WATTYS LONG LIST. He's got three polyamorous, pole dancing moms and his world is the stuff of which teen boy fantasies are made. But when he falls for a feisty cancer patient who is about to die, he truly learns how to live.
As a grim faced anchorwoman was saying, "...detention center is on lockdown following an hour-long skirmish between guards and inmates. The dining hall battle was reportedly instigated by a rumor that Jaeger, recently jailed for contempt of court, had received an overdose of medication at the behest of law enforcement officials angered by his refusal to name names.
The legendary entrepreneur was rushed to the Tucson Medical Center after a fellow inmate noticed his speech becoming slurred and unintelligible. There, doctors confirmed that he had suffered a stroke but offered no details on the stroke's severity..."
All I could gasp out was, "This can't happen..."
Kendall couldn't say anything at all. She just stood there with her hands on her cheeks, trying to process everything.
And of course, Rick's cell sent me right to voicemail, which was full from other people doing what I was doing. Even though I had a special number he gave only to certain people, we were all probably dialing and redialing the same way.
I kept doing it anyway, though. While Kendall tried all the girls' numbers with no luck, either.
So then she tried Kylie, who answered right away.
And yelled, "We've been trying to get in touch with you guys!"
"When?" I said.
"All afternoon! Or for the last couple of—wait—Rick!"
Kendall and I stood there staring at the screen and each other in turns until we heard Rick go, "Where the hell were you, man?"
And...he was sort of chuckling, when he said it. I'm not kidding.
So I said, "What the hell's happening?"
"Check your texts, man," he said. "It's all good."
"Whaddaya mean it's—wait, hang on."
Kendall had shoved my cell in my face. And I caught a glimpse of the beginning of a Signal text—we only use secure apps--that started with, "First, Duke's fine. He didn't have a stroke..."
So I said, "Okay, so what's the deal here, dude?"
He said, "Gotta run right now. But read it and I'll catch you later. Cool?"
