Down to My Soul (Soul Series Book 2) (24 page)

I don’t answer, but just move on, searching for anyone who might know where I can find my girl. How I can get to her. My car is blocks away, and it’ll take me forever to get out of here. I’m frantic and lost. As much as I try to slow my brain down long enough to think clearly, the image of Kai heaped onstage interrupts every functioning synapse.

“Okay, think.” I shove my fingers through my hair, dislodging the cap and sending it to the floor. “What’s the nearest hospital? Where would they have taken her? How can you get there fast? Think, idiot. Think.”

“Rhyson?”

I turn toward my name, bending to retrieve my cap and pushing it back on my head.

“You’re Rhyson Gray, right?” The petite girl with short, cherry-red hair asks. “You’re looking for Kai?”

The chaos backstage fades to the periphery and I zero in on her face, rushing forward to grip her arms.

“You know where she is?” I demand. “Where? I need to know. I need to . . .”

My voice evaporates. I gulp back the panic, struggling to hold my shit together while the most important thing to me is on her way to some hospital alone. With God knows who, but not with me.

“Can you help me?” I will get down on my fucking knees if I have to. “Please? I need to get out of here. I need to find her.”

She nods, her eyes ping ponging from me to the people scurrying to get in place for the show.

“I’m Kai’s makeup artist.” She gives her head a quick shake and chews on her bottom lip. “I’m her friend, Ella.”

“Kai’s mentioned you. Do you know which hospital? Is your car here? Is it close?”

“Yeah, there’s a lot by the loading dock where some of us parked. They’ve taken her to Cedars Sinai.” She starts walking toward an exit, and for the first time I feel like I might be getting close. “I was on my way there. You can ride with me.”

Once we’re in the car, my mind starts ordering things, and I realize no one knows where I am or what’s going on. I dial the person who always knows what to do in a crisis and stops me from screwing up my life half the time.

“Rhys, hey.” There’s a smile in Grady’s voice. It seems to be there more than ever since his wedding.

“Kai collapsed.” I would ease in instead of air striking, but sometimes he’s the only one who finds a way to ease my mind. I need that right away. I need that now.

“She what? What do you mean?” Confusion and urgency build in his voice.

“I was at Kai’s concert, in the audience, and she collapsed.” I draw a deep breath. “I couldn’t get to her, Grady. They took her away. She’s at the hospital. She—”

“Slow down, son.” I can almost feel the staying hand Grady usually places on my shoulder to calm me. “What hospital?”

“Cedars.”

“Are you on your way there now?”

“Yeah.” I nod even though he can’t see me, my heart slowing a little. “Yeah, I’m almost there.”

“Em and I are on our way. We’ll meet you.”

I’ve no sooner hung up than my phone buzzes with a call from Marlon.

“Dude, twitter is blowing up about Kai,” he says. “What’s going on?”

“Whatever Twitter says is more than I know.”

Marlon and I haven’t talked much about Kai over the last few weeks. He’s been slammed with his album, in the studio every chance he gets, and I’ve been tight-lipped about my relationship. He knows that viral video wasn’t the end of us, though. He knew I was attending her concert tonight.

“You okay?” he asks after a beat or two.

“No.” I rest my temple against the cool glass window of Ella’s little car. “Not until I know she is.”

“Someone tweeted that she was taken to Cedars. You on your way there?”

“Yeah, and if it’s on Twitter, there’s probably already press waiting.”

“Probably. Bristol’s here. She wants to holla at you.”

“She’s there with you?”

“Yeah, we got business,” he says, sounding more guarded than I’m used to.

Any other time I would probe and tease him about Bristol, but not now. Not with that image of Kai crumpled in the middle of the stage still haunting me.

“Rhys,” Bristol says. “You okay?”

Everyone keeps asking me that. I want to scream at them, ask them how I can possibly be okay when the girl I love just collapsed.

“I’ll be better once I get there and know what’s going on.”

“What can I do?” Concern rounds the edges of Bristol’s normally brisk tone. “What do you need?”

“Um, I think there will be press when I arrive. I don’t give a fuck. I’m just going in. Whatever, but it might be good to have Gep with me later.”

“I’ll call him now. He’ll meet you there. What else?”

“Um, shit, Bris.” I squeeze the bridge of my nose. Trying to slow my heart. Trying to clear my head, but it’s like an entire symphony orchestra tuning before a concert. A dozen players in different keys with discordant notes. A cacophony of instruments and clanging symbols ringing in my ears, cluttering my mind.

“I don’t know,” I say, my voice as weary as my mind. “I just . . . I can’t think straight right now.”

“I can come think for you,” my sister says softly. “Want me to?”

Emotion crowds my throat because I so rarely see this side of her—the sister who would drop everything, not for her client, but for her twin brother.

“Yeah, that’d be great, Bris. Bring Marlon with you, okay?”

“We’re on our way.”

Now that I’ve called the tiny circle of people in my life who matter, I don’t know what to do with myself. Silence builds in the car, and I realize just how rude I’ve been to Ella. She must think I’m the asshat most people assume I am.

“Uh, thanks for the ride. Sorry I had a few calls to make.” I glance at Ella, actually seeing her this time. “I remember you.”

Her startled eyes swing quickly from the road to me and then back.

“You do?”

“From the set of Luke’s video. You took off Kai’s robe.”

“Don’t hold that against me.” She flashes me a small smile. “You were pretty pissed that day.”

We’d just gotten together. My father was in the hospital, but I couldn’t stay away from Luke’s set. I had to see my girl, only to find her half naked for Luke’s video. Man, I was angry that day, and so was she. Things felt so complex then, but compared to our life now, it was child’s play.

“You’ve been sending the mistletoe, right?” Ella’s eyes don’t leave the road.

I watch her profile cautiously. Only Kai and I know about that. I don’t want to give too much away.

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“The mistletoe that came to her dressing room before every show.” She shrugs. “I did her makeup, so I’d see. It always made her smile.”

I smile naturally, just the smallest bit, since Kai’s collapse.

“Her grandfather kept mistletoe in the house all year so he could kiss Kai’s grandmother all the time.”

“That’s really sweet.” Ella steals another quick glance. “You, um, you really love her, huh?”

The short answer would be yes, but that’s a pitiful Cliffs Notes to an epic story. If I go into what Kai means to me when I don’t even know for sure she’s okay yet, I’ll lose it, so I give her the simple truth anyone with eyes could see.

“I love her more than everything.”

Ella swings a surprised look my way, eyes wide. I remember her saying before that she was a fan of my music. She had tickets to one of my shows. I can’t be a celebrity right now. I don’t give a damn that she loves my music or about any preconceived notions she may hold. I’m just raw and wide open and grateful that she’s taking me to Kai.

“Thanks again, Ella, for driving. I was blocks away. It would have taken me a lot longer.”

“I wish I had pressed her more about that cold.”

“So do I. She’s been coughing for weeks, but she kept saying it was just a cold and that it was okay.”

“Yeah, but she had a fever tonight.”

“What?” I try to soften my tone, but the thought of her going on tonight sick angers the hell out of me. “Why didn’t she pull out?”

“If you love Kai as much as you say you do, then I’m sure you know she’d never do that.”

I clench my fists. “Malcolm pushed her too hard on this tour.”

“You’re certainly right about that.” There’s a wry twist to Ella’s mouth.

We pull to a stop in front of Cedars Sinai emergency entrance before I get to ask her more questions.

“I’ll park,” Ella says. “You get on in there.”

I’m out of the car and slamming the door almost before she’s completely stopped. I knew there might be some press, but I didn’t anticipate the knot of reporters clustered at the entrance, armed with questions I don’t even dignify with a response.

“Rhyson, are you here to see Kai?”

“Are you two back together?”

“What can you tell us about what happened tonight?”

Each question skids across my nerves like pebbles over a pond, disturbing the surface but not sinking in. I pull my Dodgers cap down lower and rush through the door, bracing my heart for whatever lies on the other side.

“I
AM
HER NEXT OF KIN,”
I growl at the battle axe nurse blocking me. “Tell me where the hell she is or I will go to every room in this fucking hospital until I find her.”

“Our policy—”

“I don’t care about your damn policy.” I slam my hand onto the front desk. “Her only family isn’t here. I’m her . . . we’re . . . I have to see her.”

“Yes, Mr. Gray.” The nurse blinks furiously. “But I can’t give you that information. You’re not next of kin, and I—”

I’m about to hurl her little clipboard when a hand on my shoulder stops me.

“Rhys,” San says from behind me. “Calm down. Come on back.”

He looks at the pale-faced nurse.

“He’s with me.”

I jerk away from him.

“I’m not
with you
,” I snap, galled that he got to her and I couldn’t. “Where is she?”

“This way.” San starts walking down the hall, but my feet adhere to the floor, paralyzed with the emotion I’ve stuffed under the anger and frustration of getting here, of getting to her.

“Is she . . .” I clear my throat, fists balled at my sides. “Is she okay? Is she gonna be okay?”

He stops and looks over his shoulder, his face giving away nothing.

“I think so. The doctor’s with her now. They ran some tests.” San starts forward again, and I follow, the fear abating some. “We should know something soon.”

“Aunt Ruthie?” I keep pace with him, but my mind races ahead. “You called her?”

“Yeah, she’s figuring out a flight now.”

“Figuring out a flight? No.” I frown, pulling my phone from my pocket. “I’ll get Bristol to arrange a private flight. She needs to get here as quickly as possible, and I don’t want her worrying about how she’ll pay for it.”

“That’d be great,” San says. “I really appreciate that, man.”

I grab his arm to stop him.

“It’s not some benevolent act from a rich friend.” My voice, despite the restraint I try to exercise, rises. “That’s
my
girl in there, San. I don’t know how much she’s told you, but we’re—”

“Together, I know.” He bounces a hard look back to me. “And for the record, before she was
your
girl, she was my best friend. I know you hate it, but she and I have been close a lot longer than she’s been in love with you. She doesn’t need you rolling up in here all possessive and loud and irrational. Keep your shit together. The last thing she needs is you stomping up and down these halls telling everyone she’s yours and you’re together. Stay out of sight when you can and if anyone asks, the two of you are just friends.”

“First of all, I don’t hate that you two are close.” I try to take the edge off my tone. “If there’s anyone I’d trust to protect her besides me, it’s you.”

“Well, thanks for that.” The look on his faces actually says he doesn’t give a damn.

“And second of all, why the hell do you care if people know we’re together?” I point back to the nurse’s station. “I’m not even down as an emergency contact. If you hadn’t shown up, I probably still wouldn’t even know how the hell to find her in this hospital. I’ve been sneaking around for the last month to have anything to do with her. And now you tell me to keep it on the low, too. Why?”

San presses his lips against his teeth, like he’s biting something back. Holding something in. I can’t help but think of the night I found out about Kai’s one-night stand with Drex. Something she’d been keeping from me, San already knew.