*Trisha*

James is clammy when they wheel him back into the room so Julia begins to take care of him. We all watch her wet a face cloth and wipe down his face for him before leaning over to kiss his forehead. It's really hard to watch but for the first time, I see how the Avalon has been helping Julia. She hasn't checked out yet, the bathrooms are as we found them and she is holding her own pretty damn well if you ask me. If anything, James's sisters are worse, especially the youngest, Kendall.  She quietly sits across from James and watches Julia care for him. Her silent tears have been flowing nonstop all day.

"Do you want to come down to the cafeteria with us, Ken? Maybe get a coffee or a bite to eat?" Lindsay tries for the third time today.

"No thank you." Kendall stares at her brother. Lindsay's shoulders sag and she walks out of the room with me. Paul follows us out.

"Everything is in place but there's already a crowd forming at the front and rear entrance.

"You've got to be kidding." I mutter as we walk down to the cafeteria. 

"I wish I were." 

We all grab coffee and head to an unoccupied table in the corner. Silence takes over, and no one seems to know what to say.  How could this happen?  How can James have a seizure and then just NOT wake up?  How is he in a Coma for a SECOND time? My thoughts begin to drift, and I sense that Lindsay and Paul are also letting their minds run wild and drive them crazy.

Paul abruptly stands. "Be right back." He quickly leaves the cafeteria and takes a right. For a good five minutes me and Lindsay sit in silence until I begin to worry about Paul.  His coffee sits on the table, now cold.  If  anyone knows Paul they know his survives off of caffeine running through his veins. He'd never let a coffee go to waste like this.

"Are you ok here if I go check on Paul?" I stand up before Lindsay responds. She nods and wipes her eyes with a napkin and looks up at one of the TV's to see James's face. I exit the room and turn the corner, only to discover it leads to a dead end aside from the restrooms. These are the private single occupancy kind of restrooms. One door is open and empty, while the other is closed. 

"Paulie? You in there?" I knock and wait. A beat of silence, then the scrape of movement inside. I hear him clear his throat before opening the door just enough to reveal himself. His eyes are red-rimmed with tears still streaking his face.  His breath catches, thick with grief he keeps inside  all the time. Paul never cries. Hardly ever shows any emotion, really. But here he is, unraveling, and letting me see it.

I open the door, step inside and shut it behind me. Then I throw my arms around the bodyguard and he crumbles into them, sobbing. Full on sobbing. This is one of his closest friends. He's known James for a very long time. Longer than any of us have. He trained James and gave him a job working the secret celebrity fourth floor of the Marriott. Paul has also always been one to step up and take care of James when needed. Without ever being asked.

"He's gonna be ok." I whisper without believing my words.

"He has to pull through." Paul finally says and I hold him tighter. 

It takes us a while before either of us is ready to open the door. When we finally do, Paul straightens his spine, pulls in a slow breath, and lets it out like a reset. The shift is instant. He goes right back into bodyguard mode. His grief dissolves into discipline. His eyes are still red, still swollen, but his face is now unreadable, showing no emotion. I will never understand how he is able to do that- Shut it all off like flipping a switch.

****

We spent the night in James's room. Even brought the dog back here. We curled up on couches, recliners, whatever we could find...hoping that by morning, James would be awake. Out of his coma. Sitting up and smiling.

But morning came, and nothing changed. The only thing that did was the noise. The media. The internet. The world beyond these hospital walls.

Part of me resents it. Because James is tied to Nate, his life isn't his own anymore. No privacy, no quiet, just headlines and speculation. But then I see the fans...people waiting, praying, hoping and falling in love with him and I can't help but smile. Everyone loves James Gallo. How could they not? He's the kindest person I know. The kindest person anyone knows.

So, even though his name is flashing across every screen, his life dissected by strangers, love is pouring in from around the world. Nate might be "America's Heartthrob," but James is America's sweetheart.

While watching the news, I notice they mentioned Nate's tour date, which is a full week later than what I had told him. Hoping he didn't catch that discrepancy, I hold my breath and shift uncomfortably in my seat.

But Nate scrunches up his brows and looks at me the second the lady said it.

"Two weeks? She got that one wrong." Nate scoffs then squints his eyes at me. The motherfucking lie is written all over my face. He can tell right away. "Trisha...... what did you do?"

"Nothing. I mean, right, you don't 'technically' need to be in Florida for another week, but it doesn't matter. Not happening now. It wasn't gonna work out even before all this." I look over at unresponsive James and frown..

"What WAS going to happen?" 

"Well, I originally was going to surprise you by taking you home to London for a week before tour. Let you relax, eat some good food, maybe a spa day."

"You were planning to take Nate away a week earlier than necessary?" Julia stops combing James's hair. "Without telling anyone?"

"Well... that's kind of what a surprise means." I wave Julia off. What she she care? She's not coming on tour. She doesn't even want to come. "But anyways, it fell through. Richard wants....wanted... you to do some publicity stunt shit with Mila Giovanni. Be her date to the Met Gala in New York and all this other shit."

Nate fumbles with the remote and drops it on the ground, batteries rolling in two different directions the same time the comb falls from Julia's hand when they hear this.

"What?" Nate's face is now red with anger. "And when were you going to tell me about all this??"

I shrug, my fingers tightening briefly around my tea cup before I look up at Evan. He knew about the surprise, about what I was trying to do...how badly I wanted to carve out a little time for a mini vacation before everything becomes chaotic. Nate hasn't been home in months, and I thought this would be good for him. For Jonah and Casey too. A chance to relax, breathe, to soak in something simple before tour.

But then Richard dropped the Mila bomb, and suddenly, everything fell through.  I was trying to do a good thing. Then, this whole Mila thing, I couldn't bring myself to tell him. Not right away. Hell, I didn't want to tell Nate it at all! Nate would just dwell on it, getting more pissed off at Richard by the day and stress out. That's the opposite of what I was trying to give him. And I knew what he'd turn it over again and again, letting it work its way under his skin until it consumed him. 

"I didn't want to stress you out by telling you too far in advance." I admit. "I was still trying to talk Richard out of it. I was still hoping I could take you home for a week to relax...but-" My words trail off.

"Unbelievable, Trisha."

"I'm sure it has all been called off." I add. "I mean, Richard can't really think right now you could possibly-"

"No? NO?! You don't think? Jesus, Trisha. Don't be naïve! Of course, he thinks I'm gonna fucking follow through with his shit!" Nate bursts, making the dog lift her for a second before resting it back down on James's chest. "Fix it. NOW."

"I mean, you realize you will have to be in Florida when the time comes though, right? You've run out of time and canceled stuff too many times already. No matter what is happening here, you-"

"Trisha. Stop talking." Nate snaps and a lump forms in my throat. I shake my head and turn away.

"Maggie, let's go for a walk," Casey says, needing to get away from this confrontational conversation. She begins put on her sneakers and retrieves the dog's harness. We watch as she pulls on Maggie's leash in an attempt to coax her off the bed, but Maggie doesn't budge. To all of our surprise, She growls at Casey, baring her teeth, something she has never EVER done before.

Casey immediately drops the leash and looks at Jonah with wide, stunned eyes.

"She's just sad, Case. Don't take it personally." Jonah walks over and grabs the leash. "Maggie, up." He says sternly like James would and claps his hands together one time. The dog whines but eventually gets off the bed. "She's just sad. C'mon."

Jonah, Casey and the dog leave the suite, and the rest of us- Evan, Paul, Julia, Nate and myself all share the same look. Maggie has never shown any kind of anger towards us. Strangers maybe but not the core group. Especially not Casey who spends the most time with her.

"She knows something is wrong. She's probably depressed." I say. "I can always take her back to your place if this becomes too much."

"You just can't wait to get out of here, can you?" Julia yells at me. "Some things never change. Couldn't wait to get Nate out of the Avalon, even if it's the one thing helping him stay sober. And you HAD to get him away from me a week ahead of time, right?" 

I say nothing. Nothing I say is going to make any of this better. Julia's pissed. Nate is pissed. And I was only  trying to do something nice. I spent a lot of time planning that week away thinking it would be a fun surprise for all who are going on tour. I was gonna take Casey shopping in London, I had made dinner reservations at all of Nate's favorite restaurants back home, I had a spa day planned for everyone. Including Evan, whether he wanted it or not. It took me a long time coordinating this trip all to have Richard pull the rug out from under me and now...both Nate and Julia are mad at me. Anything else want to go wrong today?

"I need food." I quickly get up and grab Evan by his arm and then my laptop bag. "Cafeteria."

Last thing I need is everyone seeing me in tears over something so stupid. But it meant a lot to me.  I breeze by Jeremy who walks in as we walk out and notice he looks much better today. Yesterday he was a hot mess, today he looks more like himself.

"I'm not even hungry." I admit once we are out in the hall and turn to head down to the small waiting room instead. Anywhere to just get away for a bit without being far from James.

"You're always hungry." Evan pokes fun of me but then gives me a sympathetic look when he sees me wiping under my eyes. 

"Hey, you were doing something nice for everyone. It stinks it didn't work out but they're just stressed out over Mr. Gallo and taking it out on everyone, that's all."

"No matter what I say or do, Julia will have a problem with it. And Nate will always side with her. I can't win." I cross my arms and sit on the couch once we are in the waiting room. "I'm just gonna spend the day in here."

"Ma'am, you don't want to do that. You want to be there for when James wakes up."

I ignore the ma'am part, knowing no matter how hard I try, the boy was raised with manners and will always call me ma'am.

"You really think he will wake up?" I look up at Evan sitting across from me scrolling through his phone. He lowers it and for the first time ever- I see a hint of emotion from the bodyguard. 

"I'm not sure. I hope so. I wasn't around when James was in his coma months ago but it sounds like he is a true fighter."

"Yeah, he is." I nod and open my laptop on the small coffee table in front of me. " Guess I should get some work done."

"It may help pass the time." Evan adds.

Again I nod and try to focus on paying Nate's bills, going over contracts and answering emails pertaining tour. But in the back of my head all I can think of is

What if my friend James doesn't wake up?

******