Get Your Rocks Off? (The Rock God #2) Read online

  “She’s a lucky girl,” Anna declares almost in a whisper. I turn around and see her with a paper bag. I nod at her and she walks in placing the bag on the counter.

  “Oh Lia,” she says and then wipes a tear from her cheek. It’s the first time she’s seen Lia since… She leans into my side and I wrap my arm around her shoulders pulling her to me.

  “She looks so…”

  “Pale, cold, lifeless,” I state and Anna shakes her head.

  “No, actually I was going to say peaceful.” She leans up on her toes and kisses me on the cheek. Peaceful? With all those tubes and wires coming out of her? Peaceful is not how I would describe the scene in front of me. But if that’s what she needs to think to help her cope, then who am I to say anything.

  “Yeah, I guess she does look a little peaceful.”

  Anna starts to really cry. I hold onto her tightly and she takes Lia’s hand. “C’mon, Lia. We all need you. Stay strong Little Bean,” she weeps and then kisses Lia’s hand and lets me go, moving over to the paper bag. I slump down in a chair and watch Lia to see if there is any reaction to her best friend, but still nothing. Anna walks back over and I can instantly smell food. My stomach instinctively growls and I see Anna smile.

  “Okay, well don’t you dare try and tell me you’re not hungry ‘cause your guts just gave it away. Now I know you keep telling everyone you won’t leave her to eat, so I brought the food to you so you don’t have to leave. There’s no excuse not to eat – you got it?” she nags and I exhale and nod. I am starving. I’ve been here for over thirty hours so I guess seeing as I don’t have to leave I can eat whatever it is she’s brought me. She hands me a burger and fries and I almost feel like I could smile, but I don’t.

  “Thanks Anna, I appreciate it,” I say as she sits down next to me. She clinks her burger with mine.

  “Cheers,” she says and unwraps it taking a giant mouthful. It looks delicious so I unwrap mine and take my first bite. I can see Anna watching me while I swallow and instantly I’m ravenous. I devour the burger so quickly Anna’s only eaten a third of hers by the time I’ve finished mine. I start on the fries and eat them just as quickly. Anna smiles and reaches into the paper bag and pulls out another burger. I think I love her right now. I half-smile and take it from her while she continues to eat. After two burgers and a side of fries I’m stuffed and I actually feel like I have some energy.

  Anna left a little while ago, after spending about two hours with me when she realised I wanted to be alone with Lia. The thing about Anna is she can read me like a book. She knows exactly what I want and she gave it to me.

  The doctor comes in and I look at him while he checks Lia over.

  “Well, how is she doc?” I ask and he smiles which instantly makes me more alert.

  “She’s doing as well as we are expecting her to do at this time. We need to take her for another scan to check that the swelling is dissipating and if it has we will bring her out of the induced coma,” he says and for the first time since this happened I smile, I actually smile. I jump up and rush around and hug him. He laughs and pats me on the back. What the fuck! Have I turned into a hugger now? I don’t care as long as Lia is going to wake up.

  “So, when are you taking her for the test?”

  “In a few minutes. We just have to wait for the room to free up and then we’ll take her in,” he replies and I exhale and sniff.

  “I’ll be back in a moment to take her up.”

  “Thanks doc, I really appreciate it.” He walks out. I walk back to Lia and lean down kissing her forehead repeatedly.

  “See you’re getting better, baby. You’re on your way back to me.”

  I hear someone clear their throat. I look up and see Mum standing in the doorway. Why is it when something horrible happens and you see your mum everything falls apart? I can’t control myself as I start to sob.

  “Oh honey,” she says and rushes to my side wrapping her arms tightly around me.

  “Colter, she’s going to be okay.” She strokes my hair. I feel sick, physically sick. I haven’t seen my mother in years and when I finally do it’s because of something terrible. I feel guilty, I feel undeniable sadness, but most of all I feel loved. “Colter look at me,” she says holding me at arm’s length. I sniff and look at her and she pulls a tissue out of her bag handing it to me. I blow my nose and she looks at me with that love look, you know the one all Mum’s get when they look at their children. “Sweetheart, I’m so sorry this happened to you both. But I am so proud of you for being here with her and helping her recover,” she says and then kisses my cheek. She looks down at Lia and smiles.

  “She is beautiful, isn’t she?”

  “Lia’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever known, Mum. She’s not just beautiful on the outside, she’s undeniably gorgeous on the inside as well,” I reply and Mum smiles back at me.

  “You really love her don’t you?” she asks wiping a tear from her cheek.

  I nod. “With everything I have,” I confess and she pulls me in for another hug.

  More hugging? Fuck, I’m turning into a pansy!

  Mum stays for a while and we catch up. I tell her all about Lia when she’s wheeled away for her test. I hate watching her leave without me. I beg every time for them to let me go with her, but they never say yes. I’m sitting in Lia’s room waiting for her results to come back. I’m holding her hand and just staring at the tube coming from her mouth. I wonder if she’s in pain? The thought makes me cringe.

  “You!” someone yells and I turn to see Mr. and Mrs. Norman walking through the door. I exhale. I know this won’t be fun.

  “Mr. Norman—”

  “Get out! You’re the reason she’s here. If it wasn’t for you and your stupid fans, my precious Delia wouldn’t be fighting for her life right now. Look at her – this is all your fault you ignorant son of a—”

  “Ford, stop it. Can’t you see that he’s hurting just as much as we are?” Lia’s mum says. I feel the enormity of guilt weighing down on me as I realise what he’s saying.

  “I know this is my fault, sir. Trust me. It’s all I’ve thought about for the last two days. Don’t worry you can hate me all you want. It still won’t add up to anywhere near as much as I hate myself!” I reply and run my hand through my hair, closing my eyes so I don’t cry in front of Lia’s father.

  “Oh Colt. Don’t hate yourself, darling. It’s not your fault. It was an accident and as long as she is getting better that’s all that matters,” Liz says and I swallow the lump in my throat and rest my head on Lia’s bed.

  “No, I don’t care how guilty you feel. You don’t belong in here, now get out,” Ford exclaims harshly.

  I shake my head and try to contain my anger. “I’m sorry, Mr. Norman, but I’m not going anywhere. I told Lia I wouldn’t leave her and I never will. So you can hate me all you want and I don’t blame you. But I am not leaving, under any circumstances,” I retort and look back down at Lia’s beautiful face.

  “No, I don’t accept that Colt. Now get the fuck out of my daughter’s room or I’ll drag you out myself,” he berates walking over to me and pulling me up by my collar.

  “Ford, put him down and stop this right now,” Liz exclaims loudly.

  “Hit me! Go on, I know you want to,” I say and he pushes me and I stumble backward slightly but catch myself before I fall.

  “Don’t tempt me boy,” he bellows and I rush back over to him and look him square in the eyes.

  “Hit me! I dare you.”

  He smiles at me and grabs me by my collar. “I swear to God if you don’t get out now I will bloody hit you,” he says through gritted teeth.

  “Well, I’m not going anywhere, so give it your best shot,” I say and he pulls his clenched fist back and I watch almost in slow motion as his fist comes forward and I smile slightly just before his hard knuckles connect with my nose.

  “Oh my God, Ford,” Liz screams as I fall backward to the floor with blood pooling from my nose. The pain
is so bad that for a second I forget where I am and I start to laugh. A deep harrowing belly laugh. Ford and Liz look at me strangely as I sit on the floor and bring my knees up to my chest. I wipe the blood from my face and look up to see Lia still the same, not moving… just there… sleeping… she might as well be gone. I guess I was hoping that maybe if she heard us fighting, she might wake up and stop us. My manic laughter quickly turns to sobbing as I rest my head against my knees and fall completely apart in front of her parents.

  “Jesus Ford, look what you’ve done to the poor man,” Liz scolds and comes across and sits down on the floor next to me. She wraps her arm around my shoulders as I cry into my knees with blood dripping from my nose.

  “I’m so sorry… I’m so sorry… I’m so sorry—”

  “Hey, hey, stop that now. Stop feeling guilty, Colt. You are not the reason Delia is here. Don’t listen to Ford, he’s just hurting and doesn’t know how to deal with this,” Liz says waving her hands around. She pulls my head up and looks at my nose. She winces and looks harshly at Ford.

  “Sorry Colt. I shouldn’t have punched you. I’ll go and get a nurse,” he apologises and walks out of the room rubbing the back of his neck.

  I try to control my sobbing, the last thing I want to do is fall apart in front of her parents. Ford walks in with Shannon, the nurse, and she grimaces at me.

  “What on earth have you done now?” she asks and walks over then kneels down in front of me. I look up at Ford, who’s purposely not looking at me.

  “I walked into the wall.”

  Shannon glares at me. “You would’ve had to have hit the wall pretty darn hard to do all this damage and have this much blood,” she says. Ford looks at me and I nod.

  “Yeah, I need to start watching where I’m going, don’t I?”

  “Right, head back, let’s stop this bleeding and then we’ll take you for X-rays.” I look at her sternly. “Colt, seriously? You know you have to be checked out. I know you don’t want to leave her side, but if your nose is broken—”

  “It’s not broken and even if it is I don’t care. I’m not leaving her, no arguments,” I reply and she shakes her head.

  “I’ve never met anyone quite as stubborn as you are,” she teases with a slight laugh.

  “When it comes to my girl, I’m as stubborn as you can get,” I reply and Liz smiles while Ford watches me intently. I’m sure he’s waiting to see if I’ll say something, but he’s going to be my father-in-law so I want to be on his good side. Plus, I don’t think Lia will approve of me getting her father charged with assault.

  “Okay, let me get some supplies and I’ll clean you up,” Shannon says and then walks out of the room. I rest my head back against the wall while I hold the tissues to my nose.

  “Thank you,” Ford says and I look at him and nod. He nods back and puts his hand out to help me up. I take it and he pulls me up and Liz stands up with me.

  “Sorry, I misjudged you, Colt,” he states and then puts his hand out for me to shake, which of course I do.

  Lia’s tests came back and two days later they started to bring her out of the induced coma. They took out her ventilator tube and did a whole bunch of other stuff that I can’t remember. Everything’s a blur from the past week. I’m sitting holding her hand and watching her chest rise and fall on its own without the ventilator tubes rammed down her throat. My nose still hurts and I’m black and blue, but Ford is being civil to me now at least and that’s a positive. I can tell he still doesn’t like me, but at least he’s civil and not blaming me anymore. It doesn’t really matter because I haven’t stopped blaming myself.

  I exhale as I run circles on her hand with my thumb. She’s not as cold as she was and I can see a little more colour in her cheeks. She’s fighting and the doctors say she should wake up any day. The swelling in her brain has reduced and it wasn’t as bad as they had originally thought. So that’s a positive thing.

  I exhale. I’m so tired. Sleeping in a chair is not a good way to sleep, but I will never leave her side, especially now she could wake up at any stage. I need to be here when she does. I even go to the bathroom with the door open so I can watch her. The nurses don’t like that much, but I don’t give a fuck what they want, I’m not missing out on her waking up. I pick her hand up and kiss it tenderly.

  “I miss you,” I whisper while I lean down and kiss her cheek. I rest my head on her forehead and I close my eyes just taking in her scent.

  “Mmm,” I hear. I open my eyes wide and sit back looking at her.

  “Lia?” I ask my heart rate spiking and my breathing stops.

  She moans again slightly and I smile brightly, not because she’s obviously in pain, but because I think she is waking up… finally.

  “Lia, can you hear me?” I question and she moves her fingers slightly. Excitement floods through me as I stroke her hair and pull her hand to my mouth and kiss her repeatedly. “I’m right here, baby, I love you,” I say as her free arm moves and she clenches at her abdomen and moans slightly again. I think she’s in pain so I press the call button for the nurse. “C’mon, open your eyes,” I whisper and I watch her eyelids intensely. The nurse comes in and I don’t look at her. I can’t take my eyes from Lia, not now. I want to be the first thing she sees when she wakes up.

  “Everything okay, Colt?” Shannon queries.

  “I think she’s waking up,” I advise and Shannon walks over checking her stats.

  “C’mon Lia,” I whisper again as I stroke her hair.

  She moans again and Shannon smiles. “Won’t be long now, Colt,” she says and my eyes fill with tears. I watch her eyelids and they start to flicker. My heart flutters and I hold onto her hand so tightly. She moans again and starts to shift her body infinitesimally, but I know she moved, I’m sure of it.

  “No Lia, try to stay still honey,” Shannon says putting her hands on Lia’s legs to stop her from moving around. She moans again and I suddenly feel like perhaps something is wrong. All the happiness and elation I was feeling turns immediately to dread.

  “Shannon?” I question and she looks at me and nods.

  “It’s okay, Colt. All of this is normal. She’s going to be quite confused when she wakes up. She may even be irritated. So just prepare yourself for that,” Shannon replies and I nod in understanding.

  “She’s been through a lot, I can understand a little irritation,” I say and Lia’s movements and moaning stops. It looks like she’s gone back to sleep and I swallow a lump in my throat and sit back down in the chair still with her hand in mine.

  “I’ve given her some more pain relief. Hopefully, that helps, but it might make her sleep for a little while longer,” Shannon informs me and she walks around and pats my shoulder. “You’re doing great, Colt.” She turns and walks out.

  I sit there staring at Lia for what seems like hours. I’m so on edge right now that I feel like I need a break, but I’m not leaving her. Not ever! So I lean back in the chair and shut my eyes, just for a moment.

  Something is moving in my hand. I’m slowly pulled back to reality. Lia’s hand is moving in mine and my eyes shoot open and I stand abruptly and look at her eyes. They’re flickering and I instantly get excited again.

  “Lia, I’m right here. Open your eyes if you can hear me,” I beg and her eyes flutter as her hand tightens in mine and then her eyes shoot open. I think I stop breathing when her beautiful green eyes lock onto mine. I instantly caress her cheek as a tear falls from my eye. “Hey baby, can you hear me?”

  She continues to stare at me and she doesn’t say anything. I look at her pleading with my eyes for her to speak. But she doesn’t.

  “Lia?” I whisper as I lean down and kiss her lips, she doesn’t kiss back. She is pretty much lifeless in front of me, but the only difference now is her eyes are staring into mine. It gives me an eerie feeling and I don’t like it at all. I press the call button and I continue to stare at her.

  “I love you, Lia. I love you so fucking much.” I rest my forehe
ad against hers and look deeply into her eyes and I can see her eyes are welling up with tears.

  Is she in pain?

  And why the fuck can’t she talk? There’s gotta be something wrong.

  Shannon walks in. “Is she awake?” she calls out walking over to the bed.

  “I don’t know?” I reply honestly and I pull my forehead from Lia’s and her eyes follow me as I straighten up. “She’s awake, but she’s not talking. That’s not normal, right?” I whisper so Lia can’t hear me.

  Shannon looks at Lia and flashes a light into her eyes. Lia shuts her eyes from the brightness. A sinking feeling hits my chest.

  Why the fuck can’t she talk?

  “That’s not normal, right?” I repeat and Shannon shakes her head.

  “No, it can happen, Colt. She’s still trying to wake up fully and all her functions may not come back at once. It’s okay, try not to worry, just reassure her and be here while she has her eyes open. She probably won’t stay awake for long and will more than likely not even remember,” Shannon tells me and I nod all the while my eyes are still fixated on Lia’s. Shannon walks over and squeezes my shoulder. “You’re doing great,” she confides and walks out of the room.

  I exhale and caress her cheek, her eyes close momentarily and I start to panic.

  “Lia?” She opens her eyes again and a tear falls down her face. I instantly wipe it away with my thumb and lean down and kiss her lips. She doesn’t kiss back, but I don’t care as long as she keeps looking at me I’m happy. I sniff and I see her swallow.

  “I love you, so much. You have no idea, Lia. Don’t worry, I’m going to be here every step of the way to get you better. You can count on me, baby,” I talk to her and raise her hand to kiss it again. Her mouth twitches and I focus my eyes on her lips as they try to turn into a smile. I exhale and can’t stop the tears that flow. I feel like such a sissy, but I smile as brightly as I can and kiss her lips again. “I love you,” I stammer through a sob and she smiles this time fully and then closes her eyes and exhales. I sniff while I caress her cheek willing her eyes to open for me again, but her hand loosens in my grip and I know she’s asleep again. I exhale loudly and sit down in the chair.