Chapter Thirty-Three - Sebastian
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Sebastian
GOD, THAT INTERVIEW took forever. I know it was a big game, but there’s nothing I want to do right now more than be next to Thalia. The last few days without her were harder than I thought they’d be. It really didn’t help we fought right before she left, but I did my best to give her the space she asked for.
I did feel a million times better after she called earlier.
Would running through the stadium to get to her faster make me seem desperate?
I’m not sure I care.
I’ve just quickened my pace when I hear Blake call out my name. “Bash, wait up! Your legs are longer than mine, and I can’t catch up if you keep walking so fast.”
I stop in my tracks, entirely surprised that she isn’t with Owen and Thalia, considering I thought I saw them leave together. “I thought you were with Owen and Thalia?” I scan the area behind her to see if Thalia’s there, but I only see staff and a few lingering fans.
“I forgot my phone in the suite, so I told them I’d meet them at the car. I ran the whole way and believe me when I say I’m not a runner,” she jokes, her cheeks flushed, and I can’t help laughing.
“I can believe it,” I agree. “When did Lia get here?”
“Lia got here right before you got sacked,” Blake says, and I know I’ll spend the next week watching footage to prevent it from happening again. “I wish you could have heard the names Thalia and Gina were calling the refs. They were getting creative.”
“Of course they were,” I say, shaking my head with quiet laughter. I’m not surprised in the slightest. “Owen owes me; it was supposed to be his day to speak to the press after the game, but we swapped because he didn’t want to add more fuel to the fire with Erikson.”
Instead of doing the press conference, I probably should have gone to see the trainer to get stretched out, but I refuse to wait longer to see Thalia.
“I appreciate it, and I know he does too. I’m just glad Owen didn’t get ejected as well, because I’m pretty sure he started that brawl today by running his mouth.”
“It was bound to happen at some point today,” I say, spotting Thalia and Owen up ahead. I open my mouth to call after them as they walk through the parking lot, but before I can, the sound of tires squealing catch all of our attention belonging to a car going way too fast in a parking lot.
Owen’s catlike reflexes are the only reason he has enough time to shove Thalia out of the way just before the car hits his body, the awful crunch of glass shattering as the force sends him rolling over the top of the vehicle, landing on the concrete motionless. Screaming starts and the car swerves again, continuing through the parking lot as if it didn’t just run over my best friend .
I run like my life depends on it, pushing every ounce of exhaustion from my body to cover the distance between us.
It doesn’t feel fast enough as I watch in horror how Lia tries to push herself up before collapsing, her head bouncing off the concrete again. This time, she doesn’t move. “Thalia!” I cry out her name, my body making the unconscious decision to help the woman I need to breathe over my best friend.
She’s still, so fucking still.
A stranger crouches down next to her moments before I drop to my knees at her side, the impact feeling like nothing compared to my heart being ripped out of my chest. Please be okay.
Blood covers the side of her face that hit the ground, and my hands are shaking as I hesitate. I shouldn’t move her. Thalia could have hurt something when she fell, and I don’t want to make things worse.
“That car…the driver sped up to hit them,” the woman next to me says in horror, and my vision blurs.
“ Je t’aime. Je t’aime plus que tout ,” I whisper in the language Thalia taught me to love, the words nearly sticking in my throat.
I love you. I love you more than anything.
The sound of Blake screaming breaks through the noise in my head, and I’m torn between staying by Thalia’s side or going to Owen’s.
My stomach rolls, but the stranger next to me rests her hand on my shoulder. “I’ve got her. I won’t let anyone move her until the paramedics get here,” she promises gently. “I’m a nurse, and she’s breathing with a strong pulse. ”
“Are you sure?” I ask, my heart breaking as I look at Thalia, but I don’t know how to leave her like this. It goes against every fiber of my being.
She doesn’t answer before a sound of pure agony comes from the direction Owen’s in. The sight of Blake kneeling at Owen’s side as another woman performs chest compressions on him, propels me into moving. Chest compressions mean he’s not breathing.
No, this can’t be happening. “Baby, please, open your eyes,” she begs, her words nearly incoherent from how hysterical she is. “I can’t do this without you.”
I try not to stare at his leg, but even without being a trained medical professional, even I know it’s not meant to bend at that angle. Fuck the leg, he’s not fucking breathing.
Despite the traffic, two ambulances make their way through the lot in record time escorted by police. I look around, finally aware of the crowd of horrified people, but the thing that infuriates me the most is the number of phones out taking pictures of this. One paramedic takes over chest compressions as the other readies the AED machine, cutting through the front of his suit to place the pads into place.
“Ma’am, you need to let go of his hand,” one says to Blake, and she freezes.
“Over my dead body am I letting go of him,” she hisses at the man, and I know she’s going to hate me for his, but I pull her away. I’m okay with her hating me if it means Owen lives. “No! Let me go!” Blake shrieks, and I do my best not to fall apart.
“Blake, it’s me. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, but you and I both know you have to let go if they’re going to try to save him,” I reason, holding her tightly as Thalia is loaded up into the other ambulance.
“He has to live. I can’t…” Blake falls apart in my arms, choking on her sobs.
~
The last thing the paramedics said before moving Owen into the ambulance was that they regained his pulse, and they told us the name of the hospital they were being taken to.
I learned after speaking with a nurse at the hospital that Thalia regained consciousness on the way there. Owen was taken into emergency surgery while Thalia was getting a scan to rule out anything more serious than a concussion, but it was determined she only passed out due to the combination of shock and pain coursing through her body.
Thalia has a grade three concussion, and her left arm is fractured. It’s being assumed that she broke it when Owen pushed her out of the way, and she landed on it wrong. She also had a few stitches placed along her temple where her head had cracked open. Thalia is going to be kept overnight for observation, but I haven’t been allowed back to see her. On the other hand, an update we got an hour ago told us that Owen’s lung collapsed, he had internal bleeding in his stomach, and they are stabilizing his leg to let his body rest until they can go back in tomorrow to repair the leg. At that point, I stopped listening. I understood enough of what they said to know Owen’s lucky to be alive.
They both are.
If he hadn’t pushed her out of the way…
I blink rapidly, pushing the thought to the back of my head. I need to get up and move, just do anything but sit here and wait, but exhaustion caught up with Blake fifteen minutes ago, and she fell asleep on my shoulder in the private waiting area we’re in. Penelope brought coffee and clothes since she’s the only one who can make it in undetected with the circus outside.
My phone hasn’t stopped going off, but I was glad I was able to get ahold of Thalia and Owen’s parents before the news started circulating the internet. They were at a winery for the weekend, but it’ll be a few hours before they get here. I didn’t tell them much because I didn’t have much information at the time, but them knowing how serious it is doesn’t change how fast they can get here. The team has also been asking for updates, but I don’t know what to say.
It wasn’t hard for the police to catch the guy; he lost control of the car and crashed into a parked car a few rows over from where he hit Owen and Thalia. He was stumbling away from the car when the police showed up, yelling about a bet he lost that cost him his kid’s college fund. He recognized Owen as he was walking out, and floored it. Thalia was simply collateral damage by being next to him.
“You should sleep too. You look like shit,” Penelope says, interrupting my thoughts, and I rest my head against the wall.
“I feel like shit. It’s been a long day.”
She shakes her head, sipping her coffee. “It’s going to be a long night too. Just close your eyes for a little bit. It’ll help. I’ll stay awake in case there’s an update.”
It won’t help. Every time I close my eyes I see Owen shoving Thalia out of the way, and rolling up over the top of the car. I see how my best friend looked lying broken on the pavement as CPR was performed. I see Thalia on the ground trying to get up before she passes out, hitting her head a second time .
I don’t want to close my eyes.
“I’m fine,” I say gruffly, fighting that urge to get up and move. Blake adjusts next to me, a soft sigh echoing through the room. Owen’s going to have a difficult recovery, and if she can have a little bit of peace by sleeping, then I’m going to let her sleep as long as possible. I know I’m the lucky one in this scenario.
I don’t even want to let my mind wander to what if it were the other way around.
“None of us are fine. It doesn’t make you special if you pretend you are.”
I suck in a sharp breath. “ Penelope , drop it, please.”
She levels me with a similar look. “ Sebastian . You played a whole ass game earlier before all of this happened. You need rest. Thalia would agree with me if she knew you were pulling this macho shit,” Penelope continues to insist.
“I’m fine.”
“All I’m trying to say is that no one is expecting you to be fine, other than you.” Her eyes are scanning over my face, and I’m not quite sure what she’s thinking. I don’t think I even know what I’m thinking.
I lose track of time staring at the wall, trying to think about anything other than today when the Lewis’s arrive, fear and worry clear on their faces. I shift Blake gently to lay her back against the wall, but it’s no use. Her eyes flash open, and she rubs her hand over her face. “Is it Owen? Is he okay?” she asks immediately, her voice thick with sleep.
“No, he’s still in surgery. Their parents are here.”
“Surgery? Owen’s in surgery, and you didn’t tell us that when you called? What the hell, Sebastian? Where is Thalia?” Monica demands, and I stand up, feeling an ache in my body from sitting too long .
“You were driving, and we didn’t know anything yet. There wasn’t anything to tell you at that time.”
Their dad sighs, looking at Blake for answers as she tears up again. “What happened?” he asks, being the calmer voice of reason at the moment.
Blake opens her mouth, but covers it with her hand, shaking her head.
I clear my throat as my stomach twists, and somehow, I manage to keep myself from throwing up as I fill them in.
Tears well up in Monica’s eyes as she covers her mouth in horror. “Oh my god.”
That’s all there really is to say.
There’s a knock at the door, and a doctor slips into the room. “You must be the parents?” he asks and I hold my breath.
“How are they?”
“I’m one of Owen’s surgeons. I came to give you an update on his injuries while the team finishes closing him up to transfer him to the ICU,” he explains slowly. “Upon arrival, Owen was in an extremely unstable condition that required emergency surgery. He had numerous broken ribs, one of which punctured a lung causing a pneumothorax. We believe this is one of the contributing factors as to why he coded on the scene. We inserted a chest tube before focusing on the internal bleeding as a neurosurgeon helped to relieve the pressure in his skull. Once we were able to get the internal injuries under control, we were able to take a look at stabilizing the leg. Like I told Mr. Walker earlier, his meniscus and LCL were badly damaged. The ACL and MCL were torn almost completely. Our hope is to give his body the opportunity to rest before going back in tomorrow without putting the bone at risk for further damage. One of the things we’ll be monitoring is cognitive function, but unfortunately there’s no way to be certain of how long his brain was without oxygen, or the effects it will have until he’s awake. We’re keeping him sedated and in a medically induced coma to help his brain and body recover faster.”
Blake is silent as Mr. Lewis asks the question we’ve been avoiding. “Football? Will he play again?”
I turn my head away as I listen carefully. “Owen has a long recovery ahead of him. Unfortunately, with the injuries sustained in the accident, his body won’t be able to tolerate the physical demands of the sport.”
The silence in the room is deafening.
Another question is asked, but I can’t be in here right now. Walking past the surgeon, I head straight to the nurses’ station, my head threatening to spiral out of control.
“I need to see Thalia Lewis. Can you please tell me what room she’s in?” I ask quietly, despite knowing the chances are slim, but I need to see her. They said I wouldn’t be able to until morning, but I have to try.
The nurse’s face softens, clearly seeing something on my face. “Down the hall and on the right; room two hundred and sixty-three. You didn’t hear it from me, though.”
I do my best to smile at her, but I don’t feel like I have it in me. I’m doing my best not to fall apart. “Thank you.”
I find it easily, but I hesitate, knocking quietly on the door before opening it. “Thalia?”
The lighting is dim, allowing me to see she’s lying on her back, looking out the window at the night sky. Lia’s arm is in a sling, resting on her chest as the monitors behind her on the wall connect to her body. “Bash? How…I asked to see you, but they told me no visitors until morning? ”
“Is it okay that I’m here? I needed to see you, but I can go if you want to rest.” I’m being so goddamn selfish right now, but I was suffocating in that room.
“Get your butt over here,” she instructs, offering me her hand. I don’t hesitate for a second to pull a chair quietly next to Thalia’s bed, pressing a kiss to the center of her palm.
“How are you feeling?” I ask, scanning over Lia’s features to commit every part of her to memory. Her face is clean of blood, but the red color has stained her blonde hair on the side of her face with the bandage. I’ll never take a moment with her for anything other than a fucking miracle.
“It looks worse than it feels. My head hurts, and I’m tired, but everyone keeps telling me I can’t sleep. I feel better now that you’re here,” Lia says sweetly, carefully brushing my hair off my forehead. The simple act causes tears to burn in my eyes.
“I thought I was going to lose you,” I whisper hoarsely, the admission ripping my strength to shreds.
“Never. You’re stuck with me, Sebastian Walker.”
“Promise?”
“Pinky promise,” she says, offering her pinky to me as I curl mine around hers. The simplicity of the moment cracks my heart wide open, my tears openly falling. I don’t know what I’d do if Thalia was the one hit by the car instead of Owen.
“I love you.”
She shifts in the bed, grimacing as her sling moves too. “I love you too. I’m okay, Bash. We’re going to be okay.”
“Are you in pain?” I ask, watching Thalia’s face closely.
“No, the meds are helping. I’m exhausted, though,” she says, patting the bed next to her. “There’s plenty of room for you; I’m not going to break. ”
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to hold her, if only to reassure myself that she’s actually okay, but I feel guilty for being here when I’m not supposed to be. It doesn’t feel fair to Blake, Thalia’s parents, or Penelope. I’m not the only person worried about her. “I know you won’t break—you’re tough as nails, Lia. I hate to leave you, but I probably do need to get back to the waiting room. I left while the surgeon was giving an update about Owen.”
“Stay, please,” Lia says quietly. “The nurse who keeps checking on me to make sure I haven’t died from this stupid concussion is giving me updates. She popped in a few minutes before you did, letting me know his condition is critical, but he’ll live. He’s going to be okay, and unless you’re a doctor, there’s nothing you can do in that waiting room for them.” She sighs, patting the bed again. “Please, Bash.”
I cave instantly, slipping off my dress shoes to climb into the hospital bed. Thalia immediately positions herself carefully against my chest, minding her broken arm stuck in the sling.
My arms immediately wrap around her torso, and I kiss the top of her head. “I’m going to buy you enough flowers to fill your room, and every single damn room in this building. I haven’t been buying them for you enough.”
“Bash, you buy me plenty of flowers. I still have the last bouquet on my dresser,” she says, yawning while shifting her head so it rests in the crook of my neck.
“I don’t care. You’re the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me.”
“I love you,” Thalia murmurs before her breathing steadies. I focus on the rhythm, not letting my own eyes drift shut for fear of seeing the accident again. I won’t let her rest long, but having been through concussion protocol before, twenty minutes won’t hurt her.
I love her more than life itself.