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Willa just nods, lost in thought. I have no idea what to do to help Maverick, but something needs to be done. He’s barely surviving at this point.
“Ten minutes!” Cal screams up the stairs.
“Did that sound weirdly high pitched to you?” Willa asks.
I laugh. “That’s how you know he’s nervous. That and the veggie tray in the freezer.”
“Again?” Willa sighs, following me out of my room and down the stairs. “I almost broke a tooth on a baby carrot the last time he did that.”
We both laugh as we make our way into the kitchen. I can always count on my best friend to lighten the mood.
The meeting is almost over. Kai and Mav never showed. The three of us have been playing it off like they caught a cold and are just resting. I pitched my songs as best I could while half my focus was on the missing members.
“I think that about covers it. Studio time is scheduled for next month. I’ll send over the demos when they’re done,” Jon says to Isla. Cal, Willa, and I just nod along. This meeting needs to end so we can find the guys. Cal is pissed, but Willa and I keep exchanging worried glances. This isn’t like Kai. Mav? Sure. When he’s home, he’s likely to sleep through something important. But Kai never misses anything.
“You know how to reach me with any questions,” Isla says.
“Sure do. Thanks for your time,” Cal says and hits the end call button.
“Hanging up on her probably wasn’t smart,” Willa chastises, but Cal ignores her and answers his phone.
“When? How? Why are you just calling me now?” Cal is screaming into his phone, which is very unlike him. The tone and volume of his voice are enough to immediately put on edge. “And they’re both there? They’re both alive?”
I glance at Willa to see her face is as pale as I’m sure mine is. He has to be talking about Mav and Kai. I want to interrupt and ask him what’s going on, but my tongue feels heavy, and I’m not sure I remember how to breathe.
“I’m on my way.” Cal hangs up the phone and immediately starts heading for the door. Willa and I follow himstraight to his car. The moment our doors shut, Cal is putting the car in drive and peeling out of the driveway.
“Someone hit their car when they were on the way over. I don’t know anything else. Kai is in surgery. Maverick is unconscious, but relatively unharmed.” Cal’s eyes haven’t left the road, and his knuckles are white from how hard he’s gripping the steering wheel.
My first instinct is to ask a million questions, but I know Cal doesn’t know the answers to any of them. He just said as much. Instead, I sit next to him and try to focus on my breathing.
“Cal is the emergency contact for all of us. Kai is his,” Willa says, answering one of my unvoiced questions. If I wasn’t so panicked about Kai, I would probably be offended at not being my own brother’s emergency contact, but I don’t have room in my brain to think that over right now.
The rest of the short drive to the hospital is silent. Cal screeches to a halt in front of the hospital, which, thankfully, has a valet. Otherwise, he would definitely get towed. There’s no way he was wasting time finding a parking spot. He tosses the keys to a teenager, and we follow him through the emergency room doors.
The hospital had to clear out a waiting room for us. It’s nice to have fans, but a hospital waiting room isn’t the place to ask for pictures or autographs. We were swarmed the moment we sat down.
Willa is pacing, Cal is standing up and then sitting backdown in thirty-second intervals, and I’m curled up in an uncomfortable chair while rocking back and forth.
There was a police officer here to greet us. He explained that a driver hit Kai’s side of the car and then took off from the scene of the accident. They’re running through traffic cameras to see if they can get a plate number or car model. He gave us his card to call him when Mav and Kai can speak to him.
Maverick is getting an MRI to check for swelling in his brain, and Kai is still in surgery. He’s been in surgery for over four hours now. The nurse couldn’t give us much information and said we would have to wait for the surgeon. I thought Willa was going to climb over the desk and try to check the computer herself. The only thing that stopped her was the promise that we could go in and see Mav once the doctors were done with all the testing. Willa wasn’t going to chance getting kicked out of the hospital. Not today anyway.
“Mr. Griffin?” We all turn to see a nurse in the doorway of the waiting room.
“That’s me,” Cal says, practically rushing at her.
“Mr. Wolfe is awake and can have visitors. If you’re ready, I can show you to his room.”
Cal nods but doesn’t move. “What about Kai? Malikai Irons.”
“Mr. Irons should be out of surgery soon. I can tell the surgeon to meet with you in Mr. Wolfe’s room.”
“Okay, yeah. That works. Just make sure he does,” Cal says as more of a demand than anything. “Please,” he adds as an afterthought. The nurse just smiles. She’s probably used to panicky family members.
“He’s going to be okay,” Willa says, taking my hand aswe follow the nurse to see Maverick. I just nod. I haven’t spoken a word since Cal got the phone call. I’m afraid I’ll lose any control I have and break down if I do.
Mav has a bandage on his forehead and a nasty black eye, but otherwise seems to be doing alright.
