Chapter 10

CHAPTER

TEN

They were on their way to the hospital. Lilah was driving, cool under pressure, her tactical expertise with vehicles coming into play as she flew around any car in their way.

Becky was in the back seat with Ella, holding her hand. "They got him breathing. That's the most important thing."

Riley Harrison had single-handedly performed CPR on his son there in the snow until the rescue team had arrived on snowmobiles sixteen minutes later, gotten him a little farther down the mountain to where a medevac could land then get him to the hospital.

They hadn't received any update beyond the fact that Colton was breathing on his own.

"Um, I beg to differ." Lilah's eyes didn't shift from the road in front of her. "I believe the most important thing is Ella spilling about what happened between her and Colton last night."

Ella gritted her teeth. "Focus on driving."

"Oh, don't think I can't handle both at the same time. Spill, sister."

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." Becky was much more diplomatic. "But you know we'd love to hear about it. And maybe it will help us get our minds off this until we get to the hospital. "

The hospital they'd taken Colton to was about thirty minutes away by car. They'd gotten him to it much quicker in the medical helicopter.

Ella wasn't sure she really wanted to talk about what had happened with Colton last night, even if it was appropriate. But on the other hand, all she wanted to do was talk about him. As if talking about him would ensure he was okay.

But she definitely was not going to tell them the whole story.

"It's really nothing. We started talking at the wedding" — because Colton got word that I had a crush on him and was feeling sorry for me — "and decided to meet up last night."

"I knew it!" Lilah tapped her hand excitedly on the steering wheel. "I knew you guys did the down and dirty."

"Maybe we just talked, ever think of that, Lilah?" Ella rolled her eyes. "Maybe Colton just needed a friend."

Ella's stomach churned at the thought that maybe that was the truth. Maybe he hadn't really been looking for sex at all. Had she done something to instigate their physical start? She thought he had instigated it, but now, she wasn't entirely sure.

"If you guys just talked, that's fine too." Becky's voice was gentle as always. "He is your friend, after all."

"That's bullshit," Lilah scoffed. "I mean, sure, they can talk, but I saw the way Colton was looking at Ella. He wanted more than to just talk."

"It's not what you think, Lilah." Ella shook her head.

"What I think is that you guys bumped uglies. Is that true?"

"Jesus, Li," Becky muttered under her breath with a laugh. "How about a little tact?"

"Fine. What I think is that Ella and Colton made beautiful, passionate, worshipful love to each other last night. Better?"

"Really? There's no middle ground between bumping uglies and worshipful?" Becky asked.

"I don't care what you want to call it, Elly-Belly basically has already admitted two separate times to being in Colton's room in the middle of the night. As much as I'm sure they enjoy each other's conversational rhythm, I'm still pretty positive that more than just talking happened."

"Wait a second," Ella said. "When did I say I'd been in his room twice?"

"Well, you just admitted it in the office, and then don't think I wasn't aware of what you said when I first found you at your van."

Ella let out a sigh. She should've known Lilah would be aware of anything Ella was saying, despite the crisis going on. "Okay, fine. Yes, we had sex."

Becky let out an excited little squeal.

"I knew it," Lilah said. "How was it?"

"It was good, but…" Damn it, Ella really didn't want to talk about this. Didn't want to explain what Lincoln had said, didn't want to talk about how it fed into her deepest fears.

Pity fuck.

"But what?" Becky asked gently.

"I don't know." Ella gave a one-shoulder shrug. "I think it was just a one-time thing."

"Why?" Lilah asked. "Would you want it to happen again if you have the choice?"

This was getting harder and harder to explain without giving away all the details. "I don't know. I think we were both just caught up in…a moment. It feels weird talking about this not knowing how Colton is doing, so let's drop it."

"Fine." Lilah turned off the highway. "But only because we're almost to the hospital."

Ella would take the reprieve and hope it would be permanent. But her relief was short-lived when they pulled up to the hospital and found it completely packed with people obviously not there for medical attention. By the looks of all the Colton Harrison T-shirts and gear, a group of his fans had figured out where the medevac had taken him.

"Holy shit." Lilah's voice was tight. "I get that these people love Colton, but this is ridiculous. They need to get the heck out and let the doctors do their job. "

They found a parking spot in the very back of the lot and made their way to the main entrance.

"Bear is going to meet us out here," Lilah said. "Colton's condition is listed as serious but no longer critical, so he's definitely still alive."

Still alive was better than nothing, but Ella wanted so much more than that.

They had to almost fight their way through the crowd to get to the door. Security was already trying to get people to disperse, but none of them wanted to go.

The outpouring of support was touching, but at the same time, these people were stopping Ella from getting to Colton. Maybe it was talking about last night a little with the girls, but she needed to see him more than ever. Needed to know for herself that he was going to be all right.

By the time they made it to the door, local police had arrived. Obviously, the hospital was feeling overwhelmed and had called them. Immediately, they started making people leave.

"Listen up, people!" one of the police officers yelled from the front of the hospital entrance. "If you are not here for medical attention or are not on the hospital visitor approval list due to a loved one being in this hospital, then you need to leave now."

The crowd began grumbling. Nobody wanted to leave. A man Ella didn't recognize came out from the inside of the hospital and spoke to the police officer. The officer was definitely interested in whatever the man was saying. A few seconds later, the man began to speak.

"Guys, I'm Tony Salaun, part of Colton's support team. I want to announce that Colton is alive, breathing on his own, and does not seem to have any life-threatening injuries from the avalanche."

Tony's words eased some of the tightness in Ella's chest, but she still needed to see Colton for herself before she would really accept he was okay. Before she would be okay.

"The best thing you can do to help Colton right now is to leave the hospital premises so that the medical staff can work to the best of their abilities without having to worry about an unruly crowd on their hands," Tony continued. "I will personally post updates as they are available on Colton's website. And if updates aren't available, I will still touch base with you once an hour until we all make it through this crisis."

"That's Colton's PR manager," Becky whispered.

"He's fucking good," Lilah said.

Lilah was right. The crowd was already relaxing a little. They truly just wanted Colton to be okay, and knowing that someone was going to provide them with information was making them more willing to leave.

"You heard the man, people," the police officer said. "You'll get your updates, but right now, you need to leave."

Tony continued to encourage them to go, walking into the crowd to answer individual questions as they began to disperse. He was definitely good at his job. This is exactly what was needed right now.

Now that the way was clearer, they were able to get all the way up to the door. Bear met them.

"He's awake. I haven't seen him. They are keeping everybody in the waiting room, but his dad came out and said he was awake and talking some."

Relief nearly made Ella's knees weak. Colton was awake .

"Full functionality of his body?" Lilah asked.

"As far as I know, yes. At least as much as can be tested at this point. It looks like maybe our boy is going to get out of this scot-free." Bear pulled open the front door, and they walked inside.

Every word he said made Ella feel better, but she still wanted to see Colton for herself. Just for a second. No need for awkward conversations.

Two hospital guards stopped them just inside the door.

"Nobody is allowed in unless you're on the list," the first one said.

Bear rolled his eyes. "Dude, you just saw me come from the main waiting room. "

The guard pointed at Ella, Becky, and Lilah. "I'm talking about them."

"We're on the list," Lilah said. She gave him her name, and he nodded. Becky gave hers, and he gave another nod.

"Ella O'Conner."

The guard looked through his tablet then obviously started looking through the list again. "You're not on here."

"She's with us," Bear said. "Trust me, if she was left off the list, it was in error."

Both guards shook their heads.

"The command has come down from God himself, basically. Nobody is allowed inside this hospital unless they are here for medical care or are on the visitation list," the first one said. "I'm sorry, but we have to hold fast on this."

Ella had no idea what to say.

"Ella, let me go down and talk to Uncle Boy. Get you on the list. It's just a mistake," Lilah said.

Ella swallowed the lump in her throat, but it didn't budge. Yes, it was possible that it was a mistake, but what if Colton had specifically said he didn't want to see her? That was an option. How humiliating would it be if Lilah got down there and they told her the same thing.

"Listen, it's fine," Ella said. "You guys go and just keep me updated, all right?"

"No," Becky said. "Let us get this fixed?—"

Ella leaned in to her friend so she could whisper. "Maybe Colton doesn't want to see me. I can't take the risk."

Becky reached down and squeezed her hand then she turned and looked at Lilah and Bear. "Ella is going to go home."

Lilah started to argue, but Becky held out a hand firmly. "She's going home. Give her the keys."

Lilah finally nodded and dug the keys out of her pocket, handing them to Ella.

"I'm sorry, El," Bear said. "This really is probably just an error. I know neither Colton nor his parents would leave you off any visitation list on purpose."

Ella forced a smile. "Colton is going to be okay. That's all that matters. Call me if anything changes. I'll see you guys back in Oak Creek."

She turned and walked away before anyone could see the tears falling down her cheeks.