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“Yes, a man and a woman, they have uniforms on.”
“Are they helping your dad now? Tell me what they’re doing.”
“Yes, they’re doing stuff. They’ve rolled him on his side and stuck something in his mouth, but he’s not waking up.” The poor kid sounded on the verge of hysteria and my chest tightened.
“That’s okay buddy, they know what they’re doing. Meanwhile, can you ask them what hotel you are in and where?” I glanced at Billie who was pulling her hair, staring anxiously at me. I pulled her by the wrist and hugged her into my side, while I heard them tell him they were in The Hilton Hotel. However, I knew there were several in the city.
“Well done dude, your superpower is getting information. Now that your mom and I know where you are, we’re coming to get you. Stay on the phone with us, don’t hang up. I’m going to give you back to your mom and we’re on our way. Stay inside the hotel, and don’t allow anyone to take you anywhere else. Can you put your dad’s cell to the ear of the man helping your dad for a second, but don’t hang up when he’s finished, I want to talk to you again.”
“Hello,” the guy said sounding stressed. “The boy with you is called Colby. The guy you are working on is his dad, Logan Drummond. His mom and I are in Margate, New Jersey, but we’re on our way. I need the exact hotel address please.”
The deep gruff voice told me he was a hotel first responder and the emergency services were three minutes out. I managed to ascertain that he thought Logan was drunk. As the guy used the word inebriated, I was confident Colby had no idea what that was. Once Danny, the guy helping Logan, had told me his name and the details of their location, I was handed back to Colby.
“Good job, you’re a hero helping your dad. Now remember don’t hang up and don’t leave the hotel with anyone. I’m going to give you back to your mom and we’re leaving now. Ask to stay in the manager’s office until we get there. I’m not going to lie to you, it’s going to take us a while before we arrive, but now that we know how brave you are, we’re not worried because you have people there with you. You’re going to hear a lot of noise because I’m bringing your mom to you on my bike. We won’t be able to hear you but leave the phone line open.
Handing the phone back to Billie, I pulled on the rest of my clothes; Billie already in hers, and we hurriedly made our way to the city.
* * *
“Oh, God, thank you,” Billie breathed as she wrapped a tear-stricken Colby in her arms. Poor little boy looked devastated and my heart ached for what he’d gone through alone. By the time we arrived at the Hilton, Logan had been taken to the hospital, and Colby thankfully had been kept amused by one of the female front desk staff who had reached the end of her shift.
“Daddy wouldn’t wake up. It was really frightening, Mom,” he sobbed again. Torn, I left Billie to comfort Colby for a few minutes and went to talk to the staff. Once I knew which hospital he’d been taken to I whispered this information to her.
Billie left us to call the Emergency Room out of earshot of Colby. I felt torn about who to give my attention to as I had needed to comfort them both, but as Colby was the child his needs came first, while we waited to learn the full circumstances of the situation and his father’s condition.
When Billie walked out the door, Colby’s frightened expression made my heart clench as he stared after her looking lost. “Come here,” I told him, and he didn’t hesitate when he climbed on my lap and buried his face in my chest.
“You did great. Your mom and I are very proud of how well you coped,” I told him, and he hugged me tighter.
“Did he die?” he asked, lifting his head to look me square in the eye and I swear my heart tore open. I had no idea what Logan’s status was, and I knew no matter what I couldn’t lie to him.
“They took your dad to the best hospital here in the city. Your mom is finding out what’s going on and she’ll be back with an update for the both of us, okay?” I asked, trying to sound calm and hoped this helped him feel more in control.
Minutes later, Billie was back, mascara slightly smudged and I could see she’d been crying. “He’s awake,” she blurted, the harrowed look she wore crushed me, and I felt Colby’s body sag as he began to cry again.
“Excellent,” I stated, even though I knew this word wasn’t the main sentiment on the tip of my tongue, I knew it was important to try to focus on the fact Logan was alive for Colby and Billie’s sake, at least until I knew the full circumstances of what had gone on.
Leaving the bike parked in the hotel underground car garage, I ordered a car and driver to take us to the hospital and once again, I stayed with Colby while Billie went off to see Logan. Fortunately, Billie was still listed as his next of kin, so was able to go into the ICU. When she was told that’s where he’d been taken, we knew whatever had happened was serious.
Billie was in the room less than two minutes before she came back, her face ashen and she’d been crying again. “Come on, Colby, come and see your father, he’s fine. They’re going to watch him today and then he’ll move rooms tomorrow. According to his nurse he may be home again by Tuesday.”
“Home with us?” Colby asked as she led him away. “No he doesn’t live with us anymore,” I heard Billie reply before the doors at the end of the corridor closed. Fuck.
Hammer called as I was sitting waiting. “Good news, Wiggy is doing better, attending the self-help therapy sessions and the rehab group ones. He’s really upbeat for the first time in about a year, and he’s the cleanest and most committed as I’ve ever seen him.”
“Great news,” I replied, pleased to hear our bass player was on the mend. “I’ve told Harry, our tour manager not to book anything else until we know he’s completely functioning without Charlie’s help.” Charlie being the lines of cocaine he snorted like it was strips of candy.
“How’s it going with Billie?”
“Life with Billie and Colby has a few kinks I still need to work out, the Logan situation is a car crash right now.” I went on to tell him where I was, and he offered to look after Colby for us. I could only begin to imagine Billie’s comment if I asked a recovered addict to take care of her son while Logan was currently in hospital with likely alcohol poisoning.
Thanking him for the update, I concluded the call and felt glad I had put my faith in him with Wiggy. It had been a different story when I’d found Hammer overdosed with a needle and syringe hanging from a vein in his groin in a venue restroom, in Maine four years earlier. He almost died and it was touch and go for a while afterward with his mental health, but since then he’s been living proof recovering addicts can make it given their attitude and will to succeed.
It was almost 5:00 p.m. by the time we left the hospital, and instead of going home I collected the keys to my father’s penthouse from security and decided we’d all sleep there instead of traveling all the way home.
During a take-out dinner, Billie talked Colby through what had happened and it transpired Logan had drank a whole bottle of Jack Daniels, which his system hadn’t been used to, and the binge drinking had caused alcohol poisoning. Billie told him his dad hadn’t meant to drink so much but he’d felt sad and hadn’t noticed how much he had drank.
Both Billie and I knew the value of talking through Colby’s ordeal with him and when he’d disclosed how scared he was for his dad, I suggested just for that night he sleep close to his mom. It meant me sleeping in the master suite alone, but it was a small price to pay for Colby to feel secure after all he had been through.
