FATHERHOOD - Part One
Written by Kirri Liepins

For the third time that morning, Phil found himself on intimate terms with the inside of a toilet bowl.

"Bloody hell, there can't be any more left!" he thought as he retched, tears trailing down his cheeks. "I can't have drank that much last night - only five bottles, at the most!"

There was a soft knock at the door. "Phil, are you okay?" Toby asked in the next room, his voice filled with concern.

No, i'm dying, you idiot, he wanted to say, but instead he coughed and replied, "Yeah, i'm fine." He bent his head down and stared wonderingly into the vortex of the bowl.

"You've been feeling like this ever since you came out of hospital - I think something's up," Toby continued. Phil said nothing - he simply gave a quick kick to the door in response. Toby got the message and left him alone.

He wasn't stupid...he knew that this was happening since he'd been discharged from hospital. Whatever drugs they had pumped into him while he was there were definitely not helping now. His bandmates joked about the possibility of him being pregnant - after all, besides the constant vomiting, he'd gained 1-2kgs in weight, had cravings for food and suddenly become very emotional - even the slightest hint of a problem would send him either shouting or weeping.

Forget it - it was ridiculous. A pregnant man? Who's ever heard of them? Except for maybe Arnold Schwartznegger, but that was only for his movie Junior. Phil put it down to being tired and stressed from working on the band's third album. But still, he knew something was wrong, and it would eat at him until he knew what it was and how to fix it.

Washing out his mouth from the water in the tap, he tidied himself up, flushed the toilet and walked out into the studio. He found his bandmates standing around, staring at him worriedly.

"What are you looking at?" he snapped. They each looked at one another, silently encouraging them to speak up. Finally Andrew sighed and stood up straight.

"Phil, we've made you a doctor's appointment," he announced. Phil's eyes widened in shock.

"What? Why? I'm perfectly fine!"

"No, you're not. There's something not quite right, Phil, and it's affecting your work. Now come on, let's go."

His shoulders sagging in defeat, Phil agreed to go along with Andrew, knowing that the sooner he got himself examined and fixed up, the sooner he'd be able to throw himself back into his work.

But secretly, he knew what the results would be.

Back to Fan Fiction
There's no place like...