Rock Chick Renegade (Rock Chick #4)(147)

Then they were out the door.

* * * * *

Jules

I opened my eyes and it seemed like I was lying in a bed but I felt absolutely nothing, like I had no body. I figured, since a little while ago I’d been in pretty significant pain and bleeding a lot and now I felt nothing, that I was dead and I decided kind of woozily that I was obviously an angel.

I saw movement so I looked sideways and there was Vance staring down at me.

His handsome face was tight, worried and maybe a little pissed off looking and my angel-self smiled at him because clearly I’d been given the chance to have a chat with Vance before I flew on my fancy, new, fluffy-white angel wings to heaven.

“Hey,” I said and my voice sounded really weak, raspy and quiet rather than sounding super sweet and melodic like an angel’s.

“Hey,” he replied.

“Do you see my angel wings?” I asked, my voice still sounding raspy. “Are they pretty?”

He stared at me a second then I was pretty certain his lips twitched.

“Yeah, Princess. They’re gorgeous.”

“Yay,” I whispered.

“You’re gonna be okay,” he told me.

“I know. I don’t feel my body.” I didn’t realize I wasn’t making any sense and wouldn’t have cared anyway. Angels probably didn’t have to make sense. They could fly around for eternity talking nonsense, who was to care?

I was thinking about my angel outfit, wondering what angels wore and tried to look down at myself but I found I didn’t have a lot of energy so I stopped trying and my eyes slid sideways to look back at Vance.

“This angel stuff is exhausting,” I informed him.

“I bet.” His lips weren’t twitching anymore. He was grinning flat out.

I really loved his grin.

That’s when I remembered.

“Did you get it?” I asked, realizing suddenly that I needed to take an angel nap and soon.

“Get what?”

“Home,” I said.

“Sorry, Princess, I can’t hear…”

My eyes closed and I didn’t have the energy to open them so I didn’t bother. I figured angels could fly blind. They had to have angel-like sonar or something like that. Anyway I would only bump into clouds even if I couldn’t fly blind and I didn’t figure clouds would hurt.

But before I took off to heaven, I had to know or more importantly, Vance had to know, so I said to Vance, my eyes still closed, “I said earlier ‘home’, did you get it?”

I felt him get close and I thought that was strange since I didn’t have a body anymore not really anyway so I shouldn’t be feeling anything. But I was certain I felt his cheek pressed against mine, his stubble rough against my skin.

“No, Jules,” he said into my ear. “I didn’t get it.”

I sighed huge and felt the angel nap tugging at me.

“Jules?” Vance called and he sounded far away but it felt like his lips were at my ear.

“Home…” I whispered and then slid closer to somewhere else, maybe heaven I didn’t know. There sure as hell weren’t any bright lights. Oh shit, they probably didn’t say “hell” in heaven. Oh shit, they probably didn’t say “shit” in heaven either. I was already getting angel demerits and I hadn’t even been to angel orientation yet.

I had to finish my thought. It might be my last chance.

So I whispered in Vance’s ear because it seemed like it was really close to my mouth (although I knew it couldn’t be because I didn’t really have a mouth anymore as I didn’t have a body). “You’re home. See, Auntie Reba said home isn’t a place, home is anywhere just as long as the people you love are there.”

Then I slid into heaven except weirdly, right before I drifted away, I felt some pain in my fingers like someone was holding my hand too tight.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

No Matter What

I was an angel in heaven for two days or at least I thought I was.

Really I was whacked out on drugs and in ICU.

During these two days, I saw Vance once and Nick three times. I had no idea they came by often to spend time with me while I was taking angel naps. When I saw them I regaled them with stories of what it was like being an angel (since, for two days, I thought I was an angel). I figured they could write a book about it and become millionaires. I even shared this idea with Vance.

The nurses told me it was the only time they’d ever heard that much laughter in ICU.

After two days when it became clear I was going to survive, they moved me to a normal room. I stayed in the hospital a long time but it wasn’t uneventful mainly because nothing in the World of Rock Chick was uneventful.

* * * * *

First, Vance decided he didn’t feel much like adhering to visitor’s hours. The staff kept telling him he couldn’t spend the night, sleeping in a chair next to my bed but he did it anyway and Vance seriously was not the kind of guy they wanted to argue with so they let him be.

I also told him, considering his job meant he always needed to be rested and alert, that he should stay at my place. He didn’t pay one bit of attention to me and still came to the hospital anyway.

We bickered about it (because I didn’t worry about arguing with Vance).

I lost.

Really, it wasn’t fair for him to bicker with me when I was in that condition.