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His hand flies to his chest. “Have you met that thing?” Karma hisses as if she can understand the blasphemy coming from his mouth. “You were attacked by a janitor, I was attacked by a demon.”
“Oh my god, Xander!” Emery scolds, slapping his chest. But my body shakes with laughter and oh fuck, that hurts. That hurts more than I expected. My laugh is cut off as I descend into a coughing fit, making tears stream down my face. The more I try to calm myself down, the worse the cough gets, and the more Xander gets scolded by everyone in the room.
Baylor rubs my back gently, bringing the cup back to my lips so I can take a sip and try to settle the ache and dryness in my throat. It takes a few minutes before I can even speak again and when I do, my voice is husky and fading in and out again.
“Thank you for bringing them,” I croak out, making everyone exchange worried glances. I gesture for Baylor to explain to themand he reassures them I’m okay, but I’ll sound like I smoke a pack a day for the next week or so.
Just as he finishes, a nurse knocks on the door before letting herself in. Not giving us the time to hide the kittens. I give her a sheepish smile when Isla bursts out, “They’re emotional support cats!”
I close my eyes, sinking my teeth into my bottom lip to hold back the laugh I know will only dissolve into more pain.
The nurse rolls her lips to hide her smile as she comes over to check my vitals. “I saw nothing,” she says. After she’s done and writes something down in my chart, she squeezes my arm. “It’s good to see you smiling.”
I give her a tight smile back. No doubt the entire floor has heard about what happened yesterday. It’s something I can’t let myself think about. A tension fills the air as she excuses herself and I know everyone is thinking the same thing I am. They all probably have a million questions, but I’m not ready to answer them. I don’t know if I ever will be.
Isla sniffles at my side and I look to find her crying. As soon as our eyes meet, she begins to sob, apologizing. “I promised not to cry in front of you.”
I move over in the bed, tucking Potato into the crook of my arm and pat the empty space next to me. She wastes no time crawling in next to me and cuddling into my side as she cries. “I’m okay,” I promise, but those words only seem to make her cry all the harder. Helplessly I look up to everyone in the room, specifically her boyfriend, but they all just shrug. I pat her arm, letting her get it out.
“Alright,” I drawl, changing the topic. “So about this plan?”
A week later
Bacon sizzles as I sip on my coffee and lean against the counter.
My throat no longer aches when I talk, and only cracks like a fourteen-year-old boy in the throes of puberty every once in a while. The smell of bacon and coffee wafting through the house lures Isla to the kitchen in just a few short minutes. I hide my smile behind my mug as I pass her her own.
“Bacon and eggs will be ready in a minute.”
She hums her response, wiping the sleep from her eyes as she takes a seat at the island. “Aren’t you tired from moving all your stuff into Baylor’s room yesterday?”
I cock my head at her, removing some of the bacon on to a plate. “Don’t have that much stuff,” I remind her. “And like Xander or Baylor let me do anything.” Xander officially moves in today, just in time for the last week of the semester. “Baylor even folded my laundry.”
“That’s sweet,” she says, but her amused smile gives all her thoughts away.
I roll my eyes, ignoring her and serve a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon, putting it in front of her. “What about you? Ready for your finals today?”
She hums noncommittally, giving a slight shrug. “I hope so.” I pat her on the back, sitting down next to her with my own plate. Potato jumps in my lap the second I’m sitting, and I run my fingers through his fur, smiling when he begins to purr. The rest of the guys will surely start to trickle in any second now and we don’t get a lot of time just the two of us anymore.
“You’ll do great,” I reassure her, making her grumble.
“Do you know when you’re going to make yours up yet?”
I shake my head. “I just took the incomplete and I’ll schedule a makeup time after I’m cleared.” Sometimes my thoughts are still a little fuzzy and I’ll lose my train of thought if I’m focusing on something too hard. The doctor said it’s all to be expected and we’ll continue to monitor the concussion. At least all of my professors and my academic advisor were all understanding about it and able to accommodate the change so I don’t have to stress about it.
There’s probably never a good time for a brain injury, but the end of a semester was definitely the worst time for me. At least all of my assignments were already done and I’d made the study packets for my tutoring students ahead of time. There was no way I would have been able to make it through a tutoring session without just confusing them more.
Isla leans her head on my shoulder. “I’m proud of you for taking it easy,” she whispers. They were all so concerned I was going to go against doctor’s orders. I can’t really blame them, but they overestimated my stubbornness. Or maybe underestimated how sore my body was and how thick the fog in my brain was. I’m still so exhausted.
“Thanks, babe,” I whisper back. I haven’t told her everything about my father. Haven’t told her everything my grandma told me or all the little memories that have started coming back. Not a lot. My childhood is still very blank, but I’m thinking it’s probably for the best.
She taps her fingers against the counter. I put my coffee down and turn toward her, giving her my full attention so she will just ask already. She sighs, something she’s been doing a lot when she can’t hold back her feelings or questions even when she’s trying not to push me. I just also need her to rememberthat I’m not fragile. I won’t shatter like I’m made of glass. “Have you heard anything about a sentencing or trial?”
My lips twitch but I shake my head. “Charges have been filed and he’s still in jail, but an arraignment hasn’t been scheduled yet.” The cops have filled in a lot more of the blanks for all of us on my father and the entire situation. He had missed his last check in with his parole officer because he had moved here. How exactly he found us is a mystery, but I don’t think my grandparents tried that hard to make us disappear. Sure, our last names were changed, but to my mother’s maiden name. I think they counted on the fact that my father would forget about us by the time he was released.
He had an apartment in the Wild West, on the floor below us. While it is mostly college aged students, there are definitely families and single adults living there which is how he was able to get in and out without seeming out of place. How he was able to keep such a close eye on what I was doing and with who. The fact he was on the janitorial staff specifically in the hockey arena was just luck on his part. When he realized who Baylor was, he used his presence in the locker room as an advantage to find out about our plans, our security, even my phone number which he got from Baylor’s phone.
We broke our lease and the guys will be moving the rest of our stuff out by the end of the month, though we are unsure if we want to stay in the hockey house or find a new place just for the two of us. Through this whole thing, it’s really proven my grandma’s sentiment that sometimes friends turn into family, and these guys really are turning into that. But I miss our girl time, miss having our own space to get away from all the testosterone. But we still have time to make a decision.
