Chapter Six
Annie
The entire room is spinning, and I know I’m lying down. My mouth is bone dry, my head is pounding, and honestly, I have no idea what the hell is happening to my body right now. I keep my eyes closed and lift a hand to my aching head, but something brushes against my face as I move.
I squint, trying to escape the harsh light above me, and when I force my eyes open enough to focus, I spot a cord leading from the back of my hand.
My eyes widen.
A drip.
The only reason I know what it is is because I had one when I was in the hospital getting my tonsils out.
A horrible thought hits me.
Am I in the hospital?
I glance around the room and realize that, yes, I am very much in a hospital room, completely alone, and I feel absolutely dreadful.
I start to push myself upright, but before I can get very far, Caleb walks in with a ridiculously attractive nurse.
I know I’ve seen her before, though I can’t quite place where.
She’s short, with shoulder-length wavy blonde hair, and there’s something almost pixie-like about her.
“Oh, good, you’re awake,” Caleb says, coming over while shaking his head. “What the hell were you thinking, Annie? Your dad is going to kill me for this.”
The pretty pixie moves to the IV stand and adjusts the drip rate.
“I think Dad’s more likely to kill me than you,” I mutter, though even speaking makes my head throb harder. I wince and lift my hand to support it again.
“Indi, is she going to be okay?” Caleb asks, and the name stirs something in my memory. She must be one of his old friends.
“She’ll be fine, but she’s going to have one hell of a hangover by the looks of it.” Indi gives me a sympathetic smile. “I’m giving you fluids to help rehydrate you, so hopefully that’ll help, but it’s not going to fix everything, sweetie. I’m sorry.”
She pauses, her expression turning more serious.
“I really should call your parents, but Caleb has assured me he’ll be speaking to Colt and Dee as soon as you get home.
I’ve already spoken with hospital administration, and they’re willing to release you into Caleb’s care this time.
If this ever happens again, Annie, I’m sure they won’t be nearly so lenient. ”
“Thank you,” I mumble. “I know one thing for certain…. I am never doing this again. Alcohol is evil.”
Caleb exhales sharply and fixes me with a look. “Annie, where the hell did you even get the alcohol?”
I bite my bottom lip and try to remember, but everything has blurred together in one awful, embarrassing haze. “I think… I was stealing drinks from people when they weren’t looking,” I admit, sinking back against the pillows.
“Why?”
I shrug, though even that feels like too much effort. “I felt uncomfortable and wanted to escape.”
Indi gives a subtle shake of her head, and both Caleb and I catch it.
“Indica—”
“Don’t call me that. I’ve told you so many times, Caleb—”
He lifts his hands in surrender. “Okay, sorry. Indi, I know what you’re thinking, but this isn’t a regular thing. Is it, Annie?”
I shake my head.
Indi folds her arms. “Not regular? So it does happen, just not often?”
“No.” I grimace. “This is the first time I’ve ever done anything like this, and considering how I feel right now, it’ll definitely be the last. Why the hell do people do this to themselves?”
Caleb smirks, but Indi keeps frowning.
“How old are you, Annie?” she asks.
“Seventeen today.”
The look she shoots Caleb could cut glass.
“What? I told you it was her birthday party—”
“Not her seventeenth birthday, Caleb. Can’t you see how fucked up this is?”
That shuts me right up.
Caleb drags a hand through his shoulder-length hair, already looking stressed. “Indi, I swear it’s not like this all the time.”
She shakes her head. “I have other patients to tend to. She can leave in an hour or so, once the fluids finish running through. I’ll talk to you then.” She turns to go, but Caleb catches her gently by the elbow. She stops and faces him, her expression cold enough to freeze the room. “Don’t, Caleb.”
He lets go immediately with a quiet exhale, and she turns and walks toward the door.
“Indi,” he calls after her, but she doesn’t stop.
The door swings shut behind her, leaving a thick silence in the room.
Caleb sighs and drags both hands through his hair again, looking agitated, while I lie here feeling horrible and completely confused by whatever just happened between him and his friend.
“Well,” I say carefully. “That was intense.”
He turns to face me, shaking his head, biting down on his bottom lip like he’s trying very hard not to say what he’s thinking.
“What was that all about?” I ask.
Instead of answering, he walks over to the window, moonlight spilling in across the floor. “That’s none of your business,” he says, his voice clipped. “But thanks so much for making things harder for me.”
I flinch at the harshness in his tone.
“I’m sorry,” I say quietly.
He puffs out a breath, some of the tension leaving him, then comes back over to the bed. “No, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled at you. It’s not your fault, my life is so complicated.”
I stare at him. “Your life? Complicated? I don’t think so. You’re the most laid-back, easygoing guy I know… besides Aston.”
That earns a quiet chuckle.
“Oh, if only you knew, little Annie.”
I bite the inside of my cheek, then ask the question I’ve been dreading, “Does Dad know I’m here?”
Caleb shakes his head. “No. He knows you’re with me, but he doesn’t know why. Not yet.” His expression hardens a little. “But I’m going to have to tell him, Annie.”
My eyes instantly fill with tears. “You don’t have to. You can just tell him I fell over and hurt my arm or something, and that’s why we came to the hospital. He doesn’t have to know, Caleb… please?”
He shakes his head again, gentler this time, but no less firm.
“I can’t. As much as I want to be the cousin you turn to when you need help, I also have to be the responsible one here.
And what you did tonight, Annie…” He pauses, looking me dead in the eye.
“It was stupid. What if you’d drunk enough to end up with alcohol poisoning?
What if you’d gotten really sick? Did you even think about the consequences when you were stealing drinks? ”
And just like that, he stops feeling like my cool cousin and starts sounding way too much like my father.
Which, considering they’re related, probably makes perfect sense.
I close my eyes, and the tears slip down my cheeks, dripping onto my arm.
“Oh, shit, Annie, don’t cry.” Caleb’s voice softens immediately. “I know this sucks, and yeah, what you did was wrong, but Colt will calm down eventually. But you will need to take responsibility for your actions—”
“Is this all because I stopped you from getting laid with that heiress?” I snap, louder than I mean to, annoyed that he won’t just help me out.
“No, Annie, don’t be a brat,” he says, walking over to the chair and dropping into it.
“I am not a brat!” I shoot back. “It was my fucking birthday, and stuff happened that made me feel uncomfortable. I had every right to have a drink if I wanted one.”
His jaw tightens. “There it is. That attitude right there. Always thinking you’re entitled to whatever you want.
News flash, Annie, just because you’re the daughter of a famous rock star doesn’t mean the world owes you anything.
Life can be shit. Bad things happen. You don’t get to dodge it by doing something reckless and then acting as if none of it counts. ”
“I am normal, ass—”
“No, Annie, you’re not living a normal life, and you know it.
” He leans forward, bracing his elbows on his knees.
“You live in a mansion. You get taught at home. You’ve grown up surrounded by music and connections, and yeah, that’s amazing, but it also means your life doesn’t look like most people’s.
Mine doesn’t either, and I know that. But I’ve never gone around drinking before I was allowed to or taking advantage of everything just because it was there. ”
“You couldn’t drink because you were too scared to after your kidney transplant,” I fire back. “News flash, dickhead, alcohol affects your liver, not your kidneys.”
“Jesus Christ, Annie, do you listen to Susan at all, or are you just being deliberately impossible?” Caleb asks, and the anger in me surges fast and hot.
“Fuck you, arsehole. I am not stupid. Just because I don’t know anatomy doesn’t make me dumb.”
“I didn’t call you dumb,” he says, his tone cool and infuriatingly calm. “I said you were stupid. There’s a difference. You make bad choices, then blow up when people call you on them. That’s what’s stupid.”
I huff and sit up, instantly reaching for the drip in my hand, ready to yank it out.
His eyes narrow. “And there you go again. The second things get real, you want to run instead of deal with it. You are proving my point with your actions.”
I freeze, then glare at him before dropping back against the pillows with a frustrated huff, folding my arms across my chest. “Shut up,” I mutter.
He shakes his head and crosses one ankle over his knee.
“Annie, seriously, stop. Take a breath and understand that you are in deep shit, and that you did this to yourself. Stop blaming me, stop blaming everyone else, and start getting your head around what your Dad’s going to say.
Right now, you need to rest, because you still look awful, and if Colt sees you like this, he’ll be even angrier.
You’re pale as hell and still a little green. ”
The fight drains out of me so quickly that it leaves something heavy behind. My anger sinks into a miserable, twisting knot in my stomach instead.
My eyes fill again, and my heart starts racing just thinking about Dad finding out. I wish Aston were here. He always makes everything feel less… overwhelming.
But then I remember he’s the reason I’m in this mess to begin with.
Even though a part of me wants to talk to him, I know I won’t. Not after what he did at the party. Not while I’m still this angry and confused.
“Caleb…” I say quietly.