Chapter 21 Alexander Tuesday #2
A large sigh leaves my lungs at his response.
Thank God, he’s okay.
“Is Andrew okay?” I close my eyes, fearful of the response.
“They put him in an induced coma. He’s completely unresponsive to any of the tests they’ve run on him.” His tone is hollow, void of any emotion.
“I’m so sorry. I can’t even begin to imagine what you must be feeling right now.”
Except I can. I’d experienced that helplessness while Samuel lay unresponsive and dying on the ground.
“I’ve tried to reach out to his family, but they won’t return any of my calls.” His tone is still hollow, but there’s anger underneath it. “They disowned him when he came out. Wanted nothing to do with him. Who would do that to their son?”
His fury lingers in the air as I twiddle with my car keys.
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
I remove my jacket and hang it back up on the coat rack. I realize I need to be conscious of my actions and not to come swooping in like some Messiah trying to save him from what he’s going through. I have to honor his needs, but also help him.
“I don’t think I can face going out on a date tonight. I can’t leave Andrew all on his own. But the hospital said I can’t stay past visiting hours again, and I can’t bring myself to go home.” Christopher’s quiet sobs come through the phone.
“You’re welcome to stay here,” I offer. “I can come pick you up from the hospital when visiting hours are over.”
The silence stretches out between us, like a vast open road to nowhere, making my shoulders tense. I open my mouth to try again, praying I get it right.
“You’re always looking after everyone. Let me look after you.”
I walk through the lounge and out to the garden, looking down across Beverley Hills, wondering if Christopher is at Cedars-Sinai, just out of sight.
“I couldn’t. I shouldn’t.”
Christopher sounds like he’s talking to himself more than to me, and I jump in.
“I’ve got Valentina here who can help too. She can take care of anything you need. Pick up anything from your apartment, if you can’t bring yourself to go in and get it.”
Another uncomfortable silence ensues, turning my stomach upside down.
Let me in.
Just let me help you.
“I have three spare bedrooms. You don’t even have to share a bed with me if you don’t want to. I know my snoring is the last thing you need to be hearing if you haven’t slept the last couple of nights. You can just rest up here, not have to worry about anything other than your housemate.”
The phone goes silent once more as I step toward the pool and watch a lizard run along the far edge before disappearing down into the valley below.
“Are you sure?” he asks, trepidation lining his words.
“Of course. Just let me know which hospital and what time to collect you and I’ll be there.” I flick the water in the pool with my foot.
“I’m at Cedars-Sinai. I’ll be kicked out around eight.”
“Right,” I say and look at my watch, noticing it’s only five thirty. “I’ll see you then.”
I hang up and make my way back to the studio. Freddy turns round in his chair when I enter and ties his hair up with an elastic band he picks up from the sound desk.
“Everything okay?”
My gaze drifts across the walls, over to the plaques I’ve received for my records. The late afternoon sun shines through the tinted floor-to-ceiling windows behind the desk and onto the couch, where I’d left the guitar and the leather-bound diary containing all my lyric ideas.
“Someone I know’s housemate is in a coma.”
“Damn man, that sucks.”
“Yeah, it does.”
I collapse onto the couch and grab the lighter, relighting the incense sticks that have gone out.
“Wanna talk about it?” Freddy spins back to the desk to pour the last of his San Pelligrino into his glass before facing me again.
“I think I’m okay. I’m gonna pick them up from the hospital in a couple of hours and talk it through with them then.”
I sink back into the couch and pick up my guitar.
At least Christopher’s physically okay. At least he’s not the one in a coma.
“Did you want to wrap this up? Pick it up again another day?”
Freddy turns back to the screen and brings up all the parts laid down for I’m A Broken Man, the track I wrote back at the Meadows. The lead and backing vocals are already laid down alongside the main guitar riff and programmed drums.
“Maybe we could park that for now and work on something new before I have to leave?”
A melody forms in my head as I start playing with various chords.
“Sure,” Freddy says, saving the track and opening up a new file.
“Can you loop the following chords for me, on keys please?” I ask, showing Freddy what I want him to replicate on the piano.
Freddy locks down the chords, putting them on loop, and I put down the guitar as the track plays, to reach for my diary. I flip to an empty page and start humming a melody over the top, writing down the lyrics as they come out.
I know you’re tired of everything you’re going through,
Life’s been knocking you down when you’re already bruised,
Unanswered questions leaving you so damn confused,
But I am here with you.
It breaks my heart to know there’s nothing I can do,
I’d take away the troubles haunting you,
Everything that causes you pain, I would remove,
Still I am here with you.
By the time I’ve worked through the rest of the lyrics, another hour has passed.
“Do you think we should make it more hopeful?” Freddy asks as I sing the two verses aloud. “A bit more inspiring?”
Freddy transposes the chords to a different key, forcing me to sing it a semi-octave higher and giving the song an uplifting sound. A shiver rushes down my spine when I sing the last line and I know he’s on to something.
“Can I leave you to play around with the production? I need to get showered and changed before I head to the hospital.”
“No problem,” Freddy says, turning back to the piano to lay down the new chords as I get up.
By the time I’ve showered, dried myself off, and changed my clothes, it’s almost 7:40.
I grab a few items of clothing from my walk-in closet and head out of my bedroom toward the front door.
It shouldn’t take me more than fifteen minutes to get to Cedars-Sinai from here, but I don’t want to take any chances.
“Valentina!” I shout.
“Yes?” Her head of black hair pops up from behind the kitchen counter before the rest of her emerges.
“I have a friend coming over to stay tonight, maybe for a few days. Could you prepare one of the guest rooms and grab some towels for them? And could you also leave these on the bench at the bottom of the bed alongside the towels?”
“Of course,” she says, coming round to take the clothes off me. “Will you be wanting dinner for all of you?”
All of us?
Oh, she must mean Freddy too.
“I’m not sure yet. Freddy will be leaving shortly, but I’ll let you know on the way back,” I say, heading back to the front door.
I probably should let Freddy know to let himself out before I go.
I run to the studio and stick my head round the corner of the door.
“You okay to see yourself out once you’ve got those chords down?”
“Yeah, sure,” he says, “Want me to bounce both tracks out and send what we’ve got so far over to you and management?”
“Just me for now, please,” I say, pulling my head out and closing the door.
That conversation can wait for another day.