Fuck.
“Ariel’s trying to book a flight,” Lexi said, coming over to me. “Hey. Bash, snap out of it. Declan!” Her voice rose a little at the end. “We need you to be strong. Ty needs you to be strong.”
I looked at her. “I don’t know what I’ll do if something happens to him.”
“I know.” She reached out and hugged me.
I wrapped my arms around her tightly and we stood like that for a while. I really did have the best friends in the world. Even if they weren’t biological family.
* * *
After what seemed like forever, a doctor came out and filled us in.
“Tyler’s awake and alert and doing well,” he said. “He’s given me permission to speak with you. He’s had what we call a TIA, which is a transient ischemic attack.”
“I have no idea what that is,” I said blankly.
“The most common form of a stroke is an ischemic stroke. This has the same origins, where a clot blocks the blood supply to part of your brain. In a transient ischemic attack, the blockage is brief and there’s no permanent damage. However, this is a warning sign. The underlying cause is usually a buildup of plaque in an artery or one of the branches that supplies oxygen to the brain. He’s going to need to take better care of himself, exercise more, eat better. We’re going to run some more tests to make sure we didn’t miss anything, and probably keep him overnight, but you’ll be able to see him once we move him into a room.”
“Oh, thank god.” Lexi swiped at her eyes and we all seemed to be battling a bevy of emotions.
“Jesus.” Lance leaned against the wall and closed his eyes.
“Apparently we need a vacation or something,” Ford muttered. “This tour has already been a shit show.”
“We need somethin’,” Lance agreed.
“I’m bloody starving,” Stu said. “Now that we know he’s okay, let’s get some food. Or at least coffee.”
“Let’s go get breakfast,” Lexi suggested. “It’ll be a while before they get him settled.”
“I’m gonna stay here,” I said quietly. “Bring me back a biscuit or something.”
“Bash, you need to eat.” Ford gave me a look. “Come on.”
“I’ll get something here. Really. I just…” I held up my hands almost apologetically. “I need to be here.”
“All right. Text us if you hear anything or need us.” Stu nodded and they filed out.
I sank into the nearest chair and pulled out my phone.
I needed to hear her voice, but I wasn’t sure what to say.
I owed her an apology, but she still owed me one.
We were two hot messes on opposite sides of the same coin. Again.
I’d taken everything she’d said to heart the day Noah overdosed, thinking she was saying things that were already in her subconscious, but my own behavior today showed me that had been wrong. I’d never yelled at a taxi driver before, yet today I’d been ready to throttle the guy for not running a red light. In those moments after Tyler collapsed, I hadn’t been able to think straight, the only thing on my mind was getting him the help he needed.
Brianna had to have been struggling with many of the same feelings when we’d gotten the news about Noah, and just as I’d snapped at everyone near me today, she’d snapped at me. The things she’d said had cut deep, but in my heart of hearts, I knew she hadn’t meant them that way. And now I had to find a way to explain that to her.
I didn’t know what to say, exactly, but maybe the direct approach was best. I thought about texting, but a phone call would be better so I dialed her number.
“H-hello?” Bri sounded like I’d woken her and it took me a second to find my voice.
“Hey, babe.”
“Declan?” Her voice was sleep-addled and raspy.
“Yeah, it’s me.”
“What’s wrong? Is it Noah?”
“No. Noah’s fine.”
“What is it? Something’s wrong. I can hear it in your voice.”
“It’s Ty…” My voice broke and I took a second to breathe in and out.
“Ty? What happened to Tyler?” Bri sounded wide awake now.
“He had a mini-stroke. Something called a TIA.”
“A stroke?! Oh my god. Is he okay?”
“He’s stable and they said he’ll be okay but I’m…not okay.”
“What do you need me to do?” Her voice was soft and caring, as if I hadn’t told her I needed a break from her. As if maybe she still loved me.
“I need you to get on a plane and come to Texas.”
33
Brianna
* * *
Everything happened in a whirlwind. I’d called Ariel, who’d just chartered a private plane, and within the hour we were in the air heading for San Antonio. She was a nervous wreck and I spent most of the three-hour flight trying to calm her. Luckily, she’d been able to talk to Tyler for a few minutes, which helped a lot, but she was worried sick and I didn’t blame her.
We’d spent part of the flight looking up all the information we could find on TIAs and luckily the prognosis was almost always good. He’d have to take better care of himself going forward, but it could have been much, much worse.
“Do you think Declan’s still mad at me?” I asked Ariel as we rode through the city toward the hospital where Tyler was.
“He told you he needed you. I’m thinking no.”
“Then why am I so nervous?”
“Because you love him and this was your first fight.”
“It was a pretty big fight.”
“Tyler and I had one like this early on,” she said. “I’d just found out I wasn’t really bipolar, that my father had been paying off doctors to say that I was, but before I could tell him, he got all righteous with me about finding ways to manage my manic episodes and all kinds of shit that didn’t even exist. All because I’d wanted to have sex outdoors at the palace, in Limaj.”
My eyes widened as I tried not to laugh. Then I clapped a hand over my mouth. “I’m sorry, I’m sure it was awful at the time, but…wow. That sounds so ridiculous from my perspective.”
Ariel smiled. “It was and it wasn’t. He was trying to protect me but also himself, because he didn’t know how to handle everything going on. And I think there’s a lot of that with you and Bash. You’re both trying to protect yourselves because you didn’t have easy lives before you found each other so opening yourself up to that kind of trust is hard. Believe me. Tyler and I had a few bumpy roads before we found our way to where we are now.”
“Oh god, we’re here.” The driver got our two small suitcases out of the back and we wheeled them inside.
“Eighth floor,” she murmured, pushing the button on the elevator panel.
I noticed a few people looking at us and realized she was probably going to get recognized.
“Are you supposed to travel without a bodyguard?” I asked in a hushed whisper.
She shook her head. “No, but I didn’t have time to call them. I’ll be fine once I’m with Tyler.”