Straight from the Heart (21 page)

Shaking my head I smiled and hugged her.
“It’s okay, Lou. I don’t mind helping out while I’m back.”

I really didn’t, either. They gave me a
place to stay and have continued to do so, taking care of it while
I was on tour so the least I could do was take a few orders and
fill up drinks for customers. I needed something to take my mind
off of how I should be down visiting Raptor. I worked until just
before the dinner rush so I was able to change and put my hair in a
ponytail before driving down to U of M hospital…courtesy of
Hal.

“Thank you so much, Hal.” I told him as we
pulled into the enormous parking lot of the hospital and went in
through the emergency room doors. “I appreciate you driving down
here with me since everyone else is already down here as it
is.”

Hal wrapped an arm around my shoulders and
shrugged. “Not a problem, sweet. I didn’t want you making the drive
by yourself in that traffic. I’m used to it.”

I hated hospitals. I’d never had to step
inside one thank goodness, but as soon as I stepped in, I felt sick
to my stomach. I saw people knees to their chest in pain sitting by
the windows as nurses' took patients back by the minute. Poor
Raptor…the thought of him lying in one of those cold hard beds
scares the shit out of me. I pulled out my phone to text Cale and
let him know we were here while Hal sat down beside me.

Me: I’m here in ER. Where are you guys?

Cale texted me back instantly, telling me
they were coming down since the doctors had to run a bunch of blood
work and other tests. I literally jumped into his arms as soon as I
saw him, Vince and Luke come out from the elevator. Saying they
looked like shit was an understatement. Their clothes were
disheveled from sleeping in the chairs I’m assuming and their hair
was sticking up in every which way.

I breathed in Cale’s scent as I buried my
face into his neck. “How bad does he look, babe?”

Cale’s looked into my eyes and all I could
see was his bloodshot amber eyes near tears. “According to one of
those pricks, they say he might never play an instrument again, and
if he does it would take years to work on his mobility in the
fingers.  Fuckers broke nearly every bone in his hand on top
of that gunshot wound. I got to talk to him though. Said he can’t
wait to see you, but he wanted to try and clean up a little first
since he was a bloody mess.”

“Cops tried interrogating him about what
happened and I wanted to punch the officer in the mouth. He had
just woken up for the first time and had all these questions thrown
at him,” Luke said in a near whisper.

“Why don’t we go get dinner and talk about
it?” Hal suggested, “There’s enough shit going on around here.” So
we took Hal’s advice and found a mom and pop diner down the street
and tried to talk about anything but the Raptor situation, and what
we were going to do with the record.

“So what are we going to do about the
record?” I accidentally slipped as I was taking one last bite of my
salad.

Everyone was silent. I didn’t like silence,
but I knew why. Because no one really had an answer.

“I think we should keep going and finish it
up.” Vince opened up, his eyes meeting mine and nodded in
agreement. “All we have to do is hire a studio drummer and then put
off a tour. Maybe he’ll get better…”

“They just said he won’t!” Cale snapped,
slamming his fist onto the table causing everyone sitting in their
chairs to turn in our direction. “You two heard the doctor’s own
fucking words!”

“Well then what do you suggest we do, boss?”
Luke sneered. Luke was never the guy to get pissed off at Cale, so
to see him ready to fight Cale surprised the hell out of me. “Since
it’s always your way.”

“We could always try and call Trav,” Vince
tried to suggest but Cale smashed down another fist down. “That was
your shit Cale. You’re the one who punched him on stage in the
middle of our set. You kicked him out all because Lucy…”

““Enough!” Cale finally stood from the table
and stormed out, slamming the diner door behind him. I tried to
stand up and go after him but Hal had a light hold on my arm.

“It’s not your battle, Bryn.” Hal said in a
calm voice. “Cale’s still pissed about their ex-drummer kissing his
ex-girlfriend and keeping it a secret for months.”

I put two and two together. I had known very
little about that situation, but what I knew was Lucy was a part of
it. “So Lucy cheated on Cale for months without saying
anything?”

The rest of them nodded.

“Before he comes back and fires my ass for
telling you this, I think we should tell you the full story about
Cale and Tyler.”

All I could hear were the tires riding over
typical Michigan pot holes the whole way home.

I had no words.

I never knew the whole story behind how
their ex-drummer Tyler had gotten kicked out, but now I knew. And
the worst part?

He was Ethan’s cousin. I’d been to his house
for Christ sake. I only met him a few times here and there so I
didn’t really remember him too well, but to be kicked out over
having sex with Cale’s girlfriend? I was still trying to comprehend
everything the guys told me at dinner. Cale dated Lucy for nearly 2
years when one night Vince said he saw Tyler and Lucy hooking up in
the Ignite the Flames dressing room. They said Cale didn’t believe
him, but he noticed that the two were talking more and paying
attention to each other more, so he confronted Tyler before the set
of their last show before summer and Tyler admitted to it.

Hal explained on the way back how he had to
tear Cale away from Tyler after he punched him in the jaw and nose
during the set because of his anger over Lucy cheating. Cale had
spent the night in jail over the fight. Said right after he got out
of jail that morning, he called Lucy and said it was over and that
was that.

“Do you think Cale would let Tyler back in?”
I asked Hal as we turned off the expressway at our exit.

Hal hesitated for a second, turning to me
and said “It’s sticky. Cale’s one stubborn son of a bitch. He hates
Tyler for lying to him, but before that whole situation they were
like brothers. Tyler is a damn good drummer and a nice kid. He’d
come back if the guys would let him, I know that for a fact.”

“I just hope everything works out okay,” I
said honestly. In a perfect world Raptor would come out of the
hospital without a scratch and we’d be back to work in a week. But
we had to keep going, whether we got a studio drummer, or got Tyler
back somehow. “Cale just seemed so…I don’t know the
word…agitated?”

Hal chuckled as we pulled into downtown,
nearing my loft. “That’s Pelton. If something is bothering him or
eating at him, he doesn’t want anyone pushing his buttons or
bringing it up. I’ve learned that over the years, but you’ll be
okay.” He opened the passenger door for me and helped me out. “You
want me to walk you upstairs kid?”

I shook my head. “I’ll be okay. Thanks for
the offer Hal. What’s the worst that could happen anyways?” Telling
him thank you again I walked upstairs and opened the door.
At
least no one broke in while I was gone
I said to myself as I
took of my clothes and threw them onto the bed. I needed a warm
shower, try to wrap my mind around the shit I was dealing with.

I could just go home.
The thought
sprang into my head out of no-where as I stepped into the shower,
letting the water run all over my body. And I could. Become a
trophy wife, be the perfect little daughter my parents expected me
to be, date a rich man’s son and BAM there would be my life in a
nutshell.

But taking the abuse I had taken before all
over again? Not a chance in hell. I had a new family now, in just a
short time, which scared me a bit. I had so many questions filling
up my brain I felt like it was about to explode. My parents had
never called me or gotten ahold of me in any way since leaving; I
was a little worried in a sense.

Turning my attention to how cold I was going
to feel after my warm shower, I wrapped my body into a towel and
found a hoodie and baggy sweatpants I picked up during one of our
stops on the tour. The rest of the night was spent lying on the
couch watching Magic Mike once again on HBO and episodes of True
Blood I’d never seen. My mind turned its attention soon after the
third straight episode to Cale. I wondered what he was doing that
night. Was he back at his place with the guys or had he gone
straight to the bar?

Me: Everything ok?

I didn’t hear back right away, which was far
from surprising. About 10 minutes later my phone went off.

Cale: Yup

Me: Just yup? Today pissed you off that
much?

Cale: That’s not even it Bryn

Me: Excuse me for checking up on my
boyfriend

A few seconds later, Cale’s ringtone rang on
my phone.

“Yup?” I answered, trying to mock Cale with
my best pissed off expression.

Cale sighed loudly. “Bryn, I’m sorry for
sounding like a dick. Just…I haven’t talked about what happened
since after kicking Tyler out the next day and it still hurts ya
know?”

My head hit the arm of the couch hard as I
adjusted some pillows behind me. “But you don’t need to be such an
ass about it. You could’ve told me. I wouldn’t have judged you. You
acted like every boyfriend would after finding out their girlfriend
cheated on them with their best friend.”
Here comes the
truth
. “But I also know that you need to forgive him at some
point and try to make amends. We’re short a band member and we
might need Tyler to fill in for Raptor since he’s played with you
guys from the start.”

“I…I guess you’re right.” Cale started to
sound happy again. “I’ll give it a few days and I’ll call him just
before we go back to the studio and see if he’ll agree to meeting
up for lunch or something like that.”

“So what are you doing right now?” I asked,
changing the subject.

“Well we stopped on the way home to grab
some drinks and are having some old friends from school over. I
needed to forget the fucked up day I had, babe. I wish you were
here.” Cale groaned, and I shifted uncomfortably.  He was
having old friends over? The thought made me nervous. Old friends
could mean girls who think Cale was free and single, which he was
no longer. Old friends might be those same girls trying to lure him
into his bedroom and ride him until he couldn’t take it anymore. He
noticed my silence and asked “Why baby what’s the matter?”

“Just be careful,” I uttered. I turned the
TV off and lamp beside me and said “I’m going to go to bed.”

“Are you sure, Bryn? I could tell all of
these people to leave and I can stay the night with you,” Cale
replied quickly.

“No, no, no.” I debunked his idea instantly.
“I need a night to myself.”

“I love you Bryn, you know that right?”

I beamed at those three words. This was the
only time I smiled tonight. “I love you too, Cale. Goodnight.”

For the next week, I drove down with Cale,
Luke and Vince to see Raptor. He was recovering very well from what
the doctors said, even though the outlook on his hand was still
grim. He had a full arm cast where he was shot, and spread all the
way down to his fingers. When we first walked in and saw him with
his cast and bandages after surgery, Raptor was already swearing
and threatening the nurses, trying to make them let him go home
early.

We had a full band meeting the third day we
visited Raptor, talking about our plans as far as what we wanted to
do with the record and touring. Cale was the first one to bring up
Tyler, and Raptor seemed okay with it. But I could tell by the look
in his eye it killed him that he wasn’t going to be playing drums
or any instrument for a long time. I shouldn’t say never
though.

“Better watch him around Bryn,” Was all he
said, giving a protective smile. Why would they have to watch him
around me? I was curious, hoping he wasn’t another Damon
Charming.

Cale immediately put his arm around my waist
as he said that, staking his claim. He had nothing to worry about
though. I was his and he was mine, no matter what.

Vince sent the text around 1 that afternoon
when we were heading back into town. They were completely on edge
after that, not knowing what to expect. An hour passed and Cale was
pacing back and forth in my bedroom, looking ready to punch the
wall again.

“He might be busy?” I tried reassuring
them.

“Not like him.” Cale snapped. “He has his
phone glued to the back of his ass. I should’ve known this would
happen. Fucker.

“Stop.” I tried calming him down. “It’ll be
okay you need to chill.”

Before Cale could prepare a comeback,
Vince's phone started ringing some heavy metal song. Everyone
looked over and he mouthed ‘Tyler.’

“Hello?” He answered, turning away from the
rest of us as he opened up my window facing downtown. “Tyler,
how’ve you been pal?”

We all listened intently as Vince had a
normal conversation with Tyler. When he walked towards us with a
huge grin on his face after the call ended, I had a pretty good
feeling about it.

“So, what’s the verdict?” Luke asked as we
all squeezed on the couch.

“He’s meeting up with us at the studio on
Monday!” He shouted in victory and the guys high fived each other,
including me. “Says he missed us,” then he faced Cale. “And wants
to talk to you too. Patch things up.”

Cale threw his hands up. “At this point I
don’t even care.” I laughed at him and told him to suck it up, that
it was just hopefully temporary. If it wasn’t, so be it, Cale had
to learn to be nice to his ex-best friend. “What?”

“Be nice,” I scolded. “That’s the past.
Neither of you have the girl you fought over so there’s no reason
to fight now, right?”