Page 184 of Falling Offsides

Auguste

Thank you.

I crawl into bed next to Court and hold her as tight as I can without disturbing her. While I wait to fall asleep I count her breaths and bury my face in her hair.

Morning comes after too long.I’m strung out and on edge, but I have to keep it together for her. Because Coach is on his way and I madehim a promise to look after her. More than that, I promised to be her safe place. A place she could break and I would watch over all her pieces.

That promise is all that matters right now.

Courtney yawns, blinking slowly as I pull the curtains open just enough to let in a lazy sliver of sun.

“Hello, Princess,” I say, sitting on the edge of the bed and brushing my thumb down her cheek.

“Hey, Masterchef.” Her voice is dry, croakier than usual when she wakes up.

I open the bottle of water on her bedside table and offer her a drink. When she chugs half in seconds, I pull it away. “Slow. Don’t make yourself sick.”

“I already feel it.”

“Don’t make it worse.”

Courtney smiles, pressing a kiss to my palm when I cup her face. “I like it when you’re bossy.”

The innuendo I’m about to quip dies on my tongue as I look into her eyes and the sadness there is inescapable.

“Come on. Let’s go get breakfast. Maybe buy you something that isn’t… my team merch.”

She lifts the hem of the t-shirt she’s wearing offering me a peek at the smooth skin of her belly. “This is Comets couture. It even smells like it.”

I grin back, pushing through the knot in my chest. “Well, too bad, because I’ve already planned breakfast and a quick stop to pick up some clothes. Comets couture might look real fine on you, but I’m not sure I can pull it off.”

Courtney chuckles, instantly turning her attention to her phone where I’ve put it on charge on her bedside table.

I give her time to scroll through her messages while I shower and get dressed in the same clothes from yesterday. Maybe I should have asked the concierge service to pick up some options for us.

The last thing Courtney wants to do is shop for clothes while her mom is in the hospital and we have no idea how she’s doing. I just figured we could use it as an excuse to kill some time before Coach gets here.

I haven’t even told her about that because I know she’ll panic, and she has enough on her plate. So I will carry her over that bridge when we get to it.

“She’s still not awake,” Courtney whimpers, falling into my arms as soon as I walk out of the bathroom. “They have her sedated.”

“I read online that it’s normal for TBIs. This guy Jayden and Matheo know had something similar and he had to be sedated for his brain to recover and?—”

“I don’t want my mom to die, Auguste.”

“Court, she’s being looked after by the best neuro team in Washington. I looked it up last night. Washington Memorial has a state of the art Neurology department, and some big shot specialist that everyone is talking about and he’ll be taking care of your mom. She’s in the best fucking place. I promise.”

It’s about the only promise I can make to her right now. I scoured the internet for all the information I could get on the neurology team at the hospital. Searched up each member of the staff…

I hold her face in both hands, using my thumbs to wipe away her tears. “Tell me what you need. What more can I do to make this better… easier for you?”

“You’re it,” she whispers back, leaning all the way into me.

Courtney melts into my chest, allowing me to be her anchor, the skeleton that holds her up.

“Let’s go get breakfast,” she tells me with a kiss to my chest, right over my heart. “Also, I kind of have to make you look pretty for when you meet my mom.”

When I meet her mom.