I'll Cry Instead

Chapter 31

"Yes, are you Miss Davies?" a deep voice asked from the doorway, causing Jackie and Cathy to tense up in dread, the latter of which crying into Paul's shoulder while he whispered reassurances to her.

"Yes, that's me. Won't you come in?" Sally replied cordially as she allowed the officers to come inside her welcoming home.

"Where's Mr. McCartney?" a different officer asked as he and his colleagues entered into the vestibule.

"He's in here," Sally answered as she motioned for the policemen to follow her.

As soon as the three officers had made themselves known to Jackie, Cathy, and Paul, Cathy yelled out as she choked on her own sobbing.

"Please don't make him go!" she wailed, which made the officers look to Sally expectantly.

"I'm so sorry," she muttered to them as she advanced toward her unruly daughter. "That's enough of that," she chided her. "I've told you time and time again that this is just the way it has to be."

"But Mum!" she started once more as she hugged her Paulie.

"Now, Cathy, Dear," Paul interrupted before Sally could yell at her youngest child again. "You gave me your number, remember? So that means we can still talk, alright?" he smiled to her before he began to cough furiously.

"Is he alright?" an officer asked worriedly as he walked nearer to the ailing bassist, who was sitting on the couch, blankets covering his entire body, except for his red-tinted face.

"He's quite ill, I'm afraid," Sally explained with a sigh as she patted Paul's back as an attempt to stop his coughing. "I used to be a nurse, you see, so I've been trying to help him get better, but I'm worried he has a small case of Pneumonia. He's got a fever and he needs a doctor promptly."

"Oh," one of the officers exhaled, as if he hadn't expected Paul to be in such a rough shape.

"Well, that means we need to get going, then," an officer stated as he too made his way over to Paul, who he made eye contact with. "Are you well enough to walk out on your own, lad? Or do you want some help?"

"I'll be fine, I'm sure," Paul replied, but was stopped short when the doorbell rang again.

"I'm sure that's Mr. Epstein and the other Beatles," an officer noted as he prepared to answer the door.

"The other Beatles!" Jackie and Cathy squealed in unison as they hugged on Paul, completely dismissing their previous negative and depressed thoughts, surprisingly enough.

"You get to see your friends, Paulie!" Cathy grinned whilst she wiped away a tear.

"Yes, I do!" Paul grinned back, trying to contain his nerves and emotions.

"I get to see John and George and Brian and Ringo...Ringo! I must apologize to him, the poor lad! This is my chance! No more guilty conscience for me!" Paul thought to himself as he listened to the policeman open the door. "Here they come!"

"Where's Paul?" a familiar, gruff voice asked as the sound of multiple feet creaked the old floor in the vestibule.

"Just in there, Mr. Lennon," the policeman replied, which made Cathy shriek in excitement...before Jackie shushed her.

Paul actually couldn't believe he was so excited to see his mates. He felt as if he hadn't seen them in years, even though it'd only been a few days, and the fact that they were only a few feet away from him was too much to grasp. His emotions were wild, but he vowed to himself that he'd remain calm and collect.

Before Sally, Jackie, Cathy, or even Paul knew it, they were face to face with the three other Beatles and Brian Epstein.

To say they were thrilled would be an understatement, for everyone's faces seemed to glow and radiate nothing but pure and innocent thrill to see each other.