Fall

Without saying a word to me, he dialed another number and barked into the phone. “Get me a plane.”

He was leaving me?

I tried to pull away but he was too strong. He hung up and gripped my hands. “Pris, we need to go see your sister. She’s in critical care. They had to fly her to Seattle. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

I nodded slowly.

“I’ll help you pack, but we have to go. We may not—” His voice caught. “We may not make it in time.”

That was all it took. I jumped to my feet and looked helplessly around the room. Jaymeson gripped my shoulders. “Grab your overnight stuff. I’ll get some clothes from Alyssa. We’ll leave in ten minutes, okay?”

I nodded. Thankful that he was in control when I couldn’t be.

Thankful that his heart was still beating. When I was pretty convinced mine had just died, cracking my chest wide open.

By the time I’d brushed my teeth, put my hair in a ponytail, and packed what was left of my stuff, Alyssa had come into my room with a bag ready to go and fresh clothing that she laid on the bed.

One look at her swollen face, and I lost it again.

We hugged for what felt like hours.

Jaymeson opened the door, Demetri followed, and without saying anything, they surrounded us, keeping us in their embrace as we all held each other.

“Love,” Jaymeson whispered. “We need to go if we’re going to catch that plane.”

“Are we flying out of Portland?”

“No.” He gripped my hand in his. “Seaside. There’s a private runway a few miles away from here. The plane arrived about five minutes ago from Portland. It’s going to fly us into Seattle.”

“O-okay.” My body hurt. My head hurt. Everything hurt. I couldn’t stop shaking even though I wasn’t cold — just shocked.

“It’s going to be fine,” Alyssa promised, kissing my head and giving me one final hug.

We walked outside and nearly ran into Alec and Nat as they ran up the stairs. Nat pulled me in for a hug while Jaymeson filled Alec in on the details.

Reluctantly, Nat let me go, and they said they’d be waiting to hear news from us. I hated that what was supposed to be a break from touring…

Was more of a break from life.

Jaymeson put our bags in the trunk of his Audi while I got inside. I must have been more out of it than I realized, because he had to reach across and buckle my seatbelt.

It took us exactly ten minutes to get to the airstrip.

But it felt like ten hours.

Every part of my body was heavy, like someone had sliced me open and filled every inch of free space with sand.

“Mr. Jaymeson.” The pilot tipped his hat. “I’m here to take you and your girlfriend to Seattle.”

I almost missed it. The girlfriend part. I was too exhausted to be excited.

“Thanks,” Jaymeson said smoothly.

It took us less than two hours to get to Seattle. Jaymeson didn’t say a word to me — it was weird how well he knew me. If I wanted to talk I would have talked, but I was still trying to process the limited information I had.

When we landed, Jaymeson led me off the runway to a private parking lot where a black limo was waiting.

A man in a uniform opened the door, and took the bags from Jaymeson. Once we were seated, Jaymeson didn’t say anything. He simply grabbed a granola bar and handed it to me. “I know you feel sick, love, but you need to eat.”

I took the bar and nodded. The bar slipped out of my fingers at least a dozen times as I tried to get it open. Why wasn’t my body working?

Jaymeson took the granola bar, opened it, and broke off pieces, handing them to me like I was a small child.

Greedily, I took each piece, chewed, and swallowed.

When I was finished, he reached for my hands and kissed them both. “She’s going to be fine, Pris.”

“How do you know?” I snapped.

He pulled me into his embrace. “I have to believe God wouldn’t take someone so young. I have to. Or I’ll go crazy.”

“Me too, Jaymeson. Me too.”

We rode in silence the rest of the way to Mercy Hospital. Jaymeson walked up to the information desk like he owned the place. “We’re here to see Dani Garcia.”

I’d never told Jaymeson my sister’s name. She hadn’t been at Alec and Nats wedding.

I’d never talked about my family.

The last time I talked to my dad he’d told me to believe in miracles. Where was my miracle now? Now that he and my mom were dead.

I sucked the tears in — needing to be strong for my baby sister. Seventeen. She’d just turned seventeen.

We were barely a year apart.

“And who are you?”

“Her sister and brother-in-law,” Jaymeson said in that same smooth voice that had even me believing we were married. He gripped my hand firmly in his then leveled the nurse with a stare that dared her to question him.

“She’s in ICU. No visitors. Not even family until visiting hours.”

“And that would be… when?” Jaymeson glanced at the clock.

“Two hours.”

He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand. “Look, miss, I know you’re just doing your job. And I respect that there are rules in the hospital that people need to follow. I get that. But this girl right here? She’s the love of my life. Her heart is freaking broken. She just lost her parents and her little sister may be dying. So, excuse me for being frantic, excuse me for losing my shit, but for the love of God, let us through those doors before I give you a reason to call the police.”