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"Stay with Charlie," answered Adam, who now had a lot to think about. "I'll let you know when I have things worked out."

Soon, the limousine arrived back at the hotel. Crowds of fans screamed and yelled as they waited for the newlyweds to exit the vehicle.

"Charlie, please try to stop crying," pleaded Adam. "Here, you can bury your face in my shoulder when we get out. No one will see your rash."

Charlie nodded in assent and the three got out of the car. She hid her face in Adam's shoulder as he had instructed. They quickly made their way into the hotel, and straight for the elevator. Kevin succeeded in keeping others from joining them in the elevator, while Adam counted the seconds until he could get Charlie to the privacy of her hotel room.

When the elevator doors opened, Adam lifted Charlie in his arms and carried her quickly to the room she was sharing with Vera. The couple went inside, while Kevin stayed on guard outside the door.

Charlie collapsed onto her bed, and sobbed into a pillow while Adam stood helplessly nearby. When he reached to comfort her and she pulled away, Adam grabbed Charlie's satellite phone and called Shirley on her cell phone.

"Get Vera back to the hotel, immediately," directed Adam. "Charlie needs her."

"Why?" asked Shirley. "What's wrong?"

"Charlie has the measles," answered Adam, in a disheartened voice. "Please, don't tell anyone but Vera right now. Things are so mixed up, I don't know what to do."

"Vera and I will be there shortly," said Shirley. "Just hang in there. Everything will be all right-- you'll see."

Adam hung up and watched Charlie weep with such heartrending sobs that it broke his heart.

"Please," begged Adam, "let me comfort you, Charlie-girl."

"Don't look at me!" she cried, grabbing a nearby blanket and covering her head with it. "Leave me alone!"

Adam took a few steps back and bowed his head with grief. He felt lost.

"God," he prayed in a low voice, "please help me!"

For the second time that day, when help had been petitioned from God, He sent it. Shirley soon appeared with Vera and Bill, who had insisted on coming with them when he received Shirley's call about the new development.

"What did you do to her?" cried Shirley, seeing the prostrate form on the bed, hiding her head beneath a blanket.

"She has the rash, and doesn't want me to see her," explained Adam, sinking down into a chair. "I tried to help her, but she absolutely refuses to let me go near her!"

"Go back to your hotel rooms-- both of you," ordered Vera, shooing the men from the room.

Outside in the hall, Adam and Bill stared disbelievingly at each other. The musician went to his room while Bill followed. Before long, Melvin and Gary joined them.

"There's a bunch of guests downstairs expecting the reception to start soon," said Bill, hesitating to say the obvious.

"I can't go down there without Charlie!" exclaimed Adam, emphatically. "They'd know something was wrong. If I stay here, they're going to know. Any way I look at the situation, they're going to know! For my own sake, I don't mind what they think, but Charlie's dreading public reaction if it's publicized that she has a childhood disease on her wedding day! If I were just Adam Clark, this wouldn't be big news, but I'm also Wallace Shipley. And Wallace Shipley makes headlines, as we all know."

Bill, Melvin, and Gary could do little more than sympathize with their friend. They had seen first hand the pressures of celebrity, and were in a better position than most to understand what would happen if this news ever made it to the press.

As they discussed possible options, Vera and Shirley knocked on Adam's door.

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