The Call - Part 2
Brian
"Her plane should be landing shortly, Aunt Ann. I'm going to go and pick her up, ok?"
Ann just barely acknowledged I was there. That anyone was there other than Kevin. She was focusing all her energy on him. Willing him to be ok. She was...being a Mother.
I grabbed my jacket and tapped my bodyguard Tony on the shoulder. We headed for the parking garage.
"Rok, you don't think you're going to pick up this girl without us, do you?" AJ was being followed by Howie and Nick. Their plane never did take off, but they'ed decided to wait for the next flight instead of having Kevin come back and get them. They found out about his accident when a reporter shoved a mike in their faces.
"Look I'd really like you all to stay with Aunt Ann. I don't want this...person to think we're ganging up on her. I don't want her upset. I just want her here for Kevin."
"And you want to know why we didn't know about her before, just like us." Nick said the main thing I was thinking. "Why would Kevin keep a girlfriend from us? He's never done that before. I mean, sure, he's private, but this...this isn't him."
"I second that" Howie chimed in. "It's like he was keeping her a secret, but why? You talked to her B. What did she sound like?"
"We need to talk about this in the car, if you guys insist on going. I want to make sure I meet her flight."
We headed for the limo and speed out of the hospital. It was starting to get crowded. The news crews were starting to show up. They reminded me of vultures. The fans were starting to show too. It wasn't going to be easy getting back in the hospital. The click of Howie's phone brought me out of my reverie.
"Ok, Jive said that they've contacted the other bodyguards and the local police department. Everything should be set up and secure by the time we get back. We won't have a problem getting back into the hospital."
"Thanks D."
"Alright Rok, give. What are you thinking? You're the only one who's had any contact with this girl. Tell us what you think you know at least. We can't go into this blind." AJ was pissed. He didn't like Kevin keeping secrets. It was just...wrong. It made him uneasy but it explained quite a few things.
"Well guys, she's coming out here blind. She's just expecting Brian to meet her, not all of us. I'm sure that she's not expecting a firing squad. We have to be nice. Civil at least. When Kevin wakes up" Nick made sure to emphasize 'when' "He'll be pissed if we were rude, or nasty to her. You know how he is about women."
I smiled at the memory. Kevin was a stickler for treating women with respect. You had to be civil. Polite. Courteous. That got him laid more than the rest of us. Women ate that shit up.
"Well I can tell you she works. That's where she was when I called her. She didn't sound like a 'golddigger' whatever one sounds like. She did seem genuinely concerned when I told her what happened. She got to the airport quickly. She definitly wants to be here."
"Keeping and eye on her meal ticket?"
"AJ! We don't know that. We have to..."
"Be Civil." The three of us said before Howie could get it out, and laughed.
We pulled up to Cincinati- Northern
Kentucky airport quickly. Tony grabbed the makeshift sign and I started to get out with him.
"Sorry Brian. You stay here. Fans are going to be looking for any of you guys, but you especially since this is home. I don't want to have to watch you and look for a complete stranger too."
I had to agree. I didn't like it but it made sense. Tony let us know that he'd be back as soon as possible. Given that the flight should have just landed and we'd parked on the tarmac (Thank God for Jive perks) That should be fairly quickly.
"You've got that look on your face, Bri." Nick knew me well, too well.
"Why? Why wouldn't he tell us? He tells us everything. What is so good or bad about this relationship the doesn't want us to know." I was furious.
"Maybe it's her. There must be something about her Kevin doesn't want us to know. You don't think she's...well...traffic stopping ugly do you?"
"Nicholas! You know better than that."
"Whatever D! There is something wrong with this girl!" AJ was tired of guessing and frankly so was I. Kevin knew all we wanted was for him to be happy. It didn't matter if she was 'traffic stopping ugly'. If she made him happy, then, fine.
All of our fears were about to be put to rest. Tony opened the door and I heard him say "Just slide in there ma'am and we'll be on our way." "How long will it take to get to Kevin?" She was definitly concerned. "Not long ma'am. 20 minutes tops" "Thank you."
A head peeked in the limo. Eyes. They were the first thing I noticed. She had big brown eyes. They were red to. She'd been crying. I looked at AJ and he nodded. He saw them too.
"Wow. Umm Ok. Hi." I offered her my hand to help her in the limo and we headed back to the hospital. She was wearing black jeans and nice cream colored blouse. She was definitely not 'traffic stopping ugly.' She was beautiful. She had shoulder length dark brown hair, and her eyes; they had to have been the thing that attracted Kevin to her. They were driving me nuts. She was short, maybe 5'4 or 5'3 and African-American. She reminded me of the girl in the group City High...'5'5 with brown eyes, smile like the sunrise."
"Hello Stephanie? I'm Brian. That's AJ, Howie and Nick." She shook all of our hands. She had a strong grip. Not a little 'girlie' handshake.
"Yes, I know who you all are." she smiled sheepishly.
"Well at least you know us. Too bad we can't say the same." AJ looked directly at her. The three of us held our breath.
"No I don't imagine you would. Is that the subtle way of trying to figure out who I am and why didn't you know about me before, AJ?" She was sharp. Nick smiled.
"Yes, it is."
"Fine. I'm older than Kevin, by how many years is none of your business. I will tell you that I'm not after his money, I have my own. I can't carry a tune, unless it comes in a paper bag so you don't have to worry about me using him to get in 'the business'. I do, however, like fucking him and we do that every single chance we get. Like bunnies...all over the place. Was there anything else you wanted to know AJ?"
She stared AJ right in the eyes and didn't back down. I liked her.
AJ didn't even blink. "Nope that about covers it. Like bunnies, eh? I didn't think Kevin had that much stamina."
I've never heard a more wicked laugh in my life. "Oh you'd be surprised at the things Kevin has the stamina for." She smiled wickedly. This was more information than I needed to know.
"Ok, that's uh, that's a bit more than I ever needed to know about any of these guys, but especially Kev." Nick shuddered and Howie agreed.
She smiled at them looked at me and asked "How is he? What's the latest on his condition?"
"They haven't said anything. He's not in a coma, but it's...it's like he's waiting. He just won't wake up. He drifts in and out of consciousness. He had a little internal bleeding but, thankfully, they were able to stop it with the surgery." She paled a little.
"Surgery? He had surgery? I didn't hear anything about that. Oh God." She started crying.
Howie and I jumped to her side. "No don't cry. I'm sure he's going to be ok. Especially now that you're here. He really kept asking for you..." Howie stopped and I could see the question forming on his face.
"My first name is Diana. Kevin and my blood relatives are the ONLY people who can call me that, and live to talk about it...what are you grinning at 'Alexander'?" We fell out laughing. She and AJ would get along just fine.
Soon we pulled up to the Hospital. It was...insane! I couldn't imagine where all of these people could have come from in the short time we'd left for the airport. Jesus! The news crews almost outnumbered the fans...almost. The fans were there and ready for the long haul. They had any and everything you would need to camp out. Candles, blankets, radios all of it. Our fans...god love them, they wouldn't leave until Kevin was well.
We pulled into the parking garage and I watched Stephanie's face. She was shocked at best. "Is it always like this? The fans?"
"No. Sometimes they get a little crazy. This, this is expected. This is nothing, actually." Ok so I lied. I wanted to see what she would do.
"Devoted aren't they?" She just smiled. "Ok, How do I get to Kevin?"
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