“Don’t worry… I wasn’t doing too well without you either.”
“Baby, if going to rehab will get you back in my life, then I’ll buy the rehab clinic and live there forever if it’ll allow you to be with me,” he says.
“So, you will go?” I can’t help but notice Hux leaving the room.
“Dee, I’ll do anything to be with you. Anything, baby,” he says, trying to sit up in the bed.
“You have to do it becauseyouwant to stop using, Colt. Not because I—”
“We,” Anna says, interrupting me.
I smile. “Not becausewewant you to.”
“Ineedto do it. I know I can’t do it on my own. I’ve let it go too far, and for that, I’m so damn sorry to all of you. I’m not proud of myself and have been a selfish prick, and you guys and the fans have been suffering. I’m going to change. I will be better not just for you but for me as well. If you’re going to be with me, Dee, I need to be worthy of you, and at the moment, I’m not. So, sign me up. Just one request?”
I raise an eyebrow.
“I want to go home. I want to do rehab in London. I’m sick of not being home. I need to calm down and regroup, and the only place I can do that is in London, with you by my side?”
“Of course,” I answer, leaning down and kissing him, and that undeniable spark between us flows through me.
“Hey, I went and got the doc,” Hux says, walking back in and disturbing my moment with Colt.
“Hello, Mr. Slade, how are you feeling?” the doc asks before he listens to Colt’s chest.
“I’m in two minds about that, doc. On the one hand, I feel like absolute shit, pretty much like I’ve been hit by a bus, but on the other hand, I’m feeling the best I have in months ’cause my girl is here.”
“Your brother tells me you’d like to check into a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center. Is that correct?”
“Yes,” everyone reiterates, including Colt.
“Okay then. It’s good to know you have the support around you you’ll need. I can arrange for you to be transported back to London and to a clinic as soon as possible. I’ll get all the details arranged and come back to you a little later. I’m glad to see you’re doing better, Mr. Slade. My daughter would kill me if I didn’t save you today. She’s a big fan,” he says before leaving.
As the door closes behind him, the quiet hum of machines fills the room again. For the first time in what feels like days, the weight in my chest eases.
Colt’s alive.
Really alive.
“How are you really?” I lean in.
“I feel terrible, but seeing your pretty face makes everything better,” he says, gesturing with his lips that he wants a kiss.
I smile and lean down to kiss him. “I love you, Colt. I never stopped, not for one second,” I say.
“I know, baby, and neither did I,” he replies.
It’s not theI love you,I’m so desperate to hear, but it’ll do for now.
Chapter Thirty-Four
The doctor arranges for Colt to be admitted to the Priory Hospital in Roehampton in the south-west of London. Colt’s happy, as many other celebrities have been and come out the other end for the better.
Of course, the press somehow got hold of the news, forcing Rob to cancel the last week of the tour.
Rumors of12GAUGE-Slayedbreaking up are rife, but I’m trying to keep that from Colt.
It’s been thirty-eight long, brutal hours since his last hit, and the withdrawal is ripping through him. By the time we get him onto the jet, his body is a wreck—trembling, unsteady, drenched in sweat.
