Page 52 of Taming Tyler Hayes

“He’s banged up, but it’s not serious. He’s going to be arrested and charged with DUI. I’ll wheel you over there so you can see him before he goes.”

???

Hughesy and Osi hung off to the side of TK’s room, as Hayes, having been wheeled to the side of his bed, clutched his friend’s hand as he sobbed.

“I am…so fucked, baby,” TK cried, shaking his head. “When people find out…what happened…”

“Listen to me. We’ll get through it, OK? There’s gotta be a way to deflect this…”

“PR team’s already on it,” Hughesy called from across the room. “But boys? You’re in really deep shit with the organization.”

“I don’t wanna fuckin’ go to jail again, Ty.”

“Then maybe you shouldn’t have driven high and drunk, you fucking moron!” Osi screamed, slamming a fist against the wall behind him.

Hayes’s eyes bulged. “Osi, calm down…” he began, but was quickly cut off.

“Fuck this! Calm down? You could have been killed, Hayes. Then what I’m supposed to do? This is number one bullshit! Why you didn’t call me? I would have come for you two idiots.”

Hughesy checked his phone. “Looks like Ryan just got here.”

Upon hearing that, Hayes immediately lost it, knowing how disappointed his boyfriend would be about this, but also overcome with emotion that he’d made the trip at all considering his new team, with which he was currently trying to become established, had a game later that day.

“I go get him for you,” Osi grumbled, leaving the room, Hughesy right behind him.

Both boys tightened their death grip on the other one’s hand and wept, fully aware of just how badly they’d fucked up this time.

Finally, TK swiped at his face and asked, “Baby, the wheelchair? You OK?”

“It’s nothin’. I can walk but it hurts. Bruised ribs, most likely. No bleeding, no signs of a concussion, and my shoulder is OK so far. I’m just really sore. You OK?”

He nodded. “No internal bleeding. Some bruising and I have a cut across my abdomen. Shit, Ty, I don’t even remember leaving the club,” TK whispered. “Next thing I knew, we were fuckin’ upside down.”

“I know. I don’t remember leavin’ either. Do you understand how lucky we got, with only minor injuries and just hittin’ the guardrail and rollin’ into that ditch though? We could’ve…fuckin’ killed someone, Teek.”

Oh God.

Hayes gasped, recalling that Ryan’s dad had been killed by a drunk driver.

Fuck.

Just then, two officers entered TK’s room.

“Travis Kadin?” the female officer asked.

“That’d be me.”

“So, here’s what’s gonna happen. You’re under arrest for DUI, OK? Now, we’re gonna have the nursing staff wheel you outside. To avoid a scene, we’re not gonna cuff you, but do not do anything stupid. Just sit there and keep your mouth shut.”

TK nodded, tears steadily leaking from his puffy, bloodshot eyes.

“Once we get outside, we’ll get you in the cruiser, making sure we’re out of sight,” the male officer continued. “You’ll most likely be arraigned within the next 24 hours, but we’ll work on trying to get it done sooner. Listen to this next part very carefully, Travis: I don’t give a shit what any scumbag lawyer tries to tell you. At your arraignment, you need to plead guilty. Bro, your bloodwork looked like a science experiment. There’s no way you’re anything other than guilty in this situation. Do you understand?”

He nodded again, defeated.

“The good news is that since you don’t have any priors of this nature, you’ll qualify for IDP, so you can get a conditional license while yours is suspended. We’ll work with you, OK? Gonna do our absolute best to work with your team and keep this as quiet as possible, though with everything being public record, I can’t make any promises. It’ll be alright, kid. I know it sucks, but you gotta come with us now.”

He carefully stood up, wincing, and exited his bed, stopping in front of where Hayes was seated and extending both of his hands. Hayes struggled and groaned, but he was able to get to his feet with TK’s help.

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