Chapter 22
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CATALINA
"Oh my God, Cat." Marley stepped through the door, eyes wide. Eden was right behind her. "Oliver… Doctor Ryan said you were a bit battered and bruised, but I had no idea."
They both carried a gift basket in one hand and a 'get well soon' balloon in the other. The baskets each contained plush animals and more chocolate than I'd eat in a year.
"I hope you're going to help me with that." I managed a smile.
They stepped inside and noticed Shaw slumped in a chair in the corner surrounded by the same balloons they bought me.
"What is he doing here?" Eden asked.
Shaw regarded them both, his hazel eyes unimpressed and unmoved.
"He's appointed himself as my bodyguard," I said.
I fell back to sleep after I cried, and woke to find him sitting there again.
He claimed he'd been to training and was due some time off work, so I didn't argue with him.
I had no energy for that anyway. Or much of anything else for that matter.
Right now, I couldn't even get out of bed without help.
"Did you have anything to do with this?" Marley asked him. She was nothing if not blunt.
"Nope," he replied. "Unless you count calling the ambulance 'involved.' And staying with her to make sure nothing else happened. If you have a problem with that, too fucking bad."
Marley sniffed and sat down in the chair beside the bed so she could hand me her gift basket. "I hope you like teddy bears. That's all they had in the gift shop. I wanted to stop and buy a bottle of tequila, but Eden said no."
Eden shrugged. "I figured alcohol might not go well with pain meds." She leaned past Marley to hand me her basket.
"I'm not sure I care about that right now," I admitted. A bottle of tequila might be exactly what I needed. "This is very sweet of you though. You shouldn't have. Especially you." I gestured toward the huge bunch of flowers Eden already sent.
"It's not enough, considering what you're going through," Eden said. "How are you feeling?"
Once again, my eyes started to glaze with tears.
"If they're upsetting you…" Shaw placed his hands on the arms of the chair and started to push himself to his feet.
"They're not," I said quickly. The last thing I needed was him trying to toss my friends out on their ears. "Maybe you could give us a few minutes."
He looked like he might object, but he pushed himself up the rest of the way, gave both women a warning glare and stepped out the door.
"He's, um, intense," Marley said. "Didn't you say he hated your guts?"
I opened her gift basket and handed them both chocolate. "I thought he did. Turns out it was his way of trying to encourage me to stay away from the assholes on the team."
Reluctantly, I told them both about the bet the guys made on me.
"What motherfucking Neanderthals," Marley said. "I'm so sorry we dragged you to that game in the first place."
"It started before that," I said. "None of this is your fault. It's them and their bullshit egos."
"With any luck, they'll get kicked off the team before the arena is built," Eden said.
"If they aren't on the team, the AIHL might not choose the Ghouls," I pointed out. "That doesn't mean I'm going to take this…" I grimaced. "I was going to say lying down."
Marley leaned over to give me a hug. "Knowing you, you won't be lying down for long. You'll be back on your feet in no time. And on your skates?" she asked tentatively.
"Only recreationally," I said. I sucked in a deep breath and told them what my father said about not racing again.
"Oh, shit, Cat," Eden said softly. "That's so unfair."
"They won't be on the team when the police arrest them for doing this to you," Marley said.
"What do you think this means for the expansion?" Eden asked. "If the team is under investigation, the AIHL might postpone any decision."
"They might," I said softly. I hadn't thought of that. Why did it seem like no matter what I did, I was the bad guy here?
If the league passed over the Ghouls, people would blame me, even though I did exactly nothing wrong. This was all on my attacker and anyone who worked with them. I only hoped the people in town realised that. If this opportunity was lost, it wasn't through my actions.
Unless you counted my stupid attraction to asshole hockey players. I should have tried harder to stay away from them.
"All the more reason to find out exactly who did this," Marley said. "Then everyone can get on with their lives." She gaped at me. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean—"
I waved her off. "I'm not going to claim I'm not devastated, because I am, but the last thing I need is for you to walk on eggshells around me. Okay? You've never done it before, don't start now."
"How are you such a badass?" Marley asked. "I'd be falling apart right now."
I snorted softly. "What makes you think I'm not?
" On the inside I was an absolute mess. A jumble of dark emotions and unshed tears.
And a growing sliver of anger that currently had no direction.
I wanted to lash out at the world, but not at my friends.
They didn't deserve that anymore than I deserved this.
"Because we know you better than that," Eden said. "You're the strongest woman I know. You'll bounce back from this bigger, badder and stronger than ever."
I wiped a tear off my cheek. "I don't know about that. But I'm lucky to have both of you in my corner. I don't know what I'd do without you."
"You won't need to find out," Marley said. "We have your back, no matter what happens. Would you like Eden and I to go and break some kneecaps? Because we totally would for you."
"I think that's what Shaw is for," I said. "He's ready to go off and hurt someone."
"Are you and he together?" Eden asked.
"That's what he wants," I said.
"What do you want?" Marley opened a piece of chocolate and popped it into her mouth.
I want to go back to that night and stay home instead of going to the rink, I thought.
"I don't know," I said. "I don't think I'm ready for those kinds of decisions. I barely know what day of the week it is right now."
"It's Tuesday," Eden said. "There's a game on Friday night if they're still playing. As far as I know, they are."
"Most of the team had nothing to do with this," I said. "As far as I know. Shaw said most of them are okay guys."
"And you trust him?" Marley said around her mouthful.
"I don't know about trust just yet, but I believe him," I said. "As much as I can believe anyone with a cock right now." Which wasn't very far.
"What happens now?" Eden asked. "When do you get out of here?"
"Tomorrow," I said. "My father promised the surgeon he'd keep an eye on me. Apparently my leg now has enough pins in it to set off a metal detector."
Not really, but if I didn't make light of it, I might go crazy. "I'll be on crutches for a while. Which will be really handy if I run into any of those guys." I mimed raising a crutch and swinging it around in front of me.
Marley giggled. "You could take up fencing. Crutch versus hockey stick. May the best stick win."
I managed a small snort of laughter. "Maybe I will. We could start a whole new sport. Crutch duelling."
"Winner puts their crutch in an asshole's crotch." Eden grinned.
"That sounds like winning to me," I agreed. I'd like nothing more than to rack those guys in the balls so hard they'd spend the rest of their lives singing and talking in high-pitched voices.
"Who's winning?" Shaw asked as he stepped back through the doorway.
Marley looked over at him and grinned. "We were just talking about hitting guys in the nuts."
He grunted and slumped back in the chair in the corner. "As long as you don't direct that at me, I'm in. I have a better use for my balls." He gave me a glance, his eyes growing darker and more intense.
"You're not on the list right now," Marley told him. "But if you hurt Cat in any way, you'll move right to the top automatically."
He smirked at her. "If I hurt Cat, I'll put myself at the top of that fucking list. You'll all have a free shot." He spread his hands to either side.
"Don't think we won't take it," Eden said. "Because we totally will. Cat has been through enough."
"Yes, she has." His expression softened slightly as he looked back at me. "I'm making it my personal mission to make sure nothing else happens to her."
It was hard not to find that hot, even when I felt so fucking broken. I'd like to think I didn't need anyone to watch out for me, but I felt safer when he was in the room with me.
In the back of my mind, I reminded myself I'd felt safe with Cruz and Easton too. That left me not sure what to think or who to believe. Sooner or later, I'd have to face those guys.
Whatever happened, I wasn't letting them take anything else away from me.
"I appreciate all three of you," I said, fighting back another haze of tears. "You've all helped to get me through the last few days." Shaw with his constant presence, and Eden and Marley texting me non-stop until I was ready to have visitors.
The last couple of days were a blur of surgery, anaesthesia and pain. Days I could barely remember even now. I was aware of little more than my father's presence, and that of the hockey player in the corner. And the constant reminder of the attack.
"None of us are going anywhere," Marley said. "I think Shaw has the right idea. I might camp out here too."
"I've got this," Shaw said. "Just be around when she needs you."
She turned to him, and planted her fists on her hips. "Who died and made you the boss of Cat?"
"She almost did, and me," he said, unflinching. "I'm not the boss of her, but I'm not letting anyone upset her. She needs her rest."
I wanted to remind him that I could make my own decisions, but he was right, I was exhausted. I could happily have closed my eyes and slept for another three days. I might as well. What else did I have to do until I was well enough to get back to work?
Marley looked like she might argue with him, but finally she nodded. "We don't want to wear her out. She might decide to ban us from coming here to see her." She smirked at him, making it clear who she believed was in charge here.
"Let's not fight amongst ourselves," Eden said. "We all want the same thing. For Cat to make a full recovery."
Marley lowered her hands to her lap. "You're right. That's exactly what we all want. Don't think I won't take him up on his offer to hit him in the nuts if he does anything to slow that down."
"Noted." Shaw slumped back in the chair, his hands in his lap. It couldn't be comfortable to sit there for hour after hour. I didn't suggest he leave, even after Marley and Eden did. Whatever I said, he was staying put unless someone else he could trust was here with me.