taylor said, shooting a glance at Zac.
“Yeah, I might have spaced out.”
“You need to pull it together, at least for these next couple months. If I can, you can,” I lectured him.
“Yes, you are my great example. Mixing whiskey with pain pills and not eating.”
I noticed Nikki look shocked. “We’ll talk about it later.” I took her hand and kissed it. She nodded. Unlike Zac, she had a little bit of decorum and understood that every conversation isn’t for every audience. Even if the audience was your own family.
“Let’s go, gentlemen,” Bex said. She was very good at pretending not to hear our drama.
We all followed her to the front of the venue. Taylor gave his customary speech, encouraging fans to take off their shoes and walk with us a mile.
As usual, once we started walking Taylor took the lead and most of the fans rushed up to be close to him. Zac stayed somewhere near the middle of the crowd and Nikki and I walked much slower with the few fans straggling along in the back.
“I’m sorry, can I just say something?” A fan walked up to Nikki.
She smiled so sweetly at her. “Of course.”
“You are the prettiest woman I’ve ever seen.”
“Oh. Wow.” She said “I don’t even know what to say. Thank you very much.”
“I agree,” I whispered in my wife’s ear.
“Does your arm hurt much?” The same fan turned to me and asked.
“It’s not so bad anymore. Thank you for asking,” I told her.
“I’m glad to hear that. And that you are still coming on the walks.”
“I think it’s important that the entire band support the mission. Every single mile, every single step counts.”
“That is so true. This is my fourth walk and I’m trying to get one together back home.”
“Thank you very much. Where is home?”
“Vancouver.”
“Wow, you are a traveler.”
“Do you think you’ll get there next year?”
I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t want to disappoint her, but I didn’t want to lie, either. And we had already discussed slowing down at least the first half of next year.
“Our schedule for the rest of this year is pretty much set, and we honestly aren’t sure what our goals are for next year. But Vancouver is beautiful and I’d love to get back there.”
I guess my answer satisfied her. “Great, thanks Isaac!” And she skipped on ahead, probably to go find Zac or Taylor.
“She was nice,” Nikki said.
“Yes,” I agreed “she was nice.”