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A few feet away, Michael danced with Adam in his arms, never taking his eyes off him. They were so in love, and my best friend deserved that.
My brow furrowed as I watched a somber-looking Jesse Evans heading toward Michael. He and Aidan Hayes co-owned EHM and represented us as a band, and individually. Jesse was married to Dominick Rossi, the Pirates placekicker, and Aidan Hayes was married to Marcus Monroe, the All-Pro wide receiver for the Pirates. All four of them had come up for the last show. Everyone except me had been so happy, but I could tell whatever was going on right now wasn’t good.
Dread crawled up from my gut as I watched Jesse talking to Michael and Adam. And when their expressions changed, and Michael looked up to find me, I knew it was bad. With Adam in tow, all three of them made a beeline for me.
“Cole,” Jesse said, when he approached, “we need to get you back to Portland as quickly as possible.”
“Why? What’s wrong?” I was going to be sick.
Jesse looked at Adam. “Patrick was in an accident on the interstate. It’s bad, Cole.”
“Bad? How bad? What does that mean?”
Michael leaned closer. “They had to cut him out of the car.” He looked pained, like he was warring with whether to tell me more.
“What? What the fuck are you not telling me? Is he dead? Is he gone?”
Michael shook his head. “No, Cole. But they lost his pulse once on the way to the hospital. Fortunately, they got him back.”
Adam reached for me and pulled me out of the booth. “Come on, we gotta go. They’ve got a plane waiting to take us to OHSU.”
Please God, let this be a nightmare. Please wake me up.
When we got outside, I was herded into the back of an Escalade with Adam and Michael. Jesse was driving, and Aidan was in the passenger seat.
I registered all the people around me, making calls and handling things while I sat and focused on breathing. Aidan was on his phone, making calls. I heard him say Simon’s name, as well as Greer Rowan’s. Adam was on his phone, calling our parents.
“Can you call Patrick’s parents? They’re going to want to get a flight.” I turned to look at him as he glanced at me with tears in his eyes. “Yeah, he’s kinda out of it. But Michael and I are with him.”
My eyes filled with tears and I began to sob. Adam turned and grabbed me. He held me tightly and tried to soothe me. “He’s gonna be okay, Cole. They won’t let anything happen to him.”
“You don’t know that,” I cried into my hands. “This is all my fault. I should have gone with him. Or asked him to stay. My god, Adam, what am I gonna do without him? I broke his heart before he left. I know it’s my fault.”
All conversation had stopped in the Escalade as I rattled out my confession. Adam tried to reassure me, but I knew the truth. He’d never convince me it wasn’t.
I was lost again when the car stopped, and doors started opening. The sound of a jet engine starting up on the tarmac at SeaTac temporarily drew my attention away from my despair.
“Let’s go,” Michael urged, pulling me by my arm. I got out and followed them to climb the steps to the small private jet.
“How long will it take to get there?”
“Forty minutes. We’ll land at PDX. Jesse has a car waiting to take us to the hospital. It’s only eight miles away.”
I nodded wordlessly as Michael went to talk with the pilot. Adam put his hand on my shoulder. “Let’s get buckled in.”
Following directions, I sat down in the comfortable leather seat and buckled my seatbelt while Adam sat beside me. Aidan took a seat facing me. He was checking his phone every two seconds, and it made me nervous. What was he looking for?
“What’s going on, Aidan?”
“Nothing, just letting everyone know we’re on the way.”
My brain got stuck on everyone, but I didn’t care. I just needed to keep from passing out. My fingers were numb and my heartbeat was erratic. Any minute now, I was going to lose it. Lose everything.
All I knew was this—if the love of my life died, I might as well go with him. I’d never survive without Patrick. I’d happily go back into that closet with him if he lived.
Please God, don’t take him away from me.
CHAPTER 8
