Right As Rain (Complete)

Chapter 1

Maelee

I stop CPR and press the button to deliver another shock to Noah's heart. He isn't responding. I don't know what else to do; I need to be at the hospital. If I were at the hospital, I could do something. I'm not sure what, but anything is better than this. Passing out and having a seizure can be explained by a plethora of things. Cardiac arrest in an otherwise healthy male in his twenties... not so much.

A lump of anxiety forms in my throat. The last eight years have prepared me for moments like this, but the underlying, overwrought feeling of saving someone's life is still overwhelming. I suppose it always will be.

I wipe a bead of sweat from my forehead and restart compressions, repeatedly pushing my bodyweight through the heel of my hand and into his Noah's chest. Like the crack of a stick under the toe of a boot, I feel a pop under my palm. I broke his rib.

Jessica paces nervously, biting the thumb of one hand and holding the phone to her ear with the other. She keeps her eyes away from me, the man kneeling across from me, and the lifeless man on the floor.

"What?" she says into the phone, her voice unsteady. "I can't hear you!"

The honking cars, distant sirens, and general sounds of Los Angeles are proving to be a challenge to Jessica's forged bravery. She's about to lose it. She's shaking, the rate of her speech has quickened, and her chest is rising and falling heavily with anxiety.

I call for her, keeping my voice low and calm. She turns towards me and tears fill her panic-stricken eyes as she watches me push into Noah's chest.

"Jess, you have to breathe," I remind her.

My best friend doesn't do well in emergencies; an actress doesn't typically have to. During filming of her most recent movie, a stunt double fell off a motorcycle and broke his arm. Jessica became so anxious over the whole thing the entire crew ended up throwing in the towel and calling it a day. When she came over that evening to talk about it, I tried to explain how fortunate the stunt double was; motorcycle accidents can end up much worse. Of course, she dismissed my realism and insisted it was the most gruesome injury any person had ever had.

Ever.

Jess closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, nodding to me at the same time. She forcefully pushes the air through her pursed lips and asks the dispatcher on the phone to repeat their question.

"His name?" she asks, looking at me again. She's hesitant to answer. There will be consequences if she does.

There were only a handful of spectators outside when the international pop star passed out. Security was quick to get the patio curtains closed, but the news of Noah's collapse won't be a secret for long. Saying it aloud seems wrong, like it will only add to the impending chaos.

Hudson shakes his head at her. Despite the highly unexpected crash of his best friend, he has remained seemingly calm.

"I'm not sure," Jess says impatiently into the phone. "Can you send someone fast, please?"

"Good job, Jess," I whisper mostly to myself.

I need to figure this out. I need tests. This could be solved much faster if I had tests.

I do have one...

"Hudson, can you get the blue case out of my purse?" I ask, nodding to the oversized bag on top of the bistro table.

He stretches his long body towards the table and reaches inside the brown leather, finding the blue case almost immediately. He returns to my eye level and holds it towards me. "What is it?" he asks.