Crescendo

Chapter 26

DAY TWELVE

DANTE

"Talia's going to win. Watch, you'll see," Christian says. He pops Fritos into his mouth, crunching loudly.

"Christian, this is a rerun. You're not fooling anyone with your predictions," Alex drawls.

The two continue to quarrel over Next Top Model—which is on for the fiftieth time. Meanwhile, Sky battles to adjust his pillows, awkwardly shifting his position on the bed, trying to get comfortable. But under the circumstances, there's no chance of him achieving a sense of warm and cozy. Not while he's sitting in a hospital room with his two friends, acting oblivious to the real reason why they're here. Nevertheless, there might as well be a bright neon sign with the words "Crack Addict" hovering over his head.

After his tap dance at the concert, Sky was whisked away in an ambulance—or so he was told. He was checked into the hospital, and despite being stabilized, the docs wanted him to stay for observation. Personally, Sky thinks they want the extra dough from him having to be here longer. Everyone's worried about him, so the hospital keeping him here is holding everyone up from going back home—because obviously, the tour's over. The word Rehab has been buzzing around Sky's head as well.

Sky's not looking forward to his release, and it's not because of the big R word. The media hounds will be slobbering to get a piece of him, and he doesn't want to face anyone else. It's been hard enough dealing with the people closest to him like Alex and Christian, and of course...Turner. Who is noticeably absent from this scenario. Another topic everyone's steadily avoiding.

Yep. The big fat elephant in the room is blowing his trunk but everyone present has their ears shut. The only noise is the TV and Christian's obnoxious munching. Sky begrudges whatever cute nurse the drummer wheedled into letting him bring in snacks.

He decides he needs to get everything out in the open—and for God's sake, stop Christian from devouring those damn chips. He mutes the T.V.

"Hey! We were about to find out who gets eliminated. Hint, hint: Georgina," Christian says.

Sky ignores him, searching for a way to start. The only words that come to mind are the simplest and most inefficient. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. Turn it back up so I can hear my girl, T. Banks."

"No, smart ass," Sky says. "You know that's not what I mean."

"You don't have to—" Alex begins.

"Yes. I do. You deserve to hear the truth. And the truth is I fucked up," Sky says. Owning up to his bullshit is the first step he has to take.

"But I'm going to fix it. I'll go to rehab, do whatever Jer says I should."

"Good. You scared us, asshole," Christian says.

"I'll fix it, okay."

"We want you to get better, Sky. Take care of yourself," Alex adds more kindly than their blunt drummer. Sky's about to agree with him, but a knock on the door halts their conversation. Looking up, he finds Turner standing in the doorway.

"Um, hey," Turner says.

"Hey, Turner. Alex and I were about to go grab some more chips—"

"No. Dear god, do not bring any more corn chips in here, Christian. I swear I'll kill you." Sky warns him.

"Alright. Jeez..."

The two bandmates take a hint and split, leaving Turner and Sky by their awkward lonesome.

"Hey," Turner says, his tone flat.

"Hi," Sky replies. Turner lingers at the door uncertainly until Sky motions to the chair next to the bed. "Uh, you can sit down if you..."