Page 63 of Sliding Into Love
Relief flooded through her as his voice, at least, sounded normal.
“What happened? Are you okay? Why do you need X-rays?What happened?”
“It’s okay, I’m fine. I’ll tell you what happened in a second, but first, I’m so sorry.” His voice cracked. “Ivy. I didn’t mean… I had a bad day, and I took it out on you. You were right. I hate myself for it. With my mom and everything— I’m so sorry. I was panicking, and I couldn’t stop.”
“I’m not going to say it’s okay because it’s not.” Ivy heard his sharp inhale through her phone. “But I forgive you. I understand. I want to help, if—if you’ll let me.”
His relieved exhale whooshed through the speaker.
“God, Ivy. You helped already. I went to the stadium for batting practice after a shitty day, and somehow Marshall broke in. He hit me with a ball from the pitching machine. I’m waiting for the doctor to show up to read the X-ray.”
“Why do I get the feeling there’s more to it?” Her voice came out in a rasp, and she had to remind herself to breathe. “Which hospital? We’re coming to you.”
“Ivy, you don’t— “
“Which. Fucking. Hospital. Ethan.”
There was silence for a moment.
“Sacred Heart.”
“Good. Text me where you’ll be. We’ll be there soon.”
As she drove through the darkened city, Ivy did her best to avoid thinking about where Ethan might have gotten hit by a flying baseball and what kind of damage that might do to a person. Derek told her pitchers often pitched at speeds of ninety miles per hour or higher, and it stung when he caught them with a glove on, so imagining it hitting Ethan— no.If I lose it, so will Jase.
Jase was wide-eyed when they entered the hospital; his hands clenched and unclenched by his sides in a gesture oddly reminiscent of Ethan. The boy looked pale, and Ivy threw her arm over his shoulders, squeezing him. Genuine surprise washed over her when he wrapped his thin arms around her waist and squeezed her back.
The elevator opened and they exited, looking for a sign to point them to the radiology department. Ivy didn’t bother to stop at the desk when the nurse offered help. Instead, she marched straight past the round nurses’ station in the middle of the hall, mumbling about someone waiting for them. The long hallway stretched before them, empty except for a well-dressed middle-aged woman pacing at the far end. When she caught sight of them, the woman paused and peered in their direction for a moment before sharply turning on a heel and pushing open the door to the stairwell.
Only one room appeared to be occupied, and Ivy stepped in to find Ethan lying on the hospital bed with his eyes closed. She smothered a gasp when she saw him. The harsh hospital light cast a sickly pall over his face, and he wore a hospital gown draped loosely over his torso.
When Ethan sat up with a groan, Ivy flung herself on him, trying not to sob into his shoulder.
“Ow, shit!”
She backpedaled. “Sorrysorrysorry!”
“Shit! Um, uh, crap! Sorry. It’s okay.” Ethan grinned sheepishly at Janna, who clapped her hands over her ears. “C’mere.” He waved Ivy over to him and squeezed her with one arm.
“I’m so sorry,” she breathed, blinking back tears and tucking her head into his shoulder. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“I hurt you, too.”
“That’s different. You’reactuallyhurt.”
“Ivy,” his voice carried the slightest hint of a laugh. “I got hit by a baseball; I’m not dying.”
“But isn’t that bad?” Ivy’s lip wobbled, and she bit it to make it stop.
“Ivy, sweetheart, it’s just a bruise.”
With a worried look, she murmured, “Promise?”
He kissed her in the space between her furrowed brows. “Promise.”
“Good.” She smacked him on the shoulder. “What the hell happened?”
Ethan glanced sidelong at the kids, and Ivy’s eyes followed. Janna had discovered the remote to the tiny tv and was pushing buttons, completely absorbed in changing channels at lightning speed. Jase stood beside the door, staring intently at Ethan.
