Leader of the Pack (Bryant Rockwell Book 3)

by Jacky Gray

  “Yeuk, gross.”

  “If you will subject your growing body to these stresses and strains, you’ll have to suffer the consequences. It’s payback time. That means you don’t leave this bed for anything.”

  “You mean bedpans? Ewww.”

  “And there will be a very strict diet sheet for you to follow. We’re feeding all the essential stuff in this drip until you come out of ketosis and your haemoglobin level’s normalised. But you won’t be let out of here until we’re sure you are eating properly. And there’ll be a lady round tomorrow to ask you a few questions.”

  Liv gulped. “A shrink?”

  “Not yet. Julia’s actually a dietician, but she does have a psychological background and she specialises in eating disorders. Depending on her assessment, you may need further therapy, but it’s entirely up to you. Be honest, and leave nothing out.”

  “But what if I can’t remember?” Liv sounded panicky even to herself.

  “Why would you say that?”

  “I don’t remember anything about last night’s performance after Jude’s dance with David. I remember watching from backstage, and then it’s like … nothing.” A beat. “A big-fat-Greek blank ’til I woke up here.”

  He grinned at the reference to the popular TV show. “That’s to be expected. Your body is a finely tuned machine and you drove it past the limits of its endurance. You then piled on the mammoth stress of a live performance.” He flicked a glance at her mum, whose fidgeting revealed extreme discomfort, and softened his tone.

  “I believe you were one of the leading roles, yes?”

  “I guess so.”

  “So, in layman’s terms, you had a tiny overload and some bits broke. I suspect it’s a short term thing, but it may affect all manner of things. Your memory might come back bit-by-bit, or it could be all of a sudden, and you’ll be able to remember everything. It’s not unusual.”

  “Tom Jones, right?”

  The doctor laughed out loud. “There’s obviously nothing wrong with your sense of humour. But you’re way too young to have heard of him.”

  “My sister, Vicky, would watch The Voice every day if she could. That song comes up at least once in every series.”

  “Of course. See you ladies later.” He went out humming the tune and as he reached the door did a little wiggle of his hips and blew her a kiss.

  The nurse arrived with a mug of tea. “I don’t know what you said to Dr Richmond, but you can come again. He’s in a really good mood.” She put the mug down on the bedside cabinet. “Here’s your tea, and the toast will be here in a minute. Do you want a drink, Mum?”

  “A cup of tea would be lovely. Is there a phone I could use?”

  Liv knew the look well: Despite the polite tone, her mum’s internal voice would be snarking: “And don’t call me Mum.” At home, her mum made no secret of how much she hated the patronising affectation, but being a doctor’s wife she had to bite her tongue.

  The nurse was oblivious, quoting the rulebook. “There’s a payphone at the bottom of the stairs by the cafe.”

  “My husband works here and he’d really want to know ...”

  “Dr Tranter? Of course. I’m so sorry, Mrs Tranter. I never realised.” The nurse turned from a victim of the politically correct nonsense surrounding council employees into a human being. “Of course, he’ll want to know his daughter’s woken up. There’s a phone in the office. If anyone objects, tell them Rose said it’s ok.”

  She gestured for Liv’s mum to follow, saying, “I’ll have your tea ready when you come out.”

  A few moments later, another nurse walked in. “Are you Dr Tranter’s daughter? I took a call for you in the office. We’re not supposed to take messages but we’ve all heard the story. Your friend – Jude is it?”

  Liv nodded and the woman smiled. “She seemed to think you’d feel a lot better if you knew what was going on, and I think she’s right.”

  “What did she say? How is she going to play Tallulah and Velma? Not to mention Bangles.” Liv sat up. “I’ve been so worried ...”

  “Calm yourself down. I thought you looked a bit peaky.” She fussed around adjusting the height of the backrest and pulling the table over Liv’s knees. “She says not to worry, Kat’s playing that Tally person you just said and Alison’s playing Browsy. Did I get it right?”

  “Almost, it’s Blowsy Brown. From Bugsy Malone. You know, the gangster musical?”

  The woman’s expression said not.

  Liv caught an eye-roll before it leapt off the starting blocks. “Oh, never mind. It’s great news.” She might as well have not spoken.

  “Do you want honey on the toast? The natural sugars will speed your recovery and restore some inner balance.”

  Liv nodded, trying not to wince as the woman emptied the whole miniature jar onto the toast. She focussed on that night’s performance. “I bet Jude’s been out of her skull worrying about it; she struggled depping for Bangles and ...”

  “I’m glad it’s good news, but you need to stop thinking about it and concentrate on getting yourself better. You must eat all this.”

  “I promise. Every last crumb.” Even if the sweetness made her gag after four sugar-free weeks. She’d do anything to get out of here. Even put up with being patronised like a five-year-old.

  “Good. Now do you want to watch some telly or how about a DVD? They’ve got Romancing the Stone ...”

  “That would be great, thanks. It’s one of my favourites.” Her enthusiasm bore testament to the acting skills which had secured a leading role.

  “I’m sure it’ll take your mind off all your little troubles.”

  Liv couldn’t bring herself to reply, so she smiled weakly and the nurse bustled off. Little troubles. As if.

  5 More Cupidity

  Ray watched Kat from the back of the stage. She was good, all right, blessed with perfect pitch and looking terrific. The twenties fashions really suited her long, lean figure, and she’d perfected the pout and sultry eyes. She’d obviously taken some tips from watching her friend, but could never match Liv’s performance.

  He replayed his memories from last night.

  After their amazing, lipstick-smearing kiss, he’d hoped Liv would come and see him in the break. But from what people said, she stayed in character. This made him, or rather Dandy Dan, the enemy.

  When she did her solo, Liv was Tallulah. She didn’t have to act at all; she somehow embodied the sexy temptress like in a horror movie where an evil spirit takes over the hero. Chuckie, anyone?

  Ray had looked for her in the last scene but Jude took her place. He didn’t find out Liv had fainted until after the last curtain call. Her mum and dad were called out of the audience to go with her to the hospital.

  Tonight’s final scene had no such excitement. Luke had his hands full of Jude and Kat as they both hugged him, squishing the foam between them. Ray watched him kiss Jude, even though it was supposed to be Kat. She played along and Ray didn’t suppose anyone else noticed.

  He glanced at the centre stage. Alison had done a sterling job as Blowsy. She had a pure voice which, although not as strong as Kat’s, didn’t waver on the solos. Under the shy exterior lived a spunky little character who seemed to blossom under Terry’s kindly nurturing. In fact, unless he was much mistaken, Diana’s little cousin had a big crush on their romantic lead. His observations suggested it might be reciprocated; the onstage chemistry was not just between the characters.

  Ray had only to polish up his Cupid’s bow and convince Terry that Alison was much more his type. This would leave Liv free to realise what she surely must know by now.

  But did she know? Ever since their trip to Stratford she’d been quite remote: sitting at the opposite end of the table from him at lunch, dashing off after school every day instead of walking home with him and Jude. She never seemed to say more than two words to him, even when they partnered on a lab in chemistry. At first, he’d thought maybe her boyfriend was jealous or something and banned he
r from talking to him.

  He examined what he knew about the guy and the whole mucked up situation. Terry knew full well how Ray felt about Liv. Why else would he glare at Ray as he threw out the crazy challenge at Kat’s house for Liv to go on a date? Being Liv, she’d stepped up to the mark and gone to see a movie with him. Not exactly the desired outcome.

  Ray had badly underestimated his rival over the whole gay thing, but Luke’s outrageous plan to publicise the misconception had been the making of Terry. So it all worked well in the end – at least for Terry.

  The idea of the gentle guy telling Liv what to do raised a grin. Acting the possessive, controlling bully played no part in Terry’s make up; he was way too in touch with his feminine side. In a good way.

  If anything, he and the lad seemed to have developed a genuine mutual respect and liking. Wherever they went as a group, Terry went out of his way to make sure Ray felt comfortable and catered for. A naturally caring person, he’d make someone a great husband one day – but not Liv.

  Ray instinctively knew what Terry and Liv shared was no great passion, more like good friends. At some point, he hoped the guy would recognise Liv embodied way more woman than he could handle.

  Being smart, Liv would have read the signs, and probably only stayed with Terry out of a sense of duty. Boyfriend apart, her behaviour toward Ray had gone from flirty and good-natured with an underlying heat, to cold and impersonal. And the change was triggered by an event which had happened in Stratford. The ghost of a memory niggled in the back of his brain: She’d mentioned something about Mel …

  His musings were interrupted as Terry clapped him on the back.

  “Come on Ray, it’s all over, time to go home. And we get to miss RE tomorrow morning; we don’t have to come in ’til ten. Good, eh?”

  “Yeah, I’ll need a lie-in, I’m shattered. Cheers, Terry. When are you going to see Liv?”

  “I’m not sure they’ll let us in ’cos we’re not immediate family. Jude said the nurse acted really funny with her when she rang.”

  “But you’re her boyfriend. Surely that counts for something.”

  “Ye-es. I guess, technically, I am.”

  What do you mean technically? Are you or aren’t you? Questions screamed through Ray’s brain as he followed Terry’s gaze to where Alison stood with Miss Maines, but he held back for now.

  Terry’s attention returned to Ray as he threw the question back with a loaded look. “Are you going to see her?”

  WTF? Was Timid Terry giving him permission to date Liv? Ray covered his confusion with a harsh tone. “Have you any idea how unfriendly hospitals can be to wheelchairs?” He chilled it down a peg or six as Terry flinched. “Unless you can use the staff lifts, and even then it’s a nightmare; you can never get in between the beds.”

  “Sounds rough.” Terry’s automatic reply stemmed from his interest in Alison’s movements toward the exit, but Ray continued as though he had no clue about the sexual tension crackling through the air.

  “And anyway, I’ve had enough of hospitals to last me a lifetime.”

  “Oh, sure, right. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He dashed off to catch her.

  Ray smiled enigmatically; the guy had definitely got it bad. Maybe the old bow will only need a light dusting.

  6 Anything Could Have Happened

  Propped up in her hospital bed, Liv could tell both her friends were trying hard to downplay the excitement of the last-night Bugsy show. Their concern touched her; they obviously didn’t want her to feel left out.

  Kat’s face gleamed modesty. “Of course, I wasn’t anything like as good as you, but I managed to get through it. And I reckon Alison made an even better Blowsy; she has a scrubbed, innocent look.”

  Jude stepped in quickly. “Nonsense. You were good, just different to Liv. Alison was good, just different to you.” She’d obviously been taking lessons in charm and tact. And listening to Miss Maines.

  Liv smiled at her with more than a touch of irony. “What about you? Don’t you feel sorry to have missed your chance at the spotlight?”

  “No way. I was a barrel of nerves just doing the few lines as Bangles; I’d rather skate any day. It felt good to cuddle Luke at the end, though. I enjoyed that bit.”

  Kat slid her a wicked grin. “No kidding. We thought you were never gonna come up for air.”

  “But how?” Liv’s brow furrowed as she tried to work it out.

  The expression on Jude’s face displayed uncharacteristic coyness. “I had to pretend to be you on Wednesday night just for the last scene. How much better to have Luke kissing me instead of you?”

  “I’ll bet.” Liv grinned. “So last night’s excuse ...?”

  “I don’t know. Kat stood on one side of him and I was on the other.” She shrugged. “He just seemed to pick me in the heat of the moment.”

  Liv weighed the options in her hands. “Girlfriend or Girl-next-door? It’s a no-brainer. Why is your face redder than my dressing gown?”

  Jude ignored the acute embarrassment. “Oh, come on. Have you never been kissed so it made you tingle all the way down to your toes?”

  “No. At least, not all the way down.” Although one or two of Terry’s kisses came close. Another memory shivered through her body, raising a frown. “Except … ow.”

  “What’s wrong?” Kat sat forward. “Your face has gone all funny. Do you want me to call the nurse?”

  “No, for goodness’ sake, don’t. They’ll never let me out of here. My head hurt a bit, that’s all. It did it this morning when Julia asked me about the play. I did fine up to Jude’s dance with David, then all I can remember is going along the backstage corridor.”

  Jude snuck in quick – her snark improved daily since she’d hooked up with Luke. “Wow, our dancing literally blew your mind.”

  Liv grinned. “Trouble is, every time I try to think about what happened next, it hurts. She said not to try and force it; when it’s good and ready, I’ll remember everything.”

  “Wow, scary.” Kat settled back into her chair. “Imagine not knowing what happened to you for over an hour.”

  “ANYTHING could have happened.” Jude’s eyes widened.

  “Except according to you lot I was knocking ’em dead on stage, so you can put that fertile imagination away.” Liv grinned.

  “A couple of people said you weren’t yourself.” Kat’s eyes narrowed as she cocked her head to one side. “You’d sort of, become Tallulah – even in the break.”

  “I just focussed on what I needed to remember to get me through the show. You know, like when you’ve got a cold or something, and you have to concentrate really hard to get through the maths lesson.”

  “You? … Have to try? … In maths?” Kat’s pretend shock turned into a sassy grin. “I must have missed that day.”

  “Very funny. Anyway, the doctor seems pleased with my progress; even took the drip off this morning. All my tests were back to normal and I’m allowed to get out of bed to go to the toilet.”

  “Ohhh, you mean bedpans? How gross.” Jude’s revolted tone matched Kat’s as they reacted simultaneously. “TMI. So-oo intense. Yeuk.”

  Liv grinned at her friends’ expressions. “It’s not too much information – not nearly enough. I think I’ve convinced Julia I’m not anorexic ...”

  “You? Anorexic? Never.” Jude’s assertion came an instant before Kat’s question. “Who’s this Julia person you keep on about?”

  “The dietician specialising in eating disorders. I told her it was just plain old dieting to be presentable for a part in the school play. And an effort to get fit because I got out of breath so quickly.”

  “And she believed you?” Jude’s raised eyebrow said unlikely.

  “Luckily Mum had a picture on her phone of me bulging out of a hideous green outfit. It convinced Julia I had a good reason for doing it.”

  As Jude’s face wobbled, Liv remembered several occasions her friend had made tactful suggestions to help. She’d always ignored the
m, so the slight irritation in Jude’s tone was understandable.

  “But why didn’t you tell us about it? I wondered why you were power walking instead of taking the bus ...”

  “And eating yogurts and crispbreads.” Kat’s I-told-you-so look said she’d been onto Liv’s plan.

  Jude glared, her tone defensive. “Then she went back to normal food.”

  Liv jumped in to break the tension. “Except I only ate protein. While mum was away for a week, I had virtually no fat or carbs, just the odd bit of fresh fruit and veg. It made me go into Keotis …”

  “Ketosis.” Jude corrected her, showing off her PE expertise. “When the body uses stored fat and muscle.”

  Liv grimaced. “The doctor muttered about malnutrition and diabetes.”

  “You still haven’t said why you didn’t tell us.” Jude’s irritation deepened. “I could have helped, and Bernie would have sorted you out with an exercise routine which wouldn’t have knocked you for six.”

  “Sorry, Jude. I don’t know. I guess I was just too ashamed of the whole thing. You’ve no idea what it’s like to be so obsessed with what you think people see when they look at you. That’s if they don’t come right out and say it like Diana did. And Ray, even Mel ...”

  “I can’t understand why we didn’t notice.” Kat frowned. “You must have lost two stone ...”

  “Not quite. I’m 110 pounds now, but some of it’s fluid loss. I’ll probably be well over eight stone when it all sorts itself out.”

  “Whatever.” Kat’s face squirmed. “Why couldn’t we tell? Are we so self-obsessed we didn’t notice our best friend becoming a skeleton?”

  Liv hated seeing the trouble she’d caused. “We were all busy with the play and everything. I had an old skirt which used to be far too tight, and I wore it when my other one got too loose.”

  Kat squeezed her hand. “So, when will you get out of here?”