Ravensong (19 page)

Elena turned. “Why didn’t
he call me on my cell?”

Simone planted a hand on
her hip and gave Elena a severe look. “I’m just the
messenger.”

“
Well, it can’t be anything
that important. He probably didn’t get the maps I faxed him. Take a
message and I’ll call him back later.”

“
He said to tell you I
couldn’t take a message.”

Elena paused and studied her
assistant. Simone gave her an aggravated toss of her head. Handing
the clipboard to the equipment manager, Elena indicated the next
items to be loaded on the trucks.

“
I’ll be right back, Bob,”
she said and he nodded in understanding.

Following Simone back
toward the elevators, Elena felt a tightening in her stomach. She
didn’t know why she was suddenly so apprehensive, but it had come
on her like a wave. She watched Simone punch the buttons and
entered behind her, both of them lifting their eyes to watch the
elevator climb the layers of the building until it came to the
floor housing the
Avalanche
offices.

Simone’s heels made an
ominous sound as she clomped down the tiled hallway and into her
office. She threw herself into her chair as Elena hurried into her
own office and punched the button on the phone to receive Julian’s
call.

“
Hi, Julian, sorry it took
so long, but I was helping to load the trucks for tonight’s show in
Oak...”

“
Listen, Elena. Book the
next flight out of SF and meet up with us in Tulsa. Pack enough for
the next few months.”

Elena sank down on the edge
of the desk. “What? Julian, my contract said nothing about going on
tour...”

“
Well, things change. I
need you out here as soon as you can hop a flight.”

“
Julian, we have a show
every night for the next two months and...”

“
Bob can handle it. He
knows that end of the business better than you.”

Elena didn’t answer for a
moment. She knew Bob had the big picture, but some of the minor
details escaped him, like packing a mic for the saxophone in
tonight’s band.

“
Julian, I don’t
understand...”

“
What’s to
understand?
Avalanche
is more important than any of the two bit bands we rent
equipment for. You need to get your priorities
straight.”

“
Okay, okay, don’t get
angry. I just don’t understand why everything is changing now.
You’ve been on tour for more than a month already
and...”

Julian gave a violent
exhalation. “Geez, woman, you are difficult. Look, David’s had a
little health issue and...”

Elena stood up. “What? What
happened to David?”

The hiss of Julian’s voice
echoed over the line, but Elena didn’t care. The knot in her
stomach had tightened. Simone appeared at the door, her eyes wide.
She mouthed the word
what
at Elena, but Elena could only shake her head in
confusion.

“
Don’t get all worked up,
it’s nothing that serious. He’s just got an irregular heartbeat or
something.”

“
Is he going to be all
right?”

Julian made another
exasperated sound. “How the hell should I know? I’m not a heart
surgeon...”

“
Heart surgeon? Where are
the guys? Let me talk to one of them.”

“
They’re not here. They’re
at the hospital with David. Look, he can’t continue the tour, so I
have to take over. I need an assistant and you’re all I’ve got
right now. Book that flight, okay, then we’ll discuss your contract
or whatever...”

“
I don’t care about my
contract. I want to know what happened to David.”

“
Look, I’m really busy
here. I’m the only one focused on making this tour a success. I
don’t have time to chat right now. Book the flight and leave a
message on my cell with your arrival time. I’ll have a driver meet
you at the airport. See ya soon. Bye.”

The line went dead in
Elena’s hand. She drew it away from her ear and stared at the
receiver, then placed it back on the cradle. Simone stood staring
at her.

Reaching into her pocket,
Elena pulled out her cell phone and hit the speed dial for Julian’s
number. The call went immediately to his answering service.
Exhaling in frustration, she leaned against her desk.

“
Can you book me a flight
to Tulsa?”

Simone nodded. “Is David
all right?”

Elena shrugged. “I couldn’t
tell you. That certainly wasn’t one of Julian’s major concerns
right now.”

“
Can you reach the
guys?”

“
Julian said they’re at the
hospital, so I’m sure they have their cell phones off.”

“
Which
hospital?”

Elena shook her head. “He
didn’t tell me and there must be quite a few in a city the size of
Tulsa.”

“
I’ll book that flight for
you.”

“
Thanks,” Elena said,
forcing a smile. “Give me a little time to pack and call my family,
all right?”

“
Done,” said Simone and
turned back to her desk.

* * *

Elena hated hospitals. Not that she
thought many people liked them, but they always felt cold and
unsanitary to her. People went to hospitals to die. They went to
hospitals battered and bruised. They went to hospitals torn inside
and out.

The elderly woman at the
information desk gave her a kind smile when she asked for David’s
room. She was directed to the cardiac ward. As she hurried down the
sterile hallways, she dodged rapidly moving nurses and stagnant
pockets of grieving relatives. Her heart lodged in her throat and
her stomach roiled.

As she turned down the same
nondescript hallway that she’d just left, she found herself in a
brightly lit room with couches and chairs grouped around a blaring
television set. The room was crowded with more huddled pockets of
people, but her attention focused on the dark haired man who lifted
his head at her entrance.

Ravensong’s eyes widened
and he rose to his feet, moving toward her as she hurried across
the room to him. She wanted to throw her arms around him, but
another figure stepped into her line of sight.

“
You’re finally here. Good.
Let’s get back to the hotel and get the rest of tomorrow night’s
performance nailed down,” said Julian, gripping her at the
elbow.

Elena tugged out of his
grasp. “Not until I see David.” She noticed the other band members
rising out of their chairs. They all looked exhausted, dark rings
under their eyes.

“
You can’t see him,” said
Elliot. “He’s in ICU. Only family are allowed inside.”

Elena whipped around at
Julian. “You told me it wasn’t that bad.”

Julian gave Elliot a
quelling look. “It isn’t. He just needs by-pass surgery, then he’ll
be fine. They’re gonna fly him back to California tomorrow. He’ll
have the surgery at Stanford and everything will be fine. Charlotte
said she’d call as soon as he’s out.”

Elena turned her back on
the manager. “What happened?” she asked.

Robert moved forward. “He
had a heart attack. They said it actually might have saved his
life. We got help for him right away and they have new medication
to reduce the amount of permanent damage, but he does have a
blocked artery. If he hadn’t had the heart attack now, the artery
might have closed completely and he could have had a fatal
stroke.”

“
Have you heard how he’s
doing?”

“
He’s resting well and
Charlotte says he’s in good spirits,” answered Elliot. “He’s
getting the best care that money can buy.”

Elena closed her eyes
briefly.

“
All right, let’s go now.
We’ve got a show to put on.”

“
Knock it off, Julian,”
snapped Elliot, coming forward and taking Elena’s arm. “She just
got here. Let her sit down and take everything in.”

Elena let him guide her to
a seat, but she couldn’t help lifting her gaze to Ravensong. He met
her look, then glanced away, warily watching Julian.

Julian slapped his hands
against his thighs. “Fine, but I suggest you get back to the hotel
early,” he warned. “I’ll expect you in my suite by six o’clock
tomorrow morning. You got that?”

Elena nodded, but she
suddenly felt too tired to speak. She wanted to melt into
Ravensong’s embrace, but he seemed like he was a million miles
away. She wondered what she’d done wrong. She hated the distance
between them, and she didn’t know how to make it go
away.

* * *

Being on tour was like
nothing Elena had ever experienced. Life on tour was chaotic and
rapid. And plastic. Nothing was real. The way people treated the
band and all those attached to it wasn’t real – all of the flowers
and candies and clothing amounted to so much glitter.

The morning started around 10:00AM and
from the moment she woke, she was caught up in the maelstrom that
was road life. Either they boarded a plane, or rode in the limos,
or met at the stadium. There they had rehearsals and sound checks
and interviews with the media. After a week of such life, Elena
realized all reporters looked the same.

What also was the same were
the groupies – desperate young women...and men waiting for a
glimpse of the band. Some were waiting for more, especially when
Ravensong happened by. They waited behind the stadium, behind the
stage, behind dumpsters, and even...once...in the limo itself. That
had set off a security frenzy that frightened Elena, more for the
groupie than for the band members. And after the shows were the
endless after-parties with too much booze and food and
women.

The only thing that made it
incredible was Ravensong himself. Or rather Ravensong the
performer. Standing in the wings, Elena found herself transfixed.
He was like a meteor blazing across the stage, belting out the
sweet, soulful sounds he was famous for or whirling in uninhibited
abandon to the frenzy of the instruments. Watching him perform,
Elena understood why he had become such an idol. He could transport
an entire stadium of people into a world of sound and motion, a
kaleidoscope of sensations bringing forth a primal urge in his
audience. And when it ended, when the lights dimmed and the
instruments fell silent, Elena couldn’t take her eyes off him,
until he disappeared into his dressing room alone.

He never seemed to notice
her. In fact, the expression on his face was distant and serene as
if performing transported him to a place far from the physical
world. Rarely did he show at the after-parties and often she didn’t
see him until sound check the next day.

She knew she was falling in
love with him, but she wasn’t sure if it was Ravensong the man, or
Ravensong the idol. And she knew that loving Ravensong the idol was
no different than all of his fans loved him. It was easy to forget
the troubled, wounded person when all one saw was the
glamour.

Sipping a glass of wine
while curled up on the couch in the reception room behind the
stage, Elena watched the band members and roadies talking and
laughing with a number of groupies who had won backstage passes in
a radio contest. Robert didn’t pay much attention to the groupies,
toying with his piano, but Elliot and Ralph chatted them up
shamelessly. Once in awhile Elliot would give her a good natured
wink, but mostly he waxed on about all of the experiences he’d had
on the road. Elena suspected most of it was talk.

Michael sat near them,
sipping a beer and laughing, but Elena had come to realize he
wasn’t much of a conversationalist. Julian never came to an
after-party. He usually left once the final curtain fell and yet,
he continued to hold his morning meetings without fail, even on the
plane. Elena suspected it was more to impress the public, than any
real need to inform the band. Julian’s management style was very
different from David’s. Julian operated on a need-to-know basis, a
fact that frustrated the band members. Elena had learned to ignore
it, but his constant gibes at Ravensong rankled.

Ralph’s voice lifted over
the hum of conversation, telling a rather raunchy riddle to one of
the groupies. It completely went over her head, but Elena couldn’t
stop the laugh that escaped her. Lifting her wine glass, she took a
sip.

“
You’d better be careful,”
came a familiar voice.

Elena looked up into
Ravensong’s eyes. “With what?”

He hunkered down beside
her, keeping to the shadows. “This life becomes addicting. Before
you know it, it has its hooks in you and you start
drowning.”

“
Spoken like a man who
knows from which he speaks.”

He met her gaze. “Yeah,” he
said, then took a seat on the floor, resting his arm on the couch
beside her. “None of this is real. The drinking, the women, the
attention – it’s all concocted to make you forget what you really
are and think you’re something more...invincible.”

“
You made it back alive,”
she said with a smile, hoping to lighten his mood.

He had been watching
Elliot, but he shifted and stared at her, his expression haunted.
“Just barely,” he said.