The Return (The Comeback Series)

by Marcie Shumway

  “It looks like you need more sleep,” Will chuckled in return. “Eat something and get back to bed.”

  “Good night, sweetheart,” Rick called as he followed his brother out the door.

  I waved to them both before it shut with a soft click and did just as he instructed. I finished, and wondered if my father was still sleeping. I hadn’t heard a noise from his bedroom and was starting to get a little nervous. Figuring he might be hungry, I warmed up some broth and put it in a travel mug for him, before grabbing crackers and another of bottle of water. Keegan had left the bedroom door ajar, so I nudged it with my hip and found that he was sitting up and looking around.

  The look on his face was just like the one that he’d had in the car when he woke up. He seemed a little disoriented and unsure, yet his face calmed and lit up when he saw me. His eyes were dull, and his color was pasty, but he moved on his own, so I took that as a good sign.

  “How are you doing?” I asked as I handed him his mug.

  He shrugged as he took a sip. The bottle from earlier hadn’t been touched. I looked from him to the water and back, only to receive another shrug. Men were worse than children sometimes!

  “Don’t you remember the conversation about getting dehydrated?”

  “Yeah, yeah,” he mumbled, taking another sip of broth and putting the cup on the side table. “I’m an adult, ya know.”

  I laughed slightly at his attitude – the fight sure hadn’t left him – and helped him to get comfortable again on his side. His eyes dropped quickly once he moved, and his breathing turned shallow. I checked his forehead quickly for any sign of warmth and there didn’t seem to be any. Satisfied that he had probably just overdone it that afternoon, I took the warm water bottle back to the kitchen with me.

  It was still early, but, my body was wiped. Even though I would probably end up waking up way too early, I decided that bed was the best place to be. I was sure that Cooper would wake me up at some point, with a phone call, once he could get away. He and the guys had been meeting all day to work things out with the band and what they were going to do about their label. I hoped they could all come to an agreement.

  No sooner did my head hit the pillow, I was out. A vague recollection of talking to my man for a couple of hours filtered in as I struggled to wake up the following morning. I groaned when I looked at the clock, and saw that it was much later than my normal wake-up time. Obviously, my body had needed the catch up. Not bothering to shower, since I was late getting up and Jen would be here any time, I pulled on clean clothes and washed up before going in to check on my father.

  That’s when I noticed it. The house seemed abnormally quiet. Not that it was ever loud with just the two of us, but there were no outside noises. Even the hum from the refrigerator in the kitchen wasn’t there. A chill went through my body and I rushed into my father’s room. He hadn’t moved from the night before and was still on his side. When I went to him, I noticed that his face had turned an ashen color and his breathing was so shallow, I almost couldn’t tell if he was. Moving the blankets back, I searched for a pulse; it was slow and faint, but it was there.

  Shaking him lightly at first and calling to him didn’t stir him. Trying again a little harder, and with more force, I raised my voice and got nothing. I took a deep breath and reached for his cell phone to call 9-1-1. I heard the front door open and close while I kept trying to wake my father, holding the phone to my ear.

  “Avery?”

  “In here, Jen,” I called, my voice steadier than I felt.

  “9-1-1, what is your emergency?”

  “I need an ambulance at 45 Mill Creek Road as soon as possible,” I told the operator. “My father is unresponsive.”

  “What’s going on?” I heard my friend ask, at the same time that the woman in my ear was trying to get more information.

  “I can’t wake him up,” I told her quickly. “Can you please go get my cell phone and call my brother?”

  While she was gone, I rattled off information to the operator and sat down on the bed, still rubbing my father’s back, hoping for some kind of reaction. Jen returned, phone to her ear, and I could hear my brother on the other end. While the 9-1-1 woman dispatched the ambulance, I swapped phones long enough to fill him and tell him to meet us at the hospital. Just as I was taking back my father’s phone, I could hear the sirens. Jen ran to the door to let them in, and I felt the weight of everything resting on my shoulders.

  The paramedics came in and I hung up. They drilled me with questions about my father’s medical history and I answered them rapid fire. The assessment was short before they went back out to get the gurney. I heard Jen on the phone and just barely registered when she growled in frustration.

  “That damn man,” I heard her mutter.

  Looking at her, she waved at me to ignore her and I saw her continue to scroll through my contacts. She finally seemed to find who she was looking for and hit Send before putting the phone to her ear, while grabbing my hand with her free one. We walked out behind the paramedics, my stomach turning as they continued to talk in what seemed like code as they went. An IV was started and his shirt was cut open, so they could attach patches to monitor his heart. I felt like I was going to collapse, just as I heard Jen say into the phone...

  “Tell Cooper to come home now. Something is wrong with Dale, and Avery needs him.”

  Although I had traveled all over the world for ten years, never had one trip taken so long. The moment Lexie had uttered the words “Avery needs you,” I had been moving. I stumbled my way back to my bedroom, with Evan hot on my heels to keep me from falling on my face, and blindly packed a carry-on. Seconds later, I was slipping on my cowboy boots, not even caring that I hadn’t showered and was wearing dirty clothes, and was racing back down the stairs. Mikey was at the door, waiting to drive me to the airport, and the other three were right behind me, with bags in tow.

  “You guys don’t need to…” I stammered, trying to find words to tell them that they didn’t need to come with me, but that it meant the world to me that they wanted to.

  “You and Avery need us,” Chris said, cutting me off. “We’re coming. The record can wait a couple more weeks.”

  I nodded and did my best to hold back the tears threatening to spill. My girl needed me. Got to get it together, Hall, I told myself, as Mikey opened the door and started to usher us out.

  “Everything will be all set by the time you get to the airport,” Maggie assured us, as she held the phone to her ear and kissed us quickly on the cheeks before we got in the Tahoe.

  Sitting in the backseat between Matt and Evan, my right leg bounced anxiously. I wanted to snap my fingers and be there, holding Avery in my arms, assuring her everything would be okay. I hated that I didn’t know what was going on, other than that she needed me, and Dale wasn’t doing well. Those pieces of information alone were digging a hole in my stomach, never mind what it was doing to my heart.

  “We’ll get there, man,” Evan said, putting his hand on my knee to stop the jiggling. “Everything will be okay.”

  I wanted to hit something, namely him right now, and ask him how he knew that it would be. How did he know that Dale wouldn’t die before we got back? How did he know that Avery wouldn’t hate me for leaving her again, and not being there when she needed me the most? The look on his face was the only thing that kept me from flipping out. His eyes were their normal bright blue and calm, while his smile was reassuring and never faltered.

  Sighing, I stilled my leg and laid my head against the back of the seat, looking at the ceiling. We were just pulling into the airport when I put my hand to my pocket and realized that I didn’t have my cell phone. Starting to panic, I grabbed my bag and dug through it. Still not finding it, and about to tell Mikey to turn around, I caught Chris looking at me from the front seat. He held my phone in his hand, and I watched as he dropped it into his bag and zipped it.

  “What the hell, man?” I growled, leaning toward him. “Give it back.
I need to text Avery.”

  “No way,” he told me. “She needs to concentrate on her father. Will is keeping us posted on what is going on.”

  I saw red and only because Matt and Evan were now holding my arms, did I not lunge at Chris. I needed to hear her voice. I needed to know that she was okay, and let her know I was coming as fast as I fucking could. I struggled against their hold, but neither of them would give.

  “How could you do that to me?” I asked, my voice strangled with emotion.

  “You will go crazy if we don’t,” Chris said, his voice just as strained as mine.

  I shook the guys off and leaned back again. They were right. It would drive me crazy if I messaged her and she didn’t respond. She also needed to worry about her father and not her boyfriend. I just ached to be there to support her. I also knew how much the guys loved Avery and her family, so this had to be almost as hard on them as it was for me. I started to apologize, but Chris just waved me off and checked the incoming text message on his phone. It must have been our flight itinerary because he directed Mikey to a little road off the main cluster.

  Those of us in the back looked at each other in confusion. We were no longer headed to the main airport, but toward a hangar off to the side that looked like it housed private planes. What the hell?

  “Maggie has a client that has his own private jet,” Chris informed us as Mikey pulled to a stop. “Looks like she called in a favor to get us home.”

  We would owe that guy lifetime tickets to our concerts, but none of us cared at that point. Jumping out of the SUV behind Evan, we all jogged to the plane waiting for us. The direct flight would get us there so much more quickly than the commercial would have, and for that, I was grateful. Once we were settled into the plane and starting to taxi down the runway, I was starting to feel a little better. I’m on my way, baby, I whispered, wishing I could talk to her.

  My leg started to bounce again as soon as we were in the air. I knew that the flight would go quickly, but we still had an hour drive home once we landed. It just wasn’t fast enough. Time travel really needed to be invented so that people could get where they needed to before they missed important things. I wasn’t one to pray, however that day, as we made our way back to Maine, I did. I hoped for Dale’s recovery, I wished for Avery’s forgiveness, and I longed for my crazy as fuck life to calm down.

  Hours later, we were touching down. I started getting more antsy and Evan put his hand on my shoulder to calm me. I shrugged him off and looked out the window. It felt good to know I was back in the same state as her, yet it still wasn’t close enough. I saw that we were heading toward a hangar that sat off from the rest of the airport, just like it had been in Nashville, and next to it was a black Tahoe. It was like déjà vu. I followed Chris off the plane and all four of us jogged to the vehicle.

  A man about the size of Mikey was waiting at the vehicle with all the doors open and he gave us a subtle nod when we climbed in. Chris again took shotgun and proceeded to fill the driver in on where we needed to go as soon as we were all buckled in. They spoke quietly as we pulled out into the winding roads that surrounded the airport and we headed for the highway.

  The ride might have only been an hour, but damn, did it feel so much longer. The landscape passed in a blur, and I knew I was bouncing my leg again without meaning to. Chris had heard very little from my brother in terms of Dale’s condition. Basically, they were running tests and he had been unresponsive when Avery found him that morning. I could only imagine what my girl was going through. I’m glad, though, that my family, and hers, were there for her when I couldn’t be.

  “Could you drive a little faster?” I murmured, wiping my hands down my face.

  “Almost there, brother,” Evan muttered. “Almost there.”

  I could see that the others were starting to get anxious as well. Chris kept checking his phone, Matt was drumming out a beat on his leg with his fingers, and Evan was tapping on the SUV door. I’m sure none of them realized it any more than I did, with my leg hopping like a jumping bean. It made me feel a little better, knowing they were just as worried and ready to get there as I was.

  The exit we needed was up next, and I straightened in my seat. Fifteen more minutes I thought, just fifteen more minutes. Chris’s phone dinged, signaling a text message and I zeroed my attention in on him. He shook his head and his fingers flew across the screen, responding to the text.

  “Rick is going to meet us down by the emergency room doors. They have him there. Everyone is waiting in a private waiting room, since there are so many of them, and we’re coming,” he told us once he was done.

  I nodded. I felt bad that they had to do this due to our fame, but I had to be there. Avery needed me; she told me so before I left. When our driver pulled into the hospital parking lot, I was ready to climb over Evan to get out. My friend stuck his arm out, so I wouldn’t plow him over, and opened the door as soon as the vehicle came to a stop. I jumped out behind him, not bothering to wait for the others. I couldn’t.

  Rick was at the sliding glass doors when they opened and turned, motioning for us to follow. I caught up to him, almost on his heels, as we rounded a corner, and he held up a hand to stop us. When I entered the room, everyone stood up. Keegan and Abby were closest to the door and I could see the relief in their eyes when they saw that we had arrived. My parents were there, along with Willie and, much to my surprise, Jen and her husband.

  “Where is she?” I asked them, not caring who answered.

  “She’s in with him now. They are only allowing one visitor at a time,” Keegan said as he approached me. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

  I hugged him tightly. I couldn’t stand seeing the worry in his eyes. He was such a strong man, just like his father, and it killed me to see him so broken. I couldn’t understand how the world could do this to people like them. He should have been beside himself with happiness that his wife was carrying their first child; instead, he was stressing about keeping his father’s business afloat and whether or not he would lose him.

  “I need to see her,” I told him as I released him and moved to the door.

  “You can’t, Cooper,” my dad said, stepping in front of me. “You need to wait until she comes back.”

  “I’m not waiting,” I replied, moving to go around him.

  Nothing was going to keep me from seeing her now. Not even a few nurses or doctors. The activity in this part of the hospital was a constant buzz. A few people glanced at me as I approached the nurse’s station. I saw the moment that recognition settled in with a couple of the staff. Before I got a chance to ask where the Cyrs were, I heard the voice that belonged to the person I was looking for.

  “Cooper?” I turned, and there she stood. “What are you doing here?”

  “Jen called Lexie,” I told her, closing the distance between us I reached for her when I was close enough.

  “You didn’t need to come,” she told me as I embraced her. “We’re fine, and you have an album to finish.”

  She didn’t put her arms around me, and I felt her stiffen up when I pulled her against my chest. Putting her back at arm’s length, I looked at her. She was clearly upset, yet emoted strength. Her eyes were hard.

  “You’re more important than some fucking album,” I growled, keeping my voice low.

  “I’m sure,” she spat out. “That’s why you left again when I needed you.”

  There it was. Everything we had worked to get past came slamming into me. She had told me she understood and that she loved me too. Now, thanks to whatever the hell was going on with her father, we were back to being eighteen years old again. I stepped to the side, bringing her with me so that we were against the wall outside of her father’s room.

  “You know better,” I told her. “I love you more than anything. You are the air that I breathe. If I could have snapped my fingers and been here when it happened, I would have been.”

  I felt her soften a bit under my hands, but I could sense she
wasn’t completely convinced. I pulled her into my arms again and this time, hers came around me. She didn’t snuggle in like she usually did; but, she sank into me a little bit more. I nuzzled into her neck and kissed the sensitive spot behind her ear.

  “I should have been here. You’re going to have to be patient with me while we work through this,” I apologized.

  “You’re still an asshole,” she said against my chest as she latched onto me.

  “Yeah, well, that’s a given,” I told her with a chuckle. “How’s your dad?”

  “Dehydrated, and his sugar levels are all kinds of screwy,” she replied, pulling away enough to wipe at the tears that had escaped. “Coop, I couldn’t wake him up.”

  Her tears started flowing harder. I gathered her up against me and tangled one of my hands in her hair, anchoring her to me. Her hands dug at my back as though she wanted to climb into my skin to escape her own. She fought back the sobs that strained to come out. I rubbed my free hand up and down her back, whispering soothing words to her. She was breaking my heart.

  Finally, she started to calm down. Her breathing steadied and her quiet cries turned to hiccups. My shirt was soaked from where her face was pressed against me, but I didn’t care. I leaned back enough so that I could wipe her cheeks with my thumbs, and planted a soft kiss on her forehead. She sighed.

  “I was just heading to get Keegan, so he could come sit with him for a bit,” she told me when she could speak.

  “No problem,” I replied, turning back to the waiting room. “I couldn’t wait until you came back to see you.”

  Her smile was quick. She leaned into me as I put my arm around her shoulder, and she wrapped one of her arms around me in return. We hadn’t made it two steps when all hell seemed to break loose. The steady beeping of the monitor in Dale’s room started going off in one steady beep, along with a bunch of other machines shrieking and wailing. Avery pivoted, and I had to shift quickly to grab her around the waist to keep her from going back in behind the nurses and doctors running to his bedside.