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“Lori? Addi?” I heard Ivy try to get some answers.
“He lost so much blood. If Mav hadn’t been worried about him and made me leave to check on him, then he would have—”
“But he did find him, Addi,” Lori interrupted.
Addi sobbed, before shaking her head as if she was trying to pull herself together. “The blood loss affected his organs and put his heart under pressure. They’ve put him on a ventilator to give him a chance to recover, but they don’t know if he’ll wake—” Another sob stole her words, and this time she couldn’t hold them back. While Ivy comforted Addi, I felt a hand on my shoulder and Mav was there, standing next to me.
“I should have known. He’s been a mess. I mean, a real mess. He was so unhappy. That woman tried to ruin him, apparently to save the band, and we were so caught up in doing as we were told like normal, we didn’t even see how bad it was getting. Being with you both… it was all he wanted, and she made him send you away. I’m so sorry. Fuck. I feel like I failed him.”
“Woman?” I asked confused.
“Hazel. She’s the reason Gray’s like this. She made him send you both home.”
I breathed a sigh of relief because it was clear that Gray acted like he did because that woman made him, but that didn’t fix this—it didn’t fix the fact our husband was laid out on a bed, having tried to kill himself because he hated his life so much.
I looked around the room, filled with people who loved this man as much as Ivy and I did. Tanner, head down, avoiding eye contact with everyone, Frankie, red eyed, curled into Tanner’s side, Lori and Phil, ashen faced, staring at their son, Addi, pacing around the room, and Mav, looking like he’d lost a battle he didn’t even know he was fighting. I found the strength in my legs and moved to the bed. Grabbing Gray’s hand, I rubbed the place where his wedding ring should be as I pressed a kiss to his forehead. “Fight, Gray. Fight and come back to us and I'll fix all of this. I promise.” I pressed my lips to his head again.
“You might want these,” Addi held out a black velvet bag to Ivy. “Hazel made him take them off and then took them from him. I presumed she’d put them in the safe, but we found them in her things after we’d thrown her out of the penthouse."
Ivy opened the bag, tipping its contents into her hand before holding them out to show me.
“Why did she confiscate his wedding ring and his chain?” I asked, confused.
“I have no idea. Honestly, she was sent by the record company because of all the bad press, but her hatred of Gray and his relationship with you was over and above anything the record company said they’d asked her to do. I wish I’d checked with them sooner. I should have protected him.”
Ivy moved to stand next to me, slipping his wedding ring onto the ring finger on his left hand. “No hiding, Grayson. You belong with us, and we shouldn’t have agreed to leave you so easily. We’re here to stay, but you have to wake up for us. And then we need to talk about what the hell happened to make you do this.” Her finger ghosted over the bandage on his wrist before she turned to bury her face in my chest, where she burst into tears.
“What if we lose him, Eth?” she whispered.
“We won’t, princess. I can’t think like that. He has to be okay.”
Ivy
“Therecordcompanyhassacked Hazel after I told them all the things she’d done to Gray and the effect it had on him. They have offered you all six months off before we have to rearrange the tour dates we’ve had to cancel,” Addi announced emotionlessly as she hung up the phone call she’d been having.
“That won’t sort anything. They saw something about us they didn’t like, and they tried to manipulate us… well, Gray. What next? They don’t like a relationship I have or Mav’s hair color… they have too much control. I hate it and the bigger we get, the worse it seems to get,” Frankie replied, holding onto Gray’s hand as if she was scared of what would happen if she let go.
“I know, but right now we just need to focus on Gray,” Addi sighed out defeatedly. Noticing how miserable she looked, Mav wrapped his fingers in hers, and in a very un-Addi move, she rested her head on his chest and took a moment of comfort from him.
“Are you okay?” Mav murmured in her hair.
She shook her head. “I did this to him,” she whispered back, so quietly I almost didn’t hear her. “I let that woman do this to him. I let the label manipulate him. I even told him that his relationship was bringing shame on the band. I’m as bad as Hazel.”
Mav tilted her head upward, so she had to look at him. “You, Addison Stone, are nothing like that woman. She poisoned his mind. She broke him. She didn’t care about him in the slightest. Yes, you could have handled things differently, butyoudid not do this to him.”
I stepped next to them, rubbing my hand up and down her back, causing tears to spring up in her eyes as her gaze flicked to meet mine.
“He’s right, Addi. Gray loves you. He knew you loved him. You didn’t do this to him. I won’t let you blame yourself.”
Thank you, she mouthed before she squeezed Mav’s hand and stepped back, straight back into 'manager' mode. “Lori, Phil, why don’t you go back to the hotel? Get some rest. We’ll call you if anything changes, I promise.”
Lori shook her head.
“Come on, Lori, you need a nap and a shower. I’m putting my foot down. Please, love. Just for a few hours,” Phil begged.
“Go, I promise we’ll call if there is anything,” I said as I squeezed her hand in mine.
Lori pushed my curls from my face, tucking them behind my ear where they stayed momentarily before bouncing back to where they were, causing her to chuckle. “You… both of you. You’re just what he needs. I’m so glad he found you. I know he’s a little bit broken right now, but don’t give up on him, please. Keep fighting for him. He needs people to remind him just how special he is.”
