A Face in the Crowd

by Christina Kirby

  “You know I’d love to fly out. You can show me all the celebrity homes and tell me how it’s not so hot out there because it’s a dry heat. Isn’t that what all west coasters say?”

  “I don’t know yet. I’ll have to get back to you.”

  “Hey, you never told me, what’s the pilot about that you’re going to be working on?”

  “Something about a private investigator. It sounds interesting. It’s not a doctor show or a cop show, so it’s at least a little bit original. I just have to pay my dues for a couple of years and learn everything I can so that when the time comes, I can hopefully be promoted from a staff writer to a senior writer.”

  “And then one day, a producer, who will go on to win an Emmy,” Lexie raised one of her arms toward the ceiling as if envisioning Simone’s successful career. “Wait, can I be your date to the awards?”

  “As long as I’m not dating the hot leading man, I’m all yours.”

  “I seem to be making lots of famous friends lately.” Lexie sat on the couch and folded her arms behind her head. “A girl could get used to the perks.”

  Chapter 11

  As the TV continued to play, sound low, Oliver answered another email from one of the suits from Sound Ninja, the label which had changed from a welcome powerhouse to a chain around the band’s neck. No, he did not want to do any interviews right now. Yes, Bailey was on target with his recovery. No, he would not be willing to fly to California for a few meetings. For every email he answered, ten more appeared in his Inbox.

  He rubbed a hand over his face and eyed his cell phone. More than anything, he wanted to call Lexie and setup their dinner date, but he didn’t think she’d appreciate being called at three o’clock in the morning.

  Bailey groaned in his sleep and the sheets rustled with his restless movement. It was the third time in the last few minutes he’d shifted. Unsure if it was a dream or genuine discomfort, Oliver studied his brother’s back another moment to make sure he was going to stay asleep.

  His phone buzzed on the end of the couch. Michelle. It’d been what, six months since he’d last heard from her? He let it ring and didn’t move to pick it up until the voicemail icon lit up.

  Olie,

  I’m down in Australia on a shoot and have been completely cut off from real civilization. I just heard about Bailey. You poor baby . . .

  Oliver grimaced at her whiney tone. He never understood why some women thought it was cute to whine. He couldn’t picture Lexie doing it. She was always direct and strong, not the sort to resort to childish voices or tantrums, and lord knew Michelle could throw a tantrum. He shuddered as he remembered the incident which had taken place at one of his favorite restaurants. When a waiter spilled water, which splashed on her shoe, Michelle had flown into hysterics complete with screeching and name-calling. He’d never been more embarrassed or left such a generous a tip.

  If you need me to come back, just say the word. Don’t even worry about how we left things. It’s in the past. Call me, lover.

  He choked back a gag as he hit delete. As if there was anything Michelle could do for him that could help. As if she cared. He shook his head as he tucked his phone into his shirt pocket. The last time he’d seen Michelle she’d been on her knees in front of the drummer of a different band.

  Bailey’s body shook and he rolled onto his back, his breaths ragged. Oliver slammed his laptop shut and bolted to his brother’s side.

  “Bailey,” he touched his brother’s arm and jerked his hand away when he noticed the hives all over his skin. “Bailey, can you hear me?”

  Bailey shook again as a wheeze escaped his chest. Fear struck Oliver with the speed of a snake and with a clammy hand, he pushed the call button.

  “I’m right here. Help is coming.”

  In what he could only assume was seconds later, the door flew open and two nurses rushed in, pushing Oliver to the side as they went to work.

  He braced the sides of his head with both hands. “What’s happening?”

  The nurses ignored him. He stood by, clueless, as one nurse inserted some drug into the IV hanging out of Bailey’s hand and the other shone a light in his eyes.

  “Page Dr. Milo.” The nurse who’d issued the order found Oliver with her eyes, “You need to step outside.”

  “Not until you tell me what’s happening.”

  “Sir, we need to do our job.” She moved around the side of the bed and took his arm in her firm grip as she escorted him to the door. “Out, please. We’ll let you know what’s going on as soon as we can.”

  Oliver banged his fists against the wall. This wasn’t supposed to be happening. What he had was manageable. That’s what everyone had told him. With the weight of his phone pulling away from his body, his shirt swung toward the wall where he was resting his head.

  Lexie.

  As Lexie’s phone buzzed on her nightstand, the annoying sound pulling her out of her dream, she cursed for forgetting to turn it off. It was not her day to work, so there was no reason for anyone to call at this godforsaken hour. Whatever hour it happened to be. It was still dark outside, so in her book, it was too early.

  She didn’t have to talk to anyone all day if she didn’t want to, and she didn’t want to. Her day was all planned out. She intended to put in some serious couch time and catch up on all the shows filling up her DVR.

  Opening one eye, she turned her head to squint at the number—Unkown. Apparently whatever telemarketer was on the other end of the line had a death wish. She debated on whether or not to answer and give him a piece of her mind, but her phone stopped buzzing. She smiled into her pillow and rolled back over. As she was just beginning to drift back into sleep, her phone buzzed again.

  It was on.

  “Listen, I don’t know who this is, but if you—”

  “Lexie, I’m so sorry to call you, but I didn’t know who else—”

  Lexie shot up in bed. “Oliver?”

  “Yes, it’s Oliver. Look, I’m sorry, but there’s something wrong with Bailey.”

  She swung her legs over the side of her bed and searched her dark room for some pants. “What are they telling you?”

  “Nothing. They made me leave the room and they’re in there with him now.” When he paused as though distracted, she did too, breath held. “Dr. Milo just went in.”

  “Okay, that’s good. He’ll be able to get to the bottom of whatever’s going on. It may just be a side effect from one of the medications.” Lexie dropped down on the side of her bed, rumpled T-shirt in hand. What was she doing? Was she seriously about to go charging up there like she was a member of the family? But, Oliver sounded so scared. All she wanted to do was be there for him. She wasn’t sure when he’d become so important to her, but he had.

  “Lexie, God I feel like such a jerk, but will you please come up here? I’m freaking out and I know you’ll be honest with me.”

  The way her heart flipped in her chest should’ve disgusted her, and maybe if she hadn’t jumped back into getting ready it would have, but she had to go. Oliver needed her.

  “It’s going to take me a little while, but I’m coming.”

  “Thank you.” The relief in his voice had her moving faster. Bailey had to be all right.

  She parked her car and made it to the bone marrow oncology floor in record time. Even without her usual cup of coffee, her mind was awake, sharp. No doubt the added adrenaline was making up for the lack of caffeine.

  The hallway was quiet, almost eerily so. She poked her head in Bailey’s room to find him gone. “Reshonda,” she called to the nurse down the hall from the nightshift. “Where’s Mr. Honeycutt?”

  Reshonda bustled toward her. “He has an infection, but it seems to be getting worse even with the antibiotics. So, we’ve moved him to isolation and started him on a stronger d
rug.”

  Lexie slumped against the doorframe. “Okay, thanks, that all sounds normal. Unfortunate, but you know . . .”

  Reshonda nodded. She did know. Infections were par for the course around here. “We did more blood work, but we’re still waiting for the results.” Her eyes swept over Lexie’s street clothes and the ghost of a grin shadowed her mouth. “What are you doing up here, anyway?”

  Lexie’s relief wavered. She hadn’t considered what it would look like or what she would say when someone asked her about why she was there. “I. Um.”

  “Na, don’t you worry about it, girl. You don’t have to explain it to me.” Reshonda retreated toward her cart, full smile on display. “I saw the way his brother was looking at you.”

  Heat flooded Lexie’s cheeks and Reshonda let out a whoop. Stupid fair skin.

  The isolation room was located at the end of a different hallway, one which was usually quiet, but when Lexie turned a corner shouting filled the air.

  “I don’t care how competent you think your staff is.” The female voice belonged to Cathy.

  Lexie quickened her pace.

  “Ma’am, I assure you, we—” Dr. Milo’s deep timbre was quiet, subdued even, but Cathy wouldn’t hear it.

  “This didn’t happen on Lexie’s watch.”

  Lexie almost tripped over her own feet at the mention of her name.

  “From now on, I only want Lexie taking care of my son unless it is absolutely necessary for someone else to be involved.”

  “Ma’am, that isn’t how this works. There are procedures and protocols.”

  “I don’t give a good goddamn how it usually works. This is my son and that’s how it’s going to be for the duration of his stay in this so-called top of the line hospital, or I’m going to go to the press and explain to them how my son’s condition worsened under your care.”

  Covered from head to toe in the required yellow gown and gloves, Lexie entered the room in time to see a livid Cathy place her gloved finger in Dr. Milo’s stunned face. “And, do not for one second, think I won’t mention your name as the responsible party.”

  “Ah, Lexie,” Dr. Milo paused beside her in his hastened attempt to escape Cathy’s wrath. “You’ll take over now, won’t you? I’m going to let the charge nurse know that from now on, you’ll be on Mr. Honeycutt’s service.”

  She nodded. It was useless to point out to him that it was her day off and she wasn’t technically on the clock. He not only wouldn’t care, he was out the door so fast, she never had the chance.

  “Oh, Lexie, thank heavens.”

  “Good morning, Cathy.” Her gaze strayed to the quiet, towering figure, one she would know anywhere including under a gown and mask. He was beside his mother steadfast, but quiet, his eyes ringed with worry. “Hey, Oliver.”

  “Thanks for coming up.”

  “It’s no trouble.” Lexie made her way to Bailey who was deathly pale, his complexion only a few shades darker than the pillow he rested on. Her heart dropped at the sight of him. “If you wanted me to visit on my day off, you could’ve found an easier way, you know?” she teased as much to ease the tension in the room as her own.

  “Lexie, hey,” Bailey gave her a weak smile, his lips cracked. “You know how us rock stars have a flare for the dramatic.”

  Thankful he still had his sense of humor, she let out a breath. “So it would seem.” She touched his shoulder, her hand light on his protruding bone. “Try to get some rest, okay? I’m going to go get a few things ironed out.” He gave her a half smile and closed his eyes. He really was in bad shape.

  “Lexie, thank you so much for coming.” Cathy followed her out the door. “I don’t want any more upsets like the one last night. It was completely unacceptable. If Oliver hadn’t been here . . .” A tremor ran through her voice as her take-charge attitude gave way to a mother’s fear.

  “I’ll look into things and make sure to take good care of him.”

  “I know you will, Lexie, thank you.”

  Oliver stepped into the hallway and stripped off his gown, the tattoos lining his muscular arms on full display. “Mom, you should go down and grab yourself some coffee.”

  When Cathy’s gaze drifted to the door, Oliver stepped between her line of sight and the room. “It’s all right. Lexie and I are here. He’s in good hands.”

  “Okay, but I’ll be back in a little while.”

  Cathy made her way down the hall while nurses continued on their rounds. It was not yet time for the shift change and the patients who were able to sleep did, creating a hushed environment.

  “So, you’ve been having an exciting time while I’ve been away.”

  “Exciting may not be the word for it.” Oliver tilted his head from one side to the other as a symphony of cracks sounded. Like his mom and brother, he looked exhausted.

  “Your mom was something back there,” Lexie leaned against the wall and smirked. “Dr. Milo couldn’t get out of that room fast enough.”

  “She’s ferocious about the people she cares about.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with that.” Lexie recalled a time she’d needed her mom when she’d been in grade school. There was a boy who was picking on her including pushing her to the ground on the playground, but when her mom had shown up to the school, she hadn’t gone mama bear Cathy style and stood up for her daughter. Instead, she’d ended up with a date with the principal.

  Oliver touched the toe of his shoe to the tip of hers, drawing her attention to where their shoes touched. “I’m sorry I called you in such a panic this morning, and on your day off.” He winced. “You may never go to dinner with me now.”

  “I wouldn’t worry too much about that,” she ducked her head to catch his eye. “I love to eat.”

  He smiled and some of the stress of the past few hours seemed to dissolve.

  “You should try to get some sleep while I go get changed and look at Bailey’s chart. I need to catch up on everything that’s been going on while I’ve been away.” She touched his arm and for the first time it didn’t feel like Oliver the legend. This time, he was Oliver the man and her friend.

  “Okay, maybe for a little while,” he ran his hands over his stubble covered face. “I am pretty beat.”

  As she started to go, Oliver’s fingers caught hers, the touch light, but intimate. “Thank you again, Lexie.”

  She smiled and nodded because speech was no longer possible.

  Alone at one of the computers, Lexie studied the notes regarding Bailey’s health from the last twenty-four hours. What a cluster. According to his records, the latest bloodwork taken was done by Laura at noon the previous day, which meant his midnight results weren’t logged yet. Her shoulders relaxed a notch. Laura was a good nurse, very capable. Lexie scrolled to see if there were any notes made showing where he’d had a fever. There were none, which was unusual. Usually, if there was an infection, there would’ve been fever. Unless, no one had bothered to check. She squinted harder at the screen as she tried to figure out what she was missing. She needed to find Laura.

  She checked the nurse’s station, but had no luck, so she went to the board to see what patients Laura had that day. She could be anywhere. When Lexie scanned the board, she noticed Mr. Roberts was back, his return faster than she would’ve liked. Concerned, she made a mental note to check on him. Laura was her priority right now. She spotted her name in three places and memorized the room numbers.

  “Hey, I didn’t know you were working today,” Laura greeted Lexie with a surprised smile when Lexie found her leaving the third patient’s room.

  “Well, I wasn’t supposed to be, but there was some drama, so they called me in. Hey, can I ask you about something?”

  “Sure, what’s up?” Laura stopped by a poster reminding everyone to wash their hands to prevent
the spread of germs.

  “You were Bailey’s nurse yesterday and you took some blood for labs. I was wondering if you noticed him having any other symptoms, like fever or anything. How did he seem to you?”

  “Oh, um, let me think. Sorry, all my days are running together.” As she stood with her arms crossed over her chest, her foot tapped against the tile. “Did you read his chart?”

  “I did, but there’s no mention of anything out of the ordinary.” Just as Lexie was starting to think she’d hit a brick wall, Laura snapped to attention.

  “Oh wait, I remember what happened with his bloodwork. It’s kind of hard to forget Bailey, isn’t it?” Laura closed the space between them and leaned in close to Lexie’s ear. “Actually, Ashley did all my bloodwork yesterday. I was called away after someone coded.”

  “I see. Can you tell me who your other patients were?”

  “I only had one other one. A really nice lady, Dorothy something. I’ll have to find her last name for you.”

  With new energy, Lexie took off in the direction she’d come. She needed to do a little more research. “Don’t worry about it, I know her. Thanks for your help.”

  “Sure. We should get drinks one night and gripe about this place.”

  “Just name the day and time,” Lexie called over her shoulder as her mind worked overtime. No fever and Ashley had been in charge of the bloodwork. It wasn’t as if Bailey wasn’t capable of getting an infection, but something wasn’t right. She had a gut feeling a mistake had been made somewhere along the line and she was going to find it.

  “Hey,” Bailey sat up when Lexie reentered his room decked out in a new gown and gloves.