PIZZAZZ
PART ONE: SUMMER 1989
Chapter Four: Aftermath

"Jetta?"

Stormer pushed open the door of the hospital waiting room, meeting her bandmate's grey eyes with her own soft blue ones. Behind her, Roxy was manhandling an over-inquisitive nurse out of the way, closing the door behind her as she did so.

"What's the deal?" She demanded, though there was a little of her usual bluntness missing from her tone.

"You tell me." Jetta murmured. "She's in theatre. She's bloody lucky, Stormer. I didn't know what to do, she'd 'ave died, but some guy saw the accident an' knew 'ow to keep 'er breathin' an' all while I went for an ambulance. 'E was on 'is way to work when 'e saw...nice of 'im to stop." She frowned. "Don't even know 'is name, but it were damn good of 'im."

"What happened, exactly? And are you all right?" Stormer sat down beside her. "It can't have been nice for you either."

"The doctor keeps wantin' to admit me 'for tests'." Jetta admitted. "I told 'im where 'e could damn well go. I'm fine, Stormer. Bit shook up, but fine. Scratches an' bruises that'll 'eal."

"So what did happen?" Roxy put in her bit. "Or did Pizzazz's wacked out driving finally cost her?"

"I knew she should never 'ave driven." Jetta bit her lip. "I told 'er not to."

"Was she drunk?" Stormer looked anxious. Jetta shook her head.

"No, she was sober, but she 'ad drunk an' you know it ain't good to let 'er near the car when she's got alcohol in 'er system. She was probably over the legal limit, even if she were stone sober. I woulda driven meself but I ain't much better off." She shrugged. "As for what 'appened, she lost control of the car an' far as I remember it, it spun over. She opened the door...god only knows why, I guess in the 'ope it might stop it turnin', and she got flung out. The car kinda...jus'...came down on 'er. If it weren't for the uneven ground an' the rubble she'dve been killed outright."

Stormer shivered.

"Horrible." she murmured. "Poor Pizzazz."

"So what do we do now?" Roxy sounded impatient, but it was all too clear her impatience was masking her own uncertain feelings over Pizzazz's accident. "Just wait? Eric's still in Canada!"

"Someone ought to call him." Stormer looked thoughtful. "Her father too.I guess I'll go do that now, if you guys wanna hang about for news." She eyed Jetta keenly. "Jetta, perhaps you should see a doctor...you are awful pale you know."

"I'm fine." Jetta snapped. "I just ain't 'ad any sleep yet an' this ain't my idea of fun!"

"Mm. Okay." Stormer gave up, but inwardly decided to put a call through to Justin once Eric and Harvey were notified.

"After all, he has to know the photo shoot is off, and he'll want to know why." She reasoned, as she made her way to the busy lobby to find a payphone. "Oh, I wonder what's happening in there! From what Jetta said it's pretty horrible...what if she doesn't make it? What becomes of the Misfits then?"

    *********

"Well, that's it."

Dr Alan Garcia took a step back from the operating table, casting a careful glance over the still form before him, then nodding approvingly. "What's her pulse like? Still pretty steady?"

"Yes, she's got a good heart rate." The nurse who had been carefully monitoring the heart beat nodded. "She's stabilised pretty well."

"Good. Let's hope she keeps that way." Alan said with a smile. "All right, let's get her to Intensive Care and get her properly hooked up on a ventilator. You okay with her breathing there, Julie?"

"Yep, no problem." The aforementioned Julie agreed from where she was controlling every intake of breath the patient had taken since the surgery. "Let's move her, though, let her have some time to recover."

"Okay. I'm going to go tell whoever's here with her, then I'll be down to oversee things on ICU." Alan responded. "I must admit, I've never operated on someone of such high standing before. I'm glad that's over."

"Well, I don't think we'll need to ask too many people if her medical insurance is in order." Another surgeon smiled, now that the stress of the tricky procedure was over. "Phyllis Gabor...who would've thought it."

"If all I've heard about her is right, she's got some attitude. Might be best to keep her on the sedatives." Julie suggested archly.

"Well, for now she's just our patient, and that's all that matters." Alan reminded her. "Anyhow, she will be sedated for the time being. Just keep a close eye on her blood alcohol level for the next 24 hours when giving the drugs, ok? I know we took a gamble here and it paid off, but we didn't have much choice this time. It was risk the anaesthesia and do the op, or let her die. Now we've got her at least stable, I don't want her having a reaction to the painkillers or the sedatives we put her on."

"Her blood alcohol isn't as high as her friend seemed to think. It's within legal limit, just." One of the surrounding nurses reported.

"Well, that's good. There'll be no legal wrangles then." Alan cast a glance at the sleeping face of the young woman. The press had reported so many stories about the infamous Phyllis Gabor, leader of the Misfits, and allegedly one of the most fearsome women in California, but at that moment she looked like any other patient, peaceful and calm with no trace of the wild makeup that marked her out as different when on stage. In order to clean up her superficial cuts and bruises on her face, they had taken all her makeup off, and, with a slight amount of surprise, Alan realised that his charge was very pretty.

"But she hides it all trying to be fierce." He decided, somewhat amused despite the severity of her condition. "Ironic."

He checked her over for one last time, then gave the word for the others to take her down to the ward. Then, once he had removed his mask and washed his hands, he headed out to the waiting room, where Roxy and Jetta were both sitting in silence, and Stormer was bravely trying to continue half hearted conversation. For the naturally shy synth player, it was a tough job, for both girls had withdrawn into quiet, intimidating shells.

It was Jetta, though, that she was most worried about, for the English girl was still very pale and her eyes were clouded with the memory of her experiences. Remembering Jetta had had no sleep at all, she reached over to touch her friend's shoulder.

"Maybe you should go home and sleep. I'll phone if there's news." She murmured. Jetta shook her head.

"Not a chance." She replied quietly.

"Miss Burns?" The surgeon approached them, and Jetta immediately surmised who he was.

"Yes?" She responded tiredly. "News is?"

"She's stable. We've done a lot of repair work and she's come through it as well as can be expected." Alan told her. "She'd cracked four ribs and one lung was pretty much torn to pieces, it took a lot of careful work to get it back together right but I think we did the trick. It's certainly working better now, though it's early days and she has a long way to go."

"And other than her chest injury?" Stormer asked softly, feeling more than a little sick at the doctor's casual description.

"Other than that, her injuries are more or less superficial." Alan responded. "Scrapes, bruising, a few cuts and scratches. Her left arm is a bit swollen but the bone people don't think it's a break, in any case it was more important to do the chest surgery and worry about that later. Its likely though that she just twisted and bruised it in tumbling out of the car as she did." He met Jetta's gaze. "She was within legal limits...just."

"She was?" Jetta looked a little startled. "Oh! Guess...guess she was right, then. She was okay to drive." She spread her hands. "I'm glad you told me that, at least. I thought it were my fault for lettin' 'er drive, but I knew I weren't legal."

"It was an accident." The doctor assured her. "I...understand she has a colourful driving style at the best of times."

"Damn right she does." Roxy muttered. "Stupid girl."

"Has anyone contacted her family?"

"I did." Stormer acknowledged. "I called our manager, in Canada, then I put a call through to Harvey Gabor's office. He's out of town but they promised to get the message to him at once."

"That's good." Alan smiled. "Well, she's been transferred down to ICU. She has a lot of wires and cables at the moment - don't be alarmed, they're keeping her going. The next 48 hours are critical, if she comes through those with minimum bother, then things look positive. She's been treated for shock and we're keeping her sedated for the time being, to help her body heal a little."

"Can we...see her?" Stormer asked hesitantly. "I mean, we're not exactly family, but..."

"I don't see why not." Alan responded. "So long as you're quiet. I mean, she is sedated, but there's no harm in being safe."
He cast a glance at Jetta, then frowned.

"Miss Burns?"

"Yeah?"

"Were you in the car with Miss Gabor, is that what happened?"

"Yes...so?"

"Have you spoken to a doctor yourself?"

"No, but I'm fine. I ain't 'urt more than scrapes." Jetta shrugged. "I ain't gonna faint, I'm tougher than that."

"Well, all right, but if you feel unwell, don't hesitate to come talk to someone." Alan realised that he was dealing with an obstinate character and that pressing the issue would do more harm than good. Wisely he decided let it drop. At that moment anyhow they reached ICU, and Alan led the way into the sideward, checking the monitors and nodding in approval at what he saw.

"Well, she's nice and stable still." he reported. "So I'll leave you to your own devices." He cast them a smile. "And try not to worry too much. Everything that can be done is being done."




~*^*~PIZZAZZ'S CHRONICLE~*^*~

Part One: Summer, 1989
Chapter One: Alone
Chapter Two: A Night Out
Chapter Three: Tragedy
Chapter Four: Aftermath
Chapter Five:  Alan Garcia

Chapter Six: Fire vs Fire
Chapter Seven: Eric

Chapter Eight: Ambition
Chapter Nine: Eric's Offer
Chapter Ten: Misfits To Arms