Blush (23 page)

I thank her again and take a sip of ginger
ale. Amazingly, it doesn't make me want to immediately vomit. That
Misty, she's a freaking genius.

I wash my hair, not giving a rat's ass how I
look. In all honesty, it was nearly as wet as if I had showered
anyway so who's going to be able to tell? It'll just smell a hell
of a lot better. I soap up a washcloth and wipe my forehead,
cheeks, and chin, then rinse the cloth and wipe my face clean.
Gross. Seriously gross.

I wash my body and turn the water off. I
reach for the towel and note Misty already brought my clothes as
well as comfy shoes. I'm seriously in love with that woman. She
takes such great care of us and she's incredibly sweet. I just hope
that asshole brother-in-law of hers didn't get as far as I'm afraid
he did.

I run a wide-tooth comb through my hair and
put in some mousse. Scrunch up my curls and leave it to hang free.
I've found a new appreciation for cotton panties and bras on this
tour. There's a time and place for Victoria to reveal her secrets.
On stage sweating in front of tens of thousands of fans isn't one
of them. Hell to the no.

I put on the black leggings and pink Blush
tank with black lettering and a huge BFD sign on the back. I slip
my black boots on next and take a look in the mirror.

Not too bad, really. Good enough.

I exit the bathroom and finish up the ginger
ale.

“Were you able to keep it down?“ she
asks.

“Yeah.“

“Good. I'll give you more and put it in a
darker glass so they all think you've got an alcoholic
beverage.“

I eye her carefully and she eyes me back.
“How do you know?“

She shrugs. “I just figured for as passionate
as you and Jesse are, whether or not you're using birth control,
there is no way a new life wasn't going to be created out of your
love.“

“Oh shit,“ I say and start crying.

“Oh no! Please don't cry. I won't tell
anyone,“ Misty panics.

“It's not that,“ I wail. “It was so sweet
what you said and my hormones are crazy. One minute I'm happy, the
next minute I'm pissed off, then I'm crying.“

“Aww Lucy, this is normal.“

“It is? I'm not just a freak?“

She snickers. “You're not a freak.“

I nod and she wipes my face, fixing my makeup
smudges.

“There. You're all set and from the sounds of
it, they should be done soon.“

I nod again then hug her close. “Misty, I'm
so glad you're here with us.“

“Me too. Thank you for saving me.“

Jesus. I can only imagine the kind of hell
she's been through to say something like that.

“No thanks needed. You're family now.“

She nods.

“Have you heard anything from your
sister?“

“No, but then I dropped my phone out the
window on the highway after we left. Ben got me a new one
today.“

“Good. If you need anything and I mean
anything just come to me, okay?“

She nods.

“Promise me.“

“I promise.“

“Okay. Now, let me put on this fake veneer
and sign the worst signature in history with my broken hand.
Ha!“

Misty laughs and I snort.

She hands me the ginger ale and my pain
medication.

I lift a brow.

“Better now than to have Jesse scold you when
you get back.“

“True that,“ I agree. “You want to come
with?“

“No, no thank you. Maybe after I get more
comfortable with this.“

“I hate to tell you, Misty, you never get
comfortable with this. I'm certainly not, but we'll give it a
little bit before we let the hyenas meet your sexy ass.“

She snorts.

“Alright. I'll be back,“ I use the worst
Arnold imitation ever and laugh at myself as I step off the bus.
Gio and Mike roll their eyes. “Yeah, yeah,“ I tell them.

Mike strolls toward the building with me as
the fans behind the barricades scream and yell—and it's not all
nice. There's a lot of profanity directed at me. “Whore Kingston“
seems to be a popular chant.

“Wow,“ I murmur to Mike and he frowns. We're
nearly to the door when it happens and, for as alert and jumpy as
we both are, neither of us are expecting it.

I hear my name called. Not as they normally
do. You know, Lucy, Lucy Kingston, Lucy Russo. No, this one is
Luciana Antonia Russo—no Kingston. I turn to see where the voice
came from when something large, sharp, and solid connects with my
forehead and down I go. My glass flies up in the air to break right
next to me. As I brace my hand, a large piece of said glass gets
embedded into my hand but I don't feel it. Hell, at this point I'm
not feeling anything. Everything's in slow motion with an aura of
darkness closing in on my vision. My hand slips and my body hits
the pavement. Then my head bounces a couple times, like once wasn't
enough. I've still got a pinpoint hole of vision as I lay there. My
eyes scan and that's when I see him. The same guy from earlier in
the day. The one who disappeared before I could point him out to
Damian.

He's grinning as the crowd goes crazy,
security begins to surround me, and Mike's on with nine-one-one. I
try to tell them it's him. I'm able to point my finger, but only in
my mind. I commit his image to memory. The grey eyes. The short,
blonde hair. The crooked nose and thin lips. His features are sharp
and angular and he's got a scar on his jawline. I know him somehow.
He sees me watching him and he frowns. I narrow my eyes at him and
his lips thin. I wink and send him a grin just before I give in to
the blackness.

“
LOST SO MUCH BLOOD…“

“…
pregnant“

“
baby is going to be…“

Everything is in fragments as I try to
surface. Where the fuck am I and what happened? Why does my entire
body ache…again? What did I do this time? I try to remember what
happened, but the memory is just out of reach.

I try to open my eyes as I hear Jesse calling
my name. “Open your eyes, baby. Lucy, come back to me. You can do
it. Fight.“

I am fighting. I'm fighting so damn hard but
I can't get my eyes open. I can't move my fingers, toes, arms, or
legs and I start to panic. My chest hurts. Oh God, it hurts. I
can't breathe. I'm cold, so damn cold. Why are hospital waiting
rooms always so hot but all the patient rooms so cold? Don't they
know we need the heat? Fuck the guests waiting. Keep us warm.

I can't stay awake anymore, it hurts too
much. Sharp and … darkness.

“There is no hope
unmingled with fear, and no fear unmingled with hope.“

—BARUCH SPINOZA

“WHAT THE FUCK happened?“ I shout as I run into the
emergency room.

Damian turns to me with a grim
expression.

“Fuck.“ I grab him by his shirt. “Tell me
she's okay. Just tell me she's okay.“

He takes a breath. “We're not sure yet.“

“What happened? How the fuck could this
happen with the extra security? They're so far up my ass I can spit
for them, but Lucy gets hurt? Are you fucking kidding me?“

I know I'm being irrational. Shouting isn't
going to help but motherfucker. That's my wife in there and she's
carrying my baby.

“Christ.“

I walk up to the nurse's station.

“My wife was brought in. Luciana
Kingston.“

“Yes, sir. They've got her in back and are
working on her now.“

“I need to see her. Please.“

“I'm sorry, but no one can go back there
while they're working on her.“

“What do you mean by working on her? Can you
get one of the people who are 'working on her' up here? There's
some really fucking important information they need to know now!“
I'm gripping the edge of the desk so tightly I'm surprised it's not
ground to dust. The woman scurries away and within minutes the “no
admittance“ door opens. A nurse with a fuck-ton of blood over her
scrubs comes out and I gulp.

“Mr. Kingston. What information?“ she asks,
all business.

“My wife—“ my voice cracks. I swallow. “My
wife is pregnant. Please,“ I say, grabbing the sleeve of her top
when she turns to go back in. “Is she…?“

“We're stabilizing her now. We've got the
best doctors on staff in there. We'll take as much care with the
baby as we can. But if it comes down to your wife or the baby—“

“My wife,“ I tell her, cutting her off. I
can't live without Lucy. “My wife.“

She nods. “It may not come to that, but if it
does.“

I nod. “Always Lucy.“

She nods again. “I'll be back to update you
as soon as possible.“

“Thank you,“ I whisper and then I collapse to
my knees, my fingers thread into my hair and I pull hard. I hear an
anguished cry, like an animal being beaten within an inch of its
life and when Xander puts a hand on my shoulder, I realize it's
coming from me.

“Jesse,“ Xander helps me up. “She's going to
be alright.“

I nod, swallowing hard. “She has to be. I
can't…“ My voice cracks and tears run unchecked down my face. I
don't give a fuck who sees it. I just… don't. “I can't, Xan.
Without her…“ I shake my head.

“I know, man. I know. She's tough. That
little shit is a fighter and she won't give up so don't you give up
either.“

“Yeah,“ I agree, wiping the tears from my
cheeks.

Sera and the rest of the bands come running
through the door.

“Jesse?“ she asks, and I don't have any
answers.

“They're working on her,“ I whisper and Sera
lets out an anguished cry much like mine. I reach for her and pull
her into my chest, clinging to the one other person in the world
who understands how impossible it will be to survive without
Luce.

“She's going to be okay,“ she sobs. “She'll
be okay.“

“Sera,“ I whisper. “She's pregnant.“

Her head flies up, her gaze locks onto mine.
“Oh God.“

I swallow and feel a tear slip from my
eye.

“It'll be alright,“ Xander keeps saying as if
repeating it over and over will make it so. “It has to be.“

I meet my brother's gaze across the room and
his expression is as grim as mine. My baby sister, Janalee, hugs
into him. She hasn't met Lucy yet. Jesus. She hasn't met my wife.
No, not my wife—my life.

“I won't make it if she doesn't,“ I
whisper.

Sera nods. “Me neither.“

“They asked, if it came down to it, if Lucy
or the baby—“

Her head snaps up again. “Lucy,“ she
interrupts.

I nod. “That's what I said. You know if she
makes it through this but the baby doesn't…“

“Not to discount this baby, but Jesse,
there'll be other babies. There is only one Lucy,“ she affirms.

“I know that and you know that.“ But
convincing Lucy of that if it comes to that, well, that's going to
be one hell of a battle.

Sera nods.

“We'll cross that bridge when we get there,
if we get there,“ she whispers.

I nod.

“Why don't you two sit down before you fall
down?“ Ethan directs us to the chairs in the corner. Some stupid
talk show is on the TV.

Xander sits next to me and looks around the
waiting room. “A junkie and a homeless dude walk into an emergency
room…“ he trails off.

I nod. Yeah. Can't even come up with a joke
when it's right in front of your face when your future hangs in the
balance.

Sera leans against me, holding tight to my
shirt. I'm a sweaty fucking mess. We'd just gotten done with the
show when Gio came busting through the back door and I knew. I knew
the minute I saw the ambulance lights flashing that it was Lucy. I
felt it when I was on stage. It was like someone sucker punched me
to the gut in the middle of our last song and I couldn't catch my
breath. The guys all gave me looks but I couldn't do anything but
shake my head. Now I know. Now I know why.

I don't know how long we're sitting there
before Cage comes hurrying in the double doors. Fury unlike any
I've ever known flows through me but Sera beats me to it.