Page 66 of True Honey
SHORE
Drew carried a tray of coffee in her hand and I followed behind with a bag of food, my feet practically dragging on the tile floor of the hospital. My feet dragged across the hospital tile, my heart hammering against my ribs. I was completely consumed by my guilt and I wasn’t exactly sure how coming here would go but Drew was determined and her leverage was solid.
Cael was still in the same room, but when we arrived his bed was empty. I stepped into the room in front of Drew, Arlo was slumped against the wall with his eyes closed and Ryan was sleeping in the chair with his head resting over the back of it.
“Ar.”
Arlo’s eyes opened slowly at the sound of my voice and his jaw tightened but he pushed off the wall and walked toward me. I half expected him to hit me when his hand tangled into the collar of my shirt, I flexed, bracing for the impact but he just stared at me.
“Where the fuck have you been?” he asked, his voice low to not wake Ryan.
I swallowed tightly. “Taking care of everything else, it’s not like you two wanted me here. Having Riona call wascold.”
“You spent way too much money on all that education to be this stupid,” Arlo snapped. “She called because Ryan is a mess and I don’t have my fucking phone.”
“Where’s your phone?” I reached up and uncurled his hand from my shirt, taking a step back to breathe.
“I chucked it out the Fastback window—it wouldn’t stop buzzing,” Arlo muttered with a pissed-off look on his face. His tongue brushed over his bottomlip. “He’s going to be okay Si,” he assured me. “He was lucid enough to fight with Clementine when she wouldn’t give him one last joyride before surgery.”
“He said that?”
“Yeah, in front of his dad and about three nurses just trying to get him out of the room.” Arlo shook his head.
I smiled, cursing myself for missing the look on Ryan’s face when it happened.
“He made that one and about nineteen other jokes about his immortality. I swear by the end of this Coach is going to have a head of gray hair.” Arlo looked over his shoulder at Ryan. “Why weren’t you here?”
“When Riona called I just assumed it was because neither of you wanted to talk to me…” I shrugged.
Arlo stared at me with that hardened, confused expression and I, as much as I loved him, sometimes it took him a second to remember that it’s not always black and white.
“You think this is your fault?” He scoffed, stepping forward and grabbing the back of my head to pull us closer together. “This isn’t anyone's fault but that stupid kid in surgery right now. He’s an adult, he had the opportunity to bring this to you, to Ella. Andhedidn’t.”
“I should have noticed the strain it was taking on his body,” I argued and Arlo’s fingertips tightened around my neck.
“It’s fucking playoffs, there’s strain on everyone and you aren’t a human X-ray machine. The only thing preventing that tear was a permanent spot warming the bench.” He scowled at me, and I knew he was right but it didn’t make it any less hard to hear.
“Even if that was his last inning of ball, the kid went out swinging. The press will be talking about it for weeks and if it kills his career even longer,” Arlo said. “You know what he said to Ryan before they took him out of here, tears in his eyes from the pain?” He asked and I swallowed tightly, expecting the worst. “He told his dad that playing again didn’t matter as long as he had his family and his sobriety. He’s here because of you, all that work you did to get him sober without destroying his life. You fixed every problem in that idiot's life for thelast seven years, for once don’t blame yourself for something he knowingly did to himself.”
I clenched my jaw and tried to process what Arlo had said but the guilt was strong and it would be for a while. Even if it wasn’t my fault. Until Cael was back on his feet, it would run rampant.
“I’ll feel better once he’s home,” I breathed out. Just trying to give Arlo something to run on so he’d stop digging his fingers into open wounds. “I promise.”
He eyed me for a moment but his grip loosened on my head and he stepped back from me with a suspicious look on his face. I know full well that I wasn’t going to get away with that answer for long, so I was going to have to avoid him for a bit to figure myself out.
“Is that for me?” He asked, his head leaning around me to where Drew was standing with her coffee. His eyes flickered with judgement before he said good afternoon to her and thanked her for the coffee.
“Where’s Riona?” I asked.
“Right here,” her voice was like ice as she entered the room. “I had to drop off Daisy with her aunt,” she explained, “in three years she’s never once wanted to do that Cancer walk, I had to bribe her last year and now because of that silly little brown-haired shit head-”
Arlo burst into laughter, his eyes crinkling up as Riona ranted and Ryan was startled from his sleep.
“What the hell is going on?” He sat up in his chair, stretching out his back as Riona wandered to the corner to set her purse down.
“Riona is insulting Drew’s son without knowing it and I’m enjoying the worst cup of coffee I’ve ever drank in my entire life.” Arlo choked it down with a rough cough.
Riona’s eyes went wide as she took in Drew, “I am so sorry.”
