8. Chapter Eight #2
Rachel’s mouth snapped shut.
“He’s Marcella’s father. He was my boss—and my mentor—at Ramsey Engineering for nearly twenty years.
When Lauren died and I didn’t think I was ever going to get out of bed again, he’s the man who set me on my feet and gave me a path out of my own grave.
If it was not for Daniel Ramsey, I would not be sitting in front of you today.
I would be dead.” I cleared my throat, just barely holding back tears. “That man is the father I chose.”
“Mr. Avery—”
“I don’t know what’s happened to Daniel, but we all love and support him,” I said.
“We’re praying for him. The second I get off this stage, my wife and I are going to find out exactly what happened and where he is.
” I paused. “And how it’s possible that Morning Harbor could have found out about this before we did. ”
Both hosts visibly flinched. I didn’t say Victoria’s name. I didn’t need to. No one in the audience would have understood it if I did, anyway.
But they knew what I was saying. My restraint—our dignity—was all the indictment I needed.
I think both of them knew there was no salvaging this. “Please,” Rachel said, looking so stricken that maybe she really did regret what she’d done. “Mr. And Mrs. Avery—go be with your family. All of us hope for a full and speedy recovery for Mr. Ramsey.”
It was the off-ramp, and we took it.
I didn’t hear whatever the hosts said next.
Doubtless they were trying their best—because they had to—to lean in and pivot to whatever segment was coming up after the commercial break, but I no longer cared about any of that.
I helped Yukiko to her feet, practically lifting her into my arms as I half-carried, half-led her off the stage. ”
She buried her face against me with a sob. “Jack, I’m scared.”
A few more steps. “I know, baby. I’ve got you. It’s going to be okay.”
I had no way of knowing it at the time, but Yukiko’s mic was still on. So was the boom above my head.
Later on, Mona would push the Lauren question through social media, trying to help it go viral.
But she needn’t have bothered. It was that moment—that confession, that second where Kiki melted into me into me and I showed the world exactly what kind of man I was—that would be the thing everyone remembered from this interview.
The moment that untold numbers of women would react to on TikTok with everything from theatrically fanning themselves to making half-serious marriage proposals.
The moment that started to shift the needle.
But I wasn’t thinking about any of that. Just her, just the pounding in my ears, and just Daniel.
I stepped off stage, Yukiko in my arms. I wasn’t even surprised to see Caroline standing there, Yukiko’s coat in one hand and two chilled bottles of water splayed between her fingers in the other.
She tossed the coat over my princess’s shoulders and expertly plucked the mic from her lapel, yanking the lead from the battery pack to shield her from further hot mic incidents.
She might have been the one kind person in the building.
“You did great,” she told Kiki. “You were so brave. We’re going to get you both out of here.”
I set Yukiko on her feet and turned to Mona. “I…”
My vision swam.
“I need a minute,” I said, putting two fingers against the side of my throat. “Jesus…”
Somehow I managed to make it to the nearby wall. I slumped against it, going down on the floor in a daze, the pounding so loud it threatened to tear away the world.
Five things you see, I thought, desperately trying to remember what Yui taught me. Five things you hear. Jesus, God, how can a heart pound so goddamned fast…
Something cold came down on the back of my neck.
When I opened my eyes, the makeup tech was kneeling over me, pressing the bottle of water against me.
“Hey,” she said, her big brown eyes fixed on me. “You are okay. You hear me?”
I was trying not to pass out. “I… I…”
“Daniel’s alive,” she said. The corner of her mouth curled in a smile. “Your friend told me.”
Alive. Daniel was alive.
Thank God.
Suddenly another figure was kneeling beside me. Yukiko didn’t say anything—she just hugged me as best as she was able, crouching with her too-tight heels and her pregnant belly and not caring about any of it, because she could see the state I was in.
“I am right here,” she said, sobbing. “I love you, Jack.”
“I love you too, Princess,” I said, willing my heart rate to slow. It worked, a little bit.
A hand reached out. Mona’s.
“Jack, I know you’re in a bad way, but we need to leave right now.” Mona kept glancing over at the stage, which was a flurry of activity now that Morning Harbor had cut to commercial break. “I wouldn’t put it past these jackals to try and film you right now.”
I shook my head, trying to clear it. “Daniel. Is he…?”
“He’s at Mass General,” Mona said, grimacing. “He’s alive and stable. They don’t…”
She broke off.
“They don’t what?”
“They don’t know how bad the damage is yet,” she said. “Vanessa’s with him. Lakshmi is driving Samantha and Marcie to the hospital right now.”
Marcie. Jesus.
“Tell me she didn’t just find out about her father on live fucking television,” I said, some of my panic washed away by anger.
Mona looked like she was going to be sick. “I wish I could,” she whispered. “I really, really wish I could.”
Somehow I managed to get to my feet. What was even stranger was that Caroline managed to move with me, keeping the bottle of water against the back of my neck. It was helping, although the barely repressed rage coursing through me helped more.
“Thank you,” I murmured to the woman as I put an arm around Yukiko’s shoulder.
“Don’t mention it,” she murmured. “You two get out of here.” She turned to Mona. “You’ve got my info?”
Mona nodded.
I was too frazzled to wonder what the fuck she’d want the makeup tech’s information for. Maybe she really was going to poach her away from Morning Harbor.
We made it outside and into the BMW. Both Yukiko and I climbed into the back, while Mona hopped into the driver’s seat and got the thing running. Yukiko was so out of sorts I had to buckle her belt for her—her hands kept shaking from the adrenaline crash, tears spilling down her cheeks.
“I fucked up,” she murmured, over and over again. “Oh my God I fucked up. I froze on live TV, Jack, I screwed everything up…”
I held her tight. “No, princess. You got ambushed. There’s a difference, and everyone watching you knew that.”
“That’s not all they know,” Mona said, her hands tight on the wheel.
“That was a dirty fucking trick, Jack. The two of you played it perfectly. Morning Harbor’s going to look like they tried to exploit a family’s grief for shock value, and the two of you looked…
hell.” Somehow she managed to smile. “That was the most incredible PR move I’ve ever seen. ”
“It wasn’t PR,” I growled. “I don’t care about any of that. Get us to the hospital, Mona.”
She nodded. “This is going to be the most sympathetic the public has ever been to you,” she said, turning her attention back to the road. “But I really hate that it cost this to get us there.”
“So do I,” I said.
My phone buzzed in my pocket like a fucking hornet. I pulled it out, intending to silence it, only to stare in shock at the name written across the screen.
Marcie.
Yukiko and I shared a look. “Take it,” my princess whispered.
I put the phone to my ear.
The sounds of crying filled my ear. Multiple people crying.
Jesus.
“Marcie?” I tried my best to keep calm. “Babygirl, are you there?”
For a moment there was no sound. Just huge, shuddering sobs, so primal and ragged I couldn’t tell if they were coming from Marcie, Samantha, Lakshmi or all three of them.
Probably not Lakshmi, now that I thought it about.
I had no idea what it would take to rattle that girl, but I didn’t look forward to the day we’d find out.
Then a voice: “Uncle Jack.”
It was worse than I thought. “Babygirl, I’m here. I’m in the back of Mona’s car, we’re on our way to the hospital. I’m right here, okay? I am so sorry, we’re on our way, we had no idea—”
“Uncle Jack, is my dad going to die!?”
Everyone in the car heard it. Yukiko held onto me, tears streaming down her face.
“It’s going to be okay, babygirl,” I said, praying I was telling the truth. “Daniel’s going to be just fine. I’m going to stay on the line the whole way there, okay? You’re not alone, I’m right here.”
More sobs. I heard Mona press the gas even harder, the BMW’s engine accelerating as we turned onto the highway.
“I don’t want my dad to die!” Marcie sobbed. “He… I just talked to him the other day, Jack, I didn’t know…”
“None of us did,” I said. “Babygirl, the doctors are doing everything they can. We’re not going to let anything happen to Daniel.”
Marcie broke down sobbing. I heard the sound of the phone being shifted.
“Daddy?”
It was Samantha.
“I’m here,” I said, fighting off the dizziness. “We’re on our way. I think we’re gonna get there first.”
“Good.” I’d never heard her voice so tight. “Marcie, honey, we’re going to call Kate, okay? We’re going to call Kate and you and me and Laks are going to pray for your dad. I’m going to let Jack go for just a few minutes, okay?”
“You don’t need to do that,” I muttered. “I’m…”
“I saw you on that show,” Samantha whispered. “I know what a panic attack looks like, Daddy.”
“I’ll be fine,” I insisted. “I just need a minute—”
“We’ll see you soon,” Samantha said. “Tell Kiki we love her and she did great, okay? I’ve got Marcie.”
“Babygirl—”
She’d already hung up.
Panic welled up inside me. All the things I’d managed to hold back on stage: Daniel’s stroke, the double-cross from the Morning Harbor hosts, the sight of Yukiko frightened and alone and the sound of Marcie losing it like I’d never heard before…
all of it came rushing to the fore. My heart pounded. I couldn’t get enough air.
Yukiko held me close. “It’s okay,” she whispered, sobbing. “It’s okay, it’s okay, Jack, I’m right here…”
The BMW sped down the highway.
I closed my eyes and tried to calm down.
Because when we got to the hospital, a whole hell of a lot of people were going to need me.