Chapter 1 ~ Angelica

 

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Fuck, where in the hell am I? I open my eyes and go to rub my head only to feel a pull against my arm, looking I see I’ve got an I.V. in. It’s dark in the room but the smell of antiseptic is a tell. I’m in the hospital. Last thing I remember I was recording up at the cabin in Aspen. Everyone else had high tailed it looking for Brent, who’d up and split in the middle of the night. My stomach hurts, and my legs feel like they’re on fire. What are they pumping me full of? I look at the bags but my vision is blurry. Damn sedatives. There’s somebody in the room, but I can’t make out who.

“Hello?” I manage, with a dry throat, my voice sounds like gravel.

“Easy Miss Fontaine, you’re in Aspen Valley Hospital.”

“What? What happened? My voice?”

“You’ve been heavily sedated while they’ve been flushing your system. They had to pump your stomach as well. You’re being fed right now intravenously, due to the trauma, and your lack of consciousness. Please, sit back, you’re hooked up to several machines at the moment.”

“Who are you?”

“I’m Kerri, the label hired me on as your private nurse. I’m here to get you whatever you need.”

“Good, what I need is my stuff, I’m not staying in the cowpoke hospital another second.”

“That I can’t do. What I can do is call your manager Thomas Christy and let you talk to him. He’s staying in town and said to call him when you woke up.”

“You do that then, because I’m not having this bull shit.”

Kerri nods and steps out of the room, I look around and push the call light, I’m in pain and need something, fuck my whole-body aches. A moment later a tall dark and handsome man in scrubs comes wandering in.

“Yes, can I help you?”

“Yes, I’m in pain. Can you give me something?”

“Let me see what they are giving you.”

“He pulls up my chart on the computer against the wall and shakes his head. I can give you some Acetaminophen, but that is all.”

“That’s like a Tylenol, that shit ain’t gonna cut it, can’t I have a perc or something? I’m in a shit ton of pain here.”

“Sorry, Miss Fontaine, but you came in on an Opioid overdose, the last thing we are going to do is give you more. Now do you want the medication or no?”

“Fuck.” I tilt my head back, my skin on fire. “Yes, I’ll fucking take it. Just hurry the fuck up with it.”

“Now, now, patience is a virtue, my dear.”

“I ain’t patient, and I ain’t your fucking dear, now do your damn job!”

 

***

 

I’m laying here, dying when Thomas shows the fuck up. “Hey babe, tough break. You shouldn’t have chased a handful of Dilaudid with a bottle of Vodka.”

“I had a long night I was just trying to get some sleep.”

“For the rest of the year? You don’t take the Dilaudid to sleep that was what the Ambien was for, but you had that in you too, on top of some Excedrin Migraine, Topamax and Abilify were you trying to kick it?”

I look at him wildly. “Why the fuck would I do that? I’m the lead singer to the hottest Southern Rock band in the Country!” It hurts to scream but I’m pissed. “No, I was fucking tired. I busted my ass in the studio all day by myself and wanted to actually sleep for a fucking change!

He just shakes his head. “We’ve had a talk; the band and me, and we can’t keep doing this with you. You’ve got one last shot or you’re done. You hear me? You’re going back to Rehab.”

“Oh, Fuck that.” I roll over, my whole body rejecting that idea.

“Then you’re gone, Brent will have Marissa take over and you will never sing again.”

I stare at him; would he actually do it? In know Brent would love to see me gone. Fallen Angels was, and is my life line. It’s kept me from going completely insane. I need it more than the coke, or the pills, or the sex.

“Decide Angelica, because once I leave here, there will be no going back. No changing minds and no renegotiating.”

I swallow. “I don’t wanna be gone…” I whisper, choking on the words. “I’ll go back into rehab.”

“Fine, we will be hiring you a specialized body guard and support specialist. He or she will help you to maintain your home and your sobriety once you get out. They will live with you, and you will pay them, to make your life better. You will agree to this or again you are gone.”

I nod my head. “Yes.”

“Then it’s agreed, we will draw up the contracts and have you transferred to the Rehab facility in the next few days.”

“Okay.” I sniff as Thomas leaves the room, how the fuck am I going to get through another stint in rehab without my parents getting wind? The last thing I need is them beating door, upheaving my past and bringing secrets to light that need to stay in the darkness.