Page 154 of Harrison's Wedding

“Well, I’m not going to complain about having you here, that’s for sure.”

We talk about our lives before and after what happened for over an hour, and we’re interrupted twice by a nurse to do observations. There’s a knock at the door after that, and Cooper walks into the room. I immediately tense up as I think about what I agreed to do with Heather, and knowing that we have to mention it to Cooper.

“Well, this has been a complete nightmare,” he announces as he walks to stand at the end of my bed. “We’ve had to reschedule a shitload of interviews to be done via phone and satellite feed from Chicago.”

“Yes, I’m fine, thanks for asking,” I tell him coolly.

“Obviously. Since we’re talking. We should fire that bodyguard of yours,” Cooper scoffs.

I glare at him, annoyed by the suggestion because, by all accounts, the accident wasn’t even Michael’s fault. “No.”

“Well, you’ve got broken ribs, and he’s already home safe and sound.”

Michael sent me a text last night apologizing for the accident and enquiring about my wellbeing because the hospital wouldn’t tell him anything.

“Which is great because I’m personally glad he’s not hurt.”

“Right. Well, I’ve got a busy day today since my band won’t be doing any of the interviews they’re meant to be doing, and I have to reschedule everything.”

He begins to turn toward the door, and I say quickly, “Actually, speaking of interviews”—I see Heather stiffen out of the corner of my eye—“Heather and I were thinking of giving one about that night.”

“What the fuck? No.” Cooper shakes his head.

Heather sighs and says, “We’re going to do it, and we need your help to liaise with Aaron Hamilton or whatever lawyers about what we can and can’t say. We would also like you to approach Maddy about participating if she wants to.”

“Why the hell would you want to do that?” He gives her a quizzical look, clearly unable to understand.

“This whole thing has been a nightmare for everyone involved. There are so many lies flying around because the only official announcement was the press conference. Heading into the publicity forGames We Play, there are bound to be questions about it, anyway. This way, we can control the narrative, and Harrison won’t be on the back foot in those interviews.”

Cooper doesn’t respond immediately, but after a few seconds, he frowns and says, “I’ll have some discussions and get back to you. Anything else?” We both shake our heads in sync. “Okay, then. I’ll talk to you later.”

He leaves the room and I blow out a breath of air into the silence left in his wake.

“Good thinking tying it back to the promotion ofGames We Play,” I tell Heather.

“Somehow, I didn’t think he would give a shit about Maddy’s life or reputation,” she cringes.

“You’re almost certainly right.”

Not long after that, Hayden, Sebastian, and Gabriel turn up. Their bodyguards stand in the hallway with Callum as they enter the room.

“Lover! I should’ve known you’d be here. It’s good to see you.” He gives her a hug before turning to me. “Look, I completely understand wanting to ditch interviews to stay in Chicago with Heather, but you could’ve just faked a bout of gastro or something.”

“I’ll keep that in mind next time,” I laugh.

He grins at me, then moves over by the window, allowing Hayden and Gabriel to greet us both.

“So, how did the interviews go yesterday?” I ask them.

Gabriel laughs, “Yeah, not great. For the first couple, we weren’t sure if you were going to survive. Then, after that, we gave up trying to pretend things weren’t shit and just told them outright you’d been in an accident because it was all over the internet at that point, anyway. We came home as soon as we could, but they wouldn’t let us visit last night.”

“Well, I’m glad you were able to visit today,” I smile at them.

“How are you feeling?” Sebastian asks.

I turn to Heather and smile at her before looking back at him. “Really good, actually.” I turn to Hayden. “Did you bring the thing I asked for?”

He nods. “Yeah, I did.” He reaches into a bag he’s brought with him and pulls out the necklace box that contains my necklace and the ring. “Here,” he says as he holds it out to me.

---