Whisky Melody: Rock Star Romance, New Adult College Romance (Tennessee Romance Book 2) by Lexy Timms

and hatred surfaced, and she pushed everyone back, as hard as she could. Her only defense against the barrage of questions was to silence her tongue and drop a cloak of cool ice along her body. Hold them back and say nothing, she decided.
    Kaylee was bundled up on the stretcher within a few minutes, and Ashley grabbed the first pair of shoes she could find, closed the door to their dorm room, and raced after the paramedics. She climbed into the ambulance next to Kaylee, fighting to maintain her composure. Her eyes were dry and gritty, and exhaustion swept in, but she managed to keep it at bay.
    The ambulance took off with a lurch and shudder.
    As they made their way to the hospital, she stared at the paramedics who were feverishly working on Kaylee. They fired questions at her but she could only shake her head. She had no idea what had happened to her, what she had taken, and she had no idea if her cousin would live to see another day. She had never felt so scared and alone.
    Logan .
    She really needed him at that moment, and she knew if he was there she could better handle things. She wanted to scream at the walls, to tell everyone that none of it was fair or her fault. She was still a kid, too, even if she was supposed to be an adult, and everyone seemed to expect far too much from her. It was all just too much, and Ashley didn’t know how to handle it on her own.
    No, wait. I can handle this alone. I have to, she finally reasoned, calming herself. Logan had basically booted her right out of his life when she had said she wasn’t sure she wanted to be in the band anymore. I don’t need him or his damn ultimatums. I only need…myself.
    It was easy to see what had happened to Kaylee. Charlie had broken up with her and she’d gone off the deep end. She knew Charlie wasn’t feeding her the molly, or whatever it was, but she didn’t know who was. All she did know was that when she found out who the culprit was, she was going to kick their ass, then promptly have them arrested.
    Her heart went through a sickening lurch as she witnessed Kaylee going into another violent seizure. The sight was too much, and Ashley had to look away. She counted to ten, adding “my pretty pony” between each count. Then she counted twenty, then fifty. The seizure eventually stopped, but her heart sank further. How many seizures can someone have before they just…die? She had no idea, and she certainly didn’t want Kaylee to answer that question for her.
    The siren’s scream grated on her nerves. The men working on Kaylee were calm, but that calm didn’t rub off on Ashley. The hush inside the long box of the vehicle was broken by Kaylee’s labored breathing, the siren, the sickening drop of her own heartbeat, and gasping breath.
    “Hyperventilating?” one of the paramedics asked, staring at her and handing her a bag. “Breathe into this, miss, and try to calm down. We’re doing everything we can for her.”
    Huh? She’s not hyperventilating. She’s barely breathing! Ashley thought, staring at her cousin. Ashley gawked at the bag the paramedic was holding out toward her.
    He opened it and pressed it to her mouth. “Breathe, miss,” he said, a simple one-word command.
    Oh! It’s me they’re talking about.
    Her breath rattled the bag open, but then it squeezed shut again.
    Breathe , she told herself. Breathe in, now out. Steady it. Think in counts. She closed her eyes, continuing her slow count. She pictured a metronome, steadily breathing as it swung and clocked. Slowly but surely, her breath evened out, and she pulled the bag away from her mouth. “Th-Thanks,” she managed to stutter to the paramedic.
    “It’s fine. Just try to remain calm. We’re almost there,” he said, then turned his attention back to Kaylee.
    As the ambulance wound its way through the city, Ashley’s mind went numb. She simply could not allow herself to think because she knew her thoughts would be the absolute worst.
    Of course the emergency room was