Sophie's Encore (22 page)

Dan Hunter Collapses with Pneumonia

Don’t believe everything you read on the Internet. While it is true that lead singer of legendary rock band Tuscq, Dan Hunter, collapsed after an album pre-launch party at the Hyde Star Inn in London on Saturday night, drugs had nothing to do with it. Sources confirm that Mr. Hunter had been unwell for weeks and finally yielded to his illness in the early hours of Sunday morning. Mr. Hunter’s physician, Dr. Smith of St. George’s Hospital, offers the following statement…

I closed the article with a quick, vague summary of Dan’s prognosis, and that was it.
Go viral
, I prayed when I submitted my copy to Rick,
and work your antidote
.

By midnight, the small piece was already live on the
Read London
website and blog, adorned with a powerful image of Dan singing his heart out on stage. Rick had added a short and very clever comment from Jack, thanking Tuscq’s fans for their messages of support for their ailing rock star. Of course, there had been no such messages yet but…I chuckled despite the gravity of the situation. Jack really was the master of public relations. If this didn’t get the fans on our side, I didn’t know what would.

Rick plastered the article all over Facebook and Twitter, too. The next day’s edition would lead with this news item blown up on the front page, and some of the other dailies would hopefully pick it up, too. The media would be awash with news of Dan’s illness.

A swarm of reporters descended on the hospital within thirty minutes of news of Dan’s pneumonia hitting the social media, but was kept at bay by security. Jack instructed a private firm that very night to support the hospital’s cadre of security staff and contain the circus. As my refutation piece went viral, get-well messages from fans all over the world started pouring in, obliterating the smeary drug allegations. With a bit of luck, the crisis was averted. Now I only needed Dan to get better.

Chapter Thirty-Five

Needless to say, I was absolutely knackered from my second broken night in a row. I had stayed up until four a.m., monitoring developments on the Internet, and I slept right through my alarm on Monday morning. If it hadn’t been for Josh bouncing into my bedroom bright and early, I probably wouldn’t have woken until midday.

Bleary-eyed and jelly-boned, I somehow managed to get the children fed and dressed and delivered to their respective educational establishments. After I waved Emily goodbye, I stood on the pavement uncertainly, competing priorities fighting for dominance with my conscience.

I needed sleep. I was supposed to work with Richard in the studio. I had promised to go and see Dan first thing. I ought to somehow contact Dan’s sister, Jodie. She was bound to have seen the news by now. Ditto for Jenny; while she was ‘only’ the housekeeper, she was the pinnacle of Dan’s domestic existence, and she would worry and fret. I had to get some food shopping done, not to mention tidying the house. I
really
needed some sleep. I desperately wanted to see Dan.

Feeling thoroughly overwhelmed and incapable of coping, I sat on the nearest bench and wept. People traipsed by and I could tell by the way their footsteps accelerated when they came past me that they were disconcerted by the sobbing creature on the bench. I probably looked like a loony, but I really didn’t care. Worry, exhaustion, and self-pity needed out, and out they poured in torrents.

Eventually I sniffed. I had to get a grip. Some of the tension had drained from my body alongside the torrents I had shed, and I felt lighter, somehow. I only needed to blow my nose and dry my eyes and—

“Are you all right?”

The voice was full of concern, and vaguely familiar. A trace of a Northants accent with a hint of a transatlantic twang acquired in years of living in LA. Could it really be?

I straightened up and raised my eyes just as Jodie sat down beside me.

“You all right?” she repeated, smiling uncertainly.

“Jodie,” I snuffled, perplexed. “I was thinking of you a minute ago. Do you know about Dan? What are you doing here?”

She exhaled slowly and answered my questions in turn. “Yes, I read about Dan on Facebook. About the drugs, first of all, and next a brilliant piece from
Read London
which had your handiwork written all over it, even though it’s not your byline. Pneumonia, huh? How did he come by that?”

“I’ll tell you in a moment. But…how come you’re here? I was worried I’d have to summon you all the way from LA.”

Jodie was a fashion designer and spent most of her time jet-setting around the globe, dividing her not-traveling time between London and LA. Although mostly she lived in LA because the weather was so much better.

Jodie smiled. “I’ve been in London these past few weeks, preparing a show.”

“Oh God, you must think me awfully rude. Everything happened so fast. I was going to get in touch. I promise. I simply haven’t had a chance. How did you find me
here
, on this very bench?” My mind was all over the place.

“I wasn’t quite sure what to make of all the weird news. I went to the hospital earlier, but it’s madness there, and I couldn’t face the photographers before I even knew what was going on. Isn’t that sick? Can’t visit your own brother in the hospital. Bloody fame.
Bloody press
.” She said that last utterance with considerable venom, then gave a start and grabbed my hand. “Sorry! Present company excepted, of course.”

I squeezed her hand back and begged her to go on.

“Anyway, I dropped by Dan’s house, after I’d
not
been to the hospital, to see if I could find out what was
really
going on. He wasn’t there, obviously. Jenny is most a-tizz. She said
you
would probably know for sure, you two having become…
quite
close again of late.” Jodie gave me a meaningful look, but pressed on with her thought. “Jenny pointed out the schedule that you’d stuck on the fridge about the kids’ school times and stuff. So when I couldn’t find you at home, I figured you’d probably be on your way back from dropping Emily off.” She waved her smartphone at me. “Google maps is a wonderful app. You can find anything, anywhere.”

We chortled, despite the situation.

“You look done in,” Jodie finally observed. “Why don’t I take you home, and you can fill me in and grab some rest? And I can go and brave the press at the hospital and see how Dan is.”

I sighed. “I want to go see Dan, too. I promised I’d be back first thing in the morning.”

Jodie observed me critically. “You’ll frighten him to death if you go looking like this.” She pondered for a moment before rising and pulling me up with her. “Come on. I’ll drive you home and initiate you in the Jodie Chase fifteen-minute-power-nap routine. When you’ve rested up, we’ll both go to the hospital together.”

“I…I…well, I’m supposed to be working this morning, and I need to buy some food, and…” Confronted with a decision, my brain churned out all the other to-do’s on my mammoth list. Jodie was not perturbed.

“Forget work, you have a crisis. Ring in and explain. Make me a shopping list, and I’ll get your food while you nap. No problem, come on.”

She tugged at my hand, and I let myself be led to her car. I had barely fastened my seatbelt when Jodie drove off, nearly, but not quite, burning rubber in her great haste. She handed me her smartphone while she drove. “Shopping list. Dictate it. Go on.”

I looked at her phone in confusion. I was a little behind the times, and my own gadget wasn’t nearly as fancy. “What do I do?”

“Just talk,” Jodie instructed. So I talked to the phone, listing milk, bread, honey, Weetabix, and other critical foodstuffs I needed to restock, watching in stunned amazement as the items turned up on the phone’s screen, one by one. I knew phones were smart, but I hadn’t known they had become
that
smart.

Jodie pulled up in front of my house, jumped out of the car, and solicitously opened my door. “Come on, come on,” she urged again. Together, we ran up the garden path, and Jodie clicked her tongue impatiently while I stabbed my keys at the front door lock. We were barely inside when Jodie took my handbag and coat, dumping both on the floor by the front door.

“Jodie’s Power Nap,” she began. “One, thou shalt go and take a very hot, three-minute shower. Three minutes, no more, and as hot as you can bear. Two, thou shalt wrap yourself in a towel and climb into bed, wet as you are. Three, set your alarm clock for fifteen minutes hence. Four, pull the duvet up as high as you can. Lie on your back, hands beside your body, palms up. Close your eyes and breathe. Think about nothing. Five, rise refreshed. And we shall go to the hospital. Meanwhile, I’ll go shopping, as promised.”

I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “A three-minute hot shower and a fifteen-minute nap in a wet bed? You’re kidding.”

“I kid not. Trust me, it works. Now, off you go.” She made shooing hand gestures, but I remained rooted to the spot.

“I must at least ring Richard. He’ll be wondering what’s going on.”

That had Jodie’s attention. “Who’s Richard?” she asked, eyes wide.

“He’s the sound engineer. I’ve been training to become one, and I’m due in the studio this morning.”

For the smallest moment, my news left Jodie speechless. She rallied quickly. “Well, well, well.” She grinned. “What a brilliant idea. Stroke of genius. You become a sound engineer and you and Dan can…” She didn’t complete the sentence.

“Dan and I can—what?” I prompted, reacting to the glint of intrigue in her eyes. What had Dan been telling her about me?

“Work together,” Jodie muttered. “Just work together. That’s all. And that’s all there is, right?” she teased, and I blushed.

“Go on, ring your Richard man, and then have your power nap. I’m off shopping.”

Jodie was like a whirlwind of activity, and I wasn’t sure whether she was simply driven by anxiety and eager to go and see her brother, or whether she was genuinely that hyper. Either way, she compelled me into action, and I did as I was told.

Richard had seen the news, of course. He was incredulous at the drugs allegations and devastated to hear about the pneumonia. We agreed I would take a week or two off, and I promised to keep him in the loop on Dan’s progress.

Still doubtful of the promised effects of Jodie’s power nap, I nonetheless trudged upstairs and stood under a hot shower for three minutes. Obediently, I went to bed barely towel-dry, lay back, and breathed deeply.

Chapter Thirty-Six

“Oh. My. God.”

Jodie and I were both shocked at the sight that greeted us when we approached St. George’s Hospital. The place was positively under siege by reporters, photographers, and a couple of film crews. However, the hospital security staff and the firm that Jack had hired were doing a stellar job of keeping the media contained behind barricades, and it looked as though they had the situation under control.

We hung back out of sight while we had a little conflab about how to get in.

“This is ridiculous,” Jodie seethed. “He’s my brother. I simply want to go see him without the world looking on.”

I said nothing for a moment but observed the situation. “Look,” I pointed out. “There are people going in and out without bother. They must be relatives visiting other patients. Come to think of it…” I grinned, and Jodie regarded me with bemusement.

“Come to think of it, I’m not exactly sure what the press is waiting for. They don’t know you’re his sister. They may or may not remember me. Dan has no wife or anyone who’s been in the spotlight who’s likely to turn up here. The other band members won’t go anywhere near the hospital right now. So I’m not sure what exactly they’re expecting. A miraculous appearance by the Rock God himself? Surely not.”

Jodie elbowed me. “You’re the expert. What would bring you here?”

I shook my head. “I wouldn’t be here. There’s nothing to gain. If you’re worth your salt, you’ll get your story firsthand somehow. You don’t have to rely on hanging about in doorways and all that. I bet my bottom dollar there’s no reporter from
Read London
here. Anyway…” I pulled the hood of my coat up and wound my scarf around my neck, half obscuring my face. “As it is the middle of November and very nearly freezing, I suggest we wrap up and walk in.”

Dan’s sister bellowed with laughter. “You’ve certainly acquired a certain nous since you’ve been hanging out with my brother,” she giggled. “I like your style. Let’s do it.”

Chatting amiably, heads high and blatantly disregarding the press, we sauntered toward the hospital entrance as though we didn’t have a care in the world. We didn’t make eye contact with anyone and sailed through, no questions asked.

“That was easy,” Jodie exclaimed once we were safely inside. “Now to the ward.”

“I think
that
bit will be harder,” I muttered back. “At least, I hope it will. If they let just anyone up to Dan’s room, there’ll be trouble sooner or later.”

We wandered up to the bank of elevators. Unless Dan had been moved, he would still be in the main complex, and we had to get up to the second floor. When I pressed the call button, a be-suited man stepped forward to address us. He had been so discrete at loitering, he had completely escaped my notice.

“I’m awfully sorry to bother you, but may I ask who you’re looking to visit here today?” His voice was deep and firm and invited an answer.

“I’m Sophie Jones,” I introduced myself. “I’m here to see Dan Hunter. This is Jodie Chase. She’s his sister.”

At the mention of Dan’s name, the man produced a clipboard and scanned down a list of names. He looked up and smiled. “Thank you, ladies. Up you go. Have a good day.”

“Nicely done,” Jodie complimented him and smiled back. The man merely inclined his head and melted into the background, ready to address the next visitor.

“Well, he’s
not
hospital staff, that’s for sure,” I remarked as we traveled up. “Jack chose well.”

“He did. He would. Dan’s his meal ticket.”

“Whoa, that’s a cynical way of looking at things. I always thought of them more as friends,” I teased.