This trip was no different, though Mac, the assistant coaches and trainers had formed a phalanx around Dylan, allowing her at least some respite from the crush of fawning humanity.
They all breathed sighs of relief when the gate attendant finally called for boarding of their flight.
Just as she was about to board, Cat?s cellphone rang, and she stepped out of line to answer it. “Hello?”
“Hey, sis.” Her brother Luke was on the other end, and just the tone of his voice sent alarm bells ringing.
“Luke? What is it? What?s wrong?”
“It?s Mom. She?s been in an accident.”
Cat?s stomach plummeted to the floor. She could feel herself pale and a buzzing hiss filled her ears.
Dylan noticed immediately and beckoned Mac over. Mac took one look at Cat, nodded to Dylan, and took over the job of escorting the rest of the team onto the plane.
“Cat? Are you there?”
“Y-yes. I?m here. How?how is she?”
“I dunno, sis. Dad just called a few minutes ago. He?s on the way to the hospital now. He told me to call you and ask you to wait wherever you are until he can get a hold of you.”
“I?m in the airport, just about to board the plane to Los Angeles.”
An hand came down on Cat?s shoulder, and she looked up into the concerned eyes of Dylan. The Coach shook her head once in silent communication, and Cat nodded.
“I?ll stay right here, Luke, alright? If Dad calls you first, tell him to call me as soon as he can.”
“I will, sis. I gotta go. I don?t want to tie up the phone lines.”
“Okay, Luke. I?ll talk to you later.”
Ending the call, Cat folded her phone closed and turned to Dylan. “My mom?.”
Reading Cat?s face easily, Dylan took her hand and led her away from the crowded and gawping gate.
Cat followed Dylan?s lead, her body on auto-pilot, holding her tears in by sheer strength of will.
Dylan led Cat down the twists and turns of the terminal until she reached a set of unobtrusive steel doors, which she pushed open and stepped through into a relatively small, elegantly furnished, and nearly empty room. Dylan continued walking over to a corner table that sat by the large bank of polarized windows which provided a panoramic view of the tarmac below. She ushered Cat into one of the chairs, then squatted down by the younger woman?s side, not touching, but close.
Cat felt the tears begin to fall, and she ducked her head, unable to control them any longer. “She?was in an accident. I don?t know? if she?s gonna? be alright.”
“Oh, sweetheart,” Dylan whispered, reaching out and gathering Cat into a comforting, secure embrace.
Cat?s hands reached out blindly, crushing the lapels of Dylan?s blazer in a desperate grip as she let the fear for her mother roll over her in tumultuous waves. It was something she hated to do, cry in front of others, but Dylan made her feel safe enough to let out the fear and grief she felt in the only way she could.
Gradually, the force of the wave slackened somewhat and, with a shake of her head, Cat finally pulled away, wiping her reddened, puffy eyes with the heel of her hands. She flushed when she saw the state of Dylan?s crumpled, damp suit.
“I?m sorry. I?.”
“?s alright,” Dylan drawled, giving Cat a slight smile as she reached up and brushed her thumb against one final tear glistening on the younger woman?s cheek.
Cat?s phone chirped, and she froze, turning wide, unblinking eyes to Dylan. It chirped a second, then a third time, finally breaking her paralysis. Lowering a shaking hand, she picked up the phone, almost dropped it, then secured her grip as she opened it. “H-hello?”
“Hi, Kitten. It?s dad.”
“Dad? How?how is---?”
The smile in her father?s voice was obvious even through the poor, crackling connection. “She?s gonna be fine, sweetheart. Just a little bumped and bruised, that?s all.”
The relief that swept through Cat was almost as draining as the fear had been. She slumped back against the thick padding of her chair, weak as a newborn.
“Cat? Cat, are you there?”
“Yeah, Dad. Just?.thank god?. You?re sure she?s alright?”
“Perfectly sure, honey. Especially after the shot the doctor just gave her. Whatever she might be feeling, it sure isn?t pain.”
“Thank god. Alright.” Cat sat up, her mind whirling. “I?m at the airport now. I think I can get the next flight?.”
“No, it?s alright. You just go on to California with your team.”
“But Dad?”
“Cat, your mother made me promise that I wouldn?t let you come home.”
“Wouldn?t let me? Dad, I?m an adult here, in case you and mom forgot.”
“Oh, honey, I know that but, well?.” He paused as he cleared his throat. “Your mother, despite what she tells you, is very proud of you. She?s invited her friends over to watch you tomorrow so she can brag to them all about what a success her beloved daughter is.”
Cat felt her jaw unhinge as she listened to her father?s completely unexpected confession-by-proxy.
“She?what??”
“It?s true, sweetheart. Your mother would kill me if she knew I told you, but it?s true.”
“Kill you? Isn?t she there now?”
Her father chuckled. “Yup, all but passed out on the stretcher with a goofy grin on her face.”
Cat all but choked, holding the phone away from her ear as her mother?s fuzzy voice erupted over the tinny speaker, singing, of all things, “Cheeseburger in Paradise.”
“Dad?” Cat croaked, but her father was laughing too hard to answer. “Dad??”
When her father?s voice came back on the line, it was wheezy with spent laughter. “S?sorry sweetheart. I just?never expected that from your mother.”
“I didn?t even know she could sing!” Cat winced as a particularly sour note rang through the phone. “If you can call that singing.”
“Just thank God you can hang up whenever you want. I have a feeling I?ll be enduring this little concert for a while yet.”
“Are you sure there?s nothing she needs?”
“Nothing but a little rest and a lot of TLC, both of which I can give her. Now you just go on ahead and catch the next flight to sunny California, alright? Call us when you get there and I?ll fill you in on the latest.”
Cat sighed, then nodded. “Okay, Dad. Tell mom I love her.”
“As soon as she stops singing, I will, sweetheart. Fly safe. I love you.”
“I love you too, Dad. Bye.”
“Bye, honey.”
Folding the phone and slipping it into her carryall, Cat smiled at the warm hand on her wrist.
“Everything okay?” Dylan asked.
“Aside from my mother arranging an impromptu jam session in the middle of the ER, yeah, everything?s fine. She just got a little banged up.”
“That?s good to hear.”
A bit embarrassed, Cat rubbed at the back of her neck. “I?um?guess we missed the flight out, huh?”
Dylan grinned. “Never fear. I?ve made some alternate arrangements. Anytime you?re ready, we can head out.”
“I guess I?m ready now.”
Standing with a fluid grace so much a part of her, Dylan reached down and helped Cat up from the comfortable couch. She hugged the smaller woman quickly, bending to whisper in her ear. “I?m glad your mom?s alright.”
“So am I,” Cat replied. “And thanks. For caring.”
Dylan gave her a rakish grin. “Not a problem at all.”
Dylan escorted Cat through the main terminal and into a smaller, less crowded part of the sprawling complex. After speaking quietly to a tall, uniformed man standing beside a stout door, they were ushered outside and onto the tarmac where a small jet, painted a garish purple and black and sporting Horace Johnson?s company name, waited, its engines growling softly.
Cat turned wide eyes to Dylan, who smirked down at her as she ascended the short flight of steps that led her up to the open hatchway. That smirk turned into a carefully neutral mask as Dylan stepped into the dimly lighted plane, giving a short nod to Johnson and his “secretary”?she of the platinum blonde hair and surgically enhanced assets. “Horace.”