Lipstick & Zombies (Deadly Divas Book 1) (32 page)

The hospital room looked like any other hospital room, really. That was one of the things Teegan was learning while working with the Deadly Divas. Their lives weren't all glamorous all the time,
they
were where the glamour came from.

Gerri's leg was in a cast. It was propped up on her bed. Teegan felt awful that Gerri had broken her leg. It was amazing how the Divas had all gone out on that field to defend all those people like that. Teegan still wished they would have let her go with.
Someday
, she promised herself.

The rest of the girls had chairs pulled up around the bed. They all had fresh clothes and makeup on, except Gerri, who wore a hospital gown. Dee had a makeup kit organized on one of the doctor's trays and was hard at work on Gerri's foundation. Jo pushed the tray out of her way when she saw Teegan's arms full of food.

“Teegan!” Dee yelled. “It's so great to see you. And with food!”

“Thanks Teegan,” Carrie said. Her eyes were wide as she unwrapped the burrito she'd taken from the pile.

“Yes, thank you, Teegan,” Dee said.

Her arms emptied, Teegan twisted her fingers together. She didn't want to go, but she wasn't sure if it was weird for her to stay any longer. They all had their food now. “Well,” she said. “I'm glad I could help. If you need anything else...” She took a step away.

“Do you wanna stay?” Dee asked. She wiped her mouth with the napkin, and frowned at the makeup she'd just wiped off.

“Really?” Teegan asked. “You don't mind?”

“Of course,” Sadie said.

“Yeah, hon,” Gerri said. “You're more than a drink minion, you scary little thing, you.”

“What'd you call me?” Teegan asked.

“Scary,” Gerri said. “It's a compliment, kid. Take it. Where's your crossbow?”

Teegan rolled her eyes, embarrassed. “Mom made me leave it at home.”

“Probably for the best,” Gerri said. “I don't think they'd let you bring it into the hospital.”

“I didn't think about that,” Teegan said. They were so smart. Teegan focused on not saying all of the things that came into her head, like,
I think your concert outfits were so great,
and
I can't wait to get back to work
, and
I never knew how weird it was going to be to see someone I know die.
It was weird to miss Meghan. Meghan wasn't very nice, in fact, Teegan was scared of her. It was weird to miss someone she was scared of. She wished she knew somebody she could talk about stuff like that to.

Gerri crumpled up the wrapper to her burrito and tossed it at the bouquet of flowers across the room. “Who brought me those?”

Sadie coughed and answered, “Last Chance Records.”

“Teegan?” Gerri asked. Teegan jumped up. “Can you grab those flowers for me and drop them out the window?”

“What?” Carrie asked. “Don't tell her to do that.” Teegan was already doing it. “Just because you broke your leg doesn't mean you can just go back to being grouchy and weird, you know.”

“I love you, too, Carrie,” Gerri said. “Remind me to talk to you like this if you're ever in the hospital, honey.”

The flowers dropped the four floors to the sidewalk below. The vase burst apart, tossing the flowers everywhere. Teegan wished she'd thought to record it.

“So Gerri,” Sadie said, “why'd you throw your flowers out the window?”

Gerri sighed. She looked right at Teegan, and for a second, Teegan thought she was in trouble for throwing the flowers out like she'd told her. Had she not been serious? But then Gerri looked over at the rest of the divas, and Teegan went back to being a part of the background. A very happy, eager to be there, part of the background.

“She can throw her flowers out the window if she wants to,” Dee said. “I mean, like, she almost died!”

Sadie rolled her eyes. “She broke her leg!”

“There were zombies,” Dee said.

“We all faced zombies,” Carrie said. “We all almost died.”

“Well, if someone sends you flowers you can throw them out the window, then,” Dee said. Teegan thought it was a fair argument, but knew she wasn't supposed to voice her opinion on the matter.

“No one's letting Gerri talk,” Jo said.

“What is it, Gerri?” Dee asked. “Do you need more drugs? More food? An excuse to call the cute nurse in? Do you want more flowers to throw out the window?”

“You need to stop babying her,” Sadie said.

“Guys,” Jo said again.

Everyone turned to look at Jo. When she pointedly looked at Gerri, the rest of them looked her way and went quiet. Gerri took a deep breath. She didn't look scared—none of them ever looked scared—but her lips were pinched together and Teegan had the idea that Gerri didn't want to say whatever she was about to say. Teegan couldn't believe no one was kicking her out of the room.

“Noah said something to me before this all happened,” Gerri said. She leaned forward and whispered, “I think we have a problem with the record company, divas.”