Jake let out a breath and thanked Miranda before dressing in his first outfit for the concert. The guys all went onto the stage, and Jake’s adrenaline hit like it usually did for a show. A burst of energy went through him as they played their first set. The crowd went wild. The women screamed.
When they went backstage to change into their next set of clothing, Claire still wasn’t there. Miranda gave him a sympathetic look and assured him Claire was okay. Ben didn’t seem fazed by it, and Jake tried to take on the attitude of Claire being okay if Ben wasn’t worried.
Jake could feel Theo watching him as they walked back to the stage. The noise of the crowd was deafening. When Jake met Theo’s eyes, the question was there.
“Are you okay?”
Jake nodded, despite his body protesting. No, he wasn’t okay. He needed to see Claire. He needed to know she was safe.
With one last look of concern from Theo, the guys re-entered the stage to perform their next set.
The normal burst of adrenaline was no longer there, and Jake’s body told him just how exhausted he was. They played through the set, and as Jake looked out over the crowd, the lights blurred together, blinding him. At some point, he stopped strumming the guitar. At some point, the music died out. The sound of the crowd changed, and then Jake was on his knees. The guitar loudly hit the ground when he fell and darkness greeted him.
11
Claire was back in wardrobe with Miranda when a loud commotion in the hallway had her leaning out the door.
The security crew was running through the hallways, heading toward the stage. People were shouting orders, and all Claire could make out was something about crowd control.
“What’s going on?” Miranda asked.
“I don’t know,” Claire said. Her heart thumped as her mind immediately went to Charles. Did he show up? Is that why everyone was in a frenzy?
She looked over at Miranda, who seemed to have the same thought. Miranda pulled Claire back into the room and shut the door, turning the lock with a click.
“I’m sure it’s fine, but let’s be careful, okay?”
Claire nodded and scrubbed her suddenly damp palms down the sides of her pants. “Yeah. You’re right.”
The two of them waited in silence as a loud commotion in the hallway had them staring at each other and straining their ears to hear.
The words “paramedics” and “ambulance” were thrown out. Miranda hurried to the door and unlocked it, looking out just asthey saw one of the guys being wheeled down the hallway on a gurney.
Claire’s stomach plummeted.
“What happened? Who was that?” Claire asked at the same time Miranda was attempting to ask the same questions to a person in the hallway.
“Claire!” Ben called as he approached.
He rushed into the room and took Claire’s hand before pulling her behind him. “We need to go.”
“What’s going on?” Claire asked as Miranda watched them with wide eyes.
“Jake collapsed. We’re heading to the hospital.”
“He what?” Claire asked loudly.
“Jake collapsed on stage. I said I couldn’t leave without you, so Lonnie is going to get us to the hospital.”
“What?” she said quieter. Ben didn’t hear her that time. He was too busy pulling her down the hallway with two security guards following behind them and one in front.
Claire allowed herself to be pulled into a waiting car with Ben and Lonnie. The other security guards made sure they made it out of the parking lot safely before following behind in their own vehicle.
“What is going on?” Claire asked. “What happened to Jake? Did someone hurt him?” Her heart thundered as the questions poured out. “Is he going to be okay?”
Ben scrubbed his eyes before looking at Claire. “I don’t know what happened. One minute we were playing, the next he was lying on the stage. He just… he collapsed. I don’t know how else to describe it.”
She swallowed hard, and her voice turned to whisper, “Was there blood?”
