heard the static indicating the power and heard her flipping through channels even though he’d told her not to. Stupid fucking cunt.
“I’ll leave it on the news so you can catch up with the world,” she said. He heard the plop of the remote on the bed behind him. “The remote is right here if you want to change the station,” she said.
Get. Out.
She stood over him for a minute and when he didn’t respond, she left the room as quietly as she could, which considering she weighed about two hundred and fifty pounds, wasn’t as quiet as she might have hoped. The door closed.
Alone. Finally.
He turned over and lifted droopy lids to see what he’d missed the last few days. One thing his mother knew...he liked keeping track of the world. Especially people. Certain people. Certain famous people.
Entertainment Tonight came on. One of his favorite shows. They almost always had a tidbit about his favorite person in the world, and as the teasers flashed across the screen, he saw tonight was no different. Except the newsflash made his heart rate triple.
What? What had they just said?
Julie Fraser had been shot? She was in the hospital?
He forced himself to sit up and his head nearly exploded off his shoulders. The first story talked about Tom Cruise. He didn’t give a fucking rat’s ass about Tom Cruise. He had to know about Julie. His Julie.
There! His breathing nearly stopped as the camera flashed to the front of Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital. She’d been shot on the red carpet at the Sporties. After surgery to remove a bullet from her arm and one from her spleen, she was still recovering. Instead of flowers, any donations should go to cancer research and treatment.
Bullshit! The hell he would. She deserved the flowers. She deserved the world and he planned to give it to her one day. He’d been saving money like a fucking madman, sacrificing, living at home and investing every dime. He’d never approached her, but now was the time. He felt it in his bones. She needed him now more than ever and he had to prove he was the man for her.
His gut clenched when they showed the footage of the shooting. Someone had saved her. Thank God. His stomach churned watching the man carry her to safety. But he thought he might puke when the footage forwarded to the same man running as he carried her to the nearest ambulance. He stumbled and blood sprayed from his arm. Allen could’ve killed the guy himself for making the run to the ambulance. What the hell had he been thinking, giving the shooter another chance at Julie? Stupid bastard. The clip ended and the reporters talked about the man’s heroism. Gave an update on his condition without revealing his name. Allen focused on the fact that Julie was going to be all right. The show hosts moved on to the next story.
Struggling to reach his bedside table, he pulled his laptop across his legs and booted up. He ordered her the biggest bouquet of roses he could find. It cost him a fortune. When it came time to sign the card, he paused. How did he introduce himself to her? He had to do it carefully. After all, he didn’t want her thinking he was some stalker. He simply adored her and wanted to give her the world.
He leaned his head back against the pillow, disgusted with himself for missing this event. They must have been running the footage for days. Julie was always big news and she deserved to be. She was beautiful and funny. Wholesome and sexy at the same time. She was a mix of glamour and girl-next-door, which made her Hollywood legend.
He looked at the blinking icon on his screen, typed his message for the card and hit send.
Happy with his note, he put his laptop on the table, lay back down and agonized about missing the Sporties. He should have been watching her on TV. That was the night he’d gotten so deathly sick. He’d never experienced such raging fever and full body aches. He’d hardly been able to move and any thoughts other than dying hadn’t entered his head.
Sitting up, he took the tray of soup his mother had brought. He needed to get stronger. Needed to finally make his move and show Julie they were meant for each other. Once he sold his video game, he’d be rolling in dough. All he needed was one company