Chapter 31 Paige
Chapter 31
Paige
Nothing. Not even the slightest movement. Grayson lay still on the ice as gasps and hushed whispers rippled through the crowd. My heart was pounding in my ears, and the rest of the noise in the arena faded to a dull hum. Why wasn’t he getting up? Why wasn’t he moving?
Devils players skated to Grayson, and the coaching and medical staff rushed onto the ice.
“Get up. Get up. Get up,” I urged, my words both a demand and a prayer. Reed, Parker, and the other players had formed a ring around Grayson and the medical staff, so I couldn’t see what was going on. All the Wolves players had taken a knee and were watching with solemn faces.
I’d seen Gray get hit while playing many times before, and he’d always gotten right back up. This was taking way too long, and I could see my own concern mirrored on the people surrounding him. I felt a hand on my arm and flinched from the sudden contact. I glanced up as Violet took hold of me. She didn’t say anything, but given the terrified look in her eyes, she was clearly just as worried as I was.
“Why isn’t he getting up?” I asked her.
“I don’t know, Paige.” Her voice shook with emotion. “It was a really hard hit...”
“What if he’s really badly hurt?” I said, daring to utter my worst fear out loud.
“Try not to jump to any conclusions just yet.”
Easier said than done. Especially when I couldn’t see what was happening. There were still too many people crowded around Grayson.
Dread rose from deep within me as a stretcher was brought onto the ice and laid down beside the huddle. I briefly caught sight of Gray as the crowd of people standing over him stepped aside, but I couldn’t work out whether he had moved yet, or even if his eyes were open. I desperately wanted to race down to him, but I was frozen in place.
Time felt like it was standing still, but also flooding past way too fast, and I gasped when they finally lifted the stretcher off the ground to reveal Grayson strapped tightly to it, his head and neck secured in some sort of brace. My heart lurched, propelling me down the bleacher steps, Violet chasing close behind. I had to get to Grayson. I had to know if he was okay.
As we raced onto the concourse and turned a corner, I almost collided with Cammie, who was running in the opposite direction.
“Paige, thank God, I was just coming to get you,” she panted.
“Where’s Grayson?”
“They’re taking him to the hospital. Mom’s in the ambulance with him.”
“Is he okay?”
“I don’t know.”
“Is he . . . awake?”
“I don’t know.”
We shared a panicked look. When someone you loved played hockey, you were always aware there was a risk of injury. But risk and reality were completely different things .
“He’ll be okay,” I said. “He’s got to be.”
I simply couldn’t imagine a world where he wasn’t.
“Dad’s waiting in the car, do you want to ride with us?”
“Uh, that’s okay. I’ve got my car.”
“Okay, I’ll see you there.” She gave me a nod before turning and running to the exit.
Violet and I followed her to the parking lot, and as we got outside, I fumbled with my purse trying to find my keys. My hand slipped, sending my bag and all its contents crashing to the ground. The clatter almost set off the tears that were building in my eyes, and I wiped a hand across my cheek as I knelt to pick everything up. I was trying so hard to hold myself together, but I was even more of a mess than the contents of my purse, which were splayed across the icy concrete. Perhaps I should have taken Cammie’s offer of a ride.
Violet crouched down to help put everything back in my bag.
“Why don’t you let me drive?” she suggested.
I nodded, still trying to fight the gathering tears as she gently took the keys from my hand. I wasn’t good at dealing with a crisis. Especially not when it involved Grayson being hurt. He was always so strong and unstoppable. I never would have believed anything could bring him down. I was shaking by the time we reached my car, and I couldn’t seem to stop as Violet drove. My fingers tapped against my leg as I watched the streets fly by. I knew I wouldn’t be okay until I saw Gray. Until I heard him say that everything was fine.
“You know how careful they have to be,” Violet was saying. “Try not to worry. We’re almost at the hospital, and we’ll find out what’s going on.”
Her calming words were the only thing keeping me going right now.
Finally we pulled up to the ER entrance and rushed inside. Grayson and his mom and dad were nowhere to be seen, but Cammie was at the front desk arguing with the nurse.
“You want me to wait?” Cammie gasped. “We don’t even know if he’s awake.”
I came to her side and touched her arm. “What’s going on? Where’s your dad?”
“Already in with Gray.” Cammie waved toward the large double doors behind the nurse. “Apparently, I’m not allowed in, and they won’t even give me an update.”
“You can’t tell us anything?” I asked, turning to the nurse. I was so nervous I thought I might throw up. I just needed to know he was okay.
“I understand you’re all concerned,” the nurse replied. “But right now the medical team are focused on providing him with the care he needs.”
“There must be something you can tell us,” Violet said. “Please...”
“Can I ask your relation to the patient?”
“He’s my brother,” Cammie replied. “I already told you that!”
The nurse nodded. “Okay, I’ll see if I can get an update from the doctor as soon as possible.”
“Yeah, you do that!” Cammie replied.
I had no idea how the nurse wasn’t shaking under Cammie’s glare. People often said Grayson was terrifying, but I’d never seen him look even half as threatening as Cammie did then.
“Why don’t you take a seat?” the nurse suggested, indicating to the rows of plastic chairs behind us.
Cammie looked ready to yell at the woman again, but I wrapped an arm around her shoulder and steered her away. “We’ll do that, thanks.”
“This is ridiculous,” Cammie scoffed. “I can’t believe she won’t tell us anything or let us see him.”
“I know,” I agreed.
She glanced over her shoulder. “Do you think we should just push our way through the doors? They can’t stop all three of us.”
“Uh...” I wanted to storm the ER as much as she did, but I also didn’t want to get kicked out of the hospital.
“Maybe we just give the nurse a minute and see what she can find out,” Violet said, still calmer than me or Cammie.
“Okay, well, after that minute’s up, I’m giving her another earful.”
I had no doubt about that.
As we went to find a seat, I looked at all the other people in the waiting area, presumably the worried families of other patients. Was it okay that Violet and I were here? The nurse had wanted to know if we were related to Gray, and technically only Cammie was. I suddenly worried if we were intruding and turned to Grayson’s sister. “You don’t mind that we’re here, do you?”
She blinked at me. “Where the hell else would you be?”
“Well . . . This is time for family . . . And the nurse seemed concerned about whether we were related . . . I don’t want to overstep.”
“Uh, no, you are family. This is exactly where you’re supposed to be. Both of you.” She sunk into one of the plastic seats and shot another sharp look at the nurse behind the front desk. “I don’t care what she thinks.”
Violet and I took a seat on either side of her. Cammie continued to stare down the nurse, but thankfully Parker and Reed arrived before she could go back for round two or come up with another crazy plan to get to Gray. My nerves were just about frayed enough that I might have gone through with it if she suggested it twice.
“Any news?” Reed asked.
“Nothing yet,” Cammie replied. “Mom and Dad are with him. The nurse is apparently going to update us when she knows more. But I’ve already pissed her off so much that we might never find out. How was he on the ice?”
“He woke up once they’d put him on the stretcher,” Reed said, falling into the seat beside Violet.
“He did?” My heart felt like it started beating properly for the first time since I’d seen him fall. I could feel tears forming in my eyes again. “We weren’t sure. We didn’t know if...”
Parker reached out and grabbed my hand. “We don’t know much more,” he said. “But he was awake.”
I wiped a stray tear from my cheek and closed my eyes for a moment to prevent any others from falling. Grayson was awake. I had to believe that meant he’d be okay. When I opened my eyes again, I realized Reed and Parker must have raced here straight from the ice. “You guys are still in your hockey gear. ”
“You didn’t finish the game?” Violet added.
Reed shook his head. “There’s no way either of us could play. We left right after Grayson. The guys will just have to manage without us.”
“But what about the coach from Ryker?” I asked. “Your signing...”
“That’s not what matters right now.”
Parker nodded in agreement. His eyes were serious, and it must have been the first time I’d ever seen him look that way. He would usually be the one cracking jokes to lighten the mood, but even he couldn’t find a reason to laugh right now.
Reed leaned closer to Violet and gave her hand a squeeze. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“Me too,” she said.
I felt Grayson’s absence more than ever. I should be at his side. We should be holding hands. Instead, I only felt cold. Parker sat across from me as Cammie went to hassle the nurse again for an update.
“It’s going to be okay, Paige.”
I tried to give him a smile, to show I agreed, but I couldn’t pull it off. I was really struggling to think positive thoughts right now.
“Grayson’s pretty tough,” Parker added. “And it takes more than a little bump on the head to keep a Darling down.”
“It’s just... I just...” I drew in a deep breath. “What if this is my fault?”
“Your fault?” Parker managed a snort. “I didn’t realize you were moonlighting as a two-hundred-pound wingman. Have you been keeping secrets from us? ”
Maybe things weren’t quite that dire if Parker still had the energy for a snarky comment. “No, but I was late to the game. I got caught up at home. I promised my mom I’d fill out a college application with her and it took a lot longer than I expected. Gray was looking for me in the crowd. He was distracted because of me.”
“If Grayson’s head wasn’t in the game for any reason, that’s his own fault, no one else’s,” Parker said. “He’d be the first person to tell you that.”
I wrapped my arms around my waist. I couldn’t see it that way. This never would have happened if I’d just arrived at the game on time.
“No update,” Cammie said as she slumped down into the seat beside Parker. “The nurse hates me.”
“She probably just didn’t have any news,” Reed replied.
“Yeah, well, that’s my brother in there. She should know what’s going on. Can’t one of you two go up there and get some answers? What’s the point of having a reputation as bad as a Darling Devil if you can’t use it to get your way in an emergency?”
“I’m pretty sure that if your death stare didn’t work on her, then we’ve all met our match,” Parker replied. “You’re way scarier than we’ll ever be, Cam.”
She gave him an icy glare that only proved him right. “So, what, we just wait ?”
“We don’t have any other choice,” Reed said.
We all fell silent as the reality of his words settled in. There was nothing we could do. But the longer we sat here, the darker my thoughts became, each minute seemed longer than the last, and the weight on my chest only grew heavier .
The fluorescent lights overhead were too bright, the sterile scent of disinfectant too strong. And no matter how I positioned myself on the plastic chair, I couldn’t seem to get comfortable. I knew I wasn’t the only one, because the boys kept getting up to pace around the room. The tension was almost unbearable, but it finally snapped when the doors to the ER opened and Gray’s mom appeared.
We all shot to our feet and rushed over to her.
“How is he?” we all said at once.
“He’s got a concussion, but otherwise, he’s okay.” Amy’s voice was filled with relief, but the way she twisted her hands revealed her nerves. “They took a lot of precautions and did a lot of tests to make sure he didn’t have any more serious injuries.”
The pressure on my chest eased slightly. But while Amy seemed positive, I still didn’t think I could relax until I saw Grayson for myself.
“They’re sure there’s nothing more serious?” Parker asked.
“Yes, the doctor seems confident he’s going to be okay.”
Hearing those words again almost released more tears.
“Can we see him?” Cammie asked.
“We can, but he’s still quite groggy,” Amy answered. “It’s probably best we don’t bombard him all at once. And he seemed mostly concerned with seeing a certain best friend of his. Or should I say, girlfriend?”
Amy smiled at me, and my cheeks warmed in response. I wasn’t used to being called Grayson’s girlfriend, especially not by his mom.
“Why don’t you go in first, Paige?” Amy gestured at the doors behind her. “He’s the second door on the right.”
“Uh, maybe he’d rather see his actual family first,” I said.
But Parker gave me a shove toward the entrance. “Are you kidding? I think we can agree that he’d prefer not to see my ugly mug at all.”
Cammie snorted. “Yeah, it really is that ugly. I genuinely can’t believe it attracts a different girl each week.” She turned to me and nodded. “Just get in there, Paige. You’re the one he wants to see.”
With all the Darlings urging me forward, I knew I didn’t have much choice. It was hard enough to disagree with one of them; when the whole group banded together it was impossible. So, I drew in a deep breath and made my way to Grayson’s room.