Chapter 46
The Hospital
Nico
When we make it back to the sidelines, Brandon swaps places with Eli.
Eli grabs the back of my head and presses his helmet against my forehead. “We’ve got you.”
His eyes search mine until I nod. I get it. We’re in this together. Except I’m the one who’s injured and being rushed off to the hospital.
Jack gives me a nod where he stands with the others, waiting for the game to resume. Luke claps me on the shoulder before running back out to the field. Caden stops next to me.
“Don’t worry. I’ll fuck that asshole up.” Caden grins. “I should have gotten him this last time, but I had to take down the guy going for Luke first.”
I nod. That Mack truck wasn’t Caden’s responsibility. Someone else was supposed to take him out before he got to me. “Kick their ass.”
He grabs the back of my neck and presses his helmet to my forehead. “Text us to let us know what’s happening. We’ll see you after we win.”
He runs onto the field and I turn to see Harper watching us with wide eyes. She’s stuck on the other side of the players. Fuck.
“Let’s go.” Marshall, our athletic trainer, starts forward. My arms are wrapped around Brandon and Marshall’s shoulders as they help support me on the way to Marshall’s car. “Coach talked to your parents. They’ll meet us at the hospital.”
I can’t put weight on my fucking knee without it giving, which makes my insides twist.
Fuck. I don’t want to deal with my parents. Mom will smother and Dad will stand to the side with quiet disapproval. I don’t want to deal with either of them. I just want Harper, but I can’t even have that. She’d be alone and that’s not happening.
“Could be a sprain, but we don’t want to mess around.” Marshall speaks quietly as we move under the bleachers. People watch me leave. Occasionally calling out good luck. The game is still going on behind me.
Nodding, I swallow against the lump in my throat. It could be a sprain. Out the rest of this game will suck, but it won’t be the end of the world. But, there’s always the possibility it’s something more.
Something that would put me out until next year. Something that might fuck with the future we all have planned. Fuck.
“Wait!” Harper’s voice comes from behind me. I force the others to stop. Speaking of my future.
Harper’s breathless when she reaches us. Her brown eyes are wide and frightened. “Nico...”
I glance at the stadium and then down at Harper. She has tears in her eyes.
“We’re going to the hospital, sunshine.” I try to stand taller to show her I’m okay. To be the brave guy she needs in her corner with everything crashing around us.
“I want to come with.” That stubborn glint in her eye tells me she’ll follow me if I don’t bring her.
But I also know I have tests they’ll perform, which will leave her alone and vulnerable.
“You’ll be alone.” I shake my head, because without one of us, she’ll be exposed. “Someone’s grabbing my cell phone. I’ll text you.”
“I’ll grab Kenz and we’ll follow.” She turns and rushes away before I can say another word.
The problem is, I want her there. I want my friend and lover by my side as I get what may be fine news and a few days of rest, or possibly bad news where I’m benched for my senior year. I have a few college offers already, but this could make them change their minds.
“Come on.” Marshall urges me forward. “She knows how to get to the hospital.”
Everyone knows how to get to the hospital. That’s not what I’m worried about. This may or may not have been an accident. That guy was going after me hard. That’s his position, but it felt wrong.
When I’m settled in the car, Brandon wishes me luck and jogs back to the game. The car ride is quiet and we make it there quickly.
When Marshall parks, he goes to grab a wheelchair. I’m not going to fight him on this. I could fuck my knee up irreparably if I act too proud for a simple wheelchair.
The hospital is bustling with people as we go into the emergency room. Marshall doesn’t stop at the desk but wheels me into the back.
“Nico.” Mom turns from where she’s talking with a doctor. My father stands next to her. They’re both dressed nicely for their night out. My dad’s olive branch to my mom for screwing around on her. The same old patterns are already reemerging.
This place, this town, is toxic for both of them.
But it’s also where my family is. The guys and Harper.
The doctor is a woman in her early forties, dressed in scrubs. She glances over me. “We’ve been waiting for you. I’ve got the MRI cleared and an x-ray scheduled. We’ll take good care of you.”
I release my breath. Whatever happens now, we’ll deal with it. My guys will have my back.
Harper
I hurry back to the game and search the stands for Kenz. She isn’t sitting where we normally do.
“Hey, little nympho.” Caden comes up behind me.
“I need to find Kenz so she can take me to Nico.” I finally spot her near Penny and the others. Good, we can get going. I wave to her.
Caden grabs my arm. “You’re not going alone.”
“Kenz will go with me.” I turn to look into his concerned green eyes. “I’m not stupid, Caden. But I’m going to the hospital. Everyone is here. I’ll be fine.”
“I don’t like it.” He glances back toward the game. Coach Turner is watching us, but we’re on defense so Caden isn’t needed.
The coach already told me I could go with Nico as long as I update him on Nico’s status.
“Nico needs me.” I can’t let him down. We’re just finding a good place together again. I need to be there for him just like I’d want to be there for any of them. They’re all mine.
Kenz jogs up next to me. “Hey, is Nico okay?”
Focusing on his eyes, I touch Caden’s jaw. “I’ll be okay.”
He leans into my touch and nods. The coach yells something to him.
“Be careful, little nympho.” He runs back to the sidelines.
“We going to the hospital?”
I turn to Kenz and draw in a breath. “Yeah.”
She dangles her keys and smiles. “Let’s do this.”
We make it out of the stadium and across town without incident. Not that I expected anything, but lately everything’s been weirder. I’ve been protected and surrounded by people, which isn’t my normal.
I used to be a loner. Now I can’t do anything alone.
Me:
We’re on our way
Apocalypse (Nico):
In the testing area
Waiting room is on the second floor
As soon as I’m through, I’ll let you know where you can find me
Kenz pulls into a parking space. My fingers hover over the little keyboard. It’d be so easy just to type those words, to reassure him that he’s mine and I’m his, to tell him I love him. But it’s also not the right time.
I can’t just tell Nico and not the others. And some of them aren’t ready to hear it. Even if Nico is.
Me:
I’m here
“You ready?” Kenz asks.
“Yeah.”
We get out of the car and walk into the hospital. It’s been ages since I’ve been in here. I volunteered some and would occasionally come when Mom was on shift. So the place feels familiar. There’s a smell that makes me comfortable and on edge at the same time.
We enter the elevator and ride up to the second floor. The waiting room for the MRI department is right down the hall.
“Harper, I’m so glad you came.” Nico’s mom stands from the chair and comes over to greet us. She draws me in for an awkward hug before releasing me.
“This is my friend MacKenzie.” I step back to Kenz’s side. “How is he?”
“Good.” She turns, and her gaze falls on Mr. Lee leaning against the wall. His dark eyes watch me. He doesn’t smile, but he didn’t when I was a kid either. Honestly, we avoided him as kids. He always frightened me.
He doesn’t really acknowledge me, but I don’t want to talk to him either.
Mrs. Lee draws us over to where she was sitting. “He’s getting an MRI now. They just x-rayed his knee to make sure nothing was broken.”
When we sit, she takes my hand. “I know he was looking forward to taking you to the Homecoming dance.”
I glance at Mr. Lee. He’s paying attention. I don’t know if he knows about Nico and my relationship. Pretty sure Nico didn’t want him to know. And I know Nico didn’t want me around his father. He and Luke’s father are way too interested in me because of my dad.
But Mr. Lee isn’t doing anything right now. Just watching me with those critical eyes like he can dissect me and figure out my secrets without even talking to me. A creepy shiver rolls down my spine.
“Maybe he’ll be well enough to dance by next weekend.” Mrs. Lee’s soft voice draws my attention back to her. “I know he really wants to go with you. We’ve even picked out his suit.”
I smile softly. Nico in a suit will be devastatingly handsome, but I’d rather have him heal properly. “The dance doesn’t matter as long as he’s okay. I know football is important to him.”
Her gaze goes to the door before she lets out a huff of air. “Yes. Our whole family has been proud of what he’s accomplished. Mark played in college, but never made it to the professional league. It’s always been their shared dream that Nico get that chance.”
Resisting the urge to look at Mr. Lee, I just let that statement settle into the silence. So different from Luke’s dad, who wants him to follow his footsteps. Maybe Mr. Lee is trying to break the chain, give Nico a chance at something besides this town.
“I’m going to run and get us some drinks.” Kenz touches my hand. “Do you want anything, Mrs. Lee?”
“A soda would be lovely, dear.” Mrs. Lee glances at Mr. Lee. “Maybe a coffee for my husband.”
Kenz nods and gives my hand a squeeze before heading off. I don’t know what to say or do. We didn’t spend a lot of time at Nico’s house growing up. I don’t think I ever spent the night there. I certainly haven’t spent alone time with his mother.
A door opens next to Mr. Lee, and a doctor steps out. “Mr. and Mrs. Lee.”
Mrs. Lee pats my hand and then walks over to join the doctor.
They walk through the door and suddenly I’m alone in the waiting room.
I glance around, but there’s no one here.
The noise of the hospital with machines and hushed voices occasionally fill the quiet, and the fish tank in the middle of the room makes gurgling noises but that’s it.
I feel exposed. Like anything could happen and none of my guys would be here. Nico is back there and the others are at the game. I wish I was with Nico, holding his hand while he hears what’s wrong with his knee.
But I’m just his high school girlfriend. That doesn’t get me an all-access pass. What happens when we go to college and one of them gets hurt? Will they call the guys’ parents before they call me?
I don’t like to think about what happens after college. This isn’t supposed to be a long-term situation, but my heart is all in. I rub the ache in my chest, thinking of the decisions we’ll have to make. How at some points I’ll have to tear off the pieces of them as they leave me.
“You okay?” Kenz sets the drinks on the table next to the chairs and lowers herself next to me. “You look about two seconds from crying, H. What’s going on? Is it Nico?”
I look up at the ceiling to get the tears to go away and take a deep breath. “No, I’m just being stupid and thinking about how this can’t have a future.”
She hands me a root beer and leans back in her chair, staring at the fish tank. “You mean, you and the guys?”
“Yeah.” I release my breath. Maybe it’s better they don’t know how deeply I feel about them all. It’ll be easier to let them go when this ends.
“You know how I feel about high school boyfriends.” Kenz shrugs.
“I don’t think it’s meant to last. I don’t know if Brandon is the one, but I’m not going to change my life plans to fit around his at this moment.
Maybe after college, if we’re still together, I’ll feel different, but it’s a lot to follow someone when we’re both eighteen and don’t really know what we want out of life. ”
I sip my soda and stare at the door. “I guess that’s the real question. Will twenty-two-year-old me feel the same way eighteen-year-old me feels about the guys?”
“The only one who can answer that is you in the future.” Kenz chuckles. “I think twenty-two-year-old you will definitely wonder how you had the energy to keep up with five guys at eighteen.”
I let out a little snort of a laugh. “Eighteen-year-old me wonders that too.”
We sit for a moment before I ask, “Hey, is everything okay with you and Brandon?”
Her brow furrows. “Yeah, we’re hanging out at the party later tonight and spending the weekend together. Why do you ask?”
“He asked me about you at the game.” I slide my fingers down the cup.
“During the game? Maybe he was just being friendly?” Kenz narrows her eyes at the fish tank, like the answer might be in there.
“Maybe.” I blow out a breath and glance at the doors. What’s taking so long?
“He’s going to be okay, H.” Kenz’s voice turns sober. “He has you and the guys to get through whatever struggles he’ll have with this.”
“Yeah.” I hope he knows that too.