Page 79 of The Coach

There's a knock at the door, and we both turn to see who it is. A young man probably in his late twenties, with dark hair. He's well dressed and has a nice smile. "Sorry to interrupt, I just needed to see Darcy quickly before visiting hours close," he says.

"Oh, sorry, of course." Looking back to Darcy, I try and regain some calm. "Remember what I said. We all really care about you, Darc, and we just want to see you get better. I'll come and see you tomorrow."

She stares at me, a blank expression on her face. I turn and walk toward the door, not quite knowing what else to do. "Andy," she calls. "Don't bother coming tomorrow." Her words are cold, and they hurt. I wanted to help her, but maybe it's for the best we have some distance if she really hates me this much.

I head for the door quickly before the tears I've been holding back erupt, but the man stops me. "You're Andy?" he asks.

"Yes," I whisper.

"Can you hang around for a bit? I need to talk to you," he says with a sympathetic smile. I wonder who he is.

"Okay," I say, then leave the room hastily.

I find Brad waiting for me across the hall, and as soon as he makes eye contact with me, I burst into tears. That was too much. She is more messed up than I even realized.

Brad

I take Andy in my arms and hold her as close as I can, hoping that will ease her pain. The sobs wrack her body. I have no idea what they talked about, but I can only imagine how hard it must have been for her. I hate seeing her like this, in so much pain. Anyone else would walk away from a person that had done this to them, but not her. Andy wants to help her friend, she thinks she can somehow save her.

After some time, she pulls back from me. Her breathing has settled, and her tears have dried up. "Come on, let's get out of here," I offer, hoping I can take her away from here and distract her for a bit with something, anything. I just wish I knew what to do at the moment, but I haven't got a clue.

She looks up at me. "I can't. Did you see that guy that went into her room? He wants to talk to me."

I didn't notice any guy. "Do you know who he is?"

"No idea. But I guess we're about to find out. That's him coming toward us now." She looks in his direction. He's young and nicely dressed, with an air of confidence in the way he moves. But there is something about him that looks familiar.

He smiles toward us. "Andy, thanks for waiting. I'm Darcy's brother, Dylan."

She looks at me, surprised. "Oh, hi, sorry, I didn't know she had a brother."

This is news to all of us. But that would be the familiarity; he has Darcy's eyes, and there is something about his overall look that is similar to her as well. "Dylan, hi, I'm Brad. I coached Darcy this year." I hold out my hand, and he gives it a firm shake.

He assesses me. The look on his face says he's not impressed. "Yeah, I know who you are. Darcy has filled me in." And I'm left to wonder what exactly that means. If it's her version of events, it could be anything. By the look he gives me, I'm positive it's not great. He turns his attention back to Andy. "I'm not very close with my sister, but the hospital called me. I'm down as her next of kin, so here I am."

"Oh, okay. Thanks for coming to help her. She needs all the support she can get at the moment."

"I'm sorry for what she did to you, scaring you like that. No friend should ever have to see someone they care about go through that. I know the last time she did this still haunts me," he says sadly.

"She's done this before?" I ask. From what I can remember, there is no record of any mental health issues with her. The club would know if there was.

"Not this bad, but yes. Andy, can we go somewhere to talk for a bit? It feels weird standing in the hall talking about all of this."

"Yes, of course." She looks up the hall for somewhere to go.

"There is a cafeteria on the next floor down," I suggest.

"Can we talk in private?" he asks her, completely dismissing me.

I give him a look like no way in hell, buddy. He has to be fucking kidding. We don't know him at all. There is no way I'm letting her talk to him by herself, especially in the state she's in.

Andy takes my hand and laces it with hers. "Ah, Brad can come. He's my boyfriend, anything you have to say you can with him there."

Thank fuck she said that. He gives me another glance. Then huffs out, "Okay."

As we walk, I give her hand a squeeze; she curls her fingers around mine, gripping on tightly. It's a slight gesture, but it's nice to know she needs me and isn't still pushing me away to deal with it all on her own. A situation like this could see a new relationship fall apart, but it's only making us stronger. She is opening up to me and letting me in.

We take a seat and I grab coffee for the three of us, placing the tray of crappy cafeteria coffee down in front of them.

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