EPIC (Book 1 of the Soundcrush series)

Chapter 41: (Some) Rock Stars Become Royalty

Trace

Seven mornings have dawned since that night I left New Orleans, and it's like I'm living a completely different life. I have spent my days mostly roaming between this rural Tennessee hospital and the Starbucks down the street. They won't let me hang out in Ashlynn's room all day, because she's not a regular patient. They have a strict visiting schedule for detoxing patients, as her parents and I learned the first day.

Thankfully Ashlynn's injuries—a concussion, a sprained wrist, internal bruising—were mostly from her air bag deploying when she rammed into a tree on a rural state road. Cops said it was hard to say how fast she had been going; there were no skid marks. She didn't lose control, or try to stop. She was high, and probably blacked out or just lost focus of the fact that she was driving.

She could have killed herself. When I got to the hospital, one look in her eyes told me she knew it. And for the first time since I married her, I saw something else in her eyes—determination. I'm almost grateful for this car accident. Maybe the desire not to die will do something for Ash I haven't been able to—give her the motivation to live clean.

Maybe Leed was right—she has to be her own hero.

She's been a real trooper about the detox—hasn't cried or complained much at all through the vomiting, shakes, and misery. I'm proud of her. Michael and Ellen are freaking out about her detox condition, but I've tried to explain that she's handling it so much better than I've ever seen her cope with it before. This is fifth time I've been through this with her.

Her parents and I could rotate visiting her, and not even see each other, but that's not how we have decided to roll. Bizarre but true: in the last week I've developed a cordial relationship with them. A near miracle considering they used to think I was a devil sent to plague their older daughter and corrupt their younger daughter into sin. But I wasn't the only sinner in this current situation, was I? I know now, they were aware Ash and I were married, and they were avoiding the situation, and keeping it from Kat, just like Ash and I were avoiding them.

It's funny how sometimes two wrongs make a right, because now, we're all working together. They are being concerned parents, but they are yielding to my "position" as Ashlynn's husband and the person who gets to help her make decisions. They haven't said a word about her coming home with them, and they aren't trying to control what comes next, after her detox.

Mostly we are focused on Ash getting through each day, but I decided to go fully transparent with them, the first night we were all together, back at the hotel. I knocked on their door, sat down in their room, and I told them everything I'd been through with Ashlynn since she'd left home. I also told them I was in love with Kat—that I've always loved her. I told them I told them everything that happened that New Year's night, because before now I had only told them lies. I told them how I kissed Kat, how I stopped things from going any farther, how she got drunk and later, how I stopped Chaz. I told them about my dad, and his drinking, and his tendency to violent outbursts. I told them how my dad and I fought that night because Kat was passed out in my bed. I told them how Ash got in between us and got hurt. The only thing I didn't tell them was about my dad wanting to take her home before we called 911. I just couldn't say that out loud; it was too shameful. But I told them I knew I was responsible for Ashlynn's accident.

"I started the fight with my dad that night," I confessed. "He said something that made me angry—something rude about Kat—and I shoved him against the wall. That's how it started. If I hadn't gotten physical with him that night, Ashlynn would have never have gotten hurt. She'd never be where she is now."

Michael and Ellen exchanged a long look, and that's when I knew—they weren't surprised to hear about the violence between me and my dad. Ellen cried and hugged me. Michael looked angry, but then he said. "I saw how Ross changed over the years. We played golf together. I knew he drank too much. I never asked him once, if he needed help." He gripped my shoulder hard and looked me in the eye, maybe for the first time ever in my whole life. "I never asked you, if you needed help. I'm sorry, Trace. What happened to Ashlynn was not your fault. I'm not even sure it was Ross's fault. It sounds like he's a very broken man."