Page 42 of The Perfect Pass
When Ethan had been hurt, she’d seen his injury firsthand. She’d been right there in the stands, close enough to hear the crunch of the tackle and the dead weight of his body as it hit the Astroturf with a sickening thunk. Still, it had taken hours for the reality of the situation to fully sink in. Even when the stretcher had been wheeled onto the field and paramedics had taken over the scene, she’d thought that ultimately, her brother would be okay.
Such was the innocence of youth.
Now, she knew better. A student was in the hospital and whatever had prompted the injury had ended up on the police scanner. Dozens of possibilities were spinning through her mind, and each one was worse than the next.
“The sheriff is describing it as a hazing incident,” Stan said as his gaze slid toward Jackson. “Some of the varsity football players took one of the younger kids out for a bit of fun, and it seems as if things got a little out of hand.” A little out of hand? A boy was in thehospital.
Calla shook her head as Jackson went rigid beside her. “Stan, I know I’m not fully up to speed on what went on, but I’ve already got a problem with your word choice.”
Her boss held up a hand. “Now, Calla. Let’s try and stay calm until we know more.”
The absolute last thing she needed was to be told to calm down.
“Stan—” she started.
He cut her off, directing his attention toward Jackson again. “Since Calla covers the Bulldogs, I’m sending her to the hospital to find out whatever she can. We don’t have much information right now, but since it involves the team, Principal Dean felt like you might want to head out there, too.”
The principal chimed in, adding a few comments, but everything sounded like white noise. Calla felt like she might be sick. Was this real life or a terrible dream? What had happened to Ethan was bad enough, but hazing was an entirely different matter. Hazing wasintentional.
Her throat went thick as she sent up a silent prayer for whoever had been hurt. She was having so much trouble focusing that she could barely form a coherent thought.
Then Jackson spoke again—just a single word that cut straight through the static in her head. “Who?”
Calla’s boss and the principal exchanged a look.
“Tell me,” Jackson demanded. An angry vein flashed in his temple. “Which one of my players got hurt?”
Principal Dean’s gaze dropped to the ground. Even Stan, her overbearing boss, couldn’t seem to look Jackson in the eyes, and that’s when Calla knew.
No. Please no,her thoughts screamed.Anyone but him.He was so much smaller than the other players. So hopeful. So devoted to the team.
She closed her eyes tight as the principal finally said the boy’s name.
“Tommy Riess.”
Chapter Twelve
Jackson dragged both his hands through his hair as he paced the waiting room area of County General Hospital’s ER. In the half hour since they’d arrived, a couple patients had come in with Halloween injuries—a little boy who’d gotten burned when a jack-o’-lantern tipped over during trick-or-treating, and a young mom with a pumpkin-related laceration. Otherwise, the place had been eerily quiet, which made waiting on news about Tommy all the more excruciating. There wasn’t a single person sitting in the rows of plastic visitor chairs opposite the nurse’s station. Jackson’s bad knee felt stiff and achy after standing all day at the school Halloween carnival, but he couldn’t sit still.
“I brought more coffee.” Calla handed him a limp paper cup from the hospital cafeteria. “It’s nowhere near as good as Huddle Up, but it might do in a pinch.”
He took the drink from her and frowned down at the brown liquid before taking a sip. Just as he suspected, it was only one step up from the sludge that the coffee maker at his rental house spewed out, but Calla was right. It would do in a pinch.
“Is there any more news?” she asked quietly. Then she held up a hand. “Off the record, I mean.”
He appreciated the distinction. Although, with the way gossip traveled at the speed of light in this town, it probably didn’t matter.
Jackson shook his head. “Nothing new. The deputies are still back there questioning Tommy while he waits to be admitted to a regular room.”
Calla nodded and as she glanced around the vacant waiting room, he took in her colorless cheeks and the haunted look in her eyes. She’d been awfully quiet since they’d left the school.
“Are you okay?” He dipped his head until their eyes locked. “Being here can’t be easy for you.”
“It’s not.” She shook her head until sadness pooled in her eyes, threatening to overflow. “But I’m okay. I can’t imagine being anyplace else right now. Dad will want to know that Tommy is going to be okay. I can’t go home until I can give him some detailed news when he wakes up in the morning. He adores that kid. I want him to hear about this from me, not from someone else.”
“You’re a good daughter,” Jackson said.
He envied the closeness between her and her dad. He’d never had anything like that with either of his own parents. His brother, Ryan, had been the only real family he’d ever had, and their relationship had never been smooth sailing. Looking back, Jackson could appreciate the fact that Ryan was only a few years older than him. Being saddled with a sullen teenager, bills to pay and a house that was falling down around them due to their parents’ neglect couldn’t have been easy. At the time, he’d been too self-centered to see it. The only thing they’d seemed to have in common was that no one wanted them.
