The waiting game

Willow

My leg bounced restlessly while I tried my best to stay seated, gripping Chase's hand tightly. He got here shortly after I did, clutching Wyatt's hand while he struggled to keep his eyes open in the ambulance. It had taken me less than a minute to make it to the doors downstairs where Miles met me, keeping me from getting on the ice. As per protocol I wasn't allowed to step into the ice without gear or being rostered to a bench, but once he opened his eyes they allowed me over. Both trainers were by his side, and all coaches and assistant coaches were gathered around.

He was barely conscious and even less coherent there was commotion going on away from the main group but I paid them no mind as I pushed my way through, panic bubbling in my chest.

"Wyatt?" I asked, pushing his hair back from his face. They had very gently taken his collar off and his trainer was holding his neck steady

His eyes rolled before narrowing into slits.

"Wyatt, eyes open buddy" Chase said from beside me, putting one gloveless hand on my shoulder and the other on Wyatt's chest.

He let out a low hum, and his eyes fluttered again.  Coach Clark was on his cellphone, repeating everything he was seeing into the phone.

"The ambulance is on its way, just hold on a little longer bro"

I held his hand tightly, squeezing hard every time he tried to close his eyes and not stopping until he gave a weak squeeze of his own.

" get the fuck out of my way!" I glanced up to see Will trying to fight his way past the group to our left . Then benches had emptied, most players taking a knee at a safe distance away, though Miles and one of Will's team mates were currently standing as if on guard, shoving back at a furious Will.

" let me through!" He grunted. Miles was showing considerable restraint by not swinging at him. The real surprise was when Will's own team mate cross checked him, knocking him to the ground.

"This is your fault Andrew's! You move and let guys take hits for you now? You fucking pussy!"

Chases hand tightened in my shoulder but he didn't leave my side.  I continued talking to Wyatt quietly, who was now forming words and could mumble answers to the basic questions.

There was several short whistles, more scuffling, then the door opened up. Will was dragged off the ice by his teammate and escorted through the double doors leading to the hallway where the dressing rooms are.

Minutes later two paramedics came rushing onto the ice and loaded him on a stretcher. I rode with them to the hospital until I was forced out of the room while they assessed him. He had passed out again in the way there and didn't wake up before I was ushered out.

Now here I sat fighting the urge to pace the room.  Chase had taken off to the dressing room after I climbed into the ambulance then raced here to be with me. He even left his gear in a pile on the floor and asked Miles  to grab it for him.

His phone pinged in his pocket, making me jump.  He read for a few moments, then spoke

" the team is pissed. Will was roughed up by the boys in the dressing room after buddy was done with him. They're pissed.  There was 15 seconds left on the clock, game had to be finished so nobody got the forfeit. when the puck dropped nobody moved to take it. On both sides. They let the clock  run out. "

" good," I mumbled, typing out a message to Cass. Everyone wanted answers but we hadn't been here very long so we didn't have any.

Across the room from us, the door slid open and Will walked through. His blond hair was a mess, matching his rumpled clothing and a fresh bruise starting high on his cheekbone. I wrapped my arm through Chase's and he squeezed my thigh. Two more guys walked through the doors behind him, spotting Chase and ai immediately. One jerked his head up at Chase and we stood.

" how is he?" His eyes darted to me in a sympathetic glance before returning to Chase with a guarded expression.

" we don't know yet, he passed out again on the way here. Haven't heard anything since,"

He nodded, the tension between the two of them  obvious. My eyes skirted to the second one whom I recognized.  Avery was another one of the neighborhood kids that Wyatt ran around with, and although I wasn't allowed to attend team parties ( as per Will's set of rules for dating) he had been at a few of the same functions I was.

"Hey Avery, " I gave him a tight lipped smile. He smiled back.

"Long time no see Willow. Guess that's thanks to this guy," he said jerking his chin at Chase, who bristled beside me.

I grabbed his hand firmly. " That and-"

" then why can't I see him!?"

All of our heads turned to see Will standing in the doorway to the triage office arguing with the nurse.

I turned to glare at Avery. "You better not be here with him,".

"We're not," he replied flatly. "Though I'm pretty sure he's not supposed to be here with you around,"

My eyes widened.  " what do you know?"

This time the other one responded. " Will told us he filed for a peace bond against your boyfriend , we asked Wyatt what happened. He told us enough. That hit had nothing to do with the game." He levelled Chase with a look.

Chase shook his head. " No, it didn't. For what it's worth, I am sorry," he stated. " I didn't see it coming until it was too late ,"

" We know,"

There was an awkward silence as I stared between the two boys. Things were always tense between the teams and after what happened I didn't know how bad things would get from here on out.

To my surprise, he ran a hand through his dirty blonde hair with a sigh. Before sticking out his other one to Chase. " Derek Mathew's." Chase returned his handshake as he continued " Look I don't care what the situation is, you had Wyatt's back out there tonight. So thanks,"

Chase nodded. " I'm sorry this is how it turned out,"

" Oh what? You guys are friends now too? For fuck sake. Let's go," Will, looking dishevelled as ever put his hand on Derek's arm, who shrugged away from him.

" get out of here Saunders. The last person he's going to want to see is you,"

" you guys too? Its not like I meant to hit him," he fumed

" No,but you meant to hit Andrews. You've been a real ass for weeks dude, and tonight you took out our best player because your feelings got hurt. You threw that game from the start just so you had an excuse to charge him all night"

Will flushed, looking over to me

" And, " Avery stated, stepping in front of Chase, who was getting ready to light him up. "From what I've heard you can't be here anyway," he said nodding his head towards me."

" you aren't supposed to be running your mouth about this," he growled " you can't just come in here talking shit and turn my team against me!" He glared at me while he spoke, almost shaking with rage.

" you've done a pretty good job of that yourself," Avery snapped. " and she hasn't said a damn word. You ran your mouth to the team so we started asking questions. Turns out you're a real piece of shit. First you hit his sister, then this? He's not going to want to lay eyes on you when he wakes up. " Will glowered at Avery, breathing heavily, but Avery wasn't backing down.

" I have never put my hands on a woman. You guys know me. Avery I've known you since like the third grade. Wyatt is my best friend and I'm staying here," he turns condescending as I fight the urge to scoff at him. Chase puts his srm around my waist. I know he wants to say something but doing that gives him more ammo for court, and it seems Avery doesn't want to let him get a word in anyway, which was okay with me right now.

My hands ball into fists, this night has already been more stress than necessary and more than I want to handle right now

" and Derek you'd think after two years of backing eachother up, that you'd have a little more respect than to drop your team mate for this cheap shot bastard," he snapped gesturing at Chase.

Derek snorted. " Saunders you've been a real prick for most of the season, you are up on assault charges, you laid out our best guy tonight and you could have ruined his entire fucking career with that hit. It was a cheap shot and you knew it, you were doing it all night. I hate the guy just as much as you do-" his eyes cut to Chase who gave a half shrug " but you went too far. You're his best friend?" He snorts " some fucking friend you were when you hit his sister, then when you took him out tonight? You're lucky you're still walking,"

Will opened his mouth to argue before Avery grabbed him by the collar of his dress shirt and threw him up against a wall. " Enough, you are done here. And if I hear you so much as LOOK at her the wrong way again I'll fucking kill you. You and I both know very well you aren't above hitting a woman,".

"That's not fair! You know she-"

" OUT. NOW."

Avery shoved him to the side and straightened his shoulders so he towered over Will.

Chase gripped my hand tightly and I squeezed his arm in a death grip. It was killing him to stay quiet and I didn't think he could hold out much longer.

With one last nasty look at Chase and I he stormed out of the hospital. I huffed, glancing around to see the dozen or so people in the waiting room staring at us.

Derek and Avery flopped down into the chairs across from us.

" I can't wait to see him kicked off the team" Derek muttered

" I'll gladly remove him myself," Chase responded. " I owe him one after tonight. Daddy's money won't fix his knee caps"

"Pay you to take a video" Avery muttered

"Fair deal " Chase responded with a smirk

After a few moments of silence Avery looked over to me "hey Willow? Did he really do . . . That?"

My face flamed red and Chase squeezed my hand . "Yes," I whispered. " I don't know what he told you exactly. I'm not allowed to talk about it, and Wyatt was supposed to keep it quiet but-"

" But nothing. If we had known- if I'd known -"

" it's okay Avery. I guess I just didn't realize how bad it was. He always apologized and seemed like he meant it until-"

"Until the next time," he finished

I nodded and leaned into Chase's arm.

" just so you know Andrew's you ever do anything like-"

"I'd be at your door asking you to kill me,"

Satisfied with the answer Avery dropped back into silence.

I don't know how long we sat there, but it was long enough that I started to get antsy. I get they had to check him out and run their tests, but it seemed like it was taking hours.

Finally a nurse popped around the corner .

" Birkett?" We all jumped to our feet. She took in the sight of us for a moment before continuing. " he's in a room now, we would like to keep him for the night for observation but you can see him before you leave. Just try to keep the volume to a minimum"

We followed her down the hall through a set of double doors before she stopped outside of a doorway. The lights were dimmed and she pressed a finger to her lips as a reminder before leaving.

I dropped Chases hand and rushed into the room to see Wyatt laying on his back, pale and half awake. I took the chair beside his bed and grabbed his hand, unable to stop the tears from coming.

"Hey, Willa" he said groggily, patting my hair

"Are you okay?" I sniffled

"Mmm. Sore,"

"Wyatt, how are you man?" Chase came to stand behind me, and out his hand over Wyatt's that's was holding mine

"Andrew's " he let out a half smile "guess you owe me one"

Chase half smiled "I owe you more than that."

Derek and Avery shuffled into the room, taking up the other side of Wyatt's bed. They nodded in greeting.

"Saunders?"

Derek shrugged "taken care of. The boys weren't too happy with his performance today and made it known. Matter of time before he's had enough"

"Nobody touched the puck on the last play. Didn't stick around to find out what his suspension will be"

Wyatt crooked his lip. "Good. Fuck that guy"

I tucked a strand of his hair behind his ear, pulling his attention. "How bad is it?"

We all saw that hit, and we all knew it could be the end of his career and everything he has worked his entire life for.

"Out for a few weeks." He muttered " pretty severe concussion, bruised ribs, whiplash. Re evaluate before they will sign off, but if it's not good in a few weeks I might not be able to come back,"

The boys all cursed under their breath.

"Lets not worry about that right now," Derek stated "cross that bridge when we get there"

Wyatt nodded his head in agreement and let out a sigh. His eyelids fluttered closed and he was slow to open them. I brushed his hair back again and squeezed his hand. My eyes welled up once more. He may never be able to play again and it was all my fault. I should have listened when he told me to stay away from Will. There was no okay outcome from tonight. Chase didn't get hit and taken out of the game or sport entirely, but Wyatt did. We all saw it, he protected Chase from Will, and got himself hurt in the process. Wyatt might stand a chance of being able to play but there's no way Chase could have recovered if he took the hit blind.

"Don't cry Willa. I'm fine you big baby"

"Shut up," I grumbled at him. The boys all chuckled quietly.

"Alright, I think it's time we head out. Let you get some rest," Avery said quietly, noting Wyatt's difficulty keeping his eyes open. The boys all filed out after saying their goodbyes.

I leaned in and gave Wyatt a hug. "That was the dumbest thing you have ever done," I whispered "but thank you for watching out for him,"

He let out a breathy laugh " yeah. Pretty stupid,"

I ruffled his hair gently and pulled the blankets up for him before walking out of the room.

The four of us trudged out to the entrance, the boys shaking hands before we went in our separate directions. Chase and I stayed silent the entire ride back to his house.

He pulled the keys from the ignition and sat there for a moment before turning to me. He placed his hands on either side of my face before gently pressing his lips to mine.

"I am so fucking sorry Willow. I should have been paying attention,"

"It's not your fault Chase," I said, pecking his lips. " you didn't hit him. And he was the one who decided to take the hit. It was Will's fault. And he's going to regret it,"

He nodded, his eyebrows still furrowed.

"Come on," I said, pulling at the door handle.

Wordlessly he followed me into the house where we found the gang still waiting up for us, scattered around the living room.

We filled them in on the situation and judging by their grave expressions they all had the same thought we did. Theres no way Wyatt was going to recover from this. And Will was going to fucking pay for it.