Silvia ended up helping Lorna to find accommodation for the rest of the crew at a small, decent inn a couple of streets away. Back to Jo’s room, they found Deborah was already on the phone, making call after call to arrange an air ambulance that could take Sean and Sam back to LA as soon as possible.
Ron came in with the nurse bringing the patients’ dinner, and told them about the growing number of news crews and fans outside the hospital. Tim and the hospital director had talked to them, but the reports doubted the well-being of the musicians, because none of them had been seen after the accident. Internet was spreading those rumors like fire, and #RIPNoReturn was about to trend on Twitter.
“I asked Jim to join Tim, but he pretty much kicked me out of Sean’s room.”
Silvia noticed that all of them turned to her and frowned, especially when Deborah tried a nice smile. She sighed.
“I’ll try to convince him,” s
A selfie with Jim and Liam granted them the nurse’s unconditional assistance, and Silvia didn’t hesitate to abuse it openly. First, she asked for a safe spot to smoke. Next, she put Ron to the task of getting trash food for the musicians, to smuggle it into their room with the nurse’s help. Then she went back to Deborah’s room.“Jim’s downstairs,” she informed, and turned to Jo. “D’you think you can walk a few steps?”“What are you up to now?” asked Deborah, narrowing her eyes.“Taking Jo to see Sean, if she can get up.”Jo was sitting up before Silvia was done talking. She helped the girl out of bed and grabbed the IV bag. They paused at the doorway and looked to the nurses’ station, where the young nurse had taken over the screen showing the hallway cameras. As soon as she waved her hand discretely, they came out.Sean opened his eyes the moment they walked
It was a quick, quiet meal as the five of them wolfed down their food like it was the first they’d had in a year. Silvia cleaned any incriminatory evidence and commanded the musicians to sleep, threatening them with midnight injections if they stayed awake.She and Jim left the other three and he took her hand when they walked out, waiting for her to try to let go, say something, do anything. Silvia rested her head on his shoulder as they strolled down the hall to Sean’s room without a word.Jim stopped at the doorway, surprised to find Jo there. The girl saw them come in and kissed Sean’s cheek.“Night, love,” she whispered, and let Silvia help her climb down from the bed.They walked slowly out as Jim circled the bed to sit in the armchair. When Silvia came back, he was sound asleep. She tucked him in with the blanket, brushed his hair with her lips, tiptoed out.A minute later, she was sitting on the cold floor tile
Winter swooped down on Patagonia early that year, with chilly winds that blew away any cloud, letting the temperature rocket down to stay like that for months. Frost soon nested around the clock in any corner the pale sun didn’t reach, mountains wore their thick white cloak, daylight hours shrunk in what felt like a heartbeat.And just like every winter, Silvia’s social life adjusted to the harsh weather. It was the time of the year for closest friends and easy get-togethers at home instead of a bar.It was the season to weave tighter together that safety net of affection that had allowed her to spend the last two or three years playing the acrobat, ever since she’d met Pat. The only reason why she hadn’t ended up smashed on the floor when trapezes kept turning into smoke and vanished before her eyes, an inch away from her reaching hands, usually at the end of a triple somersault.It was the time for long strategic board games, TV shows b
Jo was surprised when Sean came back home so early. He’d gone to Jim’s place, to practice for a while with his drums for the first time since the accident. His rehab physician had cleared him a couple of weeks earlier to try the soft drumheads he had at home, and Sean felt ready to go back to the real thing.Jo was having a pre-production meeting with Fay and her team, so he waved hi at them from the living-room door and went on to his small soundproofed studio. She didn’t take long to come around with beer and a smile. He was behind his set of drumheads, practicing.“And this is why I love you,” Sean said, accepting the beer.Jo studied him for a moment. “What happened? Jim wasn’t home and you didn’t have your spare keys?”Sean rolled his eyes, the bottle against his lips. Jo pulled up a stool to sit close to him and tilted her head, raising her eyebrows.“So? Why didn’t you stay lo
It was mid-October and spring still couldn’t kick winter out of Patagonia for good. Silvia and Miyen were revising his last story when her phone buzzed. Both of them glanced at the kitchen clock, surprised. It was two on a Wednesday night, who could be texting her that late?“Let’s hope nothing bad happened,” she said, unlocking the screen. “I’m glad Tobias is here and sleeping.”“Always so cheerful,” Miyen replied, scoffing, but he saw her face and frowned. “What is it?”Silvia narrowed her eyes, like trying to make up her mind. “Look, it’s Jim. He just posted something for me, and whatever it is, I’m gonna check it right now. I’m telling you in case you wanna go to the bathroom or something.”Miyen snorted and stood up. “Yeah, good idea. Let me know when you’re done. I’ll be reading in your room.”She waited to be alone to get h
Miyen found her with her arms folded on the table and her face hidden against them, crying like her heart was about to shatter in a thousand pieces. He sat down by her side and put his arm around her shoulders without a word, but she wouldn’t calm down.He saw the tablet with the video still on screen and decided to see what he was dealing with. He put on the earphones and kept his arm around her shoulders to watch the clip. He took under a minute to start cursing under his breath, listening to the lyrics."I can’t explain the way I feel insideWhen you’re not aroundI can’t explain the thoughts that fill my headWhen you’re not around."And all the while, I let you go."Take my heart, my nameEverything I’ve got I give to youOur hearts are the same
The fifth day Jim’s housekeeper called Sean to tell him Jim hadn’t let her in, the eldest Robinson decided it was time to step in. So he called his little brother. Jim picked up right away, only to tell him to fuck off and let him be. Okay, he was alive and well, sort of. At least he was still in shape to use his phone.Sean gave him another day, mostly to muster all his patience and keep from killing Jim if his suspicions turned out to be right.After convincing the band to arrange and record that new song—yet another one for Silvia—Jim had pretty much run to upload it to that frigging blog he insisted in keeping online, swearing she still checked it every time he posted something, ‘cause analytics didn’t lie.And then he’d sat to wait for an answer. Even though it’d been over five months since Silvia had last spoken to him, he was so frigging sure this time she would react and reply. The damn fool! The song would
Jim turned off his light and reclined his seat further, stretching his legs. The flight attendants had offered to make his bed, but he’d declined. He wasn’t there for some funny pajamas and a good night sleep. His eyes darted out the window. A whole continent spread down there, thousands of feet below, invisible in the moonless night. And they had to go all the way to the other end of it.He dozed for a while, a shallow sleep that brought him no rest, and woke up to find an attendant had covered him with a light blanket. Just like Silvia had done every time she’d found him asleep.A sigh escaped his lips. What the frigging hell was he doing on that direct flight LA-Buenos Aires? He’d just let Sean drag him along, mostly because if he refused, their argument would’ve ended up in a fist fight.But that didn’t change that their trip was totally useless.He knew Silvia too damn well to harbor any hope. He could spend the re