Page 74 of Pucking Obsessed

Dad shoves him out of the way.

“Shit,” I gasp.

I see it happen, but it’s too fast for me to stop it.

Michael loses his balance on the slippery decking. He’s already unsteady, unused to boats.

He tumbles to the side, close to the edge.

Startled, Dad reaches to grab Michael’s arm and save him.

Staring at the churning water over the side, Michael panics and snatches at Dad, dragging him towards him.

Dad catches his foot on a pile of coiled ropes.

Please, no.

Dad cries out, falling overboard.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Freedom Heart Hospital, Freedom

D’Angelo

“Why hasn’tMichael called us through yet?” Shay is pacing from one side of the waiting room to the other with his head ducked. “Cody has already been sent home, but coach is still here. That’s bad, right?”

Shay doesn’t cope with hospitals, after his experiences with Eden. Especiallythishospital, since the last time that he was in this waiting room was because Eden had been attacked on the ice, which ended his career.

And could have ended his life.

“He’ll be fine,” I say, projecting as much confidence as I can. “Mike has already evaluated him for secondary drowning and cleared him. He hasn’t inhaled water into his lungs. He has mild hypothermia and shock, which is why he’s being monitored. He’s tough.”

“Yeah, but he could have drowned.” Shay’s face is pinched and washed-out.

I don’t allow my own fear to show.

My lovers need me to be strong for them in this moment.

Yet coach is the closest person I have to a parent,and I could have lost him today.

I didn’t know how much he meant to me, until this. It’s fucked me up because I know a thousand reasons why he shouldn’t.

My stomach rumbles.

It must be evening by now. I rushed out without having lunch, the moment that I received Michael’s phone call.

I feel strangely numb.

How could a boating trip have gone so wrong?

Why the hell weren’t they wearing life jackets?

I’m sitting on the pea green chair in the small waiting room. The chairs and couches are the same green as the walls, which appear to be painted this color in an attempt to create a calming environment for the relatives who are stuck in here, waiting for news of surgeries or outcomes after accidents.

I scrunch up my nose at the scent of disinfectant.

Robyn is hunched on my lap. I’ve wrapped my long, woolen coat around her shoulders.

---