“I can use my phone.” I lift a limp hand in the phone’s direction. “If I need anything.”
“I don’t want you to use your phone,” she says. “I want you to rest.”
“I was resting in hospital for three days,” I point out.
“Miss Cassie—” Nora starts.
“No miss. Just Cassie.”
“Cassie,” she begins again. “I am paid to help you, and right now, you need my help ensuring that you rest. And you will do that best if we unplug your phone.” She reaches out and does exactly that. “Anybody who wants to see or speak to you has to come through me.”
The pain in my head intensifies at just the idea of Kevin trying to contact me, trying to talk about what happened. My stomach swims with nausea when I think about Stephan reaching out. In fact, the only person contacting me that doesn’t make me feel sick right now is Pia. But she’s in Europe, on her tour.
“Thank you, Nora,” I say. Looking at her lap, I see she has her Filofax, her finger tucked between two pages.
“Something urgent?” I nod at her hand.
“No, well, yes, maybe.”
“Is it to do with the band? The … accident?”
“Yes, sort of. I wanted to make you aware of something, but only if you feel up to hearing about it.”
I push up a little so I’m sitting. “I don’t like the sound of that.”
“It’s not ideal, but…” She trails off, flips the Filofax open, and then pulls out a cutout fromThe Washington Post. She places it in my hands.
I gasp, loudly.
It’s me. Unconscious. In a hospital bed.
“How on earth…?” I look up at Nora, who has her own frown of concern.
“We believe a member of the nursing team did this. We don’t know who or if they took their own photo, or let someone in who did. But yes, it was a leak.”
“This has to be illegal,” I say, the shock now tightening my chest.
“I can contact your lawyer,” Nora says, “or the police.”
I shake my head, unable to make those kind of decisions right now. It was hard enough deciding not to involve the police in the first place.
“Does Kevin know?”
“Yes. He asked me to tell you when you were at home. It wouldn’t have been pleasant for you to know while you were still in hospital.”
I think of all the kind nurses and doctors and porters who took care of me. One of them did this?
“No, it wouldn’t have.” I glance back at the cutout and try to read the text, but I’m too tired, my head is too painful, and I can barely read more than two words at a time. “What does the article say?”
“It explains where you were picked up. That it was where Stephan was staying. And that he hasn’t been seen since the … accident. There have been similar reports in other publications, along with the same photo.”
My jaw tightens at just hearing Stephan’s name. “They can’t have gotten all that from a nurse or doctor.”
“No. Kevin believes there was another leak from someone at the hotel or the label … or both.”
A sudden, hot urge to cry makes my eyes burn, but I fight it back with what limited strength I have.
“Thank you for telling me,” I say.