A nurse pops in to leave a cooling pack for Olli's eye, reminding me that this is not at all a good place to have this conversation. With great effort, I swallow down the questions that are burning on my tongue. Instead, I make sure the curtains are closed again and then sit on the edge of the bed, carefully wrapping one arm around Olli's shoulders.
Outwardly, it's a much-needed island of quiet, but on the inside, I cannot stop my spiraling thoughts.I truly thought most wouldn't care about that as long as their sports team won, but since the uproar around Xander Hart last year, I have been even more disillusioned. It had taken only a few rotten apples on the B-Tech ice hockey team to shake our whole college. Outside of Micah and Davenport, I don’t even know anyone else on the football team, so I have no idea if it’s better or worse than Nicko’s former teammates.
I can't imagine living like that, especially after talking to Nicko about keeping his relationship with Xander a secret.
That boy’s going to be jetting all over the country with his football club. How’d they make that work when Linden’s here?My father's words come to mind, harsh and unbidden.
No, I don’t know how I could make it work.
Not that I'm going to even have the option to try. Surely, Micah doesn't think about that. He's worked so hard for his future in the NFL; I could never ask him to give that up for a chance to turn a summer romance into…anything else. Especially not when it meant gaining mostly problems and very few benefits.
Then again, I was happy to stay at the Nook while Micah went out. I was the one who offered to wait for him, after all.
That's different! He's not even my boyfriend, so there's nothing to get jealous over.A part of me insists, but even inside my own head, I don't fully believe it. Yes, we haven't put that label on ourselves, but deep down, I trust Micah.
The revelation isn't even startling. It just is.
Something I knew for a while now but haven't let myself feel, let alone acknowledge.
I flinch when the curtains are drawn aside, tearing me out of my thoughts. Two uniformed cops walk in through the gap.
“Oliver Yardley?” the first one, a woman with a graying braid that falls over her shoulder, asks. The other, a man with impressively fluffy eyebrows, watches me closely.
“Yes,” Olli says, without taking the ice pack off the side of his face.
“We wanted to ask you some questions about the incident at the lake. We were called about an assault, so we have to make sure we have all the details before you might not remember.”
“I…” Olli trails off and looks up at me, searching.
“I'm not sure this is a good idea right now?” I finish his sentence, but it comes out as a question.
“We'll only take a few minutes. Can you tell us what you were doing there?” Braid lady pulls a notebook and a pen from her vest, looking at Olli expectantly.
“At a party? Gee, yeah, what does one usually do at a party? Lemme think about that,” Olli sneers, shuffling under the flimsy hospital blanket.
“Your friend said there had been trouble at another party before?”
I bite my tongue. Sasha had probably not at all intended for her words to come out like that, but I can almost see the gears turning inside the officer's head. Just note this down as a silly feud between college kids, write up a page about irresponsible youths, case closed.
“I don't think Olli’s in any shape to be answering any questions right now. The doctors will be back with the tests any moment.” I pull up my shoulders, hoping it looks tough rather than like a scared shrug.
“Right.” The ballpoint pen scratches unpleasantly on the rough paper of the notebook as she takes down my name. Goosebumps chase down my back and arms. I cross them in front of my chest to hide my shivering. “Just a couple more minutes,” she continues as if I hadn’t even said anything.
“I think my friend is right. I'd rather wait for my tests.” His voice shakes, and I scoot closer instinctively.I have no idea what to do if they’re not going to listen to us.
“Don't you want all this to be over? It's much easier like this, we promi—”
“You heard my patient. If you can't take a no, I'll have to ask you to leave the ER, Officers.” The doctor who walks through the curtain, still rubbing sanitizer into his hands and looking down at a clipboard a nurse is holding for him, is short and bald except for a silver beard, but his voice carries enough authority to instantly quiet the room.
I've never been this glad about a doctor's timing.
The man strides over to Olli's bedside, parting the cops like the Red Sea. His dark eyes flicker over him attentively.
“Mr. Yardley. The first tests came back, and everything looks all right, but I've ordered a couple more, just to be sure. I absolutely recommend you stay the night. You still aspirated an unknown amount of fluid, which could be gathering in your lungs. That’s best monitored here. As well as any possible head trauma.” He turns to me, speaking as if the cops aren't present. “We'll let you know when he's ready to be discharged tomorrow.”
“And…and in case…?”
“In case anything happens, we'll be right here, but of course we'll also call you.”
