Page 14 of Saving Emily
Her motherly affections flip from Noah to me. “Emily, darling, what’s wrong?”
I could brush off her panic by pulling up my big girl panties, but I’ve been strong for days now. I can’t hold back my despair for a moment longer. “I can’t lose him, Mom. I won’t be able to live without him.”
She wraps me up in one of her infamously warm hugs. “He loves you, Emily; he’ll fight for you.” After pulling back until I’m at arm’s length, she murmurs, “Isn’t it better to have loved for only a minute than not to have loved at all?”
9
The next morning when I exit the bathroom, I spot Cormack standing next to Noah's bedside. His remorseful eyes are offering silent sympathies to Noah, but his lips remain tightly sealed. He just watches over him in silence, equally repentant and grateful.
I’ve experienced similar emotions the past few days. I hate that Noah is going through this, but I’m grateful for every beep his life support machine makes.
When I pace toward Cormack and Noah's bandmates, the tapping of my feet on the white marble tiles announces my arrival. After spinning around to face me, Cormack greets me with a smile. "Hi, Emily."
I return his smile while silently praying he's just arrived. My stomach has been playing havoc with me the last few hours. Not only am I fearful I'll vomit again if I open my mouth, but I'm also worried Cormack will smell my ghastly morning breath. I could give him the same excuse I gave the boys of the band, that my stomach is only churning because of the horrendous situation I’m merged in, but Cormack seems too smart for that.
After pulling out a white documents from a briefcase on Noah’s bedside table, Cormack locks his eyes with mine. “I have some forms I need you to look over.”
As my teeth graze my lower lip, my eyes missile to Slater, Marcus, and Nick. They're eyeballing Cormack as curiously as Cormack is eyeballing me, but they don’t jump in to back me up.
My focus returns to Cormack when he hands me a sheet of paper. “Noah had the record company’s lawyer write his will last month.”
“But he’s not dead.” My high heart rate is heard in my blubbered response.
"I know, Emily. I'm not saying that, but Noah made you legally responsible for any medical or legal decisions concerning his estate if he’s incapable of doing so. That includes him being on a life support machine."
Marcus snatches the paper out of my hand, his lips quirking as he speed reads the document. “Are you kidding me?” he murmurs, his gaze lifting from the official looking document to Cormack.
“What?”
Marcus shifts his focus to Slater, the querier of his question. “They want compensation for us not fulfilling the contract we signed to be a supporting act for the O’Reilly Brothers.”
My eyes snap to Marcus, certain I heard him wrong.Who would sue Noah now? He’s in a coma, for crying out loud!
“Can you get us out of it?” Slater asks Cormack after joining us at the end of Noah’s bed.
“No, I’m sorry. The contract you signed has a financial clause attached to it. The promoters wanted to ensure they weren’t liable for any loss of revenue in the event of an accident.”
“What?” I stutter, utterly confused.
This can’t be true. Noah is fighting for his life, yet he’s being sued. This can’t be real.
When Jacob enters the room, I snatch the paper out of Marcus’s hand and take it to him. “They’re trying to sue Noah,” I advise Jacob, thrusting the paper into his chest.
He scans the document as quickly as Marcus did. Once he has his ducks lined up, he strays his eyes to Noah. “You don’t need to worry about this, Noah; we will handle this.”
When Jacob gestures for everyone to join him in the corridor, I glance at Noah, wordlessly telling him I love him before following the boys out of the room.
“You think this is fucking appropriate right now?” Jacob yells at Cormack. “He’s on life support, and you bring this shit into his fucking hospital room! He needs to concentrate on getting better, not worrying about the fucking band!”
He gets right up close to Cormack—so close, their chests touch.
“Noah made Emily his power of attorney. She’ssolelyresponsible for any financial matters that affect him, so I had no choice but to advise her he’s being sued.” Cormack peers at me with remorseful eyes.“I’m sorry, Emily, I had no choice. As soon as they filed, I was legally required to tell you.”
The remorse in his eyes smothers my annoyance. “How much are they suing him for?”
When Cormack hesitates in replying, I realize it is going to be a lot more than I’m anticipating.
I’m proven right when he breathes out, “Two million dollars.”
