Page 120 of Dark Tangled Truths
“I just...” she pauses. “I’m scared, Evan. My parents won’t tell us much. Just that he’s in the hospital and will be going into emergency surgery.”
I take a breath. Not every visit to the hospital is a bad thing. Not every illness ends in death. It’s hard not to feel that way though. “I’m here if you need to talk. Anytime, Mia. You can call me.”
“Thank you, Evan. Thank you for being my friend. I’ve got to go.” She hangs up.
I lower the phone, and the screen goes dark.
“Evan?” Damon asks. He wants to know what’s going on.
When I shake my head, water splashes on my hand.
“Hey,” he says softly and sits up, drawing me into his arms. I turn and press my face to his chest. “What happened?”
I laugh as I sob. “I don’t know why I’m crying.”
“That was Mia?”
I nod as he gently runs his hand over my back. “Her brother’s in the hospital. He’s been in some sort of accident and needs surgery.”
He takes my phone and returns it to the charger and pulls me back down to lie on his chest. He doesn’t say anything, just holds me. Cam wraps around me from behind. Hawk takes my hand and holds it.
I’m not crying for the guy I barely know, but for my friend for having to deal with this.
In the morning, I’ll have to figure out what to do with this information as the director. But right now, I just cling to the boys I love and am grateful none of them are in the hospital.
Keiraand I meet in the black box theater an hour before rehearsal.
“Mia doesn’t know when she’ll be able to return. Apparently it’s complicated. I told her she could let me know when she’s ready. But that means we need someone for Desdemona.” I blow out a breath. We have a list of the entire cast in front of us.
“Are we sure she’ll be back for the show, or should we recast assuming she won’t?” Keira taps her pen.
“Okay, if we just let Jason stand in and deliver her lines, that holds the spot for when she’s back. But if we do that and she doesn’t come back, we’ve lost a week that someone could be learning Desdemona’s lines and staging.” I stare at the stage, wondering who would even be available to pick up my lead. Everyone I would have considered is already cast in one of the two shows.
“Okay, so both Crystal and Sophie have been around enough to know some of the lines and some of the staging.”
“But then we’d be training two people their roles.” I push to stand.
Cam glances up from his homework, but seeing it’s nothing, he returns to his laptop.
“The people who could pick up the role quickly already have a part inOthelloorThe Crucible. Unless you go with one of the underclassmen.” Keira runs her hand over the back of her neck.
“I know. I don’t think an underclassman can carry this lead.” I pace to the stage and try to envision anyone else in the role. The underclassmen are strong, but they haven’t gone through as much training as we have.
Then there’s all the work I’ve done with Mark and Mia to make this convincing. The chemistry isn’t something I can just recreate. “We would have to hold auditions and have Mark there. It would take away from our rehearsal time.”
Keira stands and comes around the desk to lean on it, her gaze on the stage. I imagine she’s doing the same thing I’m doing, trying to sort through all the possibilities.
“Okay, hear me out.” Keira comes up next to me and crosses her arms. “We need someone who can step seamlessly into this role, and if Mia comes back, she can take over. But if she doesn’t, this person would be able to carry this role on show night.”
“I’m not hearing anything that we don’t know yet.” I turn to Keira.
“There’s one person who knows every bit of this by heart and has been with Mia and Mark this entire journey.” Keira smiles and looks at me like I’ll put together the puzzle she’s presented.
“I just don’t think Jason?—”
“You, Evan,” Cam calls out from his chair. “She’s talking about you, goody.”
My heart stops. “Me?”
