The Sky's The Limit (Michael Jackson)

Chapter 14 - Anything For You

That night, sleep seemed impossible for Eva. She'd tossed and turned so many times that she had become entangled in the sheets and twisted her nightwear. Her mind was racing with thoughts about Michael. She wanted to know if he'd got to LA okay and wondered how his brother was doing. She'd been kicking herself all evening, wishing she'd just plucked up the courage and gone with him.

But then another part of her had to realise that she wasn't part of his family. Regardless of the things he'd said to her and the few kisses they'd shared, it's not like she was his girlfriend. Eva had no business delving into his personal life to that extent and probably never would. She mustn't get too far ahead of herself!

But she couldn't stop overthinking things. She missed him so much already. She never thought it would be possible to develop such strong feelings for someone in such a short space of time. Any crush she'd had on him before, like every other fan, just didn't compare to these immense feelings she had now. 

It was no use. She had to get up and go or she'd be rolling around on the bed all night like a pig in mud! Squinting through the darkness, Eva made out that it was 4:20 am. Untangling herself from the sheets, she stumbled out of bed and turned the light on, hurriedly packing her few belongings into her bags, before getting dressed.

Double checking the room before she left, Eva quietly tiptoed out and down the dimly lit hallway. It was surprising how loud the creaky floorboards were in the dead of night, it seemed like she could quite easily awaken the whole hotel.

Creeping down the stairs unsteadily with her bags, she proceeded to the phone booth in the corner of the hotel where Karen had stood the day before. Looking around, there was no sign of Jed at the reception desk or anywhere, even though he had previously told her he was always up for 4am to start his day's work.

Placing her bags down, she picked up the receiver as her eyes scanned the board above the phone itself. It displayed a list of local numbers, not many mind, but the one she was looking for came into view. She dialled the local taxi service number and pressed her ear against the receiver expectantly. 

As she waited for the other end to pick up, she noticed a small card beneath her foot on the floor. She quickly bent down and scooped it up. It looked like a business card of some type, but not a very legit one. It held a phone number, a name (Terry Branson)  and an address, which indicated that it was based in Los Angeles. 

"Hello, Pope taxi's?!" a voice picked up at the other end of the line.

"Oh! Hello!" Eva replied. "Could I have a cab come pick me up right away please? It's for the 1880 Union Hotel and Saloon."

"Okay ma'am and where you goin' to?"

"UCLA Medical Centre please." she announced.

"Ermm....you do know that's gonna cost ya a fair bit right?" the mans voice spoke back. "It's a couple of hours away!"

"I understand." Eva confirmed. "It's kind of an emergency!"

"Alrighty then! One will be with you in 5 minutes."

"Okay. Thank you.....goodbye!" Eva put the receiver down and looked around the small hotel lobby once again. There was still no sign of Jed. Maybe he was in the saloon half.

Leaving her bags propped against the phone booth, Eva walked to the saloon doors and peered her head over, not expecting to see much as it was still pitch black in there. She let her eyes adjust to the darkness for a moment. She knew she hadn't any sleep, but surely she wasn't hallucinating! She could just make out the outline of a figure sat on one of the barstools in the far corner. 

"Jed?!" she called.

No answer.

"Jed? Hello?"