Chapter Four #2
“Because you woke up a few times before you completely went under and said their numbers, baby. I’ve known since the first day,” she says.
“Fine.” I sigh. I turn to everyone else, and I go through the events of what happened, without names.
I explain how I caught them raping a girl, turned them into the coaches, and then everything I remember about what they actually did to me.
I end with what the long-term effects are.
Several players are angry at my confession, but most are in tears.
“So, the four you are friends with. They don’t know who it is?” Jovian asks.
“No. Kip, Connor, Hunter, and Mateo know it’s two of the players, because they pried it out of me last night, but no one else,” I say.
“So,” Dom says. “Do not let her be alone with any of the players. I don’t care who it is or if she gets mad. Okay?”
“And don’t start any shit with them,” Ray says. “The last thing we need is them thinking she remembers. Everyone thinks she has no memory of it.”
“We will take care of her,” Jovian says simply.
“Ari,” Elijah says. “I want to apologize.”
“You don’t have…”
“I do. I’ve been nothing but an asshole to you in the last day, and that’s not fair to you,” he says.
“I’m sorry, too,” Jovian adds. “Although he was way shittier than me.”
“It’s okay,” I say. “Just… Stop calling me a puck bunny.”
“But we like bunnies,” Kip says with a grin.
“Mhmm,” I say with a smirk.
“So, we will train hard, and when we get to Toledo, keep your shit together so we can keep an eye on Ari,” Dom says. “Go shower.”
“You heard the man. Come shower with us, Ari,” Connor says.
“I’m going to the house.” I laugh.
“Drive safe, kiddo,” Ray says as he hugs me.
I carefully get off the ice and gather my laptop and bag before leaving.
I feel a lot better having talked about what happened.
I hate to admit that Ray was right. He told me for weeks leading up to this that the team needed to know because there was always the chance that I’d need them to make sure I was okay.
I never would have done that on my own, so I do appreciate it. Even though it was pushy.
When I get back to the house, there is a small padded envelope sitting in front of the door.
I see that it is addressed to me, which is odd.
I have only lived here for a day. There isn’t a return address on it either.
I pick it up and walk inside. I will deal with it when I get my stuff sat down, and that damn toy put away.
I go up to my room and store the toy back in its hiding spot in a box before going down to the basement to get my blanket out of the combo washer and dryer.
I need to feed the guys dinner, so I get chicken out of the fridge and lay it out before turning the oven on to preheat.
Once that is done, I go back up to my room and make my bed up.
Now that all of that is taken care of, I grab the package.
I tear it open before turning it over to dump the contents into my hand.
When a bone lands in my palm, I scream and drop everything before throwing myself into a corner with my knees to my chest and my head down.
I am sobbing at the possibility of what that might be, but I can’t pull myself out of my sudden panic.
“Whoa. What’s wrong? Ari?” Jovian says, grabbing my face and making me look at him. He is kneeling in front of me, and everyone is here.
When did they get here? How long have I been sitting here?
I sob, mumbling incoherently, but point at the small bone lying next to the torn envelope. “What the fuck?! Is that…” Kip starts to ask.
“Call Ray,” Elijah says, kneeling with Jovian.
“It was them,” I cry.
“Who? Why did they send you a bone?” Jovian asks.
“Look at her hands,” Connor says. “They bit her finger off, remember?”
Jovian pulls my hands out where he can see them, and it connects. He stands, scoops me into his arms, and sits on the bed to hold me tightly against his chest. I feel—dare I say—safe.
“Hey,” Kip says into his phone. “We got home and heard Ari screaming. Someone sent her a goddamn finger bone… No, she was in her room… She hasn’t said much, but Hunter is pulling up the cameras now… She’s sitting with Jovi… She’s okay… I don’t know… Okay.”
“Is he coming?” I ask quietly.
“Yeah. He said he was going to call the detective and for us to leave it alone so they can take it,” Kip says.
“I don’t want to be in here with it,” I say tearfully. Jovian stands without hesitation and walks me out of the room. We go into the room next to mine and sit on the bed.
“Can the lights be off?” I ask almost timidly. Mateo flips the lights off before coming over to lift my chin. “I’m...”
“Don’t even say it. Are you in pain?” he asks. “You said you needed it dark when you had a migraine.”
“Between falling and panicking…” I say, but trail off.
“What can we do, Ari?” Elijah asks.
“I think falling brought on some nerve pain,” I admit. “It started up when I was leaving, but it was minor. When I found the bone, I dropped down to sit and made it worse… plus the screaming.”
“Hand me that shirt,” Jovian says to Elijah before looking at me. “I’m going to help you change, and you are going to lie down. Okay?”
“Jovi, I…”
“I’m not asking,” he says, taking the shirt from Elijah.
“You said heat and ice,” Connor says. “Will that help?”
“Yeah,” I admit.
“We will go do that and keep an eye out for Ray and the cops,” Kip says.
“Thank you, guys,” I say quietly.
“Not a problem,” Kip replies with a smile.
When they leave, and it is just Jovian and Elijah, I get nervous. “I can change,” I say.
“Okay. We will be right out here,” Jovian says.
When they leave the room and pull the door shut, I start crying again.
It feels like a dagger is stabbing me in the head, and the nerve pain is getting worse by the second.
The back of my head down to my mid-back feels like a thousand blazing hot needles shooting through me.
It causes tingling to spread down my arms and to my fingertips.
I try to pull my shirt off, but I whimper in pain and drop my arms. After a few failed attempts, I am crying harder as the pain intensifies.
The door opens, and it just makes me cry more, knowing that I need help.
Jovian and Elijah say nothing as they help me stand so they can undress me.
When Elijah unhooks my bra, I flinch when his fingers touch my back.
“How much pain are you in, Ari?” he asks, moving more slowly to help me get my bra off.
“A lot,” I whimper. “I’m sorry. It’s not usually this bad. I promise I can do my…”
“Fuck the job, Ari,” Jovian says. “You need help, so we are helping. We had no right to connect your health to your ability to do your job. We were wanting to push you out because we don’t exactly have a good history with PAs, but we never should have put that on you.”
“I tried so hard to get back to who I used to be, but she’s gone,” I admit tearfully. “They should have just killed me.”
“Whoa. No,” Jovian says, lifting my chin. “We may not know you all that well, but I know strength when I see it. You are driven and kind. You have come too far to let this be what takes you down.”
“Sit and let us help,” Elijah says. I nod and carefully sit back down.
They are gentle as they help me get the shirt on.
When I lie on Jovian’s bed, he has me lie on my belly.
Kip brings the heating pad and ice before leaving again.
I have my head in my arms and a blanket covering me from the hips down before they start with ice.
Elijah and Jovian sit on either side of me before they work together to gently massage my neck and shoulders. I groan in pain but relax into the bed.
“How do you know how to do that?” I mutter.
“My mom had pretty severe nerve pain,” Elijah says. “Dad would do this for her.”
“Had?” I ask.
“Doctors got her hooked on pain meds, and she overdosed when I was a teen,” he says. “Dad killed himself a year later out of guilt for not getting her help.”
“That’s terrible,” I say softly.
“Look… The last PA we had… She got with all of us individually, and then turned us all against each other. We got into a huge fight during a game against the Titans last year and lost the championship,” Elijay says.
“That was the week after I was attacked,” I say. “I always suspected that Sutter covered for them because of that game. He got a raise for winning that game.”
“So when you came from the Titans… we wrongfully placed blame on you without reason,” Jovian says. “We will make up for being shitty.”
“You already have,” I say. “Thank you for taking care of me… I suck at asking for help. I always have.”
“Well, you keep us straight with your fancy PA shit, and we will take care of you. Deal?” Elijah asks.
“Yeah.” I sigh.
“I’m going to switch to heat,” Jovian says. He switches to the heating pad, and they resume their massage. They hit a spot in my neck, and I flinch.
“Ow!”
“Have you seen a chiropractor?” Elijah asks.
“No. My physical therapist thought they were all quacks,” I say.
“I mean… sure, if they’re trying to cure cancer or something,” he says. “If you have a misalignment or pinched nerve, that could be causing all your symptoms. Stress and physical exertion can make that flare up. Falling could also.”
“How do you know all of this?” I ask.
“Nolan got in a wreck last season and ended up with a concussion and a pinched optic nerve from the whiplash. A chiropractor helped him a lot,” Jovian says. “Worth talking to.”
“Yeah. I need to find a doctor here anyhow. I am trying to avoid narcotics, but the nerve pain is debilitating when it flares,” I say. “I keep telling myself I can push through it, but…”
“No shame in getting help,” Elijah says. “I’ll ask Nolan to hook you up for next week. We should have a whole day to burn on Monday.”
“Okay. It’s worth trying,” I say. “Thank you.”
“You don’t have to keep saying that,” he says. “I am going to press on this spot. It’s a muscle that is hurting.”
“Don’t paralyze me, please,” I groan. Jovian takes my hand, and when Elijah starts gently massaging the tender spot they found, I whimper and squeeze Jovian’s hand, but the pain feels nice. It’s different. When he stops, my migraine is significantly better.
“Better? You are more relaxed,” Elijah says.
“You’re magical,” I mutter, making him chuckle.
He resumes massaging the same spot at the base of my skull, and exhaustion takes over.