Page 72 of Reputation (Toronto Royals #1)

Chapter Forty One

Eavie

Eavie stared at the dark tunnel long after the paramedics had disappeared.

Everything felt slow, as if the world was moving underwater.

A dreadful ache formed in the pit of her stomach, replacing the waves of nausea from only moments before, her lungs refusing to draw in the air that she desperately needed.

Standing there, she tried to take in large, slow breaths to calm her hammering heart. The roaring in her ears remained, the white noise deafening as if someone had turned the sound off in the world, and all she could hear was static.

Slowly, a noise began to penetrate the wall of silence. It was quiet at first, as if very far away and muffled. Little by little, it began to grow louder. Eavie tried to focus on it, to get her mind to grasp what it was saying. After several heartbeats, she realized it was someone saying her name.

Blinking, she slowly turned to her right, where Mandy’s face came into focus. She stared at Eavie with a look of concern on her face.

“Eavie,” repeated the voice that matched the movement of Mandy’s lips.

Suddenly, as if someone had flipped a switch, all the sound returned to the world, and Eavie emerged from underwater. People were talking all around the arena, and players were moving around the ice, trying to refocus.

“Eavie,” repeated Mandy. “Are you okay?”

Focusing on taking deep breaths, she became aware that Molly and Mandy were gripping each of her hands.

“You’re super pale,” said Molly, scanning her face.

“I’m fine,” Eavie finally managed, her voice coming out a whispered squeak. Clearing her throat, she tried again. “I’m okay. I just…” She didn’t know how to finish that sentence.

What was she? She was in shock—but then, so were Mandy and Molly, and neither of them looked like they might faint.

She was concerned—that was it. After all, she had feelings for Jax, and those feelings didn’t just go away. She worried about his condition, worried that he might be seriously injured.

She reminded herself that she had briefly seen him move his legs when he was on the ice. That was a good sign, but he had looked very still when they had taken him away, and she hadn’t been able to see if he was conscious.

“Eavie,” Mandy said, drawing her attention back. “Go!” Eavie stared at her, trying to understand what she was saying. “You should go. Sam will have gone down to meet the paramedics. You can catch him before they go to the hospital.”

Eavie was about to protest, but something stopped her. Somewhere inside, she knew she needed to go. She needed to be with him.

With one last look at Mandy, Eavie grabbed her bag from the floor and took off up the stairs of the box.

When she reached the exit, she broke out into a run.

She flew down the hallway to the back stairwell, where she descended the steps carefully in her heels.

She maneuvered her way down four flights until she reached the sub-level that hosted the locker rooms and medical staff.

Yanking open the steel doors, she took a sharp left and picked up her sprint down the curving cement hallway.

As she rounded a corner, she caught sight of the medical team and paramedics in the distance, leaning over the stretcher.

As she neared, she saw Sam standing slightly back along with Jamie, one of the assistant coaches.

Sam turned in her direction at the sound of her heels pounding against the concrete. Catching sight of her flying down the hallway, he extended his hands out to catch her.

She slid to a halt just in front of him, her hands grasping his forearms, her eyes immediately seeking Jax. “How is he?” she asked, a tremor in her voice.

“He’s stable,” said Sam, gripping her arms to stop her from moving closer. “But, it’s a head injury. Without him being conscious, they don’t know the extent of his injuries.”

A ragged cry tore through her lips, tears spilling from her eyes. Her hands tightened on Sam’s arms as he held her still. It was all she could do not to rush over to Jax and yell at him to wake up.

Heart in her throat, her eyes categorized every injury she could see, and spun with what she couldn’t.

He was so still, with a large gash that trickled blood down his forehead and onto his sharp cheekbones.

She needed him to open his eyes, needed to see that he was okay.

She couldn’t handle it if something happened to him, and the last thing she’d said was goodbye.

She wasn’t ready to say goodbye. She needed to talk to him again and try to figure everything out—she wanted to figure this out.

“We have to go, now,” one of the paramedics said urgently as they unlocked the wheels and lifted Jax into the waiting ambulance.

“Aaron,” said Sam, speaking to the team’s doctor. “Go with him. I’ll follow in my car and meet you there.”

Aaron nodded at Sam, then glanced at Eavie before stepping into the ambulance, where the second paramedic slammed the doors and made his way to the driver’s side. The ambulance roared to life and started out of the garage, lights and sirens coming to life as they pulled out the bay doors.

Eavie watched the ambulance disappear, and another wave of panic washed over her with Jax once again out of her view.

“Eavie,” said Sam, pulling her attention away. “Let’s go.”

Eavie nodded once before she and Sam jogged down the hallway to the parking garage. They slid into Sam’s Audi sedan, which he threw into drive and pulled out of the garage.

They followed the path the ambulance would have taken to the hospital only a few blocks away.

They would take him to Wilson, where her brother had just been hired.

It was one of the best hospitals in the world.

Jax would be in good hands, Eavie told herself as they maneuvered through the city traffic.

She stared out the windshield ahead as silence settled in the car.

She focused on keeping her breathing even, although it threatened to run out of control every time she pictured Jax lying unconscious on the stretcher. She kept reminding herself that he would be in the hands of some of the best doctors in the world. He would be okay.

Sam glanced over at her as he pulled the car up to a red light two blocks from their destination. “Did I ever tell you how Addi and I met?” he asked, drawing her attention away from the bright red traffic light.

Blinking rapidly to stop the tears threatening to fall, she said shakily, “No, I don’t think so.”

Sam turned to look back at the road, a small smile on his lips as he thought of his wife.

“We met in university, where we were both getting our MBAs. We started the same year and crossed paths a thousand times. I remember the first day I saw her. I thought she was the most beautiful, perfect woman I had ever seen. Sometimes, in class, I didn’t hear a word of the lecture because I was too busy staring at her.

” He laughed at the memory. The light turned green, and Sam hit the gas.

“It took me two years to get the courage to ask her out, and she turned me down the first time. She said she didn’t have time to date and needed to focus on graduating at the top of our class.

“In the family she grew up in, she was determined to prove herself. With three older brothers, she had always been the baby of the family. She got top grades and landed her spot in business school without any help from her family.” Turning left, he continued driving through the dark city toward the hospital.

“At the beginning of our final year, I asked her out again.

She said no again, but I kept asking. Finally, she said yes and…

we fell madly in love. After a few months, I knew I would marry her, but she was so focused on completing her MBA and getting a job offer that I knew I had to be patient.

Toward the end of the school year, I bought a ring and planned to propose after graduation.

“I received an offer to go to Niagara and join the provincial team on the management side. Addi was sifting through multiple offers to stay in the city.” Sam turned left again at the next set of lights, the hospital now coming into view.

“After our graduation ceremony, we went to a party with our friends to celebrate. When we left, we were walking back to her place when I stopped her and proposed.” He drew in a deep breath, shaking his head.

“She said no. She walked away from me that night, ring in hand.”

Eavie watched Sam as he told her the story and felt a sadness in her chest, even though she knew they had ended up married. Turning into the hospital driveway, Sam followed the directions to the parking garage.

“A few days later, I was packing up my apartment when someone knocked on my door. I opened it to find Addi standing there, looking just as breathtaking as always. I remember the flood of relief that washed through me at seeing her. She stood in my doorway and told me she’d made a mistake and that she had changed her mind.

She said she realized there was more to having a fulfilling life than proving herself to her family.

She’d rejected all three job offers and wanted to come with me.

We loaded the moving truck two days later and moved to Niagara. ”

Sam pulled the car into the first parking space he could find and turned off the engine. He glanced at her as she watched him in confusion. It was a lovely story, but Eavie couldn’t understand why he was telling it to her.