InHap*pily Ever After (Incidental Happenstance)

by DeSalvo, Kim

  Tia watched as all the color drained from Dylan’s face in an instant. He sat up ramrod straight and shot her a look that contained something she’d never before seen in his eyes—fear. “Oh no,” he said, “tell me what happened.” He held up his hand to mimic writing, and Tia pulled her journal and a pen from her purse, opening it to a fresh page. She waited anxiously as Dylan scribbled notes on the paper and then chewed on the end of the pen. “Bloody hell. Is he going to be OK?” she held her breath as he paused. “I’m on my way, Chloe. I’ll be there as soon as I possibly can. Tell him to hold on.”

  He ended the call, and turned to Tia with a heartbroken look on his face. “It’s Bo,” he said frantically. “There’s been an accident, and he’s in hospital.”

  “Oh my God.” Tia was on her feet instantly, and Dylan tossed some bills on the table and led her out of the restaurant just as the server was arriving with their meals. “I’m sorry,” he said as they headed for the door. “There’s been an emergency. We have to go.”

  “What happened, Dyl?” Tia asked as he hustled her out the door and to the car where Mike was sitting behind the wheel. “Is he OK?”

  “I don’t know. He was heading home from LA on his bike and an earthquake hit while he was driving down PCH. That was his mum calling. She’s still on her way to hospital and doesn’t know the extent of anything yet—just that he’s in ICU…” His eyes were wide and darting around aimlessly as he tried to process the information that his best friend was critically injured. Tia knew they both felt the fear profoundly—they’d both suffered through losing someone they loved, and neither thought they could go through the crushing agony again. She remembered the day of Nick’s accident—remembered that the sun was shining, that she’d been wearing shorts for the first time of the season. The foreman from the job found her in the yard, doing some early gardening after a good day at work, and she knew as soon as she’d seen his face that something horrible had happened…

  Tia wrapped her hand in Dylan’s and pulled out her phone with the other, punching Jessa’s number. She relayed the information quickly, and jumped from the car before it even stopped in front of their hotel. “You go check out and I’ll start packing.” Dylan snapped out of his daze and headed for the front desk as Tia dashed for the elevator.

  “Oh my God, what happened?” Lexi asked. Tia and Dylan were on their way to the airport, both frantically making calls to alert everyone they could about the situation.

  “We’re not exactly sure yet,” she answered. “Bo’s mom was still on her way to the hospital when she called and we haven’t heard back from her yet. We’re on our way to the airport right now, and we’re hoping to get there in time to catch the next flight out. All we know at this point is that he’s in ICU and that he has extensive injuries.” She choked on the last words, horrified to associate them with someone she’d come to love like a brother.

  “Holy shit,” she whispered. “How long will it take you get there?”

  “Oh God, it’s going to be the better part of a day.” Her throat constricted and she swallowed hard. She could really feel the distance all of a sudden, and could feel Dylan’s tension in knowing that he couldn’t get to his best friend’s side any sooner. A lot could happen in that amount of time. “That’s if we can catch this flight—it’s going to be close.”

  Lexi was thinking the same thing. “You have to call me as soon as you know something. I’ll be sitting by the phone. Day or night, you need to let me know, OK?”

  “I will. We’re just pulling up to the terminal now. Gotta go.” She cut the connection; and Lexi dropped her phone on the table, put her face in her hands, and wept.

  “What’s wrong?” Ryan asked when he let himself into her apartment a couple hours later and found Lexi sitting on the couch and staring at the wall. “You look like you’ve been crying.”

  She had hoped that she’d be able to hide it, but she couldn’t stop thinking about Bo lying in a hospital bed and possibly fighting for his life. ICU wasn’t a good sign, and she hadn’t heard anything else from Tia. She looked at Ryan, dressed in his favorite sweater and a pair of khakis, and her stomach turned at the thought of trying to keep things light over a casual dinner at one of their favorite restaurants. For the briefest of moments she considered telling him the truth, but after the blow up Ryan had after their television appearance, she wasn’t about to tell him that she couldn’t get Bo Collins off her mind; even if it was for a damn good reason.

  She’d washed her face and reapplied her makeup, but nothing could hide her red-rimmed eyes. “I’m not feeling so good,” she lied, “I think I’m coming down with something.”

  “So, no flaming saganaki, then, I’m guessing?”

  Lexi put her hand over her stomach and cringed. “Oh God no. I really don’t feel like eating anything right now. I’m sorry, I should’ve called you, but I thought that I’d feel better...”

  “How about I pick something up?” he suggested. “We can just chill here and watch a movie or something.”

  “I don’t know,” she said. “If I am coming down with something, the last thing I want to do is give it to you. I should probably just try and sleep it off; get some rest and hope it doesn’t stick.”

  Ryan didn’t bat an eye, and Lexi felt guilty for lying to him. “OK,” he said. “Maybe I’ll call Jace and see if he’s up for some wings or something. Rest up and feel better—I won’t bother you if you’re going to try to sleep, but call me if you need anything.”

  “Thanks, Ry. I think that’s what I need to do. Sorry to make you come all the way out for nothing.”

  “No problem,” he said, kissing her on the forehead. “Hmm. You do feel a little bit feverish, actually; you probably should get some rest.”

  I’m feverish, all right, she thought as she closed the door and grabbed her phone, staring at it and willing it to ring. She opened the fridge, pulling out some leftover chicken and giving it an appraising sniff. Deeming it edible, she dumped it unceremoniously onto a plate and tossed it in to nuke it. She was actually starving, and was glad that her stomach hadn’t rumbled in protest as she was turning down dinner in Greektown.

  There were twelve seconds left on the microwave when her phone chirped, and she rushed into the other room to grab it, relief and trepidation flooding her when she saw that the call was coming from Qantas Airlines.

  “Oh thank God,” she said, falling onto the couch and ignoring the beep of the microwave. “Is he OK? What’s going on?”

  “We still don’t know much, but the latest info is that they’ve airlifted him to UCLA. I guess he’s in pretty bad shape right now, and they’ve got a lot more tests to do before they can assess the damage.” She stopped and took a few deep breaths, but they did nothing to cool the fire of fear that was burning in her gut. “The biggest concern right now is brain swelling, so they put him straight in the ICU once they got him there.”

  “Brain swelling? Holy crap, that sounds horrible. What the hell happened?”

  “He was headed for home on his motorcycle, and an earthquake hit. Not a real bad one, but it had been storming the couple days before and the rain apparently loosened some of the rocks on the cliffs along the PCH. From what the witness says, a rock about the size of a soccer ball hit him right in the head and he was thrown off his bike…” she swallowed hard as her throat constricted. “He hit the ground pretty hard and got pelted with a bunch more before the rock slide finally stopped. Thank God he was wearing a helmet, or it could’ve been…” she paused, unable to finish the sentence, and took a deep breath before continuing. “They do know he’s got a couple cracked ribs, a nasty concussion, a broken arm and a punctured lung. Oh, Lex, his mother said she didn’t recognize him; he’s so swollen and bruised…he’s got a fractured eye socket…”

  “Oh my God,” Lexi breathed.

  “That’s what looks the worst right now, I guess, but the doctors aren’t even going to start looking at most of the injuries until they’re sure his brain is
stable. It’s awful, but the doctors are still saying that he was lucky…it could’ve been much worse.”

  “Oh, poor Bo; I just can’t believe it.”

  Tia choked on a sob. “Bo’s one of the strongest people I know. He’ll be OK, I know he will. Chloe, that’s Bo’s mom, is at the hospital now, but they aren’t giving her a whole lot of information yet. Damn it, I hate that we’re still so far away…”

  Lexi felt some protective instinct rise up inside her and she felt a desperate need to go there; to hold his hand and tell him that he was going to be OK. She knew it wasn’t her place, but she felt so helpless sitting on the phone two thousand miles away. “I know what you mean,” she said. “Are all the guys there?”

  “Everyone but Tommy—he was on a sailing holiday somewhere around St. Croix with some friends and they weren’t able to get a hold of him right away. He’s headed for the nearest harbor where he can get a flight out. Bo’s sister is on her way there too; she lives out East somewhere. Boston, I think.”

  Lexi’s brain conjured up a picture of Bo’s family—she’d never met Ms. Collins, but she imagined that she’d be slightly heavy, with long graying hair, cocoa skin, a warm laugh, and eyes that crinkled like Bo’s did when she smiled. “I’m glad you’re going to be there too, Tia. Keep me updated, and tell him I love him, OK? Tell him he’s too damn stubborn not to pull through just so he can continue to torture the rest of us with his bad jokes.” She sniffed back a sob.

  “I will,” Tia answered. “That’s all I know for now, but I’ll call as soon as I have any more info. Dylan’s going to call Ty for an update in a couple hours, and we should be there by late morning. God I wish this plane would go faster. Poor Dyl; he’s an absolute wreck.”

  “I can’t even imagine. Give him a hug for me and let me know as soon as you have some news.”

  Lexi barely slept; every time she closed her eyes, her mind would conjure up a picture of Bo lying broken in a hospital bed with tubes snaking out of him in all directions. She spent most of the night pacing, and when Ryan let himself into her apartment in the morning and found her curled up under a blanket on the couch, it wasn’t hard to convince him that she still wasn’t feeling well. She felt even more guilty that he’d brought her some tea and her favorite pastry from the bakery down the street to make her feel better, but in spite of his thoughtfulness, she was grateful that he didn’t insist on staying.

  It was late morning before Tia called back. “He’s stable, but that’s all we really know right now,” she reported. “Brie and I are running out to get some food for everyone who’s here. They’re still not letting anyone in to see him, but no one wants to leave.”

  “Who’s Brie?”

  “Bo’s sister. She’s an amazing person; so much like Bo. I love her already—I just wish we weren’t meeting under these circumstances. You’d really like her—she’s edgy, classy, and has a sharp tongue. She’s really holding everyone together; keeping everyone positive. Here she comes now…I’ll call you when we have some real news.”

  Lexi ended the call and sat on the edge of her bed, putting her face in her hands and letting the tears come once again. Helpless didn’t begin to describe what she was feeling, but she had no other way to explain it. Better helpless than hopeless, she thought, bowing her head and saying a prayer that Bo would be OK.

  Tia entered the room quietly, the soft hum of the respirator hissing and clicking in a haunting rhythm, dotted with the bleeps of the heart monitor. She’d waited a long time for her turn to see him, and she pulled up the stool and took Bo’s hand gently in hers. “Oh sweetie, we’re all here for you,” she whispered. “You have a whole team of people outside pulling for you, you know that don’t you?” The only answer was a click from the IV drip, signaling another dose of some yellowish liquid that flowed down the tube and into a vein. Bo’s skin felt thin and papery, and despite his bulky frame he looked so fragile that Tia had to hitch in a breath. “Tommy just got here—he’ll be in to see you in a little bit; and I talked to Lexi—she isn’t here, but she wanted me to tell you that she loves you, and that she’s pray…” the heart monitor beeped three times, out of its normal rhythm, and Tia held her breath as she watched it peak twice, then fall back into a normal pattern. She let out her breath and felt her own heart hammering in her chest. “She’s praying for you too, and she knows you’ll pull through. She says you’re too damn stubborn not to, so just get on with it already, OK? Come on back to us, Bo. We all love you.”

  She found it hard to speak around the tightness in her throat, and she felt the burning sting of tears. Not wanting Bo to hear fear in her voice, if he could hear her at all, she started humming one of InHap’s songs while gently stroking his right arm. Soon, there was a light tapping at the window that indicated her ten minutes were up. “We need you Bo; stay strong,” she whispered before slipping out of the room.

  Chapter 22

  Lexi had fully expected to strut into work on Monday in a hot new outfit that showed off her freshly bronzed skin and bask in the temporary celebrity she’d surely enjoy around the office after her TV appearance. Instead, she dragged herself in after an emotionally taxing weekend clad in a tired old pantsuit and sporting some major bags beneath her eyes. Even the crowd that waited in the lobby, applauding and patting her on the back, did little to boost her spirits, and she had a hard time even forcing a smile. Most of them had heard about Bo’s accident, and asked if she knew anything about his condition.

  Bo was improving, but he still had a long way to go. They were able to cast his arm, but he had yet to regain consciousness and was still in ICU. The doctors were keeping him medicated so both his lung and brain had more time to heal, but the prognosis was good, and they were confident that the brain hadn’t swelled so much or been deprived of oxygen long enough to cause any brain damage. They wouldn’t be sure, however, until he woke up.

  Tia had been keeping her posted, but she still felt out of the loop and wished there was something more she could do besides worry and wait for her phone to ring. She’d sent a big bouquet of flowers, but it felt like an empty gesture. What she really wanted to do was go to him, and tell him how sorry she was for the way she behaved last week.

  She and Ryan were on rocky ground; he’d found out about Bo’s accident and determined that her alleged illness was faked. He was sick of her lying, he said, and sick of being played for a fool. It was stupid not to tell him—she should have realized that he’d find out eventually and know that she’d already been made fully aware, but she had been in some major emotional turmoil and her brain was barely functioning. Or maybe it was functioning enough to know that she didn’t want to deal with the bullshit she was going to get from Ryan one way or the other once he found out. Apparently, he was still pissed about the exchange she’d had with Bo on Tony’s show, and he just couldn’t seem to let it go. It seemed that it didn’t take much to piss Ryan off these days, and she always felt like she was walking on eggshells around him. She couldn’t say exactly when it started, but if she had to pinpoint a time, it would be the day he walked out of the locker room and saw her in Dylan’s arms. The shit really hit the fan, though, on New Year’s Eve, when she got the news of Tia and Dylan’s engagement…

  “I’m really sorry I woke you up, honey… I didn’t want to freak you out by showing up unannounced at four AM, and then I got excited when Tia told me she was engaged, and I couldn’t help it,” she’d said.

  “Oh yeah, the whole fucking world’s gonna be turning cartwheels over that news,” he’d said sarcastically. “At least maybe now you’ll cross him off the list of people you want to fuck.”

  “What the hell do you mean by that?” she answered, her palms up and her shoulders shrugging. “He was the only one on the list, and I crossed him off the minute I found out he was dating my best friend. Months ago. It’s not my fault that you don’t believe me, but that’s not even what’s pissing you off, is it—you’re not that dim.”

  “I’m starting to won
der about that,” he said, shooting daggers from his eyes. “Where’d you spend the night last night, Lex?”

  “At about 30,000 feet, Ryan. On a plane coming back here so we could spend New Year’s Eve together. What are you insinuating?”

  “Always the smart ass,” he hissed. “Let me rephrase that. Where’d you watch the show? Were you with the drummer?”

  For a split second she considered lying, but didn’t see the point. She hadn’t done anything wrong, and had nothing to apologize for as far as that was concerned. “Yes, Bo and I watched the show together. So what?”

  “I see. Dylan is no longer available, so you jumped to someone else in the band? The big black drummer? Are you that desperate to get banged by a celebrity?”

  Before she could think; before she could even form words in her mind to respond to his ridiculous accusation, her hand came up and cracked him across the face. “How dare you,” she hissed. “You have no right…”

  “Don’t I? Put yourself in my goddamn shoes for a minute here, Lexi. I walk out of the locker room at the club and find you in the arms of the guy I practically gave you permission to sleep with—the guy you said was “hotter than hell,” or something to that effect. Then I find out that you not only hid the fact that you knew him, but that the two weeks you spent in Europe weren’t just you and Tia shopping and getting your goddamn nails done, but that you were on tour with the fucking band the whole time.”

  “I had to keep that a secret,” she said. “For Tia’s sake. You know that, Ryan.”

  “What about my sake? I’m your fiancé, Lex. I knew you were hiding something the minute you got back from that damn trip. You were secretive and evasive and shared almost no details—I figured that you’d slept with Miller, and that was why you kept telling me you’d crossed him off your list…”