“Give us space,” Krysta barked over her shoulder as she reached under my legs and around my back to lift me into her arms.
My cheek burrowed into her chest, and I hissed as she moved me.
“You’re okay,” she said softly. “I’m getting you to the infirmary.”
For the first time in my life, I felt small. I felt like I could be hurt. I felt vulnerable.
“Thank you,” I whispered as she used her body to shield me from prying onlookers and their cell phones. I should have said something more. I should have told everyone I was okay, but what had just happened would require a PR plan of attack. Or did it? Did I even care anymore?
“Don’t thank me for doing my job,” she said coolly.
“Mommy’s mad,” I said, trying to be playful through my tears, trying to soften her.
But Krysta’s demeanor was unmoving as she backed into an employee entrance and, without even looking at me, said, “Yes,Ms. Hayes. I’m pissed at you. You lied. You kept a secret. One that really mattered, both to you and your safety.”
Ms. Hayes.That was not a sexyMs. Hayes, not at all.
“Krysta—” I started.
“We’re not having this conversation right now,” she said sternly.
And then we were walking into the bright infirmary.
A woman with dark bronze skin and a dark curly ponytail rushed out from behind a partition. “Another case of food poisoning? What is happening with the kitchen today?”
Krysta shook her head and gently set me down on the exam bed. “No, she took a pretty bad spill. Complaining of pain in the left foot, and I don’t think she hit her head, but she should be checked for a concussion.”
“I definitely did not hit my head,” I snapped, as though that was some kind of assault on my character. “My foot is a lost cause though. We should probably just cut it off.”
“Addison?” a pitiful voice called from the other side of the curtain.
Krysta pulled the curtain back to reveal Frannie, our villain vampire. She was paler than a vampire from Alaska. Oh God. Had Cassie already gotten to them?
“Frannie, what’s wrong?” I asked frantically. “Did someone hurt you?”
She threw her head back against her paper-covered pillow. “If by someone you mean the shrimp cocktail I had at our cast lunch, then yes. Teagan isn’t looking too good either.”
“Teagan?” I asked.
She gripped her stomach. “The understudy for Isabel. We were celebrating the final show tonight. A pregame celebration if you will.”
The physician began to poke around and touched my now-swelling ankle.
“So I’m guessing you’re a no go for the show tonight?” I asked. Cassie would love to hear that.
In response, Frannie rolled over and hurled into a bedside bucket.
Krysta stiffened. “I don’t do well with—” She motioned to a sick Frannie and the nurse shooed Krysta away while the doctor went to town prodding me.
I stared at the ceiling and gritted my teeth all through the exam. Then I did my silly concussion test like a good girl. The diagnosis was:go to a real hospital in Los Angeles in the morning, but here’s a boot and some pain pills for now.
As the nurse helped me up, Frannie curled onto her side facing me. “Cast members should be like the president and vice president. Never seen in the same room and definitely not eating the same things. The whole table ate that shrimp cocktail. There’s no telling who will be next to drop.”
The whole table.
“Fuck me,” I said. “The show.”
The nurse led me back out to the corridor with a folder full of paperwork to take with me to the hospital tomorrow. She opened the door, and I found Krysta sitting just outside like a guard dog with her arms braced on her knees.
