Page 13 of Not Another Rockstar
He stopped tapping as he waited for Phoebe to pick up. However, the receptionist’s smile faded as she put down the phone.
“I’m sorry sir, but Ms Fletcher isn’t in.” She typed away on her keyboard. “From the details here, I believe the last time her room key was used was last night.”
“Thank you for your help,” he said quickly, about to leave when she called after him. He winced and turned back towards her.
“Could I get an autograph? My roommates won’t believe I’ve met you, and my little brother wants to be a drummer like you when he grows up.” The receptionist smiled nervously, and he didn’t want to disappoint her.
“Sure.” Axel forced a smile, swallowing his fear long enough to scribble his signature on a hotel notepad. She thanked him, but he was already halfway across the lobby.
Walking back to his car, he checked his watch. It’d only taken him twenty minutes to get here. They could’ve gone for breakfast, or somewhere else to talk, he supposed, but Munich wasn’t familiar to either of them. They wouldn’t know where to go, and Cillian wouldn’t go off without some of their security.
Axel was about to pull away from the curb when Phoebe’s name flashed up on his phone in the holder.
“Phoebe! Where the hell are you? Nick has been calling you, and you aren’t at the hotel? Are you and Cillian alright?” he asked frantically, desperate to hear they were okay.
The silence dragged on.
“Phoebe?” he asked again.
“This is Nurse Muller. I’m sorry to call but you were the last missed call on our patient’s phone.” His stomach dropped as heheard the word ‘patient’. “We have a Phoebe Fletcher in the ICU, and we need someone to come and confirm her identity and assist with medical information.”
Intensive care unit?He thought his heart was going to hammer through his chest.
He struggled to find the words. “I’ll be right there, but she was with my friend, Cillian Hunt. They left in a car together. Is he alright?” It felt like he had swallowed sandpaper as he spoke.
“I’m afraid I don’t have any information on the other patient brought in during this time,” the nurse said flatly.
He got the name of the hospital and the ward information before hanging up. His hands shook as he gripped the steering wheel and called Nick. Every part of him dreaded telling his best friend that his sister was in the hospital, and that he had no information about Cillian.
Axel gotto the hospital first. They couldn’t tell him anything other than that Cillian’s car had collided with another vehicle. Being stuck in the waiting room with other families until Nick arrived with August and Anita nearly killed him. Every minute felt like a year, and when the doctor in scrubs finally arrived and brought them to Phoebe’s room, the dismayed looks from the nurses as they passed the nursing station gave Axel the overwhelming feeling that it wasn’t good news.
“I’m sorry to tell you this, but Mr Hunt was killed on impact when the other car struck their vehicle. Ms Fletcher was unconscious when she came in and will remain under observation in the ICU for the time being. She has suffered a severe concussion, and her right hand required surgery due tosevere lacerations. We expect her to wake up when she is ready. She was very lucky to escape such an accident with her life,” the doctor said, clutching a tablet to her chest.
Axel held on to Nick as they absorbed the news.
Phoebe’s wrist was wrapped, her thumb sutured. Axel’s heart broke for her. Nick barely managed to get out that she was right-handed and a painter when the doctor talked to them about her surgery. Axel prayed the injury wouldn’t affect her painting. The weight of his guilt forced him to sit down in the armchair by her bed. He didn’t care about the nurses’ stern warnings for him to leave since it was long past visiting hours. Axel had promised Nick not to let Phoebe out of his sight, visiting hours or not.
Outside her room, Nick and August were talking with Anita about cancelling the rest of the tour. Axel wanted to take Phoebe’s hand to let her know he was there, and that she was safe. However, with one hand wrapped post-surgery and the other filled with tubes administering drugs, he could only comfort her by remaining by her side.
“I’ve got your notebook,” Axel told her, gently brushing her lilac hair from her bruised cheek. “You left it behind, but I’ll keep it safe for you until you wake up.”
He pulled out her notebook from his back pocket and flipped through the pages. He’d been expecting to find sketches. Instead, his eyes widened as he found the lyrics to their songs. Songs past and present, and many, in the final pages of the packed notebook, he didn’t recognise.
He stared at her sleeping, bruised body, stunned to have discovered her secret. He ran his fingertips over the handwriting. Some scribbles looked like Cillian’s—had they been working together in secret all along? The realisation that Cillian wouldn’t write or perform with them again took the air from his lungs.
“Does Nick know about your hobby?”Axel asked her, glancing over his shoulder to Nick.
He didn’t know how Nick was holding it together; it couldn’t last long. They were all so focused on making sure that Phoebe was okay, no one had really registered the news about Cillian. Nick hadn’t stepped foot in his sister’s room yet, and Anita had insisted on being the one to identify Cillian. No one argued; they weren’t ready to see their friend in that state.
How was Nick supposed to come to terms with the fact that his lifelong best friend had nearly killed his sister because he was stupid enough to drive drunk?Axel scrubbed his hands over his face, hating that the last words he had spoken to Cillian were in anger. Seeing Phoebe in this state contorted his grief with sadness. He wished he’d stopped them, but there was no changing the past.
“I should’ve made sure Cill was okay this morning. I just lectured him and left,” Nick said, numbly, finally walking through the door.
Axel concealed the notebook behind his back. Now wasn’t the moment for Nick to discover the truth.
“You can’t think like that. He made the choice,” Axel said, letting him sit down beside Phoebe.
“Don’t say it like that.” Nick grimaced. “This wasn’t him.”
