EFFA
Mercs cracks his neck, his jaw tense, his eyes dart around like he’s trying to contemplate what to say next. Like he’s deciding on whether or not to tell me something.
He inhales sharply, and then he blurts it out. “Luke agreed to pay them out for the remainder of the tour, and have them cancel their contract without any legal ramifications even though with Jett in jail it would be a breach of contract for them. There’s also a clause that relates to Jett, he’s not to file any assault charges against me. I know Luminous will be hemorrhaging money to Swift Division for basically nothing, all because I bashed the crap out the fucktard, but Effa… he could have raped you… he could have killed you.”
I give him a simple nod as he looks into my eyes. “Okay,” I say, and his brows furrow like he’s confused.
“Okay?” he asks.
I chuckle. “Yes, okay. I know we’ll be forking out a lot of money, but if it gets them away from us without any legalities… then fuck! I’m all for that. And if Luke managed to get you off without charges… then hell! I’m all for that, too. I think this was the best outcome, Kaden. You and Luke did good.”
He raises a single brow, and his lip turns up in a sly smirk. “Mmm… I thought you’d be pissed at me.”
“No, I’m quite proud of you, actually. You stood up to Jett, and Luke sorted the mess out with only monetary fallout. I think that’s a win-win in my books.”
He shakes his head and leans in pressing his lips to mine again tenderly. “I love you, have I told you that?”
Warmth floods through my body filling me with such intense happiness. So much so I feel giddy. “I love you, too.”
His face falls, and his hand tightens on mine. “I honestly don’t know what I would have done if you didn’t wake up, Effa.”
Smiling weakly at him, I squeeze his hand back. If I didn’t wake up what would I have left behind? My parents… Alana… Mercs. I’m so glad I pulled through this, and that he’s here by my side. That everything seems to be okay, for the most part. My head hurts, but the doctor said that’s normal, and I feel tired, but I guess that’s to be expected. The main consideration is that I’m alive. Mercs is here, and Jett is out of our fucking lives… for good.
Mercs moves in, his lips inching closer to mine. My body ignites with desire at the thought of kissing him again. He makes me feel more alive than when I woke up from the coma. He sends my body into a perfect rhythm, and as he leans forward to press his lips to mine, I close my eyes to revel in the warmth of his touch. Just as we touch lips, the door flies open, making Mercs pull back from me, disrupting our almost kiss.
Damn!
I glance to the doorway to see Alana looking over at Mercs and me.
She weakly smiles as she steps inside. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt. I just wanted to get in here as quickly as I could to see how you are?” Her voice is weak, almost defeated as she peers in looking like she’s about to combust.
Seeing her so fragile is making my heart bleed. So, I look right at her and put on the bravest of faces. “Alana. I’m okay. Please, come in, hang out with us. We’re just talking about how Luke sacked Swift Division from the tour.”
Alana walks in fully closing the door behind her then she steps up to my side. Silence falls over my room. “Oh… you were?” she queries tilting her head toward Mercs.
Mercs nods as Alana tries to hide her smile. “I think it’s for the best. I haven’t told anyone, especially not Luke, but Trent, the bassist… he gave me the creeps. He used to look at me weird, all the damn time. Let alone the fact that Jett was an arrogant son of a bitch,” Alana huffs out making my brows raise in surprise. She rarely talks down about anyone, so to hear her say something bad about not one but two people in the same sentence means she really doesn’t like them.
Mercs shakes his head. “I knew that whole band was trouble, not just the fucking douche lead singer. I’ve had my own dealings with them. They’re all scum if you ask me. I’ll be glad to see the ass end of them. Especially if it means I’ll feel like you’re safer, Effa,” Mercs declares gripping my hand tighter.
Glancing at him, I nod. “I’m so glad I’m never going to see Jett Jones again. Hopefully, I won’t be in here too long, and my recovery won’t be dramatic. The tour can get back up and running, and we can grab a new opening band without too much hassle. I guess, somehow, Luke’s arranged a press release regarding Swift Division?”
“Yeah, as far as I know, it’s already been done. Some crap or other about one of the band members having personal problems. And with Jett’s arrest, there’s going to be all sorts of fall-out for them. Pretty sure Swift Division will be last year’s best thing.”
Alana steps up closer to me. “Eff, I love you. I love how dedicated you are to the tour and to the fans… but, you literally just came out of a coma. Your heart stopped beating. You stopped breathing. Give yourself a moment to recover. Okay?”
Exhaling, I look to Mercs who furrows his brows and nods like he’s thinking the exact same thing Alana just said. His pale face and tired eyes tell me he’s been overly worried about me, and I hate that I did that to him, to everyone. I need to take a moment to get better, so I don’t cause more damage to myself and cause them any more worry. “Okay, I’ll take the time to rest… but not too much. I don’t want the fans turning on us.”
Alana snorts and shakes her head. “They won’t turn on us. They’re already flocking on our social media pages, sending you words of love and positive healing vibes. The E Channel even did a special on us last night for six hours, playing all our songs, concerts and interviews in a show of support. We’re kinda hot gossip right now, Eff. If anything, it’s only made us bigger news around the world. But please, don’t nearly die on us again just to gain attention.” Alana giggles.
“Noted! But it’s great that they’re showing our stuff. Sorry, I scared you, though, sis. Sorry, I scared you both.”
Alana sniffs then clears her throat, like the emotion might be getting to her as she slides her hand into mine. “I love you. I’m just so glad you woke up. We both are… we all are.”
My stomach sinks slightly at the thought that I could have left all of my family and the people I care about behind. The thought makes me tighten my hands holding Mercs and Alana’s hands, and they both look at me with such adoration in their eyes. I’m so fucking lucky to have them.
“So, how did you go meeting Dad?” I ask turning to Mercs.
His lips turn upward, and he shakes his head. “Well, that was fun. Let me tell you all about it.”
One Week Later
I’ve been going through my rehabilitation in the hospital over the last week since I woke from my coma. Everything’s been going pretty much to plan. All my motor functions are normal. My memory apart from that night is intact, and I’m able to walk longer distances than the doctors think I should be able to at this stage in my recovery. All in all, I’m doing really well. I do fatigue, though, which has me worried, but I’m only a week out, so I’m sure that will get better. The doctors are saying it’s going to take me possibly two months to gain my strength back to full fitness. So our concert tour looks like it’s going to be even more delayed than I was aiming for. I was hoping I’d be back on tour in a matter of weeks, but that seems unlikely at this point.
Nevertheless, my progress has astounded the doctors. I’m not a quitter and all my positive healing vibes I’m giving myself seem to be working. Plus, having my dad and Livvy here is really helping. There’s nothing like having the energy of your parents to help push you along.
Today is a good day. Today I’m being discharged from the hospital. Our plans aren’t entirely mapped out, but I’m sure we’ll figure something out. Somewhere to go for some healing time for me and somewhere for everyone else to keep things progressing.
The door to my room swings open and I glance up to see Mercs walk in with a bunch of flowers and a giant rainbow balloon floating from the top. I giggle, shaking my head as I finish folding the last of my clothes into a bag and spin to face him as he steps up to me placing the box of flowers on the tray and leans in kissing my cheek. “Happy coming home day, baby.”
I turn my head to kiss his lips briefly, his slight stubble tickles the edge of my lips as I smile and take in a deep breath, reveling in the fact that I’m actually going to escape this hospital. “And where exactly is home going to be? It’s not like we have somewhere to go, Mercs.” I giggle.
He clicks his tongue to the roof of his mouth and tilts his head like he’s in on a secret. “Ah… my sweet, this is where you’re mistaken.”
Furrowing my brows, I place my hand on my hip tilting my stature. “Are you saying we have somewhere to go? Like you and me, or all of us?”
He smiles and leans past me picking up my bag from the bed. “Well, you and me have somewhere nice to go. The others… they’ll be in the same town, just in a different building to us.”
“Same town? Mercs… where are we going?”
He reaches out for my hand, his fingers interlocking with mine, sending warmth through me and a tingle down my spine, the one I always get when he touches me. “You’ll see. But c’mon we better go. Everyone’s waiting.”
Reaching for my flowers with my free hand, I grab them just in time before he walks with me and out into the corridor, where all the nurses are waiting for me with a wheelchair. I smile as they all watch me leave with Mercs, thanking them individually as I’m wheeled out through the halls of the place that helped keep me alive. I’m so grateful to all of them.
We arrive at the sliding doors to leave the hospital, and I turn looking back one last time.
“Thank you all so much,” I call out.
Slowly getting up from the wheelchair—I don’t want the paparazzi taking photos of me so incapacitated—Mercs wraps his arm around my shoulders and walks with me out of the hospital to an awaiting stretch Hummer. An array of flashes and cheers echo from the right as I turn to see a cordoned off area where some paparazzi are being held back by security. I give a small smile and a wave to let them know I’m okay as I slide into the Hummer with Raoul by my side. As I slip into the car, a general cheering resounds, and I look around to see everyone here. My band, my parents, Tank, Jay, and Luke. Mercs follows me in, and I move along so he can slide in next to me.
“Welcome back, baby girl,” Dad calls out as he smiles so wide at me it’s infectious.
“Thanks, Dad, it’s nice to be feeling more like myself.”
He wraps his arm around Livvy and pulls her close to him in a loving way that warms my heart. “Well, it’s nice to have the whole family together again… plus, a few stragglers.” He chuckles elbowing Luke in the ribs, making Luke glance at him from his cell that he was busy texting on.
“So, I was just finalizing the last of the detachment notice for Swift Division. It’s all official. They’re no longer a part of the tour. It was easy canceling their contract, and in the end, the financial arrangement that was made was forfeited by Jett attacking Cooper. So, now I have to try and find a replacement that can step in, with short notice, and without knowing an actual reactivation date... Fuck,” Luke murmurs the last word under his breath.
Mercs places his hand on my knee giving it a light squeeze for comfort, but it doesn’t help as my dad rolls his eyes and places his other arm around Luke’s shoulders pulling him into his side. “Lucas, my boy. Lighten up. Life’s not that dramatic. God, you’re wound so tight. You need to let some of that blueness out of your balls, kid, or it’s going to build up so much it’s going to burst right out of your head…” he pauses for dramatic effect, “… and I don’t mean the head on your cock.”
Everyone chuckles while Luke groans and Livvy smacks Dad on the chest. Alana looks out of the window, a slight shade of pink flushing her cheeks.
“Thanks for the ever enlightening pep talk, Donny,” Luke replies, and I snort.
The Hummer starts, pulls out and heads off down the street.
“So, is someone going to tell me where we’re going?” I ask.
“Apparently, it’s a surprise,” Andi calls out.
I furrow my brows and peer at Mercs who’s sitting back in the seat with a giant smirk on his face. “And you all know where we’re going?”
“Yep,” they all reply making me groan. I fold my arms over my chest like an errant child annoyed at the world.
“Just sit back and enjoy the ride, it’s not that far. Relax, baby. You’re gonna love it. I promise,” Mercs chimes in and the sparkle in his eyes reassures me. It lets me know that whatever they have planned, I know it will be for the best.
So I sit back, relax, and wait for my arrival at destination unknown.