Code Blue (The Sierra View Series Book 3)

by Max Walker

  “I’m honored,” Crow said playfully as he climbed the steps back up to the tour bus. “It was great meeting you all!”

  Angela huffed, her shoulders visibly slumping as the door hissed shut, leaving the girls outside, scrolling through all the selfies they had just taken. “We can’t have that.”

  “Relax, Ang, they’re just star struck kids. Least I could do is take a few photos with them.” Crow walked over to the mini-fridge that was set under the white marble kitchen counter. Jordan tried handing him a glass of champagne, but Crow waved it off. The overhead lighting bounced off the shiny surfaces, causing the stainless steel handles to pop. He bent down, opened the fridge, and grabbed himself a bottle of water.

  “No, it really can’t.” Angela’s tone changed. “This is the other piece of bad news.” She was no longer in business mode, getting things done and getting them done right. She sounded… emotional? Crow looked her way as she reached into her back pocket and pulled out a crumpled note.

  Crow was shocked as realization dawned on him.

  “Another one?”

  6 Ethan Winter

  The hospital intercom buzzed to life as a nurse called for a physician for one of the rooms. Ethan double checked his beeper to make sure no one was asking for him. He entered the break room, four other nurses and two fellow doctors already inside. It was a pretty large break room, seating about twenty, with two long tables down the center and comfortable seating all throughout. There was a large window on the far side of the room that gave a beautiful view of the surrounding mountains, cutting across the bright blue sky like paper mache figures, popping in contrast with the world around them. It had been uncharacteristically rainy for Los Angeles lately, which besides causing everyone to immediately forget all the rules of the road, also meant that the hillsides were bright green with lush trees and foliage that brought an entirely different feel to the city. Ethan was reminded of Hawaii when he glanced out at the emerald green, a much better alternative to the dry brown brush they had months ago.

  “Ethan! Just the man I needed to see.” It was Mariah Carpenter, a fellow family doctor who moonlighted at Sierra View. Her long brunette locks bounced on the front of her white coat. Ethan always joked that if medicine didn’t work out, she could easily make a living in shampoo commercials.

  “Hey, Mariah, what’s up?”

  “She wants you to take over her prostate exams for today,” said Dean Harper, an emergency doctor. He was sitting down at the closest table, the scent of his famous homemade lasagna wafting up from his paper plate.

  “I definitely do no not,” Mariah said, her eyes wide. Ever since Dean had started dating his fiancé, his jokes were just rolling off the sleeves of his white coat. Ethan remembered noticing that shift; Dean went from a stern guy who rarely smiled to someone who couldn’t hold back a joke, even if it was a little risqué.

  “Mhmm,” Dean said with a laugh. “I didn’t know you were so attached to those exams.”

  “Anyways,” Mariah said, chuckling as she turned her attention back to Ethan. “I was offered an opportunity that I unfortunately had to turn down, and I think you would, hands down, be the best person to take my place.”

  “Oh?”

  “No offense, Dean.”

  Dean waved his fork in the air. “None taken.”

  “Ethan, I wanted to ask if you would take my place as a traveling doctor with a national music tour. It’s for a guy named Crow Kensworth, not sure if you’ve heard of him. Apparently he’s huge on the internet.”

  Ethan’s eyebrows shot up. This had to be a joke. Somehow, Mariah was in on it and everyone in the room was gathered together to laugh at the cruel prank.

  But… how would she have known about last night?

  “I know, it’s crazy. I have to stay here in LA, but I’ll be more than willing to split your patient load with myself and Dr. Osbourne. He already said he wouldn’t mind. Cherry was originally supposed to go, but with her and their little baby Julie, well, she didn’t want to be far.”

  Ethan’s mind was storming like a category five hurricane. He couldn’t believe he had woken up that morning from a dream involving the very same man he was being offered to travel around the country with. It had been so long since he had woken up with that warm sadness that accompanied the realization that an amazing dream was just that: a dream.

  But this certainly wasn’t a dream. This was reality, and Mariah was expecting an answer.

  “Sorry,” Ethan said, the only word forming in the turbulence of his mind. “I can’t.”

  Mariah cocked her head, arms now crossed. “Ethan, I promise, everything here will be taken care of. It’ll only be for three months and then you’ll be home again. Didn’t you always talk about how badly you wanted to take a road trip? This is your shot, Ethan.”

  “Yeah, plus, you’ll be getting paid to do it,” Dean added.

  “Why do they need a doctor with them, anyway?”

  “Patient confidentiality,” Mariah said, “but they wouldn’t ask if they didn’t need one.”

  “Right, of course.” Ethan was getting a little snappy. It happened when he grew overwhelmed, and this was one of those moments. Normally, he was fine with thinking on his feet. As a doctor, that was one of the mandatory requirements. He was often presented with cases that had him thinking outside of the box, especially with working at a hospital for the majority of his time. Weird cases always popped up. This was just one of those weird cases demanding a quick answer. An answer that could potentially alter the rest of his life.

  He had to take a breath.

  “Sorry, I shouldn’t have just dumped this on you.” Mariah sighed, her eyes filling with something else. Sadness? “I thought… well, I thought getting out of here could really help you.”

  Ethan took the breath. A sharp inhale. He knew what Mariah was referring to. Everyone in the damn room knew.

  And, you know what?

  Mariah was right. He did need to get out of Los Angeles. Away from it all. There were too many memories here: from palm trees to bar booths, from unforgettable date spots to streets that felt all too familiar. He had to go.

  But now? And on Crow’s tour? That was a recipe for disaster, he could feel it in his bones.

  Or was that something else he was feeling?

  “Fine,” Ethan said, the feeling in his bones spreading, warming him. Adrenaline. Excitement. Nerves. He was beginning to feel it all. He had no idea what saying yes to this would bring, but there was something big on the horizon, he couldn’t deny that.

  “Oh, great! Thank you, thank you,” Mariah said, a smile spreading across her face as he clapped her hands together. “I know it’s out of the blue, but I think you’ll really enjoy yourself. Plus, the singer is a total hottie. I looked him up last night and woooow.”

  Ethan was about to bring up meeting him, but he figured it was better off left unsaid. He felt like it was almost too crazy to sound real. What were the chances that the one man he was enraptured by was the same man who would be touring the country with him?

  Fuckin’ crazy.

  7 Crow Kensworth

  It was the next day and Crow was feeling back to a hundred percent. His limbs no longer felt useless and his brain was functioning at full capacity. Apparently, he also looked better too, according to Jordan, who was now offering him a Bloody Mary.

  “I’m ok, I promise,” Crow said, moving over to the table. Troy climbed onto the bus, followed by Angela. She was looking a little more casual in a black t-shirt and light jeans with ‘designer’ tears along the front. Franklin, his drummer, knocked on the door, which Angela had shut behind her. She cursed an apology and pressed the button to open the door, air hissing out as it opened.

  “Sorry,” she said again as Franklin climbed up, his dark jeans intact but worn out at the knees. The bus could comfortably sleep seven, so they still had room for two more people. There were three bunk beds and then one king bed inside of the master bedroom, all the way at the en
d of the bus.

  “It’s alright,” Franklin said, grabbing the Bloody Mary that Crow had turned away.

  “So, what’s this letter thing everyone’s freaking out about?” It was Troy who asked. He sat down at the table across from Crow. Angela took the seat next to him, producing the note.

  “You keep that with you everywhere you go?” Troy asked with a chuckle as he grabbed it and unfolded it.

  “Our fingerprints are all over, so not like the cops are going to do anything with it. Hell, even if there were fingerprints, it’s not really actionable.” Angela shrugged as she unlocked her iPad and went straight to her emails.

  Troy’s eyes got wider and wider as he read the note. Franklin’s interest was peeked, seeing as he shouted, “read it out loud!” from inside the bathroom.

  “Dear Crow,” Troy started, adopting the voice of a dreamy teenage girl. “Your tour is going to introduce you to the world, so I wanted to let you know—before anyone else got any ideas—that you’re mine. All mine. I was there from the beginning, and I’ll be there for the end… Sorry that sounds so creepy, but it’s the truth. I won’t lie to you, baby. Ever. And I know you’re wondering who this is from, and you’ll definitely find out, but not just yet. I have to wait for the right time, otherwise I could risk losing you. So, keep on singing your heart out, I’ll be there with you every note along the way! Love, your number one fan.”

  “Holy shit!” Franklin yelled.

  “Yeah, I know,” Crow said, feeling a bad case of the chills coming on. “I mean, I’ve gotten weird letters and packages before—remember that one box we got a few months ago?”

  “The one with only a weave inside?” Troy asked, folding the letter back up.

  Crow chuckled. “Yeah, that one. People are weird… But, that letter definitely feels a little off. More off than a lone weave.”

  “It’ll be fine,” Angela said, grabbing the letter. “I hired extra security for the trip, so no more random groupies walking up to our tour bus.”

  Troy’s eyebrows raised. “Weren’t we tight on money?”

  “Yeah, but I made it work. It’s not like a twenty-four seven thing, but we’ll have guys watching the tour bus and some of the higher capacity venues.” Angela looked down at her iPad. “I took a pay cut, it’s fine.”

  “What?” Crow’s head snapped toward Angela. “Ang, you definitely don’t need to do that. Cut it from my checks, I don’t care. But don’t make it harder for yourself.”

  She shook her head, not looking up from her calendar. “No way. It wasn’t that big of a cut anyway. I saved some pennies on a few other things too, so we’re all good.”

  “Thank you,” Crow said, feeling lucky that he was surrounded by such an incredible team of people. Not only were they all insanely talented and hard-working, but they were also all genuinely good people.

  “Of course,” she said, looking up when two knocks sounded on the door. “Oh, that must be the doctor.”

  For a split second, Crow’s heart leaped up into his throat. It was quickly snapped back down like it was attached to a rubber band. He had no reason to be excited. There was only one doctor in this entire world that he’d be excited to see, and it definitely wasn’t whoever Angela had found to tour with them. He pulled his phone out from his khaki shorts and started looking for something to entertain himself with.

  “Hi!” he heard Angela say. “You must be Doctor Winter?”

  Crow’s eyes blazed up from the phone to the entrance. Winter. That last name was in no way popular. Did Ethan have a sister who also happened to be a doctor? He didn’t mention anything about her at the bar.

  “You can call me Ethan.”

  Crow’s mouth dried up, his pulse shot to the sky. It was Ethan. He couldn’t forget that voice. The one that vibrated through his entire body. He was suddenly nervous, like a middle schooler asking his first date to the school dance. He couldn’t even think about what this meant. Ethan and Crow were about to be stuck on a bus together for three months, traveling around the country, getting to know each other way deeper than Crow could have imagined.

  Angela came up the steps first, moving aside so she could introduce Ethan to the crew. He climbed the last step and turned to look straight at Crow. Those baby blues were even more breathtaking in the sunlight. They glittered like they held an entire galaxy inside of them. Crow was speechless as Angela rattled off the names. Troy and the rest all went up to the front of the bus to shake hands. Jordan seemed particularly excited to say hi. Crow was last. He slid out of the booth and stood by the table, about six feet separating him and the man he thought he’d never see again.

  “And this is Crow Kensworth,” Angela said, outstretching a hand, showing Crow off like she was suddenly Vanna White.

  “We’ve met,” Ethan said, a smoldering smirk on his handsome face. He was wearing a simple light blue shirt and jeans, the shirt only enhancing those breathtaking eyes.

  “Oh.” Angela stepped back, crossing her arms. Ethan held his hand out for a shake, but Crow ignored it. Instead, he went straight for a hug. It not only felt more appropriate, but it was also a great way of feeling the solid knots of muscle that formed Ethan’s back. And he smelled sooo fucking good, too. Like a mix between the beach and sex, two of Crow’s favorite things.

  “Hi again,” Crow said as they separated.

  “Who would have thought?” Ethan said, smiling a little wider. Crow loved his smile. It wasn’t an easy one to get, but it was so damn rewarding. Especially when Ethan smiled hard enough to show off those cute dimples that made Crow’s butterflies rage. They had only hung out that one night, but Crow could tell Ethan was more reserved than some other guys, so this smile felt like a damn Grammy.

  “And we’re off!” Jordan cheered from the couch as the bus driver started the engines. This was it, the official start of Crow’s cross-country tour. Their first stop would be a club in Las Vegas, and so they headed east. Crow was sitting at the table, trying to keep his mind occupied by scrolling through Instagram. He couldn’t keep his thoughts from swerving back to Ethan Winter, who was currently in the bedroom with Troy, giving him a physical and introducing himself. He couldn’t believe how life twisted its way into the shape of a pretzel. He honestly thought he would go on the rest of his life wondering about the man that had stopped him right in his tracks.

  Now that man was only a room away.

  “Who wants a margarita!” Jordan slapped the table as he got up and walked over to the bar.

  “Jordan, it’s nine in the morning,” Crow pointed out.

  “Fine,” Jordan said, shrugging. “Mimosas it is. There, are you happy? Is that a little more socially acceptable?”

  “In that case, I’ll take one,” Crow said with a smile.

  Angela, who was working on confirming the hotels they would stay at, hung up the phone and turned her attention to the group, “Ok, so everyone knows where they’re sleeping tonight?”

  “Hell yeah,” Jordan sang as he popped open the champagne. “Crow, you obviously don’t mind sharing the bed with me, right?”

  “Very funny,” Angela said, not finding it very funny. “You’ll get the top bunk, Jordan. I’ll get the bottom. We’ll be staying at a few hotels, but obviously that costs money, which we aren’t rolling in right now. We lucked out on the tour bus, though, with some decent beds and a small shower that has to be very limited use. Water isn’t infinite on here. Maybe on the next tour we’ll have penthouse reservations every night, but for now, we’ll have to sacrifice.”

  “How have ticket sales been?” Crow asked. He always hated asking logistical questions because he was always scared of the answer. He had a fear of hearing abysmal numbers and realizing his music wasn’t as loved as he thought it was.

  “Good, Las Vegas and Phoenix are both sold out. Makes sense, they’re the soonest.” Angela referred to her iPad for the rest. “Then we have Albuquerque, which is almost sold out. Denver is looking good too. Kansas City, St. Louis, Chicago, and Col
umbus are at about sixty percent sold. The east coast is taking a little longer, but they’re all proven procrastinators anyway. Don’t worry, everything’s going to be flawless. You’ve got me running this ship.”

  Crow had stopped paying attention toward the end, even though he was normally hyper focused on the numbers if they were ever presented to him. But not when Ethan Winter walked into the room. What were numbers? What was air? Whastasdlahlsdf?

  That was how Crow felt. Completely haywired.

  “Crow?”

  “Huh?”

  “Did you not listen to what I just said?” Angela was looking up from her iPad, her annoyed gaze jumping from Crow to Ethan.

  “Yeah, about procrastinators.”

  Angela crossed her arms, clearly over it, but how could she blame him? Ethan Winter was a man that demanded complete and total attention the minute he stepped into a room. He had that kind of gravity to him. It was in the way he stood, legs apart, hands loose, jaw relaxed. And then in the way he walked, with strong, meaningful strides, even if he was just walking over to the couch. It was in those eyes.

  Everything. Absolutely everything about the man was alluring.

  Crow was in trouble.

  8 Ethan Winter

  Ethan sat down on the couch because that was all he could really think of doing. He had no idea what he had gotten himself into, but he knew it was big. He felt it the moment he stepped on the bus. The second his eyes went straight to Crow’s. He wasn’t expecting to feel the way he did when he saw him…

  Relief. He felt relieved to be seeing him again. It made him realize how strongly they connected a few nights ago, and how he owed it to himself to explore some of that. This was a new start, not only for Crow’s music career, but for Ethan’s personal life. A way to reset things before Ethan officially lost himself to the empty sorrow that had plagued him through the past years.