Page 88 of The Flirty Forward

“Wait for us,” Brielle calls as she slides into our group. Aiden comes in right behind her. She high fives me. “Good job!”

The ref blows the whistle. “Go team!” Brielle yells and heads back to her spot. With a last grin at me, Sebastian skates to the middle to face-off against Scott this time. They both trade insults, and then it’s game on again. I go after the puck every time it’s near me. I get a couple touches with it, but not a whole lot. Then it comes near me again. The only problem is that William is the one going after it. I decide to get there first. I reach it and send it to Gunner. I can’t help the smug smile on my face as I skate past William.

“Not what you were expecting,” I throw out his own words back to him.

Soon after that, Gunner sends the puck to Sebastian as they race across the ice. “Steph,” Sebastian shouts and sends the puck to me, nice and easy. I skate forward with it and then send it back to him before anything can happen to it. He surprises me by sending it back to me. “Shoot!” he shouts.

I don’t second guess it, and I line up my shot. Several things happen at once. I shoot the puck towards the net at the sametime somebody crashes into me and somebody else altogether shouts. I fall backwards, unable to catch myself and hit my head on the ice. Hard. I blink, trying to assess the damage. There’s shouting, and I blink again. I see Sebastian and Aiden at the wall, and Rico is there as well and maybe Gunner? I’m not really sure. My head hurts.

“Hey, are you okay? That was a hard hit. We all heard you smack your head.” I blink up at one of Sebastian’s teammates. Travis maybe? Or Zac? I can’t say for sure. I hear more shouting, and I’m not certain what’s going on. I look over and see coaching staff now pulling on Sebastian and Aiden.

I squint because the bright white of the ice hurts my eyes. I close my eyes against the brightness. “Hey, stay with me,” Travis/maybe Zac says. And then somebody new drops next to us.

“Hey,” the new guy says. “I’m Eric. I'm going to check your head, okay? That was a pretty nasty hit you took to the back of your head.” I close my eyes for a moment. “Can you open your eyes? Look at my finger.” He has me do a few more things, and by now my teeth are chattering and my head is killing me.

“Can I pick her up?” a worried sounding Sebastian asks. “She’s freezing.”

“Yes, just be careful with her head.”

And then Sebastian is right there. “Hey, Baby, I’m going to get you off the ice. Ready?” I nod and immediately regret it. He picks me up and holds me close to his chest. “Where do you want to go?” I hear the other guy say a few words, but I tune it out. I turn my head into Sebastian’s shoulder. “What is it, Love?”

“My head,” I manage to get out.

“I know.” His voice is terse. “We’re going to get you some pain pills and get you someplace where you can lie down.”

“Can you just take me home?” I whisper; it hurts to do anything more than that.

He kisses the top of my head. “Not yet. You’re in the best care here right now; we’ll figure out what we’re dealing with and then get you home. I promise.” I can feel that we’re moving, but I keep my eyes closed.

“Is she okay?” I hear Bri ask.

“We’re going to get her checked out,” Sebastian says in a voice that sounds strange to my ears.

“Is William still alive?” Brielle asks. Her words confuse me, but I can’t really think about it. It hurts too much. He says something, but it’s lost on me. I just bury my head, trying to will the pain away from this headache that seems to be getting worse by the second, not to mention the pain from the back of my head.

Chapter 34

Stephanie

It seems to take forever to get wherever it is we’re going. Finally, I feel myself being lowered to a bed or a table or something. I hear voices but don’t recognize any of them. I try to open my eyes but blink against the light. My hand reaches for...I don’t know what. Suddenly, a large hand envelopes mine. “I’m here.” Sebastian’s voice is my saving.

I’m not clear about what happens over the course of the next chunk of time. I am aware of voices coming and going, of being carried, of moving. And then blissfully, the pain begins to recede. I think that’s because of the pain pills. And then finally, I’m in a soft bed. I feel a kiss on the top of my head. “Sleep, Love. I’ll be right here when you wake up.” I think that’s what I hear, or maybe I dreamed it. Either way, my body obeys.

___________

I open my eyes and blink. I stare at a wall for a moment while my brain tries to process. I feel something heavy over me and realize it’s an arm…not mine. I roll over slightly and see Sebastian right behind me, sound asleep. My movement must wake him because he opens his eyes. When he sees I'm awake, he immediately props himself up on his elbow. “Hey, how are you feeling?” he asks gently. I frown as I try to piece together why I’m in bed with Sebastian. He must see my confusion. “You’re at my house,” he says softly. “I put you in my bed so I could wake you often during the first twenty-four hours.” He studies my face. “Do youremember hitting your head on the ice?” Suddenly, memories come flooding back--shooting the puck and then colliding with the ice.

“Did I make it?” I ask, my voice raspy.

“That’s what you want to know first after being out of it for two days?”

“Yes. Did I make the shot?”

He smiles and shakes his head. “Yeah, you did.”

"Yes!” I immediately follow that up with, “Ouch.”

He smiles again. “Come on. Let’s get you out of bed and see how you’re feeling. You have to be starving. I haven’t been able to get you to eat much.” He leans towards me like he’s going to kiss me, and I back up.

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