Harmony smiles up to me. Even from this distance she is looking a little loopy.
Might have gone too hard on the champagne, sweetheart.
Then she stumbles, puts her hand out to steady herself. She looks up again and all I see is panic. I’m running, leaping off the stage in one movement as she goes down. Skidding to my knees, I reach her at the same time as security. One has his hand on her neck.
“She’s not breathing.”
“Paramedics coming now…”
What the fuck is happening?
Hugo and Lennox are on either side of me. Medics running towards us. Lennox gathers her up into his arms. That’s when I see them. On her exposed back, that beautiful skin, are a series of sticky patches, like you use for weaning off nicotine or….
“Fentanyl patches,” I yell, pointing.
“Naracam,” the woman in the dark blue uniform is already reaching into her back, withdrawing a syringe.
“Now.” The hypodermic is plunged into Harmony’s soft flesh.
“Breathe, baby, breathe.”
Nothing, nothing, nothing.
And then she inhales, her throat making a roaring sound as her lungs drag in as much oxygen as possible.
A minute later she is in the back of an ambulance, Hugo beside her.
Lennox and I follow in town car.
It takes everything I have to refrain from pulling the driver from the seat and just flooring it.
LENNOX
Iam going to lose my mind. Asa is in no better state.
Racing into the hospital, the doors whoosh open.
A receptionist looks up.
“We need help, now!”
She’s on the phone, but I know she has recognized me. The receptionist finishes her call and adjusts her blouse.
“Harmony Rhodes,” I yell. “She came in by ambulance.”
A security guard hovers close. Taking a quick glance around, I see several phones pointed in my direction, recording the action. I guess I should turn it down a notch.
It’s nearly an hour until a nurse finally comes and talks to us. Hugo has been texting us, but doesn’t leave Harmony’s side. The fucking hospital staff won’t let us near.
At least we are now in a private family waiting room, rather than out in the general public. The constant videoing on cell phones was getting very old.
How many times can you say ‘fuck off’ when asked for an autograph and a selfie in the emergency room?
Answer: A lot.
“Her boyfriend will come and update you all soon,” the nurse says. “I can only share information with family members.”
“Harmony is family to all of us,” says Asa. “We want to see her.”
