“I think it’s safe to say my son won’t find a woman more striking than Grace tonight. Maybe you should invite Grace to dance with you, Logan.” She pushes me slightly toward her like I’m a child.
My sister suddenly appears at my side. “I’m so sorry for interrupting your conversation.” She nods toward Conrad and Grace.
My mother’s lips thin. “This is Emily, my daughter. She’s Logan’s Beta.”
“I’m afraid something that requires your immediate attention has come up,” Emily says, her tone dripping with urgency, earning a look from my mother that could cut through skin and bone.
“I’m so sorry,” I echo and dip my chin toward Conrad. “Please enjoy the rest of your evening.” I turn on my heel with Emily at my side, my strides long and purposeful as I let out a deep breath of relief. “Did something really happen?”
She arches an eyebrow while throwing me a conspiratorial glance. “Dude, you looked like someone shoved something upyour ass. More so than usual,” she chuckles out. “I decided to play the good Samaritan and save you. You owe me one.”
“You get on my nerves every single day, sis, but damn if I don’t want to kiss you right now.”
“Eww, I don’t want your dumb face anywhere near mine, thank you very much. What you need to do is give me a fat raise for how smoothly I saved your ass. I surely don’t make enough if I have to bartend and be your Beta.”
“You bartend because you want to, Em, not because you need to. I’ll give you a bonus and a raise if you keep Mom away from me for the rest of the night, though.”
She puckers her lips, seemingly pondering my offer. “Deal.”
6
Ava
Agarbled sound leaves from deep within my chest as I try to open my eyes.Trybeing the operative word there; my eyelids feel so damn heavy the millimeters I do gain feel like a Herculean effort. When I finally manage to open them, bright light burns through my retinas, and I have to blink for what seems like an eternity before my vision adjusts to the space I’m in. I am lying on a hospital bed with tubes and wires coming out of seemingly every limb. Why am I in the hospital again? The last thing I remember is the concert and then…then…Jude pulling me into the back room of the band’s bus and the cocaine.
Mierda…the cocaine.
My heart quickens dangerously at the memories assaulting my brain, but somehow, it feels different. Stronger. It hasa more constant, steady rhythm. That isn’t the only oddity, however. Because as the sound of the blood rushing in my ears dims, the beeping of machines scrapes against my eardrums alongside heavy steps and roaring conversations that seem to be happening all at once around me. I can even hear the traffic from outside, the blaring of honks, and angry drivers shouting at each other. Is that…someone changing the radio station in their car?
What the fuck?
Not only that, but the strong, bitter smell of antiseptic mixed with the artificial fragrance of harsh cleaning products burns my nostrils and the back of my throat but does nothing to distract from the pungent stench of bodily fluids and ammonia. Then the smell of fresh and already decaying flowers hits me like a ton of bricks, and bile surges into my throat at the confusing odors mingling all at once.
The distinct slapping sound of shoes making contact with the floor reaches my ears long before a nurse walks into the room, shock passing over her features. Her strong perfume gives me a headache, even though she’s nowhere near my bed. God, did she have to bathe in it? She hurries to the side of my bed and uses a remote to lift the upper half of my body into an upright position.
Her eyebrows pull together in concern. “You shouldn’t be awake so soon; you barely just got out of surgery. Can you take a deep breath in and then out for me?”
I do as she says, and the moment I start exhaling, she expertly pulls the breathing tube out of my throat. Which, surprisingly, I didn’t even notice beyond the absolute chaos assaulting my ears and nose.
“Oh my God! You’re awake already.” Chloe’s panicked voice pulls my attention toward her as she enters the room and ambles to the side of my bed. “The doctor said it would probably take up to twenty-four hours.”
“Hey,” I manage to whisper in a hoarse, deep voice.
“Do you want water?” the petite nurse asks. Her hair is cut in a razor-sharp bob, and she is wearing thick-framed glasses. She reminds me of that designer lady fromThe Incredibles.
I nod, so she takes a glass already filled with water from the tray next to the bed and places the straw right at my lips. I take a few sips, the cold liquid like a balm to my abused throat. “Thank you.”
“I’ll notify the doctor you’re awake,” she says and scurries out of the room.
Chloe squeezes my hand gently. “How are you feeling?”
“Surprisingly well. I feel different somehow…What happened, Chlo?”
She grimaces and wrinkles her nose. “How much do you remember?”
“The last thing I remember was being with Jude on the bus and then snorting some cocaine and then nothing…” I mumble weakly.
She shakes her head, eyes brimming with tears. “Fuck, Ava. You scared me to death.” Taking a deep breath in, she continues, “Jude came from the back of the bus in a panic and told us you collapsed. We called an ambulance, and if Knox didn’t know how to do CPR, you would be dead right now. You were brought into the hospital, and the doctor said you would be dead in a few hours…that there was nothing they could do.”
