“This is what I want.”
“I know how badly you want to play,” Coach starts, “and with the finals looking like a real possibility, I can understand if you—”
“I’ve thought about it a lot,” I interrupt. “I’m sure that this is the right decision for me.”
Coach frowns, tapping his fingers against the edge of the desk. “I just hope you know that you’re more than this game, son. You’re a damned good player, but you’re a lot more than that too.”
I feel a smile touch my lips as I nod. “I’m starting to see that, sir.”
“Good. There’s actually something I wanted to talk to you about, if you have time.”
I shift a little in my seat, thinking about how I want to get to Abby and fixthatpart of my life too. “I have a little time,” I tell him finally.
But just as I say it, my phone starts buzzing in my pocket. I reach to silence it so I can continue to talk with Coach, but no sooner does it go quiet than it starts right back up again.
“Sorry,” I tell Coach. “Do you mind?”
“Go ahead and take it,” he says.
I glance down at the caller ID and see Ian’s name there, wincing a little as I prepare myself for what has to be a verbal tongue-lashing over making his sister cry. I know there’s nothing he can say that would make me feel any worse, so I steel my resolve, swiping the screen and picking up the call.
“Hey, I know you’re probably pissed, but I can explain everyth—”
“Jack,” Ian says seriously. “It’s Abby.”
“I know that,” I answer, “and I’m going to fix it. I just need a little more time, and then I’m going to—”
“She’s in the hospital.”
Everything in my body goes cold. “What?”
“Apparently she was clipped on the street? I don’t know all the details. I just got the call. She got into a fucking cab and took herself to the hospital. I’m on my way there now, but I thought you might want to know.”
“I’m leaving,” I tell him, already rising from my chair. “I’ll be there in fifteen.”
“Okay,” Ian says. He’s quiet for a second before, “We have a lot to talk about.”
I swallow thickly. “Yeah. We do.”
“Later?”
“Later.”
“See you soon.”
I glance at Coach when I hang up, shooting him an apologetic look. “Hey, I’m so sorry, but something came up. It’s an emergency. Do you mind if we finish this conversation later?”
“Sure,” Coach says. “But I expect you back here when it’s all cleared up, all right?”
“Right,” I answer, my heart racing and my palms shaking as I think of nothing but getting to Abby. “Sure thing.”
I grab my jacket from the back of the chair and rush out of his office, everything in my body flushing with fear and anxiety as I consider what I might find at the hospital. The fact that I know nothing fills me with dread, and all I can think about is getting to her as quickly as possible.
The idea of her being hurt makes me feel more helpless than I’ve ever felt—more than when I found out I might not be playing anymore, more than when people pushed me to have the surgery—all of it. I’veneverfelt fear like this.
Which only makes me move faster.
It’s odd being back atthis hospital. It’s the same one they dragged me to after I hurt my arm, back when I first got my diagnosis, and with it brings all the same anxieties that I felt that day, except now they’re exponentially worse because it’sAbby.I can barely think as I rush through the front doors in search of the front desk in the emergency room, taking a quick scan of the waiting area and noticing that Ian and Dee aren’t there. I can’t be sure if that means they haven’t made it yet or if they’re already back with Abby. Will the staff even let me in to see her since I’m not family?
