“She asked for you. Can you come?”
“I… I’m afraid to fly,” she says, and I hear the shame and frustration in her voice. “I know it’s silly, but—”
“Galaxy, the studio producing the movie Neevah’s in, has a private plane. Would you be willing to come, to try, if I could arrange that? It’s more comfortable than flying commercial, and it might be easier for you.”
“Could I bring someone with me?”
“Of course.” I don’t hesitate because she could bring Attila the Hun, far as I care.
“Terry?” Mrs. Mathis asks tentatively. “Could I bring Neevah’s sister? I think I could fly if she’s with me.”
I already know Neevah won’t be happy, but I don’t know how to balance everything she wants with what she needs. She needs a kidney but doesn’t want to ask her sister, who is her best shot. She wants her mother but wouldn’t want her sister to come. I love her enough to deal with the fallout if I make the wrong moves.
“Just come,” I say with a heavy sigh. “Can you come tonight if I make the arrangements?”
She agrees and we disconnect. I immediately dial Evan and brace myself for another conversation I’d rather not have.
“Hey, what’s up?” Evan asks. “Have you seen that last batch of film from the labs? It looks fantastic.”
“Yeah, I watched some earlier today. I need—”
“You should be able to start editing soon, right? I mean, I know we still have a few scenes with Neevah and the band, but Monk says we should wrap this week. We can get at least close to back on track.”
“I don’t think that’s gonna happen, man.” I sit in one of the waiting room chairs. “Neevah’s back in the hospital.”
“What? Is she… what’s going on?”
“Basically, the meds they have her on aren’t doing a good enough job.” I pass a hand over my eyes and rest my elbows on my knees. “Dr. Okafor wants to put her on dialysis.”
“Dialysis? Wow. That’s…”
I know Evan too well not to anticipate how torn he is. He feels forNeevah, and by extension, for me, but his wheels are also turning to work out how we can salvage this production. I never thought I’d say it, butDessi Blueis the least of my worries right now.
“You have my permission,” I tell him with grim humor.
“What do you mean?”
“To put on your producer hat because I’ll be damned if I can right now, and I guess somebody has to.”
“Galaxy is gonna ride us on this. They don’t want to be allam I the asshole, and they’re concerned for Neevah’s health, obviously—”
“Obviously.”
“But they’ll want a timeline. Trey has another project that begins shooting next month. Jill is booked for another film soon after. So is Kenneth. If we shut this production down now, it could compromise the last scenes.”
“No, it won’t.”
“And how do you guarantee that?”
“Because I’ll still be involved and I’ll make sure we get what we need once Neevah’s able to resume shooting.”
Tension pulls the line taut between us.
“Canon, but what if she—”
“Don’t you say it, Evan.”
“God, I don’t want to, but we have an unfinished movie with a huge budget on our hands. You’re the one who just told me to be the producer here, so I am.”
