Page 27 of The Puck Chase

“My mom is fine, stable for now at least,” Nova replies, not realizing his words sew together the wound that has been forming for the last eight hours. “Maddie, what are you doing here?” he snaps, and I cringe a little at his tone.

“I just,” Maddie starts, glancing at me nervously, and I sense they need some privacy to sort out whatever the fuck is going on with them.

Rising to my feet, I clear my throat, focusing on Nova. “I’ll hunt you down some decent coffee, brother. Glad Momma D is doing okay for now,” I tell him with a solemn smile, squeezing his shoulder as I pass. And as I walk away, I feel like I can take my first real breath all day.

I make my way outside first, desperate for some fresh air, as I pull out my phone and dial my sister's number. I texted her earlier letting her know what was going on, and I had to get Everest to talk her out of coming down here. She has been bugging me for updates ever since.

The phone rings a couple of times, before I am greeted with my little brother’s gruff tone. “Hello,” he greets me, and I feel better just hearing his voice.

“Ever, it’s me,” I tell him softly, taking another deep breath, to try and collect my thoughts.

“Is she okay?” he asks instantly, just as I hear some movement in the background, and then the murmur of my sister's voice, as Everest quietly says to her, “Yes, it’s Arch.” Then he is back to me and adds louder this time, “Rora is here, I’m putting you on speaker.”

“Archer, what is going on? Is Diana okay? Are you okay?” My sister instantly asks, and tears burn at the back of my eyes at how much they care for her, and for me.

I’m lucky that I have such an amazing family, but all it does is remind me that Nova only has his mom, and hopefully now Maddie too.

“Diana has cancer,” I tell them both for the first time, and Aurora’s gasp of shock causes me almost physical pain. “I don’t know much about it, but Nova said she is stable for now.” It’s not much of an update, I know, but it’s all I have to offer them.

“She’s going to be okay, right? She has to be,” Aurora starts to cry, and I hear a shuffle, and I can only presume that Everest is comforting her, and it makes me miss them more than normal.

“I’m going to head back in and try to find out what is going on, and when I have an update I will share it, but…” I trail off not knowing what to say or how to say it, before I finally breathe, “I just needed to hear a comforting voice I guess.”

My honesty hangs in the air as my sister sobs, and I’m glad she and Everest have each other right now, wishing I had someone too. I swipe the tear that has now fallen from my cheek, before I clear my throat of the emotion building there.

“Ever, take me off speaker please,” I tell my brother, and there is a shuffle, as he does it, along with my sister’s outrage, but he ignores her.

“I’m here,” he tells me, as I hear the closing of a door on his end, and I’m almost certain he has slipped into the bathroom.

“Look after Rora for me, you know how much she loves Diana,” I tell him gently, and he scoffs at having even to be asked.

“Don’t I always?” he snaps back, and I can’t help but smile at his pissy tone, knowing deep down he cares for Diana too, but it’s nothing in comparison to how he cares for our little sister.

“From the moment you met her,” I reply softly, knowing even when he is being a little shit, he is always looking out for her. “Love you, Mountain Man,” I add, letting a nickname I haven’t used in years fall from my lips, and he groans into the speaker.

“Yeah, yeah, love you too, call me later,” he mumbles, daring to show affection for once, and I almost laugh as he hangs up on me before I can answer.

When I make my way back into the hospital, I grab some coffee and then head back to the waiting room. I find Maddie and Nova where I left them, except now she is cuddled into his side like she can physically hold him together, and he is holding onto her like he thinks she might run away. I hand over some coffee with a knowing smile, bringing out baby Peters’ signature blush, before my best friend stands and pulls me into another hug.

“Thank you, Archer,” Nova grumbles, and I’m not sure if he is thanking me for being here, or for bringing his girl here, yet still I pat his back either way.

When we pull apart, he updates me on what happened with his mom. Apparently, the cancer is attacking her lungs, and she collapsed at work, but they have done a procedure and she is stable again. Yet still panic curls inside my gut, but Nova assures me if anything changes he will let me know, and commands me to go home and get some sleep.

Reluctantly I follow his orders, bidding them both goodbye and making my way back to my car, and by the time I make it back to the house, it’s completely dark out. Exhaustion clings to me as I let myself into the house, but before I even have the door closed behind me, I am being accosted by my fucking goalie.

“What the hell are you doing home? Is Diana okay?” Alexander asks in a panic, looking behind me as if he expects Nova to be there, only to frown when he realizes I’m alone. “Where’s Cap?”

“I left him at the hospital with Maddie. His mom is stable for now, he will update us if anything changes,” I reply, shaking him off, as I head straight into the kitchen to try and find some food, knowing the refrigerator is probably empty, only to pause whenI open it and find it filled with food trays. “What’s all this?” I ask, looking between the food and Alexander, and he shrugs with a frown.

“Jones dropped it off earlier,” he tells me, referring to our teammate Levi, who lives with Josh, and before I can question him further, he adds. “Apparently Forbes made it all for us, in case we were too busy with Diana to cook for ourselves.”

My eyes scan the fridge again in disbelief.Daemon Forbes did all this?There must be ten containers, all filled to the brim with different foods, and all I can do is stare in shock. I mean, I knew the word about Nova’s mom would have quickly spread across the team, but I never expected this, especially not from him.

When I don’t respond, he moves to my side and surveys them with me. “I know, it’s fucking weird, right?” he laughs, sipping on the beer in his hand, and my stare cuts to him.

“It’s not weird, it’s really nice of him,” I clap back, making his own eyes widen, before his mouth curves into a smirk.

“Alright, I didn’t realize you had a fucking hard on for the guy,” he jokes, and the tips of my ears start to burn beneath the accusation.

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