Page 125 of Saving the Halfback

“I didn’t think… I didn’t know.”

“He didn’t want you to know, Boo.” She wrapped me in her arms and helped guide me back to the car.

Lachlan didn’t want me to know, Chase didn’t want me to know, Ethan didn’t want me to know. Nolan never told me how pushy his father was, so I assumed he never wanted me to know. Why? Why did no one ever want anyone to know? Why didn’t they want help?

“See it from his point of view, okay? Take a deep breath because he is here. He is still alive. You will see him. Know that he is hurting and try not to take this personally, okay?”

I took a couple deep breaths and nodded.

“That’s good. Just keep breathing and let it go. He is alive. He is here.” I let my mom’s words sink into me. We met up at Lachlan’s sports shop.

“Can I drive with the guys?” I asked.

“How about you kids let your dad and I drive? You’re all upset right now.”

I nodded. Lachlan came out from the shop, his eyes bloodshot and red, as if he had been rubbing them. I kept reminding myself of my mom’s words.He’s here. He’s alive. He’s alive. He’s here.

Ethan was in the same chair as before we left. Lachlan, Nolan, and I walked over to him. “He doesn’t want anyone in there,” he said. “Just waiting for an X-ray, but he told the nurse to tell us to go home and not worry about him.”

I took a deep, steadying breath and planted my feet. “No.”

“Maybe we should—” Nolan reached out to hold my arm, but I ripped it away from him.

“I said no. He came for me last night. He ran into a house with a potential intruder because he knew I needed him. He needs me. He needs us. No more. I’m done. No more between us.”

“I’m with you, but how do we get in?” Lachlan asked.

“We just need a plan.” Nolan smiled. “A solid play. We can’t let our boy sit in there, thinking he’s alone.”

I closed my eyes. I never want him to think he’s alone ever again.

45

Chase

“Are you fucking kidding me right now, Chase? I’m in the middle of a damn meeting. What were you thinking? What are you, incompetent? You are an adult now. How dare you get them to call me, today of all days? You are supposed to quietly leave and never…” His voice went on, but my ears were numb. The harshness of my father’s voice just drove into my head why I’d done what I did, and I heard the words, but I couldn’t understand them. They just didn’t make sense. All I could think was,I thought the plan was foolproof.I thought… I thought I wouldn’t be alive right now to endure the beratement.

“Sorry, sir,” I whispered, my voice hoarse.

“I ignored the first few call attempts from the hospital, but this is getting too much. Make sure you tell them you are an adult and therefore no longer on my insurance plan.” With that, he hung up. I had told them so many times not to bother my father. Should I even call him that anymore? I had to get out of here. The curtains felt like they were starting to close in on me, smothering me.

I let out a long, steady breath, exhausted and disappointed with myself. I messed up… I messed up big time. My chest ached, and I could feel a tightness in my lungs.

“Here, Pongo, here boy,” a familiar voice was calling down the hallway, followed by a whistle.

“Sir, I thought you said it was your little brother?” someone said.

“Uh, it is. Pongo is his nickname. Pongo!” Lachlan said again. The curtain was ripped open, and Lachlan grinned at me, sending me a wink, which had my brows pulling down in confusion. I blinked my eyes a couple of times to be sure of what I was seeing.

“Sir! You cannot move the curtains, these people are sick!” The nurse huffed.

“Yeah, well, so is my brother!” Lachlan spun and shouted. “And not one of you has found him— There he is! Twenty-six, twenty-six, twenty-six! Pongo, pongo, pongo. Yip, yip, yip.” And like that, Lachlan took off running with a very angry nurse hot on his heels.

What. The. Fuck.

Not two minutes went by before Nolan came by, pushing a stretcher, nodding and waving at random people walking by. He was so confident that no one blinked twice at him. My eyes weren’t on him for very long, though. They fell on the sweetest sight of an auburn-haired girl. Bailey was crouched down, walking beside the stretcher, hiding as she quickly ducked into the curtained room I was in. Nolan kept walking forward, acting like he worked here.

Bailey’s amber eyes met mine, her smile fading as her eyes skimmed over my face, and instantly, shame fell upon me. “I’m sorry,” I whispered, lowering my eyes like the coward I was.

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