Page 56 of Toxic Kiss

“I am being a friend, just a realistic one. We’ve been here before, Haven—twice to rehab, four times getting his stomach pumped cause he never knows when to cut himself off. There were multiple other times when he didn’t show up to practice or was late for the start of a concert. You weren’t here. We were. We’ve lived through this hospital nightmare, and I’m really fucking tired of the poor Cyrus bullshit. This is my life and band, too. He’s fucking things up for all of us,” Vex snarls at me and then marches out once more.

“Don’t mind Vex. He gets like that when he’s scared, or angry, or happy,” Ash says, and I look at him. “Any emotion, really. It’s hard to tell.” He smiles, and I give him a small one in return for his effort.

My phone rings, and I groan when I see Declan’s name. He is a persistent ass. I put him on speaker.

“Declan?”

“We can’t have any leaks. Write down the name of everyone there, and I mean nurses, doctors, and anyone wandering the fucking halls. I need NDAs signed immediately. This can’t become a press frenzy. Haven, do not speak to anyone without looping me in first. Fuck this is a mess.”

“Go to hell, Declan,” I snap. “He’s not a product.”

“Wrong. The band is a product owned by LG Records, and right now, Cyrus is a fucking liability if this gets out.”

I glare at the phone, wishing I could wrap my hands around his throat.

“Then maybe you should have paid more attention when he was falling apart in front of you!”

Declan barks a bitter laugh.

“Please…Haven, we’ve all seen it. Cyrus refuses to do anything about it because he’s in denial. We’ve offered to get him help, but it’s to the point where we’ve all but given up.”

“What kind of help are you talking about?”

“Therapy, rehab, you name it,” Declan answers.

A car horn blares in the background, telling me he is on his way.

“I don’t know if that’s what he needs,” I say.

Not that I have any proof other than a gut feeling.

“Oh yeah, and how would you know that? Did you get a medical degree that I don’t know about?”

“Fuck, that’s enough! It doesn’t matter right now,” Ledger growls, standing. “All that matters is that Cy is okay. We can fight about everything else later.”

Ledger is right. I slump into my chair, arms crossed, and stare at the door.

Please be okay. Please be okay. Please be okay.

chapter

seventeen

“Not every broken thing needs fixing. Some things need understanding.” – Cyrus

HAVEN

My phone rings, and I jump. The Venomous song is loud as it plays in Cy’s quiet, hospital room.

I quickly answer so I don’t disturb him.

“Dad?” My voice is a whisper.

“Hey, Rock Star, are you okay?”

“I don’t know, Dad. I’m really freaked out. One minute Cy was fine, then the next he collapsed on the stage in front of thousands of people,” I say softly.

“What have the doctors said?”