Immortals And Melodies (Blood And Guitars #2) (8 page)

“Can we see him?” O’Shea asked.

“Only family is allowed back.”

“He’s my brother,” O’Shea said without hesitation, and I have to say I was impressed by his conviction. Coming from a walking lie detector, as Trey calls me, I didn’t distinguish the smallest physical change in O’Shea as he spoke. O’Shea and Trey were brothers by choice, which held just as much weight as the real thing in O’Shea’s mind. The doctor looked like he wanted to argue, eying O’Shea’s black hair and natural tan but thought better of it. I wondered if the band’s status was earning them special treatment. I hoped so. I had no time or patience for hospital bureaucracy. The doctor called for a nearby nurse to come over and asked her to take us to Trey’s room.
Kacie
followed us as far as the doorway and then stopped.

“You two go ahead,” she said. “I’m going to stay in the waiting room so I can tell Chase and Jonas where to go when they get here.”

“Thanks,
Kace
,” I said, and she nodded and headed back down the hallway.

O’Shea turned the doorknob and pushed the door open, holding it for me to go first. I took a deep breath and stepped into the room. The beeping of a heart monitor sounded softly, like an accompaniment to my favorite song on repeat, but my focus was on the actual sound of Trey’s heartbeat. I cherished the sound as it thumped strong and steady while I rounded the corner. Trey was lying in the hospital bed, propped up with pillows. In some ways he looked better already, his face clean of all the blood from when I’d last seen him. The neck brace he’d been wearing was also gone. There was dark bruising around his nose and one eye but it could have been worse, considering he’d smashed into a steering wheel. A clear plastic tube carrying oxygen rested just under his nose. His eyes lit up when he saw me, his lips stretching into that lazy grin that I love so much.

O’Shea hung back, letting me go to him first. I didn’t say anything, just wrapped my arms around him and kissed his face. When I could stand to release him, I stood up and eyed him carefully. He was dressed in a standard hospital gown, wires coming up out of the collar and running to the monitor on the wall. The IV in his good arm had a tube that ran to a bag of clear solution hanging on a metal stand at his bedside. His left arm was in a sling.

“I told you I was fine,” he said, smiling at me.

“This is what you call fine?” O’Shea piped in from the foot of the bed, but his voice was light, teasing. “If this is what happens when I leave you two alone for ten minutes, we might have to hire a chaperone.”

“Hey, man,” Trey said, smiling at his best friend.

O’Shea shook his head as he stepped forward, fist-bumping Trey’s good hand. “I’m not going to lie. You scared me.”

“And I was sure you had more important things to worry about,” Trey teased. “Like not getting swarmed by fans at the mall.”

O’Shea shook his head, grinning. “You know that only happens when you’re there.”

Their familiar banter brought a sense of normalcy to the room, despite the beeping of the monitors and the sound of the cuff on Trey’s bicep that was inflating on its own.

“What did the doctor say?” I asked.

“My shoulder will heal up in no time,” Trey answered, looking down at the splint that immobilized his arm. “They must be convinced I didn’t break my neck, too, or they would have left that annoying brace on. Didn’t break my nose either, thankfully. Can’t go screwing up this money-maker.” He gestured to his face with a little wave of his hand, giving me a cocky grin.

I was almost giddy with relief. He really seemed okay. I opened my mouth to say so, but I heard familiar voices in the hallway. Half a second later, Jonas and Chase burst into the room. They slid to a stop on the tile floor at the foot of Trey’s bed, gasping to catch their breath.

“What ... what happened?” Chase demanded as he turned a panicked eye on Trey. “You okay, man?”

“I’ll live,” Trey said, not bothering to hide the hint of amusement on his face at their reactions.

“O’Shea’s date met us out front,” Jonas said, panting.

“She’s hot, by the way,” Chase added quickly for O’Shea’s benefit. “She says you wrapped your car around a pole.”

Trey frowned. “Yeah ... I don’t really remember that part.” I was the only one who noticed the little spike in his heart rate as he tried to explain, lying about the short-term memory loss the crash had brought on.

“We’re just glad you’re okay,” O’Shea said, Chase and Jonas nodding in agreement.

“You know,” Trey said, smiling. “I think that winding up in the hospital and having your friends dote on you is good for a man’s ego, if you can ignore the fact that you’re wearing a nightgown.”

A knock sounded on the door, and Dr. Hyatt let himself in. His eyes widened in surprise as he saw that the room was full of people. “Mr. Decker,” he said, turning to Trey. “I was hoping to discuss the results of your MRI.”

“Dr. Hyatt,” Trey said. “Meet Jonas, Chase and O’Shea, my band mates.” He pointed at them in turn and then gestured to me. “You’ve already met my girlfriend, Aurora. Anything you have to say, you can say in front of them.”

Dr. Hyatt seemed to know that it would be useless to argue with his high-profile patient and simply shrugged instead. “Okay, then,” he said. “The good news is we didn’t find any evidence of internal bleeding or damage to your organs from the crash. You’re a lucky guy.”

I took a second to appreciate the fact that all of this really was good news, and then I jumped ahead a step. “Is there bad news?”

“I wouldn’t call it bad news,” the doctor said, his voice light. “We want to keep him here for twenty-four hours for observation to be certain the memory loss isn’t a symptom of a more serious head injury. It’s just a precaution.”

“We could have told you he was brain damaged and saved you all the hassle,” Chase said, but I was busy watching Trey. I could hear the argument building up in his head before he opened his mouth. He hated hospitals. He had things to do, and the fans would worry ... the list went on and on.

“I think that’s a good idea,” I cut in before he could start. Trey blinked at me, confused. “It’s always better to be safe than sorry,” I added. Then silently I projected my real reason into his mind.
Two of those vamps are still out there. Can you think of a safer place to be right now than this hospital?
Trey frowned, but didn’t argue.
They’re giving you the royal treatment
, I added.
Enjoy it for a while.
“Thank you Dr. Hyatt,” I said. “We appreciate everything you’re doing to take care of Trey.”

“You’re welcome,” he said, smiling. Then he let himself out of the room, but I heard Karen talking to him in the hallway. She was asking for an update on Trey. I hadn’t realized she was still here.

Your biggest fan is still here
, I projected for Trey.
She’s in the hallway trying to find out how you’re doing
.

He smiled, and silently responded,
Will you ask her to come in?

Chase started asking Trey about his arm as I made my way over to the door and pulled it open. Karen was standing in the hallway looking relieved as Dr. Hyatt walked away from her. She turned to look at me as I stepped out.

“Hey,” she said, smiling.
                     

“Hey,” I answered back. “I’m glad you’re still here. Trey would like to see you.”

Her eyebrows shot up in surprise. “I ... he ... really?”

Chapter 11

Aurora

“THERE SHE IS,” TREY called out to Karen as I closed the door behind us. “My hero.” Karen covered her open mouth with her hand as she stared into the faces of O’Shea, Jonas and Chase. “Guys, meet Karen –EMT extraordinaire,” Trey said. “She took care of me in the ambulance.” Trey pointed to the place on his wrist where the IV needle was and said, “See this? That’s her fine work.”

“Seriously?” Chase asked, stepping up to introduce himself to her.

“I’m sorry you had to put up with our singer,” O’Shea said apologetically. “He can be a real pain in the-”

“Hello? I can hear you,” Trey called from the bed. Karen laughed, still in shock at being surrounded by her favorite band. I smiled and went to Trey’s side again, enjoying the swirl of thoughts running through Karen’s head as the guys took turns hugging her and thanking her for taking care of Trey. Finally Karen made her way over to Trey.

“Thank you doesn’t seem like nearly enough,” Trey said, reaching out his good hand to her.

She took it and smiled. “I was just doing my job. Besides, I’m just glad you’re okay.”

“Hey, do you have your phone or something?” I asked her. “I can take a picture of you all.”

“Yeah, gather round guys,” Trey said. Karen handed me her phone and stood between Trey’s bed and O’Shea while Jonas and Chase went to the other side of the bed. I snapped a few shots on the phone’s camera and handed it back to her. There was another knock on the door and it opened. This time, it was Neon poking his head in.

“Hey, things can’t be too bad if we’re having a party in the hospital room,” he said, walking in.

“I’m good, Neon,” Trey assured him. “Just a little banged up.”

Neon approached his bed slowly, not really looking convinced as he took in all the wires, tubes and monitors. “If you say so, man.”

Trey grinned at him, and Neon seemed to relax a little. He looked up at me and said, “You really meant it when you said these guys were going to make me earn my paycheck. One week in, and, already, one of you is in the hospital.” That was when he took a closer look at Karen and her paramedic’s uniform.

“Neon, meet Karen,” Trey said. “She brought me in on the ambulance.”

“Good to meet you,” Neon said, shaking Karen’s hand. “You’re the one I should be asking questions.”

“It sounds like he’s going to be fine,” Karen said. “He’ll be on his way out of here tomorrow evening, if everything goes well.”

Neon took a deep breath, watching Trey. “I got here as fast as I could,” he said to him, but I sensed there was something he wasn’t saying. I reached into his mind, unable to stand the suspense. My nerves couldn’t take anymore tonight. It only took a glimpse to see what he meant. I reached over and picked up the television remote from the bedside table and turned on the local news.

Everyone turned to watch as a reporter said, “Clearwater’s own Trey Decker, front man for the band Catalyst, was taken to the hospital by ambulance tonight after wrapping his car around a pole.” Video footage of Trey’s Mazda with steam pouring up out of the crumpled hood showed on the screen. O’Shea swore at the sight of Trey’s car, but no one else spoke as the reporter continued. “Decker’s girlfriend was also a passenger in the car but reportedly escaped the incident without serious injury. Doctors at Morton Plant Hospital are reporting that Decker’s condition is stable for now.” The footage changed to a photo of the front of the hospital. “Police are calling it an accident. There’s no word yet whether the crash was drug or alcohol related.” That last line made Trey’s blood pressure rise.

“Don’t worry,” Jonas said to him. “I’m sure the doctors ran drug tests as part of procedure.”

“They better have,” Trey said. “They took about a gallon of blood from my arm.”

“They’ll release the results when they have them,” Karen offered. “That’ll clear things up.” Trey put his head in his hand, sighing. “Hey, don’t worry,” Karen said to him. “Confidentiality or not, I would never go out and talk about this with anyone.”

“Screw confidentiality,” Trey said. “I’d prefer people hear the story from someone who knows rather than to speculate.”