Page 129 of My Best Bet

We listened to Piper call out random goodbyes and when her car door finally slammed shut, I took a deep breath. Mer only lived five minutes from the rink. I just had to hang on for five more minutes.

Piper gasped. Tension filled the room as we waited for her to explain what was going on. “Sorry, some asshole just cut me off,” she finally said.

Breathing out a sigh, I rolled my shoulders.

“Focus, P,” Kappy said calmly.

After a couple minutes of silence, I couldn't take it anymore. “What’s going on, Piper? Where are you?”

“Just turning on… Oh my God.” Her voice wavered.

My heart jackknifed in my chest.

“What?” Kappy demanded. “You can’t say that right now, you have to explain what’s–”

“Oh my God.” The sound of her crying filled the line and my knees buckled. “That’s…” her breath hitched, “That’s her car,” she cried. “Mer’s car.”

43.Colt - Don’t Leave Me

Sunlight streamed in through the hospital’s windows around 7am, waking me.

Taking in Mer’s limp, sleeping body in the hospital bed smacked me like a blindside hit. The different cords hooked up to her arm, the swollen black eye and bruised cheek, the brace holding her broken collarbone in place.

All of that could be healed. She just needed to wake up.

I couldn’t lose her, not right when we found our way back to each other.

Losing her this way would be a million times worse. Because when I lost her the first time, at least I knew she was somewhere out there, living in this world with me, and that thought gave me comfort.

Her lightness, her goodness, it couldn't be taken from this earth. Not yet. I prayed over and over again,not yet. Please, not yet.

Deep down, I couldn’t help but feel responsible.

Because I asked her to leave practice early and go pick up Lucy. She was rushing because of me. If she would’ve stayed at the rink, stuck to her usual schedule, maybe she wouldn’t have been in the accident.

Fuck.

She had to be okay.

I couldn't lose her.

Lucy couldn’t lose her.

Not like this.

I reached to hold her hand and gave it a squeeze before stretching over her bed and pressing a kiss mixed with my tears to her hair.

After Piper’s call last night, there’s no way I could stay in that state, let alone play a hockey game. Thank God Kappy and JP were with me and they could think clearly, because I was losing my mind. They quickly filled in Coach and ordered me an uber back to the airport.

I was luckily on a plane back to Chicago within the hour.

In the meantime, Kappy had Piper pick up Lucy, and JP had Hans head to the hospital to stay with Mer until I could get there.

At that time, I’d been too filled with panic to be grateful for our little family, but sitting here now, I realized how lucky we were. We just needed a tiny bit more luck. Just enough so she’d wake up from this, then I’d spend the rest of my life filled with fucking gratitude.

“Your sleeping beauty’s taking her time, huh?” an older nurse with curly black hair asked from the doorway. I think she said her name was Cheryl, but I could barely think straight when she spoke to me last night.

Swallowing hard, I nodded.

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