“I feel like death, I mean literal death. What time is it?” He saw bright sunshine; it definitely wasn’t the middle of the night anymore.
“It’s almost noon. I was just coming to check on you. We just pulled into Dallas. Did you want to see a doctor? Rick said if you do, we need to go now. If we’re gonna have to cancel the show, we’ll need to do it as soon as possible.”
“Cancel the show, my ass,” Garrett grumbled as he flung his feet over the side of the bunk and attempted to stand. He swayed and Jared reached out, grabbing him around the arms.
“You need to see what a doctor says first before you start talking out of your ass,” Jared scolded. “Do you need help or what?”
“No.” He stood for a second and gathered his bearings. “I got it.”
“If you’re sure.” Jared stood behind him, following him up the narrow hallway.
Jared watched as Garrett grabbed a blanket and put it around himself before collapsing on the couch. “Can you tell Rick that I do need to go to the doctor, but he’s got to give me a minute.”
“Sure, I’ll be right back.”
Garrett saw his phone lying on the side table and grabbed it. Frowning when he saw missed calls from Hannah, he noticed someone had spoken with her for fifteen minutes the night before. He’d have to figure out who jacked his phone. It appeared he had notifications and a couple of texts from his mom and one from Hannah too. Scrolling through, he immediately clicked on one that showed it was from Instagram from Hannah’s feed. What popped up was a picture of her smiling, making a heart with her hands in front of the camera. She wore the ‘Reaper’s Girl’ shirt and what she had put below it made him crack a semblance of a smile.
Really hoping @ReaperBF feels better! The boyfriend needs to not be sick!
Boyfriend? So she had finally done it. She had finally allowed herself to put a label on it. He liked that. He liked that a lot. Flipping back to his texts, he saw more of the same from her, telling him that she hoped he felt better.
Your boyfriend feels like shit. I’m going to see a doctor here in a bit. I’ll let you know what they say. Cute pic btw!
Knowing what time it was, he didn’t expect a response from her very quickly. Country radio was different than rock radio. Most of his interviews were done at night, most of hers done in the afternoon. Not even bothering to read the text from his mom, he just dialed her number.
“How are you? I saw Hannah’s post that you’re sick.”
“Hey to you too, mom,” his voice was rough, even to his own ears.
“You sound like crap there, son. You going to the doctor?”
“Yeah, I’m trying to get up the energy to put on clothes so that I can,” he admitted to her.
“Do you have a fever?”
“Pretty sure I do. I’ve had the chills off and on all night, and my whole body hurts. My throat feels rough, and my head is so heavy it feels like it could fall off my neck,” he complained. Even though he complained, it felt so good to complain to his mom, didn’t matter how old he got.
“Sounds like you have the flu. Have you been keeping hydrated?”
“No, I haven’t. I slept forever, and I just woke up…I feel really weak, so I think I’m dehydrated.”
She whistled. “Do I need to come out there and help you out?”
He smirked. “Mom, I’m twenty-nine years old.”
“You would prefer your girlfriend be there?”
Garrett grinned, that woman didn’t miss a damn thing.
“I would like it if she was here, but I wouldn’t want to infect her either. I’m a grown man; I can deal with this on my own.”
Marie laughed. “You’ve never been able to deal with that kind of stuff on your own, but if you think you can this time, you go right ahead. Let me know what the doctor says. Your dad says hi, and he hopes that you feel better. He’s out golfing today.”
“Jealous!” Garret grumbled into the phone. “You need to get him to start using that cell phone I bought him.”
“I would have better luck convincing him to pierce his nipples.”
“Mom!” He ran his hand over his aching forehead and closed his eyes. “Seriously? Did you have to go there?”
“It’s the truth. You and I both know it. He hates technology.”
Someone walked into the living area and Garrett glanced up, seeing Rick. “Hey, I gotta go. Rick’s here, and I’m going to go see a doctor. Love you and tell dad that I love him too.”
“You feel better, and if you need anything you can call me. Love you, be careful, and do what the doctor tells you.”
They hung up and Garrett threw the phone on his stomach. “I guess I have to get dressed, huh?”
“As much as I know you want to just lay around here, I got you an appointment, and we need to get over there. I don’t like how pale you’re looking there, buddy. You were knocked out last night, and that’s really unlike you,” Rick told him as he put his hand out to help Garrett up off the couch.
“I know. I missed all kinds of stuff on my phone, and you know I usually have that thing up my ass. It’s my lifeline.”
Rick grinned. “You gotta keep in touch with the fans and that girlfriend of yours.”
“Who talked to her last night? Do you know? She talked to somebody for like fifteen minutes according to the call log. Makes me nervous.”
“The only person back here late last night was Jared. I’m sure he was just telling her how you were doing.”
Garrett hoped that was all they were talking about.
* * *
Hannah rolled her neck on her shoulders to release the tension that had built throughout her long day. Visiting radio stations could be fun and draining at the same time. This being her third one for the day, it was starting to be a drain. She sat in the booth, answering questions from fans and the male and female DJ.
“We have another question from a caller. You’re on the phone with Harmony Stewart, what’s your question?”
“Hi Harmony.” She heard the voice of what sounded like a young girl.
“Hey, whatcha got for me?” Hannah asked, smiling at the upbeat voice.
“I never would have thought that you and Reaper would be together. He seems like a completely different type of person than you. What attracted you to him?”
Hannah had been waiting for something like this all day. Somehow she had the feeling that fans would want to ask questions about her relationship.
“She’s blushing,” the DJ teased her. “But you have to admit, you two don’t look like you run around with the same crowd.”
“I agree,” she nodded, even though only he could see her. “But he is a really good guy with a good heart.”
“A guy named Reaper?”
She giggled, and the DJ kept going.
“Listen to her giggle. I wish y’all could see her now.”
“No, seriously, he’s a really nice guy, and it’s not like Reaper’s his real name. But yeah, he’s got pretty awesome green eyes too.”
“I personally like his tattoo’s,” the female DJ added. “I don’t like them on everybody, but on him they work.”
“That they do,” Hannah agreed. “While we’re at it, there’s a slim chance he might be listening. I hope he’s feeling better.”
“We saw your message on Instagram this morning,” the male DJ told her. “What’s wrong with him?”
“I’m not sure. When I called last night, I ended up talking to one of the other band members, Train…”
The female DJ interrupted. “He’s my favorite. I’m officially jealous.”
“I’m jealous of them all because they get to hang out with Harmony!”
“Now that’s something to be jealous of.” Hannah grinned, thankful that he had taken the heat off of her relationship with Garrett.
“Thanks for hanging out with us today, Harmony.”
“It’s been my pleasure.” She felt her phone vibrate in her back pocket and wanted to fish it out, but she had b
een ingrained to display good manners around all members of the press since she had started in the business.
“Y’all be sure and check out her show tonight. There are no tickets available, but we will be giving away two pairs tonight…we’ll leave you with the newest hit by Harmony Stewart, and we’ll keep them rolling.”
They shut off the switch that broadcast them to the airwaves, and Hannah stood up, stretching her arms over her head. “Thanks for having me today. I appreciate it.”
“Thanks for coming. We’re lookin’ forward to the show tonight,” the female DJ told her, giving her a hug.
When she was finally out of the building, she pulled the phone out and scrolled quickly, seeing a text from Garrett.
Flu, on an IV, this sucks!
Accompanying the text was a picture of his hand taped up, an obvious IV there. She dialed his number as she walked to her transportation for the day.
“Hey.”
The voice that answered did not sound like the one she associated with him at all. “Garrett?”
“Yeah, I know I sound rough. Feel pretty rough too. Sorry I missed you last night.”
“It’s okay. I had a good talk with Jared anyway.”
“With Jared? Really? What did the two of you talk about?” It was nice to talk to her, to hear her voice soothed him.
“Believe it or not, you and Shell, but mostly you.”
“What did you have to say about me?” He coughed and she cringed.
“It wasn’t me; it was Jared telling me I better not hurt his best friend.”
That was nice to hear after everything that had gone on between him and Jared. Trying to get Jared to clean up had driven a wedge between the two of them. They were still close, but not as close as they once were. To hear that he cared enough to tell Hannah that gave Garrett hope that maybe they could work past everything.
“That’s a bromance for you.”
“It sure is,” she agreed. “So how are you feeling?”
He put his arm over his head, trying to get comfortable with the IV in his arm. “Pretty shitty. We’re having to cancel the next few shows. I might be in here overnight, depending on if my counts go up.”
“Really? I didn’t realize it was that serious,” she told him, biting her lip.
“I was running a pretty high fever when they got me here, and I ran one all last night. I haven’t been able to keep much liquid in me, so I’m dehydrated and I’m just feeling bad right now.”
“I’m so sorry that you’re sick.”
“It’s okay. I don’t get sick often, but when I do, I do it up. Pray that you don’t get it. You were around me.” He cleared his throat, and she could hear him moving around.
“I’m sure I’ll be fine, I took my flu shot.” she wanted to say more, but her car pulled up to the Fort Worth Auditorium and the door opened. “I gotta go get ready for my show tonight, but I’ll talk to you later,” she told him.
“Yeah, it’s not like I’m going anywhere. Every time I stand up, the room does a nice spin for me. Needless to say, I’ll be here. I have my computer so maybe we can Skype?”
“Definitely,” she agreed.
They ended the call, and she put her game face on. It was time to go do some work.
Chapter Seventeen
* * *
“Are you sure this is goin’ to be okay?”
Jared glanced at Hannah again. “Have you never broken a rule in your life?”
His face was so sour, she had to laugh. “I don’t like having other people mad at me,” she protested, walking closely behind him as they entered the hospital.
“You’re going to have to get over that. At some point you’re going to make people mad. You get over it, they get over it, and then you move on.”
She admired that and wished she could be more like that. All her life she had hated to disappoint anyone or make them unhappy in any way. “I’ll work on that,” she told him as they got onto the elevator and he pressed the button for the floor Garrett was on.
Visiting hours had yet to start, but Jared assured her that he’d spoken with Garrett and he was definitely awake. She was hoping they didn’t get busted.
“This is the slowest damn elevator ever,” Jared cursed.
“I know,” Hannah said as she looked up at the floors numbers as they increased. A flash caught the corner of her eye, and she snapped up to see Jared holding his phone. “What did you do?” she asked, putting her hand through her hair.
“I’m gonna show everybody what a rule breaker you are, Ms. Stewart,” he laughed.
She watched as he pressed buttons on his phone, obviously uploading the picture somewhere. “Did you put that on Twitter?”
“Yup, and Instagram. Told everybody you were breaking the rules to see your hot boyfriend.”
Hannah rolled her eyes. “You’re going to get something started, mark my words. At some point, y’alls female fans are going to hate my guts.”
“Don’t worry.” He put his arm around her as they stepped off the elevator. “We like you, so we won’t let them be too mean to you.”
She cut her eyes over at him. “You obviously know nothing about women. We’re meanest to each other and, good grief, can we backstab.”
“Glad I’m not a chick,” he smirked, directing her to the room that Garrett was occupying. He knocked lightly before pushing the door open. “You still alive in here?”
From the bed, Garrett flipped Jared off.
“Now, be nice to me, I brought somebody to see you.”
Garrett opened his eyes and turned his head to face the door. “Hey,” he grinned, seeing Hannah standing behind Jared.
“Hey, are you feeling better?” she asked, stepping forward and walking over to his bed.
“I am,” he told her, reaching his hand out as far as it would go with the IV still there.
“I’m going to meet Shell for coffee,” Jared mentioned. It was so nonchalant; the both of them almost didn’t hear him.
They stared at him open-mouthed.
“What? I called, she answered. While Hannah’s up here checking on you, I’ll be across the street having coffee with Shell. Just let me know when you’re ready to leave,” he said to Hannah.
“That wench, didn’t even tell me,” she laughed as she watched Jared’s back disappear out the door.
Having a seat on the chair next to the bed, Hannah took a good look at him. “You look like crap.”
He laughed and coughed at the same time. “Gee, thanks. That makes me feel so much better.”
“I say that in the best way possible. At least we know that you aren’t playing hooky,” she teased.
“I haven’t played hooky since my senior year of high school, thank you very much,” he told her, rolling around in the bed to get himself situated.
“So you had to cancel some shows?”
Having someone to talk to about the business side of things was going to be interesting, he decided. No one else in his life, as far as a girlfriend, had ever been able to understand what he went through. It felt good not having to explain everything.
“Yeah, we’re going to pick them up on the backend of the tour. The insurance won’t allow us to cancel completely and refund the money, so instead of getting done in April, we’ll be done the first week of May,” he sighed.
“It’s not your fault, you know?”
“I know, but I hate that some of the crew will have to cancel vacations. A lot of them don’t see their families much as it is, and I just hate that they’re having to let their families down because of me. I just feel bad.” He had to stop and cough loudly, causing her to cringe.
“But listen to you; you can’t go on stage like that. You have an obligation to the fans too. You can’t please everybody, Garrett.” She reached out and grabbed his hand. “If you’re not there to sing, then most people don’t even wanna go to the show. Let’s be honest here. You’re the hot frontman that all the women come to see and all the men want to be like. You
have to be there to make the money so that the crew can take those vacations. It’s a double-edged sword, but I do understand where you’re coming from.”
He put his hands on his forehead. “It feels like I’m letting everybody down.”
“Now you’re just being dramatic,” she laughed.
He side-eyed her and crossed his arms over his chest before cracking a smile. “You’re right, I am. I just don’t wanna be here. I’d much rather be hacking a lung up on stage.”
Hannah opened her mouth to say something when someone knocked on the door. They looked at each other wide-eyed.
“Give me just a sec,” he told the person on the other side. He motioned for her to go into the bathroom.
Giggling, she grabbed her stuff and went inside, shutting the door quietly. Sound was muffled through the door, but from what she could gather; Garrett would be going home and was being discharged with some medication and strict orders for rest. When she heard the door to the room open and shut again, she stuck her head out slowly.
“Doctor and nurse are gone, you’re safe you little lawbreaker,” he grinned.
His disposition was decidedly happier now that he was going to be released. He grabbed his clothes and went to the bathroom to change.
“Do you want me to call Jared to come get you?” she asked before he closed the door.
“Yes, let’s blow this joint!”
* * *
It was blessedly quiet as Hannah lounged with her notebook propped on her knees. She glanced over to the side where Garrett slept. Instead of being on his tour bus, he had taken her offer of coming back to her hotel with her. He needed rest, and they agreed that he could probably get it better with her than he could on a bus full of men. Without a thought, she had re-arranged her schedule to allow both of them to stay at the hotel that night.
In sleep his face was relaxed, and he looked years younger. Faint freckles dotted his nose, and his eyelashes looked incredibly long against his cheeks. She couldn’t believe that this was the person she called her boyfriend. The part of her brain that had been hurt when Ashton cheated on her screamed in this instance that she better enjoy it while it lasted because he wouldn’t be around for long.
Only The Beginning (Rockin' Country) Page 11
