“How are we doing this morning, hon?” The nurse strapped a cuff to Katie’s arm and checked her blood pressure. She clipped a sensor to Katie’s fingertip, and then she took her temperature with an ear thermometer. She looked over her clipboard down at Katie.
“I’m okay. My head hurts and I’m really thirsty. I guess I’m achy, too. Other than that I’m doing all right.”
“You poor thing. I’ll get you some water and see about some pain medication in just a minute. On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your pain?”
Katie moved a bit in her bed, evaluating. “I’d say about a seven.”
“I’m not surprised. You’ve been through an awful lot. The doctor will be in to see you shortly. Is there anything I can do for you besides get the water?”
“The light is really bothering me. If you could turn that off, I would really appreciate it.”
“Sure thing, hon. You try to get some rest and the doctor will be in soon.” The nurse refilled Katie’s water pitcher and poured her a glass before turning off the overhead lights and leaving Katie alone, quietly closing the door behind her.
Katie squirmed and stretched in the hospital bed, careful not to pull out any of the monitor wires surrounding her. Her limbs were heavy with exhaustion, and her head was fuzzy beneath the pounding headache. She felt like she had run a marathon the night before, but it was not exercise that had her in this condition. She considered her arms and legs, evaluating, wondering how long it would take before she felt normal again.
She hadn’t broken anything, hadn’t even so much as sprained an ankle. She had fallen straight back, though, with nothing to slow her down, and when her head cracked against the unforgiving concrete floor at the bar, she had sustained painful bruising and what she thought was a mild concussion. She had been awake when they took her to the hospital, but it was difficult to remember the details amid all the chaos. The emergency room doctor who had evaluated her last night wanted her to stay overnight for observation, but if Katie remembered correctly she could expect to be fine with a little rest. Good thing, too, because rest was exactly what she wanted.
Katie was drifting off to sleep when a soft knock on her door roused her. A pretty young doctor entered the room, picked up Katie’s chart, and said, “Good morning, I’m Dr. Patterson. How are you doing today?”
“I’m doing all right. I feel weak and achy, my head is pounding, and I’m still very tired. I think it could be a lot worse, though,” Katie offered.
“That’s true, Miss McCoy. You were pretty lucky. I’ve reviewed your test results, and you should be okay. You have a concussion, and there’s the bruising and pain, but it doesn’t look like anything is broken and we couldn’t find any further injury. I’d say you are well enough to be released if you have someone who can keep an eye on you, just to make sure that you’re safe. I understand that you’re in a lot of pain this morning?”
Katie nodded. “My body feels like it’s been hit by a truck, and I have the worst headache of my life.”
“That’s probably just bruising and strain from your fall, and I can order some pain meds for you. Today I’d like you to get plenty of rest, and I’d recommend that you follow up with your physician when you get home. I’ll make sure that you get a list of symptoms and things to watch for. Do you have any questions?”
“I guess not. I’ll let you know if I think of anything.”
“All right then, Miss McCoy. I’ll get your discharge orders started, and you can just relax in the meantime. While you’re still here, use your call button if you need anything, even if you just want to get out of bed. That way, someone will be nearby to help if you feel faint or fall down. When you go home, be sure that someone is nearby to help just in case.” With that, Dr. Patterson smiled and left Katie alone in her room again.
Katie took a sip of her water and laid back on her pillow, her eyelids heavy and her battered body begging for rest. The nurse bustled back into her room before Katie could slip into sleep again, a sympathetic smile on her face and a plastic cup holding tablets in her hand.
“Here you go, sweetie. Take these and we’ll see if that helps.” She offered the pain medication to Katie and helped her reach the cup of water. “You need anything else?”
Katie shook her head and fell back onto the pillow. “Thank you. I’m fine for now.”
“All right, hon. You get some rest while you wait. It can take a while to get discharged. Do you have someone coming to pick you up?”
“Gosh I don’t know. I’ll have to make some calls.”
“Okay. You do that, and I’ll bring in your paperwork in as soon as it’s ready.” The nurse moved the call button closer to Katie and patted her hand. “Just press this button if you need anything in the meantime.”
• • •
Katie didn’t know how long she had been asleep, if it had been minutes, hours, or even days. She awoke to the sound of gentle snoring at her bedside and felt a hand covering hers, warm, gentle, familiar. Her eyes blinked against the soft light filtering in between the slats of the window blinds, and she stretched and moved in her bed, testing her body, checking for changes. Her movements woke Blake, who had fallen asleep sitting up at her bedside.
“Hey,” he said softly, his voice heavy with sleep and emotion. “You’re awake.”
“You’re here,” Katie responded. “You came.” She smiled weakly and squeezed his hand.
“Of course I came. Charles called me when they brought you in last night. I’m sorry, sweetheart, just so sorry about everything,” Blake whispered. Tears welled in his eyes as he looked down at her.
“Me too,” Katie answered in a raspy whisper.
“I can’t help but think that this is my fault.”
“I’m going to be fine. I’ve got a concussion, but nothing is even broken or anything. I’ll get out of here soon, and all I need is some rest. I’m just disappointed about the tour. There’s no way I can do the Georgia shows, and I hate to let the guys down.”
Blake shifted in his chair and looked uncomfortable. Without meeting her eyes, he said, “You know Chet Wilson, the guy who has been playing fiddle for me? He’s agreed to fill in for you so Sterling can stay on the tour.”
“They’ve already replaced me? That was fast.” Tears sprang to Katie’s eyes.
“You haven’t been replaced, he’s just filling in for you so Sterling can stay on the tour. We cancelled tonight’s show, but we’re going to have to go on and get back on schedule tomorrow.”
“The show must go on, right?” Katie was surprised by how bitter she felt. The biggest thing to ever happen to her career, and she had to miss it because of one stupid night at a bar.
“Please don’t be like that. We can’t cancel any more shows. It’s too expensive.” Blake looked pained and guilty.
“Yeah, can’t let a little thing like a concussion get in the way of the tour. Good thing I didn’t get really hurt. You might have had to cancel more than one show.”
“Sweetheart, it’s not just for me. When we cancel a show, we have to refund thousands of tickets. I have to think of the crew, the venue staff, the other musicians,” he trailed off.
“I get it. It just hurts. I feel like I’m being left behind, and I worked as hard as anybody to get here. This is all I’ve ever wanted, and it hurts to get knocked out of the game just like that.”
“I know, and I’m so sorry. I wish I could go back and change everything. I wish that this hadn’t happened.”
“But it did happen, and here we are. Nobody bothered to ask me if I could continue or if I needed a replacement. I’m not a child. I should at least get a say about what happens to me.” Katie sighed and turned away from Blake.
“Nobody thinks you’re a child. I know you hate that so much of this feels like business as usual, but our insurance won’t allow us to
keep you on the tour with the concussion. Just let someone else take care of you for a change, okay? You need help right now, and you have lots of people who care about you. Your parents are coming this afternoon and they’ll take you home.”
“What?” Katie screeched, sitting up in her bed, then wincing in pain. “My parents are coming? Why can’t I just rest on the bus? It’s not like I would try to get on stage before I’m recovered or anything. You say you don’t think I’m a child, but that’s hard to believe when you treat me like this, making yet another decision for me.”
“Another decision? What’s that supposed to mean?”
Katie frowned, afraid she was starting to pout but not sure how to stop now that she had said that. “I just feel like you’ve decided a lot of things for me. Our entire relationship has gone the way you want, depending on what you decide. You decided that if I didn’t give up everything I ever cared about, it was over between us.”
“What? If I remember correctly, you’re the one who decided that it was all or nothing. I wanted you with me. I don’t see how I could’ve made that more clear. I’m sorry you decided that wasn’t good enough.”
“That’s not fair, and you know it. You can’t ask me to choose between you and my career for nothing in return. You want me to just give up everything that I’ve worked for, but you can’t even tell me that you might possibly someday love me.”
“Katie,” he stopped her. Despite her irritation she still loved the way her name sounded on his lips. “I’m no good at this and I just don’t know what to tell you. When I asked you to stay with me, that’s as far as I had thought it through. When it comes down to it, I just can’t promise enough to justify you giving up everything. I can’t let you throw away your life on me. I’ve never done this before, so I just think that I’m not a safe bet.”
“Maybe you should let me decide that.”
“I’m sorry. I can’t be responsible for your entire future, you know? It’s just—the stakes are so high and I was put on the spot, and I screwed the whole thing up. I care about you very much, sweetheart, and I don’t want you to look back and wish that you hadn’t taken a chance on me. If things didn’t work out, I’d feel responsible for ruining your life. I wish we had more time to figure things out, but we don’t. Now you’re going home and I have to finish the tour and the whole thing just sucks.”
“Who says I have to go home? Why didn’t anyone ask me what I thought?”
Blake gave Katie an incredulous look. “Seriously? You think that you could do the shows? There’s no way I’m taking that chance, sweetheart, and our insurance won’t cover it. I called Luke and asked about concussions. He says that the best thing for you right now is rest. You won’t know if you have any lingering effects until a couple of weeks have passed. You’re lucky that you don’t have any serious injuries, but we can’t be too careful. You need to go home, get some rest, and make sure that you’re all right. Your parents are coming today, in fact they’re probably already on their way here from the airport. They were worried sick when I talked to them and they took the earliest flight out of Austin that they could get. They’ll take you home and they’ll take care of you until you’ve recovered.”
“Okay, fine, maybe I can’t get back on stage in the next couple of days, but who decided to call my parents? You? This is just more of the same. I’m not a little girl, you know. I’ll be twenty-five years old soon, and I don’t need you to make all my decisions for me.”
“Sweetheart, I get that you’re frustrated and that things obviously aren’t going your way, but really? Yes, I was the one who decided to call your parents. Of course I did. Did you want me to just leave you here in the hospital to figure it all out for yourself? I was just trying to take care of you. If you hate it that much, then maybe I won’t do it anymore.” Blake pushed himself out of the chair and paced across the hospital room. He checked his watch and swore under his breath. “I hate leaving things with you this way, but I’ve got to go. I’m almost scared to ask, but would you like for me to get someone to stay with you until your parents get here? ”
Katie looked up at Blake, sorry for her petulance, and sighed. “No. I’ll be fine. Thank you for coming out here, thank you for taking care of me, and I’m sorry. I know that you’re doing your best. I wish things had turned out differently.”
He crossed the room back to Katie’s bedside, took her hand in his, and leaned over to kiss her gently on her forehead. “Me too, sweetheart, and I’m sorry too. I don’t want to leave you like this, and I don’t think that we’re done with this conversation. Take care of yourself, darlin’.” With that, he left Katie alone in her hospital bed after sparing her one last, sad look, full of regret.
• • •
Blake left the hospital wishing that he could have just a few more days to sort things out with Katie. Even a few more hours would have helped. She was so small and fragile lying in the bed, but she was certainly still feisty enough to argue with him. He laughed to himself, thinking only Katie McCoy would argue with him about whether or not she could perform with a concussion. What she lacked in practicality, she certainly made up for in spirit. Drive like that was what fueled his own rise to the top of his field, though a lot of good that had done him lately. How had he managed to ruin everything so quickly? It seemed like every decision he made with Katie was the wrong one.
Chapter Twelve
John and Sharon McCoy arrived at the Memphis hospital late in the morning and found Katie asleep in her bed. Tears sprang to Sharon’s eyes as she watched her only child sleep. John drew in his breath sharply and tightened his hold on his wife’s hand. Blake Jackson had called the McCoys the night Katie was hurt, had given them all the details, but nothing could have prepared them for the sight of her lying there. Her beautiful creamy skin was pallid with exhaustion and her arms were marred with angry, purple bruises.
Katie stirred, and her eyelids fluttered open. She blinked against the hospital room’s fluorescent lights, confusion clouding her delicate features, and then relief dawned in her eyes when she recognized her parents. She didn’t realize how homesick she was until she saw them standing there, side by side.
Katie stretched and squirmed in the narrow bed, smiled weakly, and said, “Y’all made it.”
John McCoy took his daughter’s hand and looked down at her, and his eyes full of worry. “We’re here, honey. We’re going to take care of you.”
“How are you feeling, sweetheart?” Sharon McCoy looked at her daughter with concern. She ran her hands down the front of her neatly pressed shirtdress, an achingly familiar nervous habit.
“I’m all right. It’s just a little concussion,” Katie laughed weakly. “What would y’all do if something really serious happened to me? You look like you’re about to faint.” She kept her tone light, teasing.
“Well, we’re going to take you home as soon as you get released, and you’ll stay with us until you’re better,” said Katie’s father. He took his glasses off and began wiping them with his shirttail, although there wasn’t a smudge on them.
“I can’t believe it, y’all. I should be in Georgia right now, getting ready for a show. This isn’t how it was supposed to happen.” Tears filled Katie’s eyes and her mother handed her a tissue. “Everything’s falling apart, you know? Nothing is turning out how I thought it would.”
“I know, sugar. I know. Everything’s gonna be all right,” Sharon McCoy said softly as she smoothed Katie’s hair behind an ear.
Katie’s father shifted uncomfortably, and tried to lighten the mood. “So you met Blake Jackson, huh? He seemed really concerned about you when he called us last night.”
“He’s such a nice young man. He made all the arrangements for us so we could get down here as soon as possible, you know. All we had to do was pack our bags and show up. He had his assistant handle everything for us and he paid for everything,” said
Sharon.
“He really is a nice man. He’s done a lot for me, and I never appreciated it. Now he’s gone and I’m going home and I ruined the whole thing.” Katie started crying again as her parents looked at her and each other quizzically.
“It’s all right honey, nothing’s ruined. Everything’s going to be all right.” Sharon patted Katie’s hand and shushed her softly. “Just relax and try to get some rest. Daddy and I will go check on your discharge papers if you want. I’d like to get you out of here and into the hotel. It’s got to be more comfortable than this hospital room.”
“Okay. Do y’all already have somewhere to stay?”
“Mr. Jackson got us a hotel close to the hospital and a rental car. Like I said, honey, he took care of everything. All we had to do was show up.” John gave his daughter a gentle smile.
“Of course he handled everything. He’s a wonderful man.” Tears threatened to fill Katie’s eyes, but she was determined not to cry in front of her parents again. She was so ashamed of herself for berating Blake earlier. Everything he had done was because he cared for her. He had come through when she needed him most, had even helped her family, and she had rewarded him with petulance. Now he was gone, she was going home, and she had refused to even talk to him about their future. How could she have been so stupid? How could she demand all or nothing? Was there really no room for compromise?
To be fair, he was asking an awful lot of her when he wasn’t willing to commit to anything more than staying together as long as it worked out. He couldn’t very well expect the band to wait around to see if she’d return, to postpone their recording schedule, maybe miss out on important gigs. He couldn’t ask her to leave her band, her career, and promise nothing more than a good time while it lasted. No, she was right to stand her ground. Maybe she was a little harsh in the delivery, but she was right to insist that her career be taken seriously. She knew that much.
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