Interlude

by Chantele Sedgwick

  “Oh.” I go back to my list-making. Or try to.

  Maddy was nervous this morning. I don’t know why she was so worried. The doctor said the surgery would be fine. But how can you totally believe something like that when you’ve been so sick for so long?

  I stand and start pacing the room.

  “Mia, why don’t you go get something to eat?” Dad says.

  “No way. I want to be here when she’s done.”

  Mom stands and puts a hand on my arm. “Honey, go relax for a little bit. Only one person can go see her when she’s done anyway. You have some time to kill.”

  My stomach rumbles and I frown. I didn’t realize how hungry I am until now. I know I didn’t eat breakfast, but I don’t eat breakfast a lot, so it’s usually not a big deal. I cringe as it growls again and then I relent. “Okay. Maybe I’ll just go see what they have.” I walk to the elevators, press the button, and step inside when the doors open.

  Where am I going again? Oh. Right. Breakfast. I don’t really feel like eating, though. I feel kind of … nauseous. Anxious? Mom and Dad wanted me to go do something, though, so I have to do something. Where the heck do they want me to go? I don’t have anything to do. Nowhere else to be. This is stupid.

  Once I reach the front lobby, the doors open. Three people wait for me to get off, but I just stand there and stare at them. They step inside and, instead of getting out, I push floor number 2 and go back up. I step out of the elevator, walk back in the waiting room, and sit down on the couch across from Dad. He doesn’t even glance at me. All he says is, “Told you she’d be back.”

  Mom chuckles. “Do I really owe you five bucks?”

  He puts his paper down with a grin. “It was a bet, wasn’t it?”

  I glare at both of them. “Really? You bet on me? You guys must be super bored.”

  “We are,” they both say at the same time.

  Dad rubs his fingers together. “Pay up, ma’am.”

  She lets out a huff before she gets out of her chair and pulls out her wallet. Once she finds a five-dollar bill, she slaps it into his hand. She tries to walk away, but he pulls her into his lap and kisses her instead.

  “Geez, guys. I’m sitting right here.” I’m used to their PDA, but we’re in a hospital for crying out loud.

  Dad glances over Mom’s shoulder. “You shouldn’t have come back then.”

  I smile, pull out Jax’s MP3 player, and turn on his music to tune them out. Yes, his music. I’m such a sucker for a handsome face. And his screaming is growing on me. Just a little. Blue Fire will never be in my top ten. I do enjoy the ballads, though. There are three of them on this particular CD, which I love, because they showcase Jax’s real voice. Not the screamy weird one. I sink down into the couch and lean my head back, closing my eyes as Jax serenades me.

  I wonder how he’s doing. Has he figured out how to live his life the way he wants to? I miss him. Which still sounds so dumb. I only knew him for what? Three days?

  With my earbuds in and music blasting in my ears, my eyes get droopy. And before I know it, the world goes dark.

  Someone’s shaking me.

  “What the—” I sit up and rip the earbuds out. “Mom?”

  “She’s done.”

  I wipe a little drool off my cheek, hoping she didn’t notice. “What? How long has it been?”

  She smiles. “You’ve been asleep for two hours.”

  Two hours? “Whatever.” I don’t take naps. Ever. And now I realize why I don’t. I feel like someone knocked me out. My head is pounding and my stomach feels like it’s trying to scratch its way out of me.

  I’m starving.

  “I’m serious. The doctor just came to talk to us. Dad went to the recovery room with Maddy. They’ll let us go back in a little bit.”

  How the heck did I sleep that long? And why did no one wake me up? “Okay.” I’m kind of disoriented still, so I blink a few times, ignore the dude sitting a few chairs over who’s staring at me like I’m some kind of freak for sleeping in the hospital waiting room, and stretch. My muscles are tight, especially my neck. Stupid couch.

  A nurse walks into the room and heads straight for Mom. “Everything went great. She’s awake if you’d like to see her. Ana is still asleep, but I’ll let you know as soon as she wakes, as well.”

  “Thanks,” Mom says, and we follow the nurse back to Maddy’s room.

  She’s surrounded by monitors, as always, and she’s a little pale, but she’s awake. And even better, she’s smiling. “Hey,” she says as she looks up.

  “You okay, sweetie?” Mom kisses the top of her head and fusses over her for a few minutes. I stand back with my arms folded and watch them. Warm fuzzies making me smile.

  “Hey, Mia.” Maddy reaches out for me and I scoot past Mom to take her hand. “I’m done.”

  “I know. How are you feeling?”

  “I’m a little loopy from the meds, but I think I’m okey-dokey.”

  “Okey-dokey?”

  She giggles. “Like I said. The meds.” She lets out a slow breath and moves around to get herself comfortable.

  “You okay?”

  “Sore. And loopy. I think it’s the meds,” she repeats as a big, goofy grin makes its way across her face. But then she frowns like she’s in pain.

  “Do you need anything?”

  She shakes her head. “No. I don’t think so. Just sleep.”

  “Okay. I’ll let you sleep.”

  She smiles and pulls her hand away. “Did your boyfriend call you?”

  My cheeks heat as Dad shoots me a look across the room. I try to keep my face neutral. “What?”

  “You know. The rocker you spent the night with or whatever.”

  “Mia?” Dad asked, his voice panicked and concerned at the same time.

  “What are you talking about?” How does she know about Jax? I shake my head at her, hoping she’ll keep it to herself, but all she does is gives me that goofy grin again. “He’s hot. I’m kind of jealous. Actually not kind of. Super jealous.”

  “Maddy …” I say, trying to make her stop.

  She laughs and then makes a pained expression. “Okay. No laughing. That hurts.” She closes her eyes. “So tired.”

  “Go to sleep.”

  “Okay. Talk later.”

  She’s out in seconds.

  I feel Dad’s eyes on me and I attempt to sneak out of the room, but he catches my arm before I make it to the door. “What’s this about a rocker boyfriend?”

  I sigh. “Dad, I don’t have a boyfriend.”

  “Then what was she talking about?”

  “No idea. Must have been the meds.”

  CHAPTER 32

  The days go by as I lay in bed

  Songs of loneliness run through my head

  The demons thought they defeated me

  I’ve let them go. I’ve been set free.

  —J.S.

  Hours later, I’m sitting in Maddy’s room reading a book, waiting for her to wake up. I glance over at her and see her eyes closed again, so I reread the same paragraph I’ve already read ten times. I can’t concentrate. I have to know if she’s going to be okay.

  I set the book down as she moves, and a few seconds later, opens her eyes. She glances around and smiles when she sees me. “Hey.” Her voice is scratchy, but it’s the best sound in the world.

  “Hey.”

  “How long have I been out?”

  “A couple hours.”

  “Feels like days.” She moves and winces. “Losing and gaining an organ is kind of painful.”

  I chuckle. “I’ll bet it is.”

  “I didn’t say anything stupid earlier, did I? I remember waking up, but I don’t remember what I said.”

  I, on the other hand, know exactly what she said. “Um, you said stuff about me. And a certain … rocker?”

  A grin spreads on her face. “Right. I remember that now.”

  “That was weird, right?”

  She chuckles a bit, but grima
ces from pain. “Not weird. The truth.”

  My eyes grow wide. “Who told you? I swear I didn’t tell anyone.”

  “No one told me silly.” She looks around the room. “Could you hand me that for a sec?” She points to her laptop on the table across her room. I grab it and set it on her lap, wondering what I’ll find when she opens it. “Why didn’t you say anything about it when you got back?”

  “About what?”

  “Oh, don’t play dumb, Ms. Jaxton Scott. I know everything.”

  “Okay. Now you’re freaking me out.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I didn’t want anyone to know. Are you going to tell me how you found out?” I lean closer but can’t see the screen.

  She types in a few words, waits for a moment, and turns the laptop to face me. “You know how much I love Hollywood news. Imagine my surprise when I was scrolling through recent stories and I saw this.”

  I can’t help myself—I actually gasp. There on the screen is a picture of Jax and me sleeping on the plane on the way to New York. “How did …?”

  “Oh, just you wait. There’s more.” She smiles as she scrolls down to reveal a picture of Jax and me walking through Central Park. Then one of us standing near the guitar player, which, if I’m being honest, is super cute. And there’s another one of us holding hands as we race away from the paparazzi. My hair, thankfully, is covering my face in that one. Another one at the pizza place, where Jax and I stand near the piano I played. My hands are over my mouth, but you can tell I’m smiling, and Jax is in the middle of clapping his hands with a huge grin on his face and his eyes only on me. After staring at that one for a while, I look at another taken of us at Ground Zero.

  “Seriously? Who took these?”

  Maddy laughs, but winces again and settles down. “I don’t know, but I’d like to thank whoever did.”

  I glare at her and then turn my attention back to the pictures. This time, I read the captions and groan.

  Who is this mystery girl?

  Sorry ladies, Jaxton Scott has a new woman.

  Jaxton Scott spotted with mystery girl at Central Park.

  Looks like the lead singer of Blue Fire is out and about with a new woman.

  Ice cold dread rushes through me as I scroll through every picture. “Do Mom and Dad know?”

  “Not yet. They don’t pay attention to stuff like that.”

  I sigh in relief. “Good. Dad’s going to kill me if he finds out. He almost killed me when you blurted out that I had a rocker boyfriend earlier.”

  “I said that?”

  “Yes. I blamed it on you being doped up on medication.”

  “Nice save.”

  “Barely.”

  Maddy smiles. I can tell she’s still tired, but she’s more herself than she’s been in forever. “I can’t believe it. My sister was with Jaxton Scott. You were holding hands with Jaxton Scott.”

  I blush. “Crazy, right?”

  “Care to enlighten me with a few stories? You know he’s my favorite in Blue Fire.”

  “Not really.”

  “Oh, you’re gonna tell me everything.” She moves the bed up just a tad, but cringes and stops. I move it back down, help her adjust her pillows behind her, and set an extra one next to her to rest her arm on. Anything to keep her comfortable. “This is freaking Jaxton Scott. Lead singer and guitarist of Blue Fire. How the heck did you, out of all the women in New York, end up hanging out with him?”

  I put my face in my hands, feeling my cheeks heat. “We sat next to each other on the plane there.” I look up at her, a grin on my face. “And you won’t believe what I said to him.”

  “Tell me everything.”

  And I do.

  CHAPTER 33

  Take control of your life. It’s yours. Just yours.

  No one else can do it for you.

  When things get tough, don’t give in, don’t give up.

  Save yourself before it’s too late.

  Find a reason to live. Be strong, be brave.

  You’re the only one who can change your fate.

  —J.S.

  It’s been three days since her surgery, and Maddy’s doing amazing. She’s up and walking around, slowly, while I drag her IV stand everywhere she goes, but at least she’s up. She gets tired easily, though, of course, but she’s not exhausted like before. And she has more color. She says she’s really sore, but feels good.

  Ana’s doing well, too, although she’s having a harder time with the pain.

  Today we sit in Ana’s room, me in one chair, Maddy in the other, and tell stories of our childhood to pass the time. Hopefully Ana can get better fast and she can go home to New York. I can tell she misses it. Her sister, too.

  “Remember that one time when you got in the wrong car at the grocery store?” Maddy says.

  “No … ?” I lie. Of course I remember. I even shut the door and tried to put the key in the ignition. It was a good thing no one saw me. “Remember when you walked in on Mr. Forester and Miss Hodges making out in the teacher’s lounge in junior high?”

  She laughs. “Yeah. That was awesome. They both gave me A’s the rest of the year.”

  “To keep you quiet.”

  “Like I would have told anyone. I was scarred for life that day. I don’t care if they’re single and have the hots for each other. Seeing your teachers like that? Gross.”

  I chuckle at the disgusted look on her face. “You told me.”

  She snorts. “You’re different.”

  “True. But still. I could have told the whole school.”

  “But you didn’t. Because sisters keep sisters’ secrets. It’s in the sister pact.”

  I slap my hand against my forehead. “Oh, geez. The sister pact?”

  Ana chuckles in her hospital bed. “You girls are hilarious. I could listen to you all day.”

  Maddy glances at the TV and reaches across me to grab the remote. “Ouch.”

  “Seriously? Let me do it!” I hand it to her.

  She changes the channel. “I forget small movements like that kill me every time I move. I’m so used to just reaching for things. It’s annoying.” She smiles. “I know it will heal, though. Oh, look! Right on time. My favorite show is on.”

  “Ugh, really? You’re going to watch this here?” I groan again as the Hollywood entertainment show comes on.

  “You know how much I love the news.”

  “This is not news. This is stupid gossip.”

  “This is not gossip. They give lots of facts about celebrities. It’s interesting.” She grins. “And you should pay attention to it anyway, Ms. Scott.”

  “Right.” Ms. Scott. Jax and I aren’t even dating. “About that …”

  “Yes, about that. I’d like to show you something I found while you were in New York.”

  Even so, I watch it with her. Just to make her happy, of course. And to maybe catch a glimpse of Jax if they feature him. As the show starts, though, I roll my eyes as the hosts go on and on about different celebrity breakups, hook-ups, pregnancies, fights, who’s in rehab, who’s having a nervous breakdown, etc. In other words, nothing important. Or interesting.

  When I see Jax’s friend Melanie on the screen, posing at some awards show, I can’t handle it anymore. “Can we please turn it?” I beg, reaching for the remote.

  “Wait,” Maddy says. “Look.”

  I glance back at the TV, surprised to see Jax’s picture in the top right corner. “Some breaking news this week about Jaxton Scott, the lead singer of Blue Fire. He announced on Tuesday that Blue Fire is breaking up. We all knew there was drama within the group, but didn’t see it breaking up for good so soon. Jaxton, it seems, wants to focus on a solo career. The other members of Blue Fire had no comments when we spoke to their representatives. Best of luck to the band and their now heartbroken fans.”

  “He really did it,” I whisper. My fingers dig into my chair and I feel Maddy’s eyes on me.

  The reporter continues. �
��Right after his big announcements, Jaxton uploaded an original song on the Internet and it’s already gone viral with over 1 million hits.”

  My eyes are glued to that TV as it shows a clip of him singing with his guitar. He looks amazing. Eye-brow ring and all.

  The host of the show continues. “The song, title unknown, features him singing a solo while strumming his guitar. It’s a beautiful song, but he hasn’t commented on why it was written or for whom. If you want to check it out, here’s the link to the website.”

  “Write that down,” I yell to no one in particular and dive out of my chair. I can’t find anything that resembles a piece of paper or a pen. “Seriously? No pen?” I check my purse.

  Both Ana and Maddy ignore me, eyes glued to the TV.

  “No word, either, on what’s going on with Blue Fire or the mystery girl he was seen with a few weeks ago.” A picture of Jax and me at Central Park flashes on the screen and my mouth drops open. “Any attempts to reach Mr. Scott or Blue Fire have not been answered.”

  My freaking face was just on TV.

  The story ends and Maddy mutes it. No one speaks for at least a minute.

  “So. That was interesting. I take it you know that boy, Mia?” Ana asks.

  I look over at her and give her a half smile compared to the huge smile she’s giving me. “Sort of?” Thank goodness my parents aren’t in here.

  “You didn’t tell me the writer of that letter was famous.”

  “I didn’t think it was important.”

  She chuckles. “Well, are you going to look up the song or not?”

  “I couldn’t find a pen so I didn’t write it down.”

  “I have it on my phone,” Maddy says, handing it to me. “Just push play.”

  I stare at the phone. Why am I freaking out right now? And why didn’t I think to use my phone? Seriously. Who doesn’t just look it up on their phone? I must be losing my mind.

  “Well?” they both say.

  My finger hovers over PLAY and finally, after what seems like forever, I push the button.

  Jax’s face appears on the screen. He’s not wearing a hat, so his dark hair is messy and adorable. He holds his guitar and stares straight at me. Or … The screen. Yeah.

  “Hey, everyone. I wanted to share this song with you today. It means a lot to me. It’s about a very special someone, who I hope will hear it and understand what I’m trying to say.”