by Shandi Boyes
“Was it you or him?” questions a stern female voice, that I don’t recognise, from the doorway.
“Was what me or him?” I reply, as I turn towards the voice and notice that Delilah is standing in the doorway.
Her face looks fierce as she stares daggers at me, causing me to swallow harshly.
“The marriage licence?” she questions angrily, turning a piece of paper in her hands to face me, while taking two steps into Noah’s room.
“It was me” I advise softly.
“You stupid little bitch! You knew that Noah had agreed to remain attainable to his fans but then you go and apply for a marriage licence” she states angrily, causing spit to fly out of her mouth as she snarls at me.
“A marriage licence is public knowledge. That means when you apply for one with Noah’s name on it and someone googles him name it pops up in the internet search engine” she continues to snarl, as she moves a few steps closer.
“I’m sorry” I apologize softly.
Delilah is the first person that I have ever met who truly scares me. I can feel my heart racing a million miles an hour as she towers over me in her black pants suit, glaring down at me with disgust in her eyes.
“If he wasn’t visiting you he would have never ended up in that hospital bed” she spits out in disgust, as her evil eyes turn towards Noah.
Her words are so harsh I can feel their affect directly impacting my already damaged heart.
“I am forced to make up pathetic stories just to ensure that his name never gets linked with your worthless self” she whispers harshly, confirming what Jacob and I had already suspected. Delilah was the one that stated Noah was in rehab.
“That’s enough Delilah!” advises a male voice from the door, causing her to back down on her angry stance, but her eyes remain narrowed in little slits.
“This has gone too far, leave her alone!” yells the angry voice from the doorway.
Only when Delilah moves a step back away from me do I notice that Cormack is standing in the doorway. She turns to face him, before she barges past, storming out of the room.
Cormack stays standing in the doorway staring at me, his face etched with sympathy and concern, before his gaze turns towards Noah, whose eyes are rapidly moving under his eyelids.
“I’m sorry” apologizes Cormack, before he attempts to catch up with Delilah.
I try to calm down the rapid beating of my heart as I stand away from Noah’s bed and slowly start pacing back and forth. It was because Noah had spent his last day off with me that he is now lying in that hospital bed. If only I had woken up on time to take him to the airport, then he may have never been in that accident. It’s my fault, I am the reason he is lying unconscious in that bed fighting for his life.
I try to take in several deep breaths as I can feel the commencement of another panic attack. The incredible guilt I feel knowing that I am the reason Noah is lying in that hospital bed feels like it is crippling me.
“Breathe Emily breathe” I chant to myself, trying to fill my lungs with air.
It hurts so much that it feels like someone is sitting directly on my chest. I slowly make my way over to the window in Noah’s room, closing my eyes as I lean my face down on the cool glass window that faces the street below, while continuing to chant a reminder to myself to breathe. The coolness of the window against my flushed cheeks helps to keep my mind occupied on something other than my panicked state. With that and a few more deep breaths I manage to regain my composure and lessen the side effects of my panic attack.
Slowly flicking open my eyes, I notice a circle of condensation that has formed on the window from my warm breath blowing on the cold winter glass. I use my sleeve to wipe away the remnants of my panic attack, when I notice a small gathering of people down on the roadside. Noah’s room is several stories high, but you wouldn’t be able to miss the large cardboard messages of support down below wishing him a quick and speedy recovery.
Over the next hour, I watch as the number of fans showing their support to Noah surges in size, before I hear a slight cough at the door.
“I’m sorry for what Delilah said to you Emily” apologizes Cormack, as he walks over towards me, before his gaze peers outside to the dedicated ‘Rise Up’ fans.
“It is great to see so many fans displaying their messages of support. There are several fans at the entrance of the hospital as well, holding up signs and photos” Cormack tells me thoughtfully.
“They love him, nearly as much as I do” I reply, as I move away from the windowsill, closing the curtain behind me.
“Can I ask you something Emily?” requests Cormack as he follows me over to Noah’s bedside.
“Yes” I reply softly, while I gently grasp Noah’s hand within mine.
“I want to seek your permission to release the acoustic version of ‘Surrender Me’ as a limited special release single” he advises.
My gaze turns from Noah to Cormack, as my heart begins to beat faster again. I haven’t heard ‘Rise Up’s’ song ‘Surrender Me’ since I watched a replay of Noah’s performance on MTV.
“Fifty percent of the profits will be donated to the Brain Injury Research Centre in Noah’s name” he continues, as I feel tears welling up in my eyes.
The first lot of tests on Noah’s brain were unable to determine if he is going to have any side effects from his brain swelling and bleeding. He had additional tests done earlier this week, but we have not yet been given the preliminary findings.
Cormack pulls his iPhone out of his pocket, his fingers moving quickly over the screen before he hands his phone to me. I look down and notice a video playing that shows Noah standing in a recording booth. He has black headphones on and is standing in front of a microphone, his guitar I had brought him for his birthday is in his hands. He then starts performing the acoustic version of ‘Surrender Me’. The rendition of his performance perfectly matches the performance he had completed on MTV. Once the song finishes, his eyes pop open and he looks over towards the camera, smiling brightly, before he winks and whispers “I love you beautiful” directly into the lens. You can then hear the deep chuckling laugh of Slater barrelling down the phone, before he turns the camera to face himself and states “I love you too Noah” cheekily.
Once the recording ends I hesitate handing Cormack back his phone. Noah was so carefree and happy back then, that was only mere weeks ago. How could everything have changed so quickly? My stomach starts to churn in protest from the rapid beating of my heart. I try to swallow down the bile that is rising rapidly, but it surges forward to quickly that I bolt into the bathroom and bring up the dinner I had consumed the night before. It takes several gut wrenching heaves before my stomach starts to settle. I pull off a small square of toilet paper to wipe my mouth with before I stand up to brush my teeth at the vanity. Cormack is standing in the doorway, his eyes open wide in shock before they dart down towards my stomach. When his gaze returns back to mine he pulls his eyebrows together in confusion. I don’t know how much longer I am going to be able to keep this secret, my belly is already starting to show.
“Emily?” Cormack questions apprehensively.
“I give you permission to release the song” I advise, trying to change the subject so I wouldn’t have to share my secret.
“But can you do me one favour?” I question Cormack. He nods his head softly towards me.
“Noah would want all of the proceeds to go directly to the brain institute, can you do that for him?” I request. Cormack smiles at me, before eagerly nodding his head.
Chapter 25
Not long after Cormack had left, I was sitting in the reclining chair watching over Noah. The last two months has caused him to lose a few pounds in muscle conditioning. His olive complexion is lighter than normal, and he has grown a full scruffy beard along his jawline, but that is still the Noah I love lying in that hospital bed. I stand up and gently place a kiss on Noah’s cheek when I suddenly hear the sound of clicking, before the room become
s illuminated in a bright light. Sheltering my eyes with my hand, I locate the camera of a paparazzi outside of Noah’s door.
“What are you doing? Get out of here!” I yell loudly at the guy standing in the doorway, trying to use my body to block his view of Noah.
“Security!” I yell at the top of my lungs, as the cameraman continues to take photos of Noah lying in his bed.
“Security!” I yell louder, as the paparazzi digs his elbows into my stomach and my chest as he attempts to barge past me.
“What the fuck are you doing in here?” Jacob questions angrily from the doorway, before he pulls the paparazzi out of Noah’s room by the scruff of his collar.
“Get off me, I am just doing my job” replies the paparazzi angrily to Jacob as he tries to pull himself out of Jacob’s tight grip.
It reminds me of the time I had defended the paparazzi to Noah when they had caught us at the Café in Bronte’s peak a few months ago. But this guy wasn’t doing his job, he was harassing Noah while he lays helpless and unconscious in a hospital bed, having no way to protect himself.
Jacob grabs a hold of the paps camera and starts frantically searching for the SD card inside. Once he locates it, he throws the camera down on the ground, using his size fourteen shoes to stomp down hard, shattering the camera into pieces. The paparazzi bends down and attempts to pick up his camera, as Jacob walks to me and hands me the SD card. His jaw is ticking and the veins are pulsing around his neck so furiously they look like they are about to burst.
“You should just turn off the life support, he would be worth more dead than alive” the camera man snarls venomously.
I stand still, shocked by what the cameraman has just said. But Jacob’s fury is noticeably present as he moves towards him.
“You fucking piece of shit” Jacob roars, while charging towards the paparazzi.
Jacob rams him that hard they both crash into the room opposite Noah’s. The paparazzi head hits the glass window causing it to shatter on impact.
“Jacob stop” I yell panicked as I move into the hallway.
Jacob manages to get a few solid punches in, before he is tackled hard to the ground by two security officers.
I have never seen Jacob so angry before, he manages to throw off the two security officers that are attempting to hold him down to go and tackle the paparazzi again.
“Jacob, it’s ok calm down” I yell frantically, as they hold him down roughly on the tiled floor while he repeatedly yells at them to get the fuck off him.
“You are arresting the wrong person” I advise the two security officers.
They ignore my pleads and continue to hold Jacob on the ground roughly as another security officer comes running towards them to offer assistance.
“OH fuck” Jacob yells.
The third security officer sprays Jacob with pepper spray, the particles left lingering in the air soon burns my eyes, so I can imagine the immense amount of pain Jacob is in after he was directly hit with the full spray.
The pepper spray successfully subdues Jacob, that by the time Ryan arrives on scene twenty minutes later, I am pouring cooled bottled water against Jacob’s red and swollen eyes. Once the bottle is empty Jacob attempts to open his swollen eyes to look at me.
“Thanks Emily” Jacob states remorsefully. I offer him a grateful smile. I understand why he reacted the way he did, he was standing up for Noah who at the time couldn’t defend himself.
“I will be back in a minute” I reply.
Once he nods his head, I stand up and walk over towards Ryan who had just finished speaking to the security guards.
“You have to help him Ryan, he was defending Noah, he didn’t do anything wrong” I plead while looking into his concerned eyes.
“I don’t know what I can do this time. It’s not just the paparazzi, the security officers want to press charges as well” he replies sullenly, running his hand roughly down his face.
“I will do everything I can to help him Emily, but you need to make sure you get him a good lawyer, he is going to need one” declares Ryan, before he goes over and assists Jacob off the floor and reads him his rights as they walk down the hospital corridor.
I run back into Noah’s room and frantically search my purse for my mobile phone, before dialling Jenni’s number.
“Emily are you ok?” questions Jenni, after answering her phone on the very first ring “Is Noah ok?” she questions panicked.
“Yes Noah is fine” I reply quickly, as Jenni lets out a long deep breath. I look over towards Noah and notice his eyes are rapidly moving under his eyelids. I move over and gently place my hand on his cheek, trying to offer him comfort.
“But I need your help” I state urgently to Jenni.
I asked Jenni if she would be able to request her parents to represent Jacob. I knew it was asking a huge favour, but Jacob needs the best lawyers available and Jenni’s parents are the best I know. Jenni seemed hesitant to start with, but when I explained to her what had just happened she said she would do anything she could to help Jacob.
One hour and forty minutes after calling Jenni, Jacob walks back into Noah’s room with Jenni’s dad Michael following closely behind. I run over towards Jacob, wrapping my arms tightly around his neck. I am so grateful that he didn’t have to spend the night in Jail.
“Now if that doesn’t wake Noah up, I don’t know what will” chuckles Jacob as he returns my embrace.
“He is very lucky he has you as a friend Emily, or he would have been spending the next three days in jail awaiting his arraignment” advises Michael.
Jenni’s dad Michael had always been stern and conservative in the years I have known him, but he has also been fair. If he thinks the person he is fighting for deserves proper representation he will fight for their justice all the way. I wrap my arms around Michael’s broad shoulders to offer him my thanks for helping Jacob.
“Thank you Michael” I whisper into his ear.
“You are very welcome sweetheart” he whispers back.
Michael’s gaze turns to Noah lying in the bed before they return to mine.
“Look after him” he pleads while looking between Jacob and I, before he swiftly spins on his heels and walks out of the room.
Three days later, Jacob had to leave Noah’s bedside again, this is only the third time he has left in the past eight weeks. Jacob has his court appointed arraignment today, he has decided to plead guilty to all charges in a hope that the judge would be lenient on him.
I have been nervously waiting five hours for Jacob to return, half of the time I have been pacing back and forth in front of Noah’s bed, and the other half I was sitting in the reclining chair gently rubbing my thumb over Noah’s right hand.
My phone starts ringing loudly in the silence of Noah’s room, startling me. I quickly jump up praying that it isn’t a call from Michael saying that Jacob had been sentenced to serve time behind bars. Looking down, I notice that it is my mom calling.
“Hello” I greet into the phone, my panic for Jacob clearly heard within my voice.
“Hi Emily, how are you darling?” mom questions
“I’m ok mom, has Lola heard from Jacob?” I question panicked.
I don’t even know what Lola and Jacob consider their relationship to be, but I was starting to get worried that I hadn’t heard from Jacob yet.
“No, but Lola isn’t home darling. Is Jacob ok?” my mom asks concerned.
We hadn’t told anyone what had happened at the hospital that night. Cormack knew as he had agreed to pay Jacob’s legal bills, but other than that it remained a secret between Jacob and I.
I hear a slight cough and as I turn towards the noise, I notice that Jacob is leaning against the doorframe watching me intently.
“I have to go mom” I yell quickly into the phone, before disconnecting the call.
I run over towards Jacob and throw myself into his arms, crashing hard into his chest that he lets out of a little oomph.
“Your back!�
�� I declare loudly into his ear, my heart racing a million miles an hour, so grateful that he isn’t behind bars.
I attempt to lower myself down from Jacob’s grasp, but he stays holding on tight as he walks over to Noah on the bed.
“Come on Noah, don’t act like you don’t want to get out of that bed to kick my arse!” Jacob declares while looking directly at Noah.
“I have your girl in my arms and you’re not going to do anything about it?” Jacob continues to taunt.
I narrow my eyes at Jacob, as I try to remove myself from his tight grip. Jacob is so large I will practically have to climb down from him.
“Don’t be as ass Jacob” I reply, pulling my eyebrows together tightly, causing Jacob to erupt into a deep rumbling laugh.