Zane and I sat in comfortable silence by her bedside until we’d watched her steady breathing for long enough that we needed to stretch our legs.

He nudged me and whispered, “Wanna take a walk, grab some coffee or something? She’ll sleep for hours and we can have a nurse call us if she wakes.”

I nodded, but once we were in the hallway, I asked, “So what’s your plan here? The two of us stroll into the cafeteria all normal like and just hope for the best?”

Nothing to see here. Just the lead singer of the top selling rock band in the world and his big brother the famous actor grabbing some coffee.

Neither of us were in the right headspace to run the selfie gauntlet if people recognized us. We also didn’t have any illusions about people being more respectful of our privacy because we were in a hospital. The fact that a picture of my mom in an ambulance was circulating was a testament to that. In the past, I’d been asked for selfies everywhere from standing at a urinal to the middle of a funeral. All sense of boundaries broke down in the face of fame.

A busy-looking nurse at the nurse’s station seemed to understand our predicament just from the awkward way we were standing. “You guys need somewhere to wait?”

I said, “We don’t want to trouble anyone. If you could even just point us to a quiet hallway…”

She spoke to a coworker, then started walking, nodding at us to follow. “It’s no trouble. There’s a small conference room you can wait in. I’ll come get you if someone needs the room or your mom wakes.”

She led us down a hallway and into a tiny room with a table and chairs.

Zane said, “I’m sorry, ma’am. I didn’t catch your name.”

“Sarah.”

He reached out a hand. “Thank you so much, Sarah. Your kindness means the world.”

She shook his hand, hesitating before she let go. “Your music means the world. It’s gotten me through some really hard times.”

She looked ready to cry, so Zane pulled her in for a hug. They held each other for a long moment, sharing a bond he seemed to form intensely with his fans.

It suddenly occurred to me that as successful as I was, I didn’t think I’d ever created anything that moved people in such a profound way. Art could still be valid if it didn’t, but it was definitely a testament to the power of Zane’s music.

Like she’d just remembered I was in the room, she awkwardly added, “Your movies are good too.”

Zane didn’t laugh often, but when he did it was impossible not to laugh along. Sarah wiped her tears and headed back to work.

When she shut the door behind her, he kicked me under the table. “You hear that, big brother? Your movies are good too.”

“I should’ve beat you up more often when you were a kid. Taught you to respect your elders.”