Quinn didn’t hesitate to nod. Even without the restraints, August was one of the bravest people Quinn had ever met, even if he didn’t believe it.
“He’ll be there,” said Quinn. “Perry was in the same room as my—our nieces, and he’s not going to let that slide. You can count on him, and I’ll make sure he’s prepared for whatever happens.”
Kenneth leaned forward and reached across the desk, touching his fingers to the back of Quinn’s hand. “I will walk him through it as many times as he needs, okay? The questions the defence will ask will be tough, but I’ll shut them down if they try to push too far. You have my word.”
That was the reassurance Quinn was looking for. He wouldn’t forgive himself if this trial left August broken beyond repair.
“I won’t start meeting with August until the playoffs are over,” Kenneth said with a charming smile. “Big game tonight, eh? If Vancouver wins, they’re taking the cup home.”
Quinn was aware. When he wasn’t at the hospital listening to Eren grumble about it during his speech therapy, he was at home listening to Alara and Emira scream about it while they ran circles around the TV, or he was at August’s place, and that—
Lord, how did he find himself in a house full of hockey players? Nollan rarely went home, ifever, because he was stuck to Niko like a tick. And August was so locked into game mode that he didn’t seem to realize that he had acquired a goaltender as a roommate.
And the dumb thing was, Quinn was planning on moving Eren and the girls into August’s place. He was tired of going back and forth, and he wanted the girls and Eren close once he was discharged from the hospital.
The house was massive, so there was room for all of them, but Niko would have to take one of the rooms on the second floor so that Eren and his nieces could claim the area downstairs.
This wouldn’t happen until after summer, of course, because Quinn had already been making plans with Jett to take over their summer home. Harrison had an entire building built for rehabilitation on his property, and he already knew a guy who could help Eren regain his mobility.
Besides, fresh air and soothing nature were supposed to be great for mental health, and Niko had a cottage built and ready for them to occupy. The boys even had a rink to skate on so they could do their conditioning and training for the next season. It was a win-win.
“I’m a Toronto guy myself,” said Kenneth, his voice abruptly ending Quinn’s daydreams of swimming in the lake and painting in sunlit rooms. “So, don’t take offence when I say I hope Vancouver loses and we go to game six. A back-to-back cup win would be fantastic.”
Quinn was saved from having to answer when Kenneth’s desk phone rang softly, putting an end to the hockey conversation.
“Excuse me for a moment, Quinn.” Kenneth picked up the phone and held it to his ear. “Elizabeth, what is it? Did they find something?”
Quinn heard a woman respond, her pitch suggesting she was frazzled or panicked; he couldn’t really tell.
“Let them in right away,” Kenneth said, and he hung up before she could respond.
He stood, and Quinn stood with him because he wasn’t sure what was happening, and if he had to leave, he wanted to make a quick exit. But when Niko Cote burst through the closed door with so much force that the handle cracked against the wall, Quinn’s heart plummeted to the floor.
“You weren’t answering your phone,” said Niko. He strode across the room, looking behind him to check if Nollan was following. “Augustgave us the address to your lawyer’s office so we could come get you. He didn’t want you to flip out when you saw all the messages.”
Niko was sweaty, and his breathing was laboured. It looked like he had thrown on clothes and left the rink without showering in his haste to find Quinn, which could only mean—
“How bad is it?” Quinn asked, his calm tone masking the sheer terror bubbling inside him. “Is he cut? Was it a puck? Did he hit his head? Niko—how fucking bad—”
Niko held up his hands to cut him off and then gripped Quinn’s arms. “He’s okay. He’s been having issues with his right knee, and it gave out during practice today when he pivoted too awkwardly. The doctor said it might be a torn ACL. He’s in pain, but they took him to the hospital to get treated right away, and he’s on the pain medshard.”
Torn ACL? Quinn had no fucking clue what that meant, but going to the hospital couldn’t be good.
“After the year we’ve had, I wanted to make sure you get to the hospital safely,” said Niko, and Nollan nodded along with him. “At best, August will be off the ice for a few weeks to rest the sprain, but it might need surgery if it’s bad. They’ll probably know more by the time we get there.”
Nollan took Quinn’s shaking hand and held it. “It’s not the end of the world, I swear. He’s going to be okay, so please don’t freak out. Take deep breaths.”
Quinn wasn’t freaking out. Not at all.
He had only watched his sister die less than a year ago, watched August go through a mental crisis while narrowly avoiding his own. Eren took a fucking projectile to the head, and now he couldn’t eat soup. August had been cut deep enough that he needed stitches, and now he tore something in his knee badly enough to mayberequire surgery.
Oh, he was good. So. Good.
“He’s losing his shit,” Niko said, and his grip on Quinn’s arms tightened to keep him from falling over. “Hey, fancy man. You got any ice here we can use to shock his system?”
Kenneth’s chuckle sounded echoey, and Quinn suddenly realized that he was fainting for the second time in his life.
The conversation around him drifted away, and his head felt too heavy to hold up. Quinn was almost gone when something burned him, and he yelped and jumped back into his body hard enough to make him stumble.
