Page 80 of Trick
He closed his eyes, causing a lone tear to trail down over his cheek. The nurse bustled in at that moment, and Jase surreptitiously wiped under his eyes as she sat a cup of ice chips down and draped the warm blanket over me. He took the pillow from her and carefully placed it under my head, and I reached for his hand as he sat back down.
“You have some visitors, Lauren, but I’m afraid we can only allow two people back at a time.”
“I’ll go see who’s here,” Jase said, slipping from the room.
The nurse told me to press the call button if I needed anything before she left as well.
Jase came back a few minutes later with King, who immediately came to the side of the bed and leaned down to brush a kiss on my forehead. He looked me over carefully, his mouth flattening to a grim line as he took in the redness and bruising already forming around my neck.
I tried to ask about Tony, but as soon as I opened my mouth. Jase chided me. “Type it on the phone, darlin’. The code is zero-nine-one-zero-seven-zero. Mom’s birthday,” he added gruffly.
I squeezed his hand, then duly typed Tony’s name and a question mark into the phone, then flipped the screen around to show it to King.
He glanced at it, then told me Tony had a concussion. “They’re gonna keep him here for observation since he was unconscious for a while, but he’s gonna be fine. He has one helluva headache, but he’s more worried about you than anything else. He’s feeling guilty as hell that you got hurt on his watch.”
I frowned, then typed out, “There seems to be a lot of that going around.” I flipped the phone around, then looked pointedly at Jase.
King nodded, then explained that JD had told Tony that he’d come to the studio after receiving an alert that the back doorleading to the supply room had been opened. “That’s the last thing he remembers.”
He only stayed for a minute or two more, since Jagger, Rome, and Lucky were waiting to see me, too. Jase handed me the cup with the ice chips and urged me to have some. I did, mainly because I knew it would make him feel better.
Rome came in first, although I only knew it was him because of the cherry blossom tattoo that peaked out over the neckline of his T-shirt. There were subtle differences between him and his twin, but I still couldn’t tell them apart unless Rome’s ink was visible or they were with their wives.
Jagger came in next, and kissed my cheek just as Rome had, only Jagger went for the left side, and Rome had gone for the right. I was silently amused, because Molly had mentioned once that they were mirror twins who had a bit of mental telepathy at times that freaked her out.
Lucky came in last, bending to give me a gentle hug before telling me he was glad I was going to be OK.
“This guy has been worried sick about you,” he said, thumbing over his shoulder where Jase was sitting.
He left after a few moments, leaving me alone with Jase once again.
“He’s right, you know,” Jase said softly, rubbing his thumb absently over the back of my hand. “I tried calling both of you to let you know I was finished early and would meet you there. I wasn’t too worried when you didn’t answer since I figured you were in the middle of recording, but I freaked the fuck out when Tony didn’t answer any of my calls either.”
He chuckled grimly, then told me he’d probably broken every traffic law on the books trying to get to the studio.
I squeezed his hand, tugging him closer as I sat up and leaned over the edge of the bed rail. He got the hint and met me halfway so I could give him a kiss.
“Thank you,” I whispered. My voice sounded scratchy as hell, but my throat didn’t hurt nearly as much, so the pain meds had apparently kicked in.
“Lauren,” Jase warned, but I placed my finger over his lips.
“Meds are working. Doesn’t hurt much.” I wasn’t up to using complete sentences, but I could at least speak in verbal shorthand without too much strain.
He smiled and shook his head fondly, then pressed a quick kiss to my lips.
“Lie back and rest, darlin’. You need it after the night you’ve had.”
The meds were making me feel a bit drowsy, so it didn’t take long for me to fall asleep. I woke when the doctor came in, and I was surprised to find that not quite an hour had passed.
She told us that she’d just looked at the scans, and the results were better than she’d expected.
“You have some swelling to the soft tissue of the pharynx, which is what’s causing the pain when you speak or swallow. That should resolve by itself over the next few days, and you’ll be able to manage the pain with over-the-counter meds. The good news is that the cartilage and ligaments are intact in your larynx and trachea, and there’s no damage to the hyoid bone. I have every confidence that you’ll make a complete recovery with no lasting effect on your voice.”
Jase slumped back in his chair in relief, and I took a deep breath, finally acknowledging the fear that had been building in the back of my mind every time I tried to speak.
“Now, your oxygen level is good and holding steady, but we are going to keep you overnight for observation to make certain that the swelling doesn’t worsen to the point that it blocks your airway and affects your breathing. If all goes well, we can likely send you home tomorrow afternoon.”
“That’s great news. Thank you, doctor,” Jase said, standing up to shake her hand.
