Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 83612 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 418(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83612 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 418(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
“I just need to let Reid know I’m leaving.” I can hear her fingers tapping on the screen of her phone before she drops it into the cup holder.
I should text Will, but I don’t want him to worry. I’ll call him after the game and tell him what happened. Surely, I’ll have some answers by then. It’s only the start of the second quarter, or at least it was. I don’t know how much time has passed. The car starts to move, and my stomach rolls. Closing my eyes, I focus on deep, even breaths for the short five-minute drive to the emergency department.
Twenty-Two
Will
* * *
The team is locked in, and we’re up seven to nothing on the scoreboard. It’s just the second quarter, so there’s a lot of football left to play, but damn if I don’t like the look of what that screen is showing right now.
“There you go, Reynolds!” I shout as Landry catches a perfect 50-yard spiral, the ball landing right in his chest. The offense scrambles back to the line for the next play. We’re moving the ball forward with every snap, which is how you win football games.
My cell phone vibrates in my pocket, but I ignore it. I watch the next drive, which lands us just three yards shy of a touchdown, and the offense lines up again. “Hell yes!” I say as the ball is snapped, and we’re in the endzone. The guys celebrate before our kicker jogs out onto the field and kicks us an extra point.
“Sit the next one out,” I tell my starters. We’re up fourteen points, and this is a preseason game. I don’t want to risk them getting hurt, so I’m putting in my second-string next time we get the ball.
I watch as the defense takes the field and waits for the snap when my phone vibrates a second time, reminding me I have a new message. Curious, because everyone who knows me knows it’s game day, I tug it out of my pocket and see a text message from my daughter. That’s weird, because she’s here watching the game. I glance up at the suite that I know she’s in before opening her message.
* * *
Bellamy: Hey, Dad. Can you tell Reid that I might not be there when the game is over? Amanda passed out in the suite. The EMTs looked her over, but I’m taking her to the hospital to get checked out just in case. I know he doesn’t have his phone, so can you get word to him for me, please? Thank you. Love you.
* * *
I grip my phone so tightly in my fist that I’m half afraid it might crack.
Amanda passed out. My Amanda.
The words echo in my skull, hollow and unreal, as if they belong to someone else’s nightmare. A cold fist closes around my heart, squeezing until it’s hard to breathe.
I have to get to her.
Jerry, the general manager, lays a hand on my shoulder. I hadn’t even noticed him walk up.
“Will?” he says carefully.
I look up at him, my vision hazy with worry. Whatever he sees on my face makes his expression shift instantly, and concern shines in his eyes.
“I have to go.” My throat tightens so hard the words scrape their way out. “Family emergency.”
“Bellamy? Coral?” he asks, knowing my family. He doesn’t know my Mandy, though. Tomorrow is the day we were going to tell my daughter and the rest of the world. I never got to shout it from the rooftops what she means to me.
Fuck, please let her be okay.
I shake my head. My mouth feels numb. “My girl—” I can’t finish from the worry clogging my throat. My voice is rough, almost breaking. Jerry’s eyes widen a fraction. “I have to go.”
A mix of surprise and understanding crosses his face. “Are you safe to drive?” he asks.
I’m already ripping the headset off my head and shoving it into his chest. I don’t answer. I can’t. I’m moving before his question even registers, jogging off the field toward the tunnel. The roar of the stadium fades into a dull, distant blur behind the pounding of my heart.
Amanda passed out.
My chest tightens harder with every step. I try to think about her telling me she’s not been feeling well. I know she’s been having a hard time sleeping this week, but that’s all that she’s mentioned. Did I miss signs? She passed out. That’s not normal.
Fuck… Mia. I don’t know where she is, but I know Bellamy will make sure she’s okay. As soon as I check on Amanda and lay eyes on her, I’ll get our girl from whoever is watching her right now.
Slamming open the door to my office, I grab my keys off the desk with shaking hands and bolt back out. Someone calls my name. Then another voice. I don’t stop. I can’t. All I know is that she needs me, and nothing is stopping me from going to her. The game, the team, my job, none of it matters right now. None of it means a damn thing if she’s lying in a hospital bed and I’m not there.