Page 86 of Rock Bottom

I fell asleep on the ride to the hospital, too exhausted to stay awake even with the siren blaring.

The next time I woke up, I was in a hospital room. Sunlight streamed through a big window with built-in blinds. I tried to move my fingers, but found my hands bound in layers upon layers of gauze. I turned my head and smiled at the sight of Church sleeping in the chair amidst a pile of cards and flowers.

“You know,” I said, and he jerked awake with a snort, “I’m a little disappointed this is the first time I got to see you asleep.”

“Dante! You’re awake!” He jumped to his feet and half picked me up from the bed, engulfing me in a big hug.

I hugged him back as best I could with my hands—and apparently my arms—wrapped in gauze. “Sorry to keep you waiting. How long was I out?”

“Not long. Just overnight. Long enough for them to give you the royal treatment.” He let me go but stayed hovering over the bed. “How do you feel?”

I hummed and checked myself over. Other than some mild pain in my limbs and a dull headache, I seemed fine. Even my ankle, which I was sure I’d broken, didn’t hurt too badly when I moved it, but it did click. I must’ve just sprained it because there was only a light brace on it.

“I don’t know. I’m a little sore, but that’s nothing you can’t fix for me, kitten.” I wiggled my fingers enough that I could curl them just a little and used my newfound finger freedom to grab my man by the collar and pull him down for a kiss.

Wattson cleared his throat from the doorway. “I can come back later if I’m interrupting.”

Church’s face turned an adorable shade of pink as I released him.

“Nope,” I said with a big grin. “I’m feeling better already.”

“Right.” Wattson adjusted his glasses and came into the room. He wasn’t wearing his white coat, but he still looked very much like a doctor, even in his boring blue button up. “I just came from talking to the attending. There’s no serious damage. The worst thing is the sprained ankle, but they wanted to keep you another night. I talked them into releasing you into our care instead. He didn’t go for it at first until I showed him this.”

Wattson picked up a TV remote and turned on the crappy little TV in the corner of the room, switching it over to a news broadcast. I frowned as I read the ticker at the bottom: AFTER ATOM FRONTMAN IN HOSPITAL.

“God,” I muttered, rolling my eyes. “They could’ve at least used my name. I’m not a dancing monkey. I’m a whole person, you know.”

“I thought Boone said he was keeping Dante out of the news,” Church said.

“He made sure Dante was checked in under a pseudonym, but even he can’t keep a story like this quiet forever.” Wattson shut off the TV. “Hocking Valley Community Hospital doesn’t have the security to handle the crowds that are about to descend on this place, so we’re going to move you out the back way in an unmarked car. They’re working on the discharge paperwork now. I was also told to tell you that the brass from the label and the rest of the band are flying in. We’re meeting them in two hours in the yard.”

Church pinched the bridge of his nose. “This is a nightmare. They’re going to be pissed.”

“Fuck them,” I said, trying to take Church’s hand. “You saved me. If they say anything bad about you, I’m going to put them in their place. You did nothing wrong.”

Wattson eyed our hands together and huffed. “I’ll go see if I can hurry things along,” he said, and left.

Church sighed. “Dante, about Oscar…”

“He’s dead, isn’t he?” If he was alive, they’d be reporting his arrest instead of my minor injuries. A crazy violent stalker was bigger news than my scrapes and bruises.

Church gave my bandaged hands a light squeeze, but he didn’t look at me. “He jumped off a cliff right in front of me. I tried to stop him, but I couldn’t.”

“Oh, Christian.” I put my arms around him and pulled his head to my chest. “You did the best you could. You know that, don’t you? What happened with Oscar wasn’t your fault.”

He cleared his throat and shook his head. “There will be an investigation into what happened. The higher-ups are going to want someone to put the blame on, and I’m the best option. If I don’t take the heat for everything that happened, it’ll fall on Boone.”

I took his face in my hands and lifted it so he’d look at me. “There isn’t going to be heat from this. You did everything right, went above and beyond what anyone else has ever done for me. If the label or my manager or anybody tries to start something, I’ll walk.”

He blinked rapidly and gently pulled free. “Dante, you can’t do that. Music is your life. You love singing.”

“I didn’t say I’d stop singing. Just that I’d walk from After Atom if I had to. Pretty sure I could be the next John Lennon if I went solo.”

He cringed. “Lennon was assassinated.”

“Paul McCartney, then.” I started singing “Can’t Buy Me Love”, but it wasn’t the same without being able to play the guitar or at least snap my fingers. The cuts on my hands were going to have to get better pronto.

“All right, Sergeant Pepper,” Church said, standing. “Don’t get ahead of yourself. It’d be silly for you to give up anything because of me.”

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