All I Want Is Everything

Emergency

I know you have a little life in you yet.
I know you have a lot of strength left.
I know you have a little life in you yet.
I know you have a lot of strength left.

I should be crying, but I just can't let it show.
I should be hoping, but I can't stop thinking

Kate Bush, This Woman's Work

Ella drove carefully through the twisty roads in her residential area, then put her foot down as much as she could when she got to bigger streets, the Corvette conveying her safely and swiftly as she concentrated. She arrived at Cedars faster than she expected by using the 101 and the 2, leaving the car with the valet (only in LA, she thought) and striding into the emergency room with long steps. The hospital complex was intimidatingly tall and large. The press had found out already; there were news vans in the lots and both Gracie Allen Drive and George Burns Road. She spoke softly to the nurse at the desk, asking for Becca Barnes, showing her drivers license, and the nurse summoned a security guard to take her to Bec in a private space away from the media.

Bec was a wreck, not surprisingly. Ella had come down without waiting for details over the phone, and she wasn't surprised to see her friend huddled in a chair, mopping her face with Kleenex. Bec flung herself at Ella, and they hugged before taking seats. "So what happened, Bec?"

"Around eleven, two cops showed up on my doorstep to tell me my brother had wrapped his car around a light post," she snuffled. "They brought me here, I wasn't really able to drive. They had questions for me, none of which I could answer because I haven't seen him for a couple weeks. He put me off for quite awhile after he moved out of Natasha's house." She spat Nat's name with real venom. "Finally, I just showed up. He's renting a house that could be so cute if it was fixed up, but it's so shabby now and it smells like mildew." Ella's nose wrinkled and Bec nodded. "I promised not to tell the parents he was living in a shithole if he started to get himself together. That was last week." She shook her head.

"What's going on now? Has anybody been in to talk to you?"

"Yeah, they put me here because they know the media vultures would show up. If you go the other way down the hall there's a different exit that the press might not know about. All I know is that it was bad and he went right to surgery. The cops wanted permission to take blood samples for intoxication but I refused. And they need consent."

"What are you not telling me, Bec?"

"He was using drugs again off and on, but the coke was making him paranoid. I think he's started using heroin."

"FUCK," Ella said, and Bec nodded.

"I don't know how long or even if he really is, but I saw a hypodermic at his house, under a book. Like he was trying to hide it. I don't know if he's hooked, but this is bad. We fought about it. It was a bad fight."

Ella processed this shock as she and Bec gripped each other's hand tightly. "Ok. First things first. Who have you called besides me?"

"Thor, first of all. I asked him to get over to Bucky's place and see if he could remove some stuff before the cops got there. You were the only other one who answered. Our folks are on vacation. An anniversary trip to Acapulco. They've never been before. And I didn't think to get the name of the resort." She started to cry again.

"Steve? Nat?"

"I wouldn't call that bitch if hell froze over. She really hurt my brother," Bec snapped. "Steve wasn't answering. Erik answered his phone, but they're like co-workers and I don't really know him. He did ask if I needed company while I waited, but I'd already gotten ahold of you. I said I'd update when I knew anything." She shivered.