Page 4 of Playoff

“I need to get up on top of the bus! Now! Gene’s having a heart attack.”

“Shit.” Canyon cradles his hands, making a step for me, and I put my foot on it. He lifts me with sheer brute force, and I manage to pull myself up onto what’s now the top of the bus. All the luggage is stored in the bus bay, and I yell down to the driver.

“Hank, how do I get this thing open?”

He gives me instructions and a moment later, Canyon is up there with me. “This might just need strength,” he says.Together, we manage to get it open, and I start tossing the suitcases out and onto the ground. The guys could need sweaters, gloves, or any number of things, but I need to find Gene’s suitcase.

“There.” I grab it and toss it over the edge. “Coach Vanek—Gene has a bottle of nitro in there. Find it and give him one ASAP.”

I don’t need to explain what’s happening to Coach Vanek, so Canyon and I continue tossing the rest of the luggage onto the ground. I’m sweating by the time we’re done, but I’m glad we did it.

“Smoke!” someone yells. “Get down from there.”

“Come on.” Canyon runs back to the area where the door is, since there are places to hold on there, and he jumps down with me right behind him.

“Gene!” I run to my boss and he’s even paler than before.

Somewhere in the distance, I hear sirens.

Thank God.

“Hang on, Gene,” I whisper. “Okay? Marnie and the kids need you.”

He nods. “Can you find my phone?”

“I don’t know where it is, but here, use mine.” I’d stuffed it in my jacket before leaving the bus, and I hand it to him. He dials what I assume is his wife’s number, and I move away, giving him privacy. There’s nothing more I can do now, except pray that the nitroglycerin is working, and the paramedics get here on time. Normally, he keeps it in the first aid duffel, but he’d changed a few things for this trip.

“We’ve got a lot of injuries,” Coach Vanek says under his breath. “Marty, Ivan, Big Bang, Shane, and Evan are just the ones I can see.”

I notice Coach Danvers, the associate coach, favoring his arm and hurry in his direction. “Coach? You okay?”

“Might’ve busted my collarbone,” he says, “but I’ll be fine. You worry about the others.”

“I’m worried abouteveryone.”

I look up as the first fire truck appears.

Thank fuck.

Fire fighters are coming toward us, and I point them in Gene’s direction first, and then to Marty, who’s still only semi-conscious.

Thankfully, everyone is intact.

There appear to be a lot of cuts, scrapes, and bruises, a handful of broken bones, and maybe a couple of concussions, but nothing life-threatening.

Which is a miracle considering the shape the bus is in.

Now that help is here, I turn to assess the damage and it’sbad.

We could have all died.

A shudder runs through me as I try not to dwell on that.

I rub my hands up and down my arms trying to get warm.

Someone throws a blanket over my shoulders.

“This is one hell of a way to start the first game of the playoffs,” Gabe says quietly. “I really hope this isn’t some kind of omen.”

---