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“She’d forgotten something for one of the other girls and left to go deal with that. Guy waited until it was just the old man, the little girl, and Cadence.”
So Cadence truly had been all on her own against the son of a bitch.
“And Cadence?” I asked, dreading the answer.
“She’s in the hospital,” Jim said. “But she’s going to be fine.”
That wasn’t good enough for me. Not even close to good enough.
I felt like I was going to be sick, but I needed to know everything. “Tell me what he did. Tell me what he did to her.”
“I will,” Jim said. “But first, I need you to tell me if you think you can play tonight.”
Play? A stupid fucking game? My girlfriend had just been attacked by a psychotic ex, so the last thing in the world I wanted to think about was hockey.
Before I answered, Jonny said, “No. We need to go home. Both of us.”
I raised a brow at him, but he glowered in return. I supposed that was a good thing, and there wasn’t much positive to take from this this other than the news that Cadence would be all right.
Jim nodded. “I thought as much. Rachel’s already working on it. We’ll get you out of here as soon as possible.”
“But you can’t play tonight with only five D,” I argued.
“Just got word from the doctors,” Bergy said. “Colesy’s cleared to play. Get your ass out of here before I change my mind.”
LAURA WEBER’S FACE and the glare of fluorescent lights met my eyes when I came to again.
I squinted and held an arm over my face to block out some of the brightness, groaning.
“Too much?” she asked. Then she turned to someone else in the room. “Can we turn the lights down?”
“Got it,” said someone who sounded an awful lot like Katie.
The blinding quality of the lights faded, until it didn’t hurt too much to keep my eyes open.
“Katie?” I said. My voice croaked over the word, and I realized how dry and scratchy my mouth and throat were. I tried to swallow, hoping it would aid the flow of my saliva so at least that part of me would stop hurting.
“Yeah. I’m here. Mom and Dani are here, too.” She came over and took my hand, and I blinked a few times to bring her into focus. She and her mother looked almost like twins with the fuzziness clouding my vision, except for the fact that one had long hair and the other had short.
“What…?” I couldn’t even finish the question.
“Guy is in prison. He’s most likely facing deportation, following the stalking and physical assault charges. You’re in the hospital. You cracked open your skull and have a concussion. Got a few staples in your head, but it’s not too bad. They had to cut away a bit of hair to clean you up, but there’s plenty to hide it while it grows out again. There’s some bruising on your throat from where he tried to strangle you, but the concussion is what the doctors are worried about more than anything. The bruises will heal.”
“So it’s nothing horrible that’ll keep me down for too long?” I asked.
Katie gave me a look. “Concussions are a pretty big deal. You might not be able to skate for a while.”
I brushed that off. Compared to what could have happened, that was nothing. “And Sophie? What about Gord?”
“Sophie finally agreed to go home with her mother once the three of us got here to stay with you,” Laura said. “She didn’t want to leave your side. Gord, too, but he’s in excellent condition. More a precaution than anything. It seems Guy hit him over the head with something off the desk. He’s got a mild concussion, too, but he should be back on his feet in no time.”
“Well, I suppose that’s a relief.” I’d imagined all sorts of awful things about what might have happened to Gord. And Sophie. The knowledge that they’d come away relatively unscathed was a blessing.
Katie nodded. “Your brother and Levi are on a flight back to Portland as we speak. In fact, they might already have landed. Could be here at any time.”
“Don’t they have a game tonight?” My brother had never missed a game unless it was for a reason out of his control, like an injury or a suspension. He just didn’t do that.
“Game’s on as we speak,” Dani said. “They’re still coming home. Bergy would be with them, too, if not for Paige convincing him that Sophie was completely unharmed.”
