Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
Gabe
Shrugging into my suit jacket, I pushed through the door.
The postgame interview was the shortest one I’d ever given after a win.
I immediately looked for Denise among the crowd waiting in the tunnel.
When I spotted her, I shot toward her, giving only cursory smiles to the people milling around trying to catch my attention or grab a piece of me.
“Let’s get the fuck out of here. Where’s Mia?”
“She went to the hospital. She knew the EMT and he let her ride in the ambulance with Tate.”
I’d already texted my mom to let her know I’d be missing the after-game family dinner. She understood and said she’d leave some food at my house for me to eat later. I took Denise’s arm and maneuvered through the crowded tunnel toward the exit for the team personnel parking lot.
“What are you doing?”
“We need to get to the hospital. Check on Tate.”
“Tate? Doesn’t your coach know—?”
“I need to be there in person, Denise.” Holding her elbow firmly, I led her to the spot where I’d had her park my car. I opened her door and didn’t push her in, but my impatience rushed her.
“How serious is his injury?” she asked after I got in.
“Broken clavicle. They’re doing surgery. Six to eight weeks recovery minimum. He’s going to be fucking depressed.”
“It’s not like you’re best friends with Tate,” she said. “What are you so upset about?”
Good question. I started the engine and wasted no time pulling out of the lot, heading for the private exit to a back alley and then through the streets of East Boston. I’d need to take back roads the whole way to Mass General, as much as I could, to avoid the postgame traffic.
“What did you say?” As if I hadn’t been paying attention to her question.
“You’re acting like you’re best friends with Tate, like you have to be there to hold his hand.”
“Someone needs to be. Was Mia going to stay with him?”
She nodded. “Yes, I think so. But I’m not sure if it’s professional concern or personal concern.
They’ve only had a few dates so it’s hard to tell.
” She paused a beat and my jaw tightened.
My hands tightened around the wheel. Every damn muscle in me tightened.
Mia was a nurse. Of course she would bond with Tate over this injury.
It would be the exact thing that would accelerate their relationship. But that’s what I wanted, wasn’t it?
Denise turned to me as we sat at a light. I forced a relaxed smile and met her eyes.
She said, “But I have a feeling it’s going to stick. I think Mia and Tate will be good for each other. Good job, hon.” She patted my thigh like I was her puppy. Maybe I was.
“Thanks.” We shot out from the stoplight faster than we should have, the expensive tires of the Porsche leaving rubber.
“Geez, Gabe. Chill. Is this about you being the team leader? Rushing to a fallen teammate’s bedside?”
“No. Not exactly. But he needs someone. His family wasn’t at the game. All he has is Mia. And she’s with us.”
“I suppose you’re right.” She gave me a suspicious look that said the opposite of her words, like she suspected me of having ulterior motives. Maybe she was right. Maybe I did. Or maybe she didn’t suspect anything and I was being paranoid. Or feeling guilty.
I should have felt guilty for fixing Tate up with Mia when my heart wasn’t in it.
I should have felt guilty for wanting to go to the hospital to see Mia just as much as to be there for Tate.
Depending on how serious the break was, the poor bastard could have a season-ending injury and he’d barely started on a new team in a city filled with strangers.
I took a deep determined breath as I maneuvered the car into the parking garage at Mass General and got out. This would be for Tate, to make sure he didn’t get discouraged, to give him the support he’d need to rehab and get back to the team.
We went in through the emergency room entrance to find out where they’d taken him.
A star struck receptionist broke with protocol and told us where we could find Tate and what his status was even though we had to admit we weren’t family.
He was in emergency surgery down the hall and she directed us to the operating room waiting area.
It was a short walk and I was relieved to see Mia. She wasn’t sitting around waiting, like a handful of other visitors. She stood, head bent over some charts, conferring with a man and woman dressed in scrubs who looked like they were on their way either in or out of surgery.
I waited with Denise at a discreet distance to let her finish her business, watching her flip pages, ask clipped questions, listen with laser focus, and nod.
Finally, she finished and her two colleagues went through the double doors labeled Operating Room Personnel only.
Mia glanced over at each of us in turn before landing her eyes on mine and holding.
She wasn’t smiling, but she wasn’t frowning or overly worried-looking either.
It was a one hundred percent professional expression, formidable and sure.
As she walked toward us, I moved forward to meet her.
“What’s the verdict?”
“He’s headed into surgery now to set the bone.
There’s been some displacement and they’re checking for nerve injury.
Right now, they’re realigning the bone, putting in screws and a metal plate to hold the bone in place so it heals properly.
Then he’ll be in a sling, immobilized for a few weeks. After that, physical therapy.”
“When will he be ready to play?”
She hesitated a beat and I groaned, shoving a hand through my hair.
“Eight to twelve weeks, but he’ll be back for December, in time for the playoffs.” She rushed her words, laid a hand on my arm. I felt Denise come up behind me, put an arm around me.
“That’s too bad,” she said, but I couldn’t tell if she meant it. My eyes were still on Mia’s and I could see every ounce of the empathy, the real concern there.
“I have to call Tate’s parents. He gave me the number. Asked me to do it.”
I nodded. “I’d like to say a few words to them too when you’re done.”
She nodded. Denise sighed, long, hard, impatient.
“He’ll be fine, you two,” she said. “It’s not the end of the world.”
Mia eyed her, giving a small smile and a huff. “Of course, you’re right. Voice of reason.”
“More like the voice of a non-football fan,” I said, but there was no bite to my words and I put an arm around her. She was right. There were people in this hospital who had life-threatening problems. I had no business equating the loss of a few weeks of football with something serious.
“Shall we?” Mia said, lifting her phone in front of her, between us. And for a minute it looked like an invitation as my mind went back to our recent call where I seriously contemplated phone sex with her. But that was my perverted hornball mind at work and had nothing to do with reality.
“I’m going to get some coffee,” Denise said. “I’ll bring some for y’all too.”
“Thanks, babe.” I gave her a squeeze and a peck on the cheek, physically reminding myself who I was with. Then she left.
Mia led me to a secluded alcove in the corner of the waiting area where we could still keep an eye on the operating room door and punched in the number.
“Hello, Mrs. Fontanna? My name is Mia Lane and I’m the nursing director of the emergency room at Mass General Hospital in Boston.
” She paused to listen a beat. I couldn’t hear the words on the other end, but they sounded distressed.
No doubt his mother and father had been watching the game.
I knew Coach called them, but since he wasn’t here now and didn’t know the latest, it was a good idea to give them the update straight from the hospital.
Though I was surprised she introduced herself as a hospital official instead of Tate’s date.
I listened to her reassure his parents and then after a few exchanges she handed over the phone to me.
“Mrs. Fontanna, Gabe Wyatt here. Don’t you worry about your son waking up alone in the hospital. I’m here now and I’m sure many of his teammates will be joining me for a visit, even though he won’t be here long. We’ll keep him company, make sure he’s taken care of.”
She sounded relieved and said it would be a few days before they could make arrangements for one of them to get here to help him.
I knew his parents had their hands full with their restaurant back home, so I wasn’t surprised.
She asked me my favorite pizza and she promised to bring me one of their specials.
We said our goodbyes and I handed the phone back to Mia.
She’d been watching me, staring the whole time I’d been talking, but I kept my eyes averted so I could concentrate on my conversation.
Her eyes, her face, were too distracting.
Her whole being was a giant distraction to my focus on whatever else I needed to focus on when she was in the room.
Hell, sometimes even when she was nowhere except in my head.
Fuck.
“Why didn’t you tell them you were his date?” I said. That changed the look on her face from admiring to surprised in a nanosecond. My heart hammered, needing to hear how she felt for real, deep down, no hedging. Her professional demeanor rescued her in no time as her face went politely neutral.
She shrugged. “We’re not—”
“Sleeping together?” I finished for her, hoping my relief didn’t show and feeling like a hypocrite.
I’d fixed them up so they would sleep together, cement the deal, become lovers and never look back.
Especially Mia, hoping she’d never look back at me, the way she was looking at me now with those startlingly gorgeous brown eyes, wide and deep.
She shook her head once, confirming my suspicion, and then said, “We’re just friends. I think that’s all we’ll be.” Then with a brighter, false voice, she added, “Sorry to disappoint you, Wyatt, but your matchmaking skills suck.”
I put a hand on the wall behind her then, trapping her, not inclined to let her get away with half-truths, needing to get things between us out into the open.
“Why just friends?” My voice was quiet, but intense, demanding.
She looked caught, a little panicked. My blood stirred, muscles tightened, as if preparing to be assaulted. As if the truth might hurt me. Tension had my heart speeding up.
“I don’t know.” She shrugged and turned away from me. I put my hand on her chin and gently turned her face back to mine.
“Yes you do. Tell me.”
She laughed, a little trill of nerves that died out and left her staring. Left me mesmerized looking into her eyes, reading the emotions there. I wasn’t mistaken, but I needed her to admit it, admit she still had that crush on me. That maybe it was more than a crush.
That maybe it was the same way I felt about her.
Her eyes darted past me, a nervous smile on her lips as she nodded. I knew it was Denise.
“Hey babe,” she said, coming up behind me putting an arm on my shoulder then hanging on my arm, hugging against me in her signature proprietary move. As if she knew, as if she was staking her claim, sending Mia a message. And me too.
“Where’s the coffee?” I said. Not feeling as casual as I sounded. Not giving a shit about the coffee.
“About that.” She made an apologetic face and let go of my arm. “My errand was interrupted by a call from work.” She waved a hand. “Long story short, I need to get on the next flight back to Atlanta.”
Surprise had my heart stammering. I wasn’t sure how I felt about her leaving, but I knew I should be disappointed. I tensed up.
“You’re leaving now?”
“I’m sorry, hon. Really I am.” She went onto her toes and kissed me, wrapping her arms around my shoulders.
My response was automatic and immediate, my arms going around her, my mouth pressing to hers, my cock twitching the way it always did.
It felt funny kissing Denise right there in front of Mia.
I sensed her watching. When Denise broke off the kiss and backed up a step, I saw Mia watching, studying Denise as if she were looking for something.
“Mia,” Denise said, giving her a hug. “We hardly got to spend any time together, but I had fun at the game with you. Next time.” She released her friend then glanced between us, wearing an expression I wasn’t sure how to read, which was alarming in itself.
Guilt clouded my judgment, made it hard for me to be objective.
She said, “Besides, you two will be busy with Tate. Take good care of him. Give him my well wishes.” She started backing away and I followed.
“That was fast,” I said, falling into step with an arm around her.
“I made a reservation over the phone and I need to get to the airport like yesterday. I’m really so sorry, babe.” We walked back through the emergency room lobby all the way to the door and I saw a taxi outside waiting. She was nothing if not efficient.
“What’s your big emergency?” I wasn’t surprised to see her hesitate, then firm her chin and look up at me.
“I have a trip to the West Coast that just got moved up. It’s important.”
“Work related?” I was being sarcastic and surly, but I held onto her, not letting her pull away just yet, testing her resolve, her story. Her loyalty.
“Don’t be an ass. You know it is. I’m working hard and my job has demands.
Just like yours.” She pulled free from me and I let her go, but I leaned in to brush one more kiss against her lips.
She sighed and caressed my face as she backed away another step.
“See you in two weeks, hon. Unless you can make it to Atlanta before then.” She waved over her shoulder and ran for the door and the waiting cab.
A strange mix of emotions coiled through me. At least some of it was disappointment, but there was some resignation and even relief in there too. Shoving it all aside, I went back to where I’d left Mia in the emergency operating room waiting area.
But when I got back, Mia was nowhere to be found, having disappeared behind the Authorized Personnel Only doors, more than likely. I took a seat in the small area outside the operating room to wait it out, needing to talk to her again. Needing to talk to Tate. To console him. To apologize.
Shit. I’d fucked this up big time. I should never have fixed Mia up with him, a teammate, a friend. I had no business messing around in his love life or hers. Not when I wanted her so badly for myself even if I didn’t act on it. This was messed up.
Pulling the baseball cap over my eyes, I closed them and leaned my head back against the chair. I knew I’d be left alone for the duration as people came and went, too distraught to give a fuck who I was.
As soon as a hand touched my shoulder sometime later, I knew it was Mia and I opened my eyes to take her in.