Page 145 of Now Their Starlet

I open the group chat on my phone, my hands trembling.

Andi

At the hospital

They put me in a private waiting room and said you guys can join me

Wing F, room 218

Beck

We’ll be there in a few minutes, Starlight

Parking was a bitch

Everett

I’m headed from work. Will take me a bit longer. But I’ll be there

Tish appears a moment later with a soft, fleece-like blanket.

“Here you go,” she says, handing it to me.

I can’t help but run my hand over it like I’m petting a cat.

It’s much softer than the blankets I was given when I stayed at the hospital the night after Ezra attacked me.

Damn, that feels like a lifetime ago.

That was the last time I was in the hospital.

“Thank you,” I say, forcing the words past the lump in my throat.

“There’s a circulation desk. If you need me, ask one of the nurses to page me, alright? I’ll be stopping by periodically to check on you.”

“Okay,” I nod, trying to muster the strength to return her smile and failing.

Guess polite hospitality is too big a task for me right now.

The hospital is chillier than I remember. Or maybe it’s just the adrenaline from the situation fading, now that I can’t see my dad’s limp, lifeless form. Despite sliding Eli’s hoodie over my head and wrapping the blanket around my shoulders, I’m still shivering when Beck, Eli, Cameron, and Leo burst through the door.

“Hi,” I say, trying again to muster some sort of smile. I’m sure it looks closer to a grimace, but at least the muscles in my face are working again.

Eli is the one who moves the fastest, seating himself on the sofa next to me and immediately pulling me into his lap. He holds me to his chest so tightly that it’s like the rest of the world falls apart.

“Any—any news?”

It’s not until he speaks that I realize he’s crying. His voice is trembling, despite the fact that his body is stock-still.

“I don’t—don’t know,” I whisper. “They’re treating him now.”

“Fuck,” he rasps.

“Thank you for doing CPR.” I cling to him, almost like I want us to merge into one amorphous blob as the world falls away.

“No need to thank me for doing what anyone would do,” he grunts.

Beck appears at our side, throwing himself over the two of us like he wants to join the amorphous blob party.