Page 25

Greyson

The doors to the waiting room slam against the wall as Evan comes rushing in, out of breath, and still in his hockey gear, minus the skates. He spots chase and I sitting in the corner and makes a beeline straight for us.

“How is he? Can I see him? What did they say? Is he going to die?” The questions pour out of his mouth in one long breath.

“Chill,” Chase chuckles, standing up. “They said he was stable, I’ve been checking for updates every five minutes.”

We’ve been here for almost an hour, and Felix was immediately taken into a room when we arrived for them to do further tests on him. And no matter the amount of times Chase went up to the desk and asked how he was doing, the answer was always the same—he’s stable.

“Fuck,” he hisses, crouching down to the ground and holding his head. “He’s okay?” He looks up at us with hopefulness in his eyes.

“He’s okay.” Chase nods.

“Fuck!” He grumbles. “I thought—” inhaling a sharp breath, a sob escapes him. “I thought I was about to lose my brother.”

Chase grabs hold of Evan’s jersey, drags him to his feet and pulls him against his chest, wrapping his arms around him. And somehow, this makes Evan sob more as he wraps his arms around Chase and cries into his shoulder.

“Kingston?” Evan sniffles, lifting his head.

“Hmm?”

Pulling away, he wipes his tears with the back of his hand. “You actually give really good hugs.”

Chase snorts, shaking his head. “You okay now?”

“Uh-huh,” he nods. “Just worried.”

“He’ll be okay.” Chase gives a slight tilt to his lips.

“My parents are on their way, we only live an hour from here, so they should be here soon.” He sighs, slumping into the rigid plastic chairs.

Chase nods. “We’ll leave once they arrive.”

“Thank you for bringing him here, and staying.” Evan smiles.

“I’ll do anything for the team.” Chase confesses, and I know he’s telling the truth.

“Oh, and Kingston?”

“Yes?”

“I’m so totally telling everyone you hugged me,” he grins, wiggling his eyebrows. “That whole ‘don’t fuck with me’ look you have going on? It really deceives you. You’re actually a teddy bear at heart, aren’t you?”

“The most lovable teddy bear.” I chime in, rubbing my hand over Chase’s beard.

“Fuck off, Montgomery.” He hisses, shoving my hand away.

***

Half hour later, there’s still no update. Both Chase and Evan have been up to the reception desk countless of times, and I’m sure the girl behind there is getting annoyed with them because not even a minute ago when Evan went up there, she very kindly told him to stop bothering her, and that the doctor will be out shortly with an update.

“I’m going to grab a bottle of water,” I announce, standing. “Does anyone want anything?”

“Negative.” Chase shakes his head.

“I don’t think I can drink—even if it’s water.” Evan slumps further into his chair.

Nodding, I turn and spot a row of vending machines in the far corner. Walking over, I grumble when I notice half of them are out of order, and the other half only sells chocolate or candy.

Turning, I make my way toward the reception desk. “Excuse me.” I say, trying to gain her attention.

Sighing, she stops typing on her computer and looks up at me. “I already told your friend that the doctor will be out soon.”

“Oh…I uh, I just wanted to know if there were any more vending machines around,” awkwardly scratching the nape of my neck, I point toward the row of machines. “Most of them are out of order, and I just wanted to grab some waters.”

“If you walk out those double doors over there,” pointing behind me, I turn to look. “And turn left, right, and then left again…there’s a row of vending machines there.”

“Okay, thank you.” Smiling at her, I turn around and walk through the double doors .

Left, right, left…I repeat this like a mantra as I go in the direction she told me, and when I take the final left, I grin as I spot the row of vending machines at the end of the corridor.

Not paying attention to where I’m walking, I knock into someone making them squeak. Quickly wrapping an arm around their waist to keep them from falling, my eyes dart down and widen when I realize it’s Lilly.

What the hell is she doing here?

My stomach flutters at the site of her, and I hate to admit this, but my dick has been obnoxiously hard ever since Saturday morning when she had her hand wrapped around it. And no matter how many times I jerked off, picturing it was her hand doing it, I never felt satisfied. It’s like something was missing. And what was missing was her.

“Hey, Lil-Bug.” I grin, letting go off her waist.

“Greyson, hey,” her eyes widen in surprise as she adjusts her skirt. “W-what are you doing here, are you okay?”

I could ask the same thing. She missed practice, to be here…looking around, I try and gauge where she came from. When my eyes land on the cardiology department behind her, my heart skips a beat.

Is there something wrong with her heart?

Why else would she be here? A rush of worry washes over me as I look at her, inspecting her for any signs that something could be wrong with her heart. But she looks healthy.

Clearing her throat, I realize she asked a question, but I’ve been too busy trying to figure out if she’s okay. Then again, those with heart problems, could you even tell if they’ve got problems? I have no idea.

Yet, the thought of something being wrong with her heart makes me feel uneasy.

I understand that we barely know each other, and I get that if she does have a heart problem, why she wouldn’t have told me. But the more time I’ve been spending with her…

“Greyson?”

“I, uh,” clearing my throat, I scratch the back of my head. “Felix hurt himself at practice, and Abigail suggested taking him to the hospital so the doctors could monitor him further.”

“Oh, fuck,” she winces, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. “Is he okay?”

“Yeah,” I nod. Are you? “His head was bleeding where he knocked it, and he’s got a concussion. But he’ll be okay.”

“Okay, good,” she lets out a breath. “What about Evan, is he okay? I know how much those two look out for one another”

“Yeah, he was very emotional, but Chase managed calmed him down.” I admit, shifting my feet.

“Bless him.” She pouts, scrunching her nose.

So cute.

Cute? Did I seriously just say that?

“What are you doing here anyway, coming out of the…” my eyes trail to the large sign behind her. “Cardiology department?”

Please say you’re okay.

“Oh,” she laughs nervously, lifting a hand, she plays with her left ear lobe. “Visiting Mrs. Baker, with Callie.”

Just as I’m about to respond, Callie walks around the corner, laughing with a doctor. They talk for a minute before she nods and turns to walk in our direction. Liftin g her head, she halts for a second when she sees me and then smiles. “Oh, hey Greyson.”

“Hi.” I smile back.

“Uh, how’s Mrs. Baker?” Lilly asks, chewing at her lip.

“Oh, Mrs. Baker is wonderful, ” she smirks, pulling her arms through her coat. “Said something about double chocolate stuffed brownies, and a possible trip to the bookstore…”

“Oh, did she now?” Lilly raises an amused brow.

“Uh-huh,” Callie nods. “Said something about how therapeutic it is to eat a double stuffed brownie, and have a new book added to her collection after draining tests.”

Lilly laughs, shaking her head. “Typical Mrs. Baker.”

Glancing between the two of them as they talk, I try and figure out if they’re lying about this “Mrs. Baker” …who is she to them? And why would they come to the hospital in the middle of the day to see her?

I’m about to respond, but at that moment, my name is called. Turning, I see Chase making his way toward us, and Callie groans.

“Spawn of Satan,” she greets him with a sneer as he comes to stand beside me. “You’re in the wrong department,” pointing to the large board to the left of us where all the departments are color coded by floors, she says. “The morgue is situated in the basement.”

“Then why aren’t you down there?”

“You can’t just throw what I said to you, back to me, but in a different font.” She hisses.

“I just did, didn’t I?”

“Ugh, you’re so infuriating.” She grumbles, her face scrunching up in annoyance.

“Hmm,” glancing around, he looks at the cardiology sign we ’re standing by and smirks. “Here to get a new heart? God knows you need one.”

She recoils slightly, then squares her shoulders and bites down on her lip. “You’re such a fucking cunt.” She hisses, pushing his shoulder with hers as she storms away.

Lilly curses under her breath as she watches Callie walk away and then turns her attention to me. “We still on for tomorrow?” She asks.

“Yeah, three?” I confirm.

“Three.” She nods.

Turning, I watch as she runs down the corridor toward Callie. When she catches up with her, she turns her head to the side and says something to Callie, who in return shrugs, leans over and plants a kiss on her forehead.

“What were they doing here?” Chase sneers.

“Visiting Mrs. Baker, apparently.” I shrug.

If that’s even the truth.

“Interesting.” He chews his cheek.

“What?”

“Nothing,” he shakes his head. “Just didn’t realize Mrs. Baker had a heart problem. But then again, she is in her seventies, so who knows.”

“You know Mrs. Baker?”

So, they were telling the truth?

“Yeah,” he nods. “She owns the bookstore in town.”

“The one that’s for sale?” Would explain why she’s selling it if she has heart problems.

“Hmm.” He responds, shoving his hands in his pockets as he walks away.

Doing a ligh t jog to catch up with him, I say. “As in the same one I saw the listing of in your room?”

I came across it by complete accident. He asked me to grab his gear on my way down, and I saw the listing of the store on his desk. Being curious, I took a peek, but didn’t have enough time to question him about it before now.

He stops in his tracks, turns to face me and nods. “Yes.”

“You’re buying a bookstore?” I ask, confusion clear in my voice.

“Yes.” Not even glancing at me, he continues walking.

“W-what?” The fuck? “Why?”

“For my own reasons.” He says as the automatic doors that lead outside open.

“For your own reasons?” I raise my brow, even though he can’t see. “And wait,” stopping, I look around the hospitals parking lot. “Are Felix’s parents here?”

“Yes, to both.” He confirms, opening his truck door and getting inside.

Groaning at his blunt answers—something I’m used to—I open the passenger side door and get in myself. “Why are you interested in buying a bookstore?” I question.

“As I said, personal reasons.”

I’m about to respond, but he cranks up the volume, which is his way of saying we’re not talking about it anymore .

Great.