The nurse popped her head into the room. “Can I get you something to eat, Mr. Blade?”
Tommy’s stomach rumbled, which reminded him that he hadn’t had anything to eat in hours, and that he may only have a short window before he needed to fast, if surgery was to be done tomorrow. He turned to Jessi. “Have you eaten, hon?”
She rubbed the curve of her belly. “I had a snack earlier, but I was just about to suggest we get something substantial before it gets any later. I’m starved, now that you mention it.”
“We can get you something as well, Mrs. Blade.” The nurse pulled another chair into the room. It was larger than one of the visitor’s chairs and had a retractable foot rest. “This is so you’ll be more comfortable. I’ll have a cot sent up, too, in case you want to spend the night. I don’t think transfer to UCLA will be done before the morning.” The nurse handed Tommy a hospital menu. “I’ll be back in a few minutes to collect your order. Please feel free to order as much as you’d like for everyone.”
Tommy wondered if all the patients were treated so well. He picked up the menu, which had a large selection. “What does everyone want to eat?”
Angel took the menu from his hands and placed it on the side table. “Hospital food? We’ll order something from a restaurant.”
Jessi rubbed her tummy and sat back in the reclining chair. “I want a steak with roasted potatoes. So does the baby.”
Tommy couldn’t stop envisioning the day that his son would be born. He must have played a fictitious scenario of the birth in his head a million times, a million different ways. Tonight’s seizure and his impending brain surgery reminded him that he may never get to witness that day, and a cloud of sadness washed over him. He wished he was done with surgery and the baby was born, but it felt wrong to wish time away. He wanted to savor every minute. There was no guarantee that he would make it out of surgery. He needed to speak to his brother and his parents, and he wanted to see his friends. He slid out of bed and stepped over to the window. There was a group of fans outside in the parking lot holding up candles. Geeze. Did they think he was dead already? Maybe that was the rumor floating through social media. He banged on the window to get their attention, but they couldn’t hear him. He pried open the lock and forced the window up a few inches. “I’m Tommy Blade and I’m still alive!” he shouted into the small space. A wave of cheers rose up from the parking lot and the candles were raised higher. The crowd looked up toward Tommy’s voice, and he banged on the window with both hands and waved. He doubted that they saw him, but they heard him, and they knew he wasn’t dead yet.
Angel came up behind him with worry still creased in his brow. “Are you sure you’re ready to have surgery so quickly. Maybe we should wait. Go back to New York and get a second opinion. Have surgery on the East Coast like the doctor said.”
Tommy already had accepted the idea of surgery. He wanted it over with. And he didn’t want to get on a plane with a ballooning artery in his head. “No. I can’t walk around waiting for this thing to explode. I need it taken care of. Now.”
Tommy rubbed the stress and fatigue from his brow and took a deep breath before he placed his cell phone on the tray in front of him. He could still hear the sound of his mother sobbing in his head. She had been hysterical on the other end of the phone as soon as he had told her that he was scheduled for brain surgery in the morning. Even his dad, who never really showed much emotion about anything, had displayed a tremor in his voice. Robert was the only one who had sounded confident and reassuring, although Tommy knew his kid brother had put on a front for his sake.
He glanced at the clock on the wall. He would be at UCLA for six hours and had been through a battery of tests. He barely had any sleep last night. He was actually looking forward to a day’s rest before the surgery, followed by a nice recovery at home. They had been touring and working their asses off since insta-stardom took Immortal Angel by storm. Now with the new baby coming, it was the perfect time to sit back and relax a little – enjoy the rewards of his fame.
Angel and Jessi returned to the room, hand in hand. They both looked better than they did yesterday – less distraught – and that’s the support Tommy needed, because he was pretty fucking terrified right now. They were his rock.
“How’d the call with your parents go?” Jessi asked.
He shook his head, still upset about his mother’s hysteria. “Not good. Robert handled it better, but my mother was a wreck. That’s why I wanted to wait and tell her myself. I wanted her to hear my voice so she’d know I was okay.”