Page 202 of The Encore’s Crown

“Yeah.”

“Rafe, Ronan. They’ll come when they find out, you know how they are.”

Natalia’s fingers tense slightly between mine. Rithy looks from her to me.

“You sure you want to do this now? Like this?”

I understand exactly what he’s offering me. Time to send her home or to try to invent a reason why she'd be here. One final chance to preserve the secret before the whole thing comes apart in the middle of an ICU waiting room.

I grip her hand harder.

“Fuck it." I look directly at Rithy. “I want my girlfriend here with me. I love her. If anyone has a fucking problem with that in the middle of all this shit, they aren’t my brother or bandmate. They aren’t my anything.”

Natalia turns toward me. Rithy watches us for a moment, then nods.

He calls Stefan. The conversation is short and brutal. Ma is alive. Dad is dead. Police are investigating. No, we don’t know whether anyone has contacted the media. Yes, Elise still needs to know. No statement beyond a private family emergency until the detectives say what can be released. By the time Rithy ends the call, the doctor is back. Ma's been transferred upstairs. Her condition is still critical, but the swelling in her airway hasn't worsened. The brain bleed remains small. They’re continuing sedation and monitoring her neurological response.

It's not good news but it's not bad news.

Tonight, that has to count.

A nurse returns a few minutes later and leads us out of the consultation room, through another set of secured doors, and into the ICU family waiting area. It’s larger than the room we just left but somehow feels more claustrophobic, filled with hushed voices, vending-machine light, and people trying not to look at one another.

She tells us someone will come get us when we’re allowed to see Ma, then leaves us there to wait.

It hasn't been half an hour since we called Stefan when I hear my old name again.

“Mr. Drysdale?”

I look up at a nurse in green scrubs, smiling.

“There are three visitors downstairs for Chenda Drysdale. Rafferty Ashton, Ronan O’Shea, and Kasia Sawadzka. They said you’re expecting them. Would you like us to send them up?”

Rithy glances at me.

Natalia closes her eyes briefly.

“Yeah,” I say. “Send them up.”

The nurse nods. “They can wait here with you, but when your mother is ready for visitors, only two people will be allowed in her room at a time.”

“That’s fine.”

When the door opens again, Rafe enters first, Kasia beside him and Ronan close behind. They take in the room. Rithy slumped in a chair. Natalia pressed against my side, our hands still locked together.

Rafe’s eyes stop there and Kasia’s follow.

No one says anything.

Rafe crosses the room and goes straight to Rithy. He pulls him out of the chair and into his arms without asking. Rithy collapses against him, gripping the back of Rafe’s jacket hard enough to bunch the fabric in both fists. Rafe says something and Rithy nods once against his shoulder. Then Rafe lets him go and turns to me. There’s no hesitation. He wraps both arms around me and pulls me in, one hand clamping around the back of my neck.

“I’m here,” he says.

That’s all.

It nearly does me in.

Beside me Kasia opens her arms and Natalia falls into them. The first sound she makes is small, almost swallowed, but then her shoulders start shaking. Kasia holds her tighter, one hand cradling the back of her head while Natalia buries her face against her sister.