Page 18 of Falling Offsides

I’m rummaging through my refrigerator when my phone starts going off again.

Jayden:

y’all remember Fischer from the Aces?

Erik

the one who took a puck to the face?

Jayden

yeah. seemed fine. Brain bleed. ICU three hours later.

My chest tightens like a vice.

Fuck.

I mute the chat. Toss my phone on the counter so I don’t dive for the link again.

With a deep inhale, I close the refrigerator and opt for the bottle of water on the counter. Next to my phone.

“Doc said she’s fine,” I say on a slow exhale. “Shelookedokay.”

But the what-ifs are clawing at my brain when I head back to the bedroom, chugging down half the large bottle of water on the way. I throw the phone and water on the bed as I deviate to the ensuite—I need a piss and to wash my face so I can force myself to switch off and go to sleep.

That’s what I’m going to do. A couple drops of melatonin later, I’m teasing my nervous curl free of knots before I head straight to bed. I don’t even touch my phone. I leave it where it fell on the other side of the bed with the bottle of water.

I’m good. I’m great. I’m?—

The fucker goes off. Again. Once. Then after a beat it buzzes incessantly.

Are you shitting me?

I pick it up, about to toss it when Coach’s team chat comes up with a message fromhim.

Coach Nilsson

REMINDER:

Be mindful of your surroundings during drills.

That’s all.

My stomach drops.

I sit up.

There’s no point in talking sense into myself anymore. I’m done. That message was the last straw.

Coach has caused this. He’s pushed me over the edge and I’m diving through the group thread again. Scrolling back through Matheo’s bullshit.

There.One of the links he used to show us his dogs knocking over furniture.

I tap it.

After a few seconds the feed blinks to life. It’s grainy at first. Takes me a some time to make out the room. Then the focus clears and…there she is.

Courtney is on the couch. Headphones on—they’re bigger than her head, stretched across her forehead so they’re clear of the injury I inflicted on her.