Page 82 of The Coach

The three of us scream and I run to him, holding him in my arms. Jasmine pulls Darcy away from us, as the police erupt through the front door.

I clutch at him, trying to work out where all the blood is coming from. At first, I think she got his chest, but on closer inspection, the knife has hit his shoulder. Someone pulls me out of the way, then I feel Jasmine's arms wrap around me and Luna's hand slide into mine. The emergency services rush to help him.

Please let him be okay. I can't lose him.

Brad

I wake up and gasp for air. Pain radiates down my side, and I clutch my shoulder. For a brief moment before I was awake properly, I had hope that was all just a terrible nightmare I was having. But now I know it wasn't, with the throb of pain.

My memory is a little foggy as I try and piece together what exactly happened for me to end up in here. Like this. First there was Darcy screaming, that's what woke me, then Nala's barking. Then I realized Andy wasn't in bed with me anymore. I thought the worst. That she was gone, that Darcy had done something to her. Then I found Jasmine and Luna searching the house, just as frantic, trying to work out what was happening, just like me.

I knew I had to put a stop to Darcy's craziness. I didn't want the girls to see their friend brutalize herself again, so I had to step in and stop her. I just wasn't expecting her to turn on me like she did, or I would have gone about it differently.

"Andy, he's awake." I hear Jasmine's voice fill the room.

Then I see her. My beautiful girl. It might be the painkillers they have me on, but she looks just like an angel with light illuminating her. Her long golden locks falling around her pretty face. She squeezes my hand, and her lips turn into a smile.

"I've been staring at you, waiting for you to wake up, for the last hour. You scared us," she says shakily.

"I'm sorry, I really didn't think she would stab me."

"You're not the only one," says Jasmine with a smile.

Andy looks down at me and touches my face. "Are you in a lot of pain?"

"It's not comfortable, but I'll be fine."

"Are you in too much pain for me to kiss you?" She smirks.

"Never." With my good arm, I pull her down to me so our lips meet, and I kiss her with everything I have. When Darcy flew at me with the knife, Andy was the one I was thinking about. How awful it would be to leave her now when things were only just starting with us.

Jasmine's chair scrapes along the floor. "Okay, I'm going for a walk," she says, leaving the room.

Andy giggles, pulling back from me a little. "The whole time you were in surgery I was so worried about you. No one would tell us anything."

"I'm going to be okay, Andy. No more worrying, it's all over now," I tell her, but really, I have no idea how bad my injury is.

She nods and offers a small smile. Like she still doesn't believe it fully.

"What's going to happened with Darcy?" I ask.

A sadness washes over her again. "I don't know, they haven't told us yet. The police still need to take a statement from you as to what happened. I talked to Dylan briefly this morning. He said he's trying to have her transferred to a psychiatric facility in San Francisco, so he can help her."

"That makes sense. How did she even get out of the hospital in the first place, she was supposed to be on psychiatric watch, wasn't she?"

"No one knows, or if they do, they're not saying. Brad, does it make me a bad person? That I don't think I can see her again?" She drops her head and tears fill her eyes. "I mean, I was her friend for a long time… and…"

"Andy, she did some awful things to you, to us. I think it's understandable."

"She's sick, though. She needs me, and I'm just going to abandon her."

I run my hand down the side of her face. "She is, and you might also feel differently in a few months when she's had some professional help and you have had time to heal. Don't beat yourself up. None of this is on you. She might be unwell, but she made all the choices to do everything she did." She snuggles in at my side and I wrap my arm around her, closing my eyes, suddenly feeling very tired again.

Nurses come in and out all day, checking different things, and Andy stays by my side. I'm told I will be in here for a couple of days, then I'll have months of physio to regain full movement in my arm. I hope that's as long as I'm stuck here, because the girls' final is on Sunday and I want to be there for it.

My arm isin a sling for now, my movement limited, so I sit on the end of my bed and watch her. Friday has finally rolled around. I will be released today. Andy is packing my bag for me.

She has been at training for most of the day and is starting to look more like herself again. She says it's really strange not having Darcy at practice with them. They've played together for a long time, and this is such an important week for the Angels.

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