Fade to Red

“I already have,” he whispered.

“Well, I can see that. Fix it, dammit. Do you hear me? Go clean yourself up. Stay away from the Jameson. Call Troi. Do whatever you have to do. She nearly died tonight. You don’t have time to have a breakdown. Not if you want a chance with her.”

Nate clapped him on the neck and pulled him in for a quick hug before he left. Howie walked in next. Neither of them said anything, but they grasped each other by the arm and had a moment. They didn’t move until Beckham sniffled and cleared his throat.

“This just can’t be right,” he said.

“I’m go

“I’m with you there, but we’re go

“Yeah, and you know he’ll do anything for you,” Howie said. “He’s still the best in the business.”

“He handpicked you guys for me—I trust him. Can you get him on this? I’ll meet with him too, whenever he’s available. We’ve gotta find Ian too. I don’t have a good feeling about that.”

“On it.” Howie gripped Beckham’s shoulder and left.

Beckham sat down and watched Roxie sleep. The hand that wasn’t wrapped up looked perfect. He placed it carefully in his, grateful that from what he could tell, her body seemed undamaged. If she had been anywhere else in the house, or outside, it would be a completely different story. The thought made his blood curdle and his eyes drip with the tears he’d been fighting since he saw her.

Roxie woke up just as her parents rushed into the hospital room. Beckham jumped to his feet and Roxie waved a hand groggily.

“Mom and Dad, Beckham. Beckham, Mom and Dad, uh, Rachel and Daniel…”

Their eyes turned to Beckham and they gave a quick nod before turning their focus back on Roxie.

“Oh honey. Are you okay? What happened? Did any of your skin get burned? What about your lungs?”

“Mom, breathe. I’m okay.” She gave a faint smile. “I inhaled a lot of smoke but was really fortunate to get out of there when I did.”

“She has third degree burns on her hand,” Beckham interjected.

“I’m okay,” she rasped. “Where’s Leo? Is he okay?”

“He’s in the waiting room with Chloe. We didn’t tell him everything yet. We wanted to see how you were before we brought him back here. You sound really hoarse…”

“I want to see him. Would you get him?”

Her dad kissed her forehead. “I’ll get him right now. Love you, honey. So glad you’re okay … you scared us to death.”

She nodded and brushed the tears off her cheeks. “I’ll be fine. My eyes are bugging me more than anything—they haven’t stopped burning yet. Do I look bad? I don’t want to scare Leo.” Her breathing came in quick, shallow bursts.

“Your eyes are really red and puffy,” her mom whispered, her eyes filling with tears as she took Roxie’s hand.

“I’ll be okay, Mom.”

“You always say that.” She shook her head and straightened Roxie’s blanket.

The chair scraped the floor when Beckham sat down, and the noise startled Roxie’s mom. She jumped and smiled.

“I’m sorry. I forgot you were here,” she said.

“More important people to think about,” he said. He smiled at Rachel then rested his elbows on his knees and stared at Roxie. “Can I get you anything?”

“I’d kill for a Coke,” she whispered.

He jumped up.

“Ooo, with hospital ice!” Her voice perked up. “The only good thing about the hospital.”

“You got it.” He kissed her cheek before leaving the room.

Rachel and Roxie both watched him walk away. Roxie let out a long sigh without even realizing it and her mom laughed.

“I can see why you have it so bad for him,” she said. “He’s gorgeous.” She laughed and fa

“We’re not together, Mom.” Roxie closed her eyes. It was hard to tell what was making her cry more—the fact that her eyes felt like they were on fire, or the grief that sat on her chest.

There was a little rap on the door and Leo peeked in the door. Her dad and Chloe stood behind him and Chloe gave Leo a nudge.

“She’s awake. Go ahead, bud.”

“Hey, little man,” Roxie held out her hand to Leo.

He ran to the bed and put his head on the bed, patting her stomach. Roxie ran her hands through his hair while they both cried.

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” Leo kept saying, between hiccups.

“And I’m so glad you and Aunt Chloe weren’t there. So glad. I’m go

Everyone in the room was crying when Beckham came back in the room.

“Aw, hey. I need to get in on this crying session.” He put his hands on Roxie and Leo’s back. “It’s all go

Roxie lifted her head and saw that he had tears in his eyes too. She wiped her eyes and sniffled. “Joh

He shook his head and a tear dropped down his cheek. She turned her head into his chest and cried harder.

She began coughing and couldn’t stop. Beckham pushed the button and asked a nurse to come in right away. She panicked when she saw how much she was scaring Leo. He wailed as Chloe carried him out of the room.

Her lungs felt like they were closing in on her and she had to fight with everything to not panic. She coughed harder. Beckham pushed the nurse button again frantically when her blood sprayed across the white blanket. An alarm went off on the monitor when her O2 levels dipped too low.

The nurses and a doctor rushed in.

“We’re going to intubate,” she heard someone say, “And we’ll give her a cobinamide antidote to reverse her toxicity levels. You should leave the room for this. We’ll let one or two of you back in when she’s stabilized.”

And that’s the last thing she heard for a while.

She woke up several times in the night. It was scary to have a ventilator breathing for her. She hated it.

Her parents and Beckham were there whenever she opened her eyes. In a different part of the room each time. Sometimes Anthony sat beside her and held her hand. It could have been hours or days, she didn’t know the difference.

Eventually she woke up and felt more coherent. She stayed awake for a while and her mom said her levels seemed to be steadily improving. The doctor came in later and took her off of the ventilator and removed the tube.

Her throat felt like a million knives were piercing her at once. She cringed with every swallow. Beckham held one hand and her mom held her arm above the bandage. Her dad held onto a foot. She tried to smile even though she wanted to cry.

“Leo?” she whispered.

“He’s with Chloe. They’re in a hotel. Chloe will bring him as soon as you’re ready.”

Roxie nodded. She wanted to see him right away.

“How are you feeling?” Beckham asked.

She nodded again and held her throat.

“Is it killing?” he asked.

She nodded. He looked so sad, she couldn’t stand it.

“Your throat will be sore for a few days.” A nurse spoke from the end of the bed.

“No kidding,” Beckham snapped. “Sorry! I’m sorry,” he said to the nurse before she stepped back nervously. “We’re just all on edge here, I apologize.”

The nurse nodded before escaping the room.

“You need to go get some rest, Beckham. You too, Mom and Dad,” she whispered.

“They’ve given us a room on the floor below that we haven’t taken advantage of—perks of knowing a rock star.” Her dad winked and patted her foot. “We should probably go get showers there while you’re having tests done. We’re smelling up the room,” her dad said. “Well, at least that one is.” He pointed to Beckham. “You know your mother doesn’t stink.”