Chapter 9: Emma

"This is crazy; you know that, right?"

Sophia nodded as we stood in line to check into the Wynn. The place was wild; from the number of guests that were checking in to the tiled multi-colored flooring, it was a place to have fun. I just didn't see why we had to come here and couldn't just wait until the weekend was over. Why did she insist on us coming to act as her baby brother's sitter? I was a doctor, not a babysitter!

She asked me one question; "You ever been to Ve-gas?"

When I told her that I hadn't, she'd insisted that we came to rescue her brother. I had never been to Ve-gas, and I hated to admit how naive I felt coming here. I never expected it to be like this, but then I suppose that's why everyone gets wild in Vegas. It wasn't because it was a quiet destination; it was the complete opposite.

The lighting in the reception was unreal. I felt like a kid visiting the candy store for the first time. They had lights on the walls which looked as if they were spitting fire. Everything in this damn place was bright. From the red and gold rug that had some flower arrangement on the centerpiece near the reception desk to the suede cur-tains that draped around the windows and the gold ban-isters sweeping up the stairs. It was clear that I was in partyland.

The hot-looking receptionist called for us to be served and I smiled, but Sophia walked up to the desk as if she had been here numerous times and recited our de-tails like a typical journalist.

There was something confident about her, some-thing that I had admired ever since we were in college together. Even if she was scared about something, she had a way of looking as if she had all the confidence in the world. I used to wish that I possessed a poker face like that. I was the complete opposite, which was why I never played poker.

We were booked into a double suite and my God, it took my breath away as we entered the room with the bell boy. I saw the Vegas skyline. The cream and brown carpet and the matching walls didn't grab my attention; the floor-to-ceiling window that showed all the lights of the city did. I didn't hear Sophia say that we should get ready and go downstairs. All I could think about was the fact that this was magical. A beautiful scene that I want-ed to enjoy for more than a split second.

"Mason says that they're in the casino hall, so we have time to shower first, and we'll head down."

"What is the urgency?" I had to ask, because if she was talking to Mason, that meant that there was no need for us to be here, and certainly no need for us to rush down to the casino hall. A simple phone call would have sufficed. I couldn't afford to be here; I already felt guilty that Sophia was paying for all this on her credit card. I didn't like owing anyone, especially a friend that I had just reconnected with after all this time.

"You know why. I don't trust Mason. He'll get Sebastian to do something stupid," she sank into the bed. "I kind of feel bad."

This was the first time that she had hinted at what was going on.

"He had his injuries and most of the time I was so caught up at work. The last time, I didn't even go to visit him. I've been a shit big sister."

I sat next to her, knowing that she had the biggest heart in the world, and there was no way that she could ever be classed as a shit sister.

"That's no way near the truth. I remember back in college. Your little brother came to see you all the time and even stayed over most of the time."

She nodded. "We were close back then, but then I graduated and was set on being a top journalist. He went to college and then became obsessed with going pro. I got more involved with work, and his head felt as if it was stuck in the game. Then he was injured the first time. That set him back, but he got back on his feet."

Tears started to well in her eyes, "I went to see him, and he seemed cool. After that, I just put it to the side, thinking that my little brother would pick himself up and get on with it. Like he had been doing." She sighed as she avoided eye contact and I knew that meant there was more to the story.

"But?"

There's always a but.

"The headlines, he just seemed to be in the papers more and more. Reckless behavior and then when I tried reaching out to him, you know what he said?"

I could take a guess, but I had a feeling that she was going to tell me what I was thinking.

"So what big sis, now you've decided to care?"

She nodded. "But, he had a point."

I felt guilty about thinking that I didn't need to come. That all of this was a waste of time. She wanted her brother to have fun, but not to be reckless. She was acting like a real big sister and wanted to show him that she cared, and she had brought me along for moral sup-port. I could do that. The only person I had been sup-porting lately was Dad after his bad business deal, which meant their house could be taken away from them if I wasn't their guarantor. I needed this job so badly. Hav-ing such a debt at their age was stressing my mom, and me too. I needed to at least stick with this job for four years to help end the debt. I needed to make this job work.

"I think Mason and a couple of the other guys are made of iron. Sure, they've been injured but they've not been out of as many seasons as Sebastian has been, so they can afford to get wild and get loose."

I stood up, inwardly scolding myself for being self-ish. Sophia needed a friend; someone she could rely on to put her brother on the straight and narrow. The only person I had been thinking about was myself.

"Let me hit the shower, and then we'll go down." I gave her a peck on the cheek, and she smiled.

"Do you mind sleeping on the bed near to the win-dow? I think being so near to it would freak me out?"

"Anything else?"

She shook her head, "Nah, just get showered and let's go down."

I entered the bathroom and saw the same flowers that were by our bedside. There were pink orchids by the bath, roses by the mirror opposite, and a chandelier in the middle. The bathroom felt bigger than the whole of my poky little apartment, which I shared with a budding fashion designer in Manhattan. I didn't want to leave the bedroom, let alone the bathroom. It reminded me of the sort of luxury that I was used to having and gave up to help my parents out. One that I miss so fucking much.

"Don't stay in there too long. Knowing these guys, they'll move on soon."

We had only been in the room for thirty minutes and already we were chasing the guys around town like missing lambs. I thought about lying in the bath and for-getting my troubles, but as Sophia knocked on the door again. The only thing I shouted back was, "Okay, Okay!"

I had to be quick; she would drag me out of the bath and downstairs whether I had clothes on or not.