Page 118 of Xavier

Thirty-three

Her

My phone is ringing. It's ringing and I have no idea where it is. Or where I am. I open my eyes, and I don't recognize the sheets on the bed, the pillow under my head, or the clock on the nightstand next to me. I drag myself up, patting the mattress around me for my phone, my eyes focusing on the window to my left. Those curtains. Those curtains I do recognize. I bought them. For Cameron.

I'm in Cameron's bed.

The realization dawns just as my hand closes around the flat, smooth shape of my iPhone. Jade, the name flashes at me.

"Jade?" I rasp into the phone.

"Isabella," she says. And I know. Something is wrong. "It's Xavier."

"What's wrong?"

"Just go downstairs, Kaine has a car for you, it's going to take you to the hospital."

"The what?" I spring to my feet. I'm relieved to see I'm still dressed in my underwear, my dress slung on the back of the chair in the corner.

"Just come. Hurry." She hangs up the phone with a click and I freeze for a moment, trying to decide between calling her back and running the fuck out of here.

Then the sound of her voice saying "hurry" replays in my head and I throw my dress over my head, running for the door.

"Woah! Where are you going? I brought you coffee!" Cameron almost slams into me, as I rush down the hallway.

"I... I gotta go. Can't talk! Sorry!" I don’t even have time to feel guilty for running out on him like this as I grab my bag and run out the door, my partner calling after me.

The ride down the elevator gives me time to straighten my clothes but I ignore my reflection in the glass. Then it dawns on me, how did Kaine know to send the car here. Two minutes ago, I didn't even remember I was here.

The answer is there when I arrive at the street to see Ram holding the car door open for me. I can't meet his eyes, I just mumble hello and slide into the back seat of the town car. He closes the door behind me and settles into the passenger seat, giving the driver a nod.

I wait until we're in traffic before I ask, "Ram! What's wrong? What happened to Xavier?"

But it's silent all the way to the hospital.

***

Jade is the first person I see as I rush into the ER. I'm relieved to see her, even though her hair is falling like a bird's nest around her face, and she's dressed in what looks like Kaine's suit coats over her pajamas. I've never seen her look anything but completely put together.

"Isabella!" She jumps up out of her seat and runs up to me, throwing her arms around me. I hold onto her a moment longer even when she pulls away. I don’t know who is comforting whom.

"What happened?" I ask, biting the inside of my lip to keep from yelling from the acidic fear burning in the pit of my stomach.

"He... Xavier... they found him..." Her red-rimmed eyes fill instantly with tears and she stops, trying to catch her breath. I just want to shake her to get the information out, but I can see this isn't easier for her than it is for me.

Not for the first time, I can't help but think how lucky he has been to have found such friends.

"He's in bad shape," Kaine says as he comes up behind his wife, touching her softly on the shoulder. "He was being beaten up by some guys in a back alley near the Cotton Club. Some people walking past saw it and they intervened. Lucky because... as it is..."

"W-w-what... how bad is it?"

I'm too scared to look at Jade again, who lets out a sob, and Kaine leads her over to the row of seats before coming back. He gestures with his head and I follow him to a quiet spot down the hall.

"He's in surgery right now."

"Oh my god!"

Kaine waits for a beat while I process before he continues. "He has at least three fractured ribs and a broken cheekbone."