Fumbled (The Girls of Beachmont #1) (25 page)

My body felt heavy with
those words and I, like everyone else, turned to the big screen to see what had
happened. Slow motion was just as painful to watch, if not worse. In the
replay, just as he made contact with his target, Jameson—his
teammate—hit him from the side.

“Dad?”

He wrapped an arm around
my shoulder and hugged me. “He’ll be fine.” He didn’t sound convincing.

I turned and looked down
at the field, where Tabor’s body remained unmoving—at least from what I
could see. A small crowd of athletic trainers and doctors surrounded him, and
several players lingered. There was an eerie quiet in the stadium, fans with
their hands covering their mouths, the chatter a low hum.

“He’s not moving,” I
whispered. “Why isn’t he moving?”

“It looked like it was
his knee, but I couldn’t tell from that angle,” he said.

“So it’s bad.”

“They’re working on
him,” Dad said, rubbing my arm.

My phone rang and I
answered it immediately. I didn’t bother to see who it was, but I figured it
had to be someone that saw what happened.

“Dani, what’s going on?
Is he okay? They cut to a commercial and Mom’s freaking out,” Abbi said, her
own voice laced with fear.

“He’s still on the
field, they’re working on him right now,” I told her. “Stay on the phone.”

“What happened?” Abbi
asked, almost as if she didn’t truly expect an answer.

I looked at my dad and
then at the commotion that was happening on the field. “What’s going on, Dad?”

His silence sent a chill
down my spine and I wanted to cry, but I had Tabor’s sister and mom to
consider. I needed to hold it together.

“Abbi, they’re putting
him on a stretcher and it looks like they’re going to cart him off the field,”
I told her cautiously.

Her soft cries made my
own tears start to fall and I wished I’d never been there. Tabor would be okay
if I hadn’t insisted on keeping my presence a secret. His focus would have been
on the game and not distracted by me.

“Mom and I are getting
on the first flight we can,” Abbi said. “Don’t let him out of your sight.”

“I promise,” I said,
hanging up the phone and grabbing my things.

“What are you doing?”
Dad asked.

“We need to get to the
hospital,” I told him as I led the way up the stairs, past the concerned fans.

D A N I

“Can you tell me where I
can find JT Hunter?” I asked the stunned woman at the front desk.

She was talking to an
older couple at her station and paid no attention to me.

“I’m sorry,” I said to
the waiting strangers in front of me. I had one person on my mind and I needed
to see him. I looked at the woman again. “Can you please help me?”

The older couple stepped
aside and my dad stood next to me. The middle-aged blond woman peered at me
over her wire-rimmed glasses and huffed.

“I’m sorry, I can’t give
you that information,” she said.

“Please, I need to see
Tabor,” I begged and she softened slightly.

“And you are?”

On my way to the
hospital, Marta had called, and I could hear the worry and terror in her voice.
I’d wished I could put her mind at ease, but my own fear had me on edge. It was
then that she reminded me what to say when I arrived. My stomach churned and
took a deep breath, recalling Marta’s words.

“His…sister,” I said,
though it wasn’t even close to the truth. “I’m his sister.”

The nurse eyed me
speculatively and nodded once.

“One moment,” she
answered. Her fingers began moving across the keyboard and her eyes roved the
screen.

“I’m afraid you can’t
see him right now, he’s in with the doctor, but we’ll send someone out as soon
as we can,” she said.

“Is he okay?” I asked,
choking on the words.

“I’m sorry, ma’am, I
can’t tell you anything.”

“Can’t? Or won’t?” I
demanded, but my dad pulled me away before I could say more.

“You need to calm down.
That woman is doing her job. She can’t tell you anything if she doesn’t know
anything, so let’s sit and wait.”

Dad wasn’t one to handle
me; we were cut from the same cloth and I wasn’t typically reactive. But the
not-knowing part of it was killing me. Despite my concern, I did as he said and
tried to get myself together. I needed to be poised and collected when I
finally got to see him. Tabor would need me at my best.

My phone was blowing up
with texts from everyone, and all that did was get me worked up.

Millie: Is he okay? Have
you seen him?

Viola: Millie told me
what happened. Are you okay?

Grace: I’m sure it’s not
as bad as it looked.

Mom: I’m saying a
prayer. Let me know as soon as you hear something.

I didn’t respond to any
of them, and not because I was trying to be a jerk. My battery was already low
and I was determined to save what was left to communicate with Abbi and Marta.

I was pacing around the
waiting room with nothing to do but assume the worst. Tabor’s family was
scheduled to arrive by ten, but the flight had been delayed and I knew they
were upset. Dad didn’t leave my side except to call Mom and Grace, updating
them that we were still waiting.

Dee, Wilson’s wife,
strolled into the emergency room and spotted me in the back corner with Dad.
She rushed over and pulled me into a hug.

“How is he?” she asked.

“I don’t know. They
won’t let me see him,” I said, choking on a sob.

“Let’s see what we can
do about that,” she said, leaving me with my dad.

“I bet she’ll get
answers,” my dad said.

“He has to be okay,
Dad.”

“There’s nothing you can
do right now, except maybe pray. Just think good thoughts.”

I closed my eyes and
tried to do as he said, but when I closed them, all I saw was Tabor. The way
he’d looked at me when he saw me in the stands. And the way he looked when he
was hit. When I forced my eyes open, I noticed Dee walking over with a smug
grin on her face.

“The doctor is going to
talk to us in a second. He’s briefing the sports doc right now,” she said.

“It’s my fault,” I
admitted. “I shouldn’t have come to the game.”

“He knew you were
there,” Dee admitted, but I was confused.

“His mom didn’t tell him
I was there,” I recalled from my earlier text.

She chuckled shook her
head. “Wilson told me to come to the hospital because he had a feeling you’d be
here. He told me JT said that he saw you at the game.”

“I thought so.”

“Supposedly during
halftime, he was looking around, and when Wilson asked what was wrong he said
‘Dani’s here. I don’t know where, but she’s here,’ and that was it. Wilson said
something changed in the locker room. He seemed more relaxed, I guess.”

“I think he saw me when
he was walking onto the field.”

“Did you really tell
that woman you were his sister?”

I shrugged. “Marta told
me to tell them that.”

“Do you realize how many
women could show up claiming to be his
sister
?”

“You’re kidding me. Why
would his mom tell me to say that?”

“Because it works for
his
actual
sister. You know, because
she has ID to prove who she is.” She smiled. “Don’t worry, you’re gonna see
him.”

“Thank you, Dee.”

“What about his mom and
sister?”

“I think their flight
took off already. I should try calling and let them know what’s going on.”

“If you want, I’ll call
while you head back to see him.”

I nodded and walked with
my dad and Dee, hoping that Tabor wouldn’t look as bad as I imagined.

***

When we entered through
the double doors that led to the Tabor’s ward, I was hit with the distinct
smell of antiseptic. It was so cold that my nose started running, and I wished
I had a jacket with me.

An older nurse stepped
into the hallway and offered us a kind smile. “Can I help you?”

“We’re looking for
Hunter,” Dee said. “The doctor said we could see him.”

“Right this way.”

We all nodded and
followed her to a hallway that was away from the others. The doors were shut
and no patient names were listed on the wall outside the rooms. She got to the
third door on the right and pushed it open.

“Give me one minute,”
she said, disappearing through the door.

“You go ahead. We’ll
wait here,” Dee said to me and I hugged her quickly, accepting the opportunity
to go in first.

I was eagerly waiting to
enter the room when the nurse reappeared and gave me a sad look when she saw
me.

“I’m sorry, but he
doesn’t want to see anyone right now.”

“Please, can I just have
a moment?”

“I have to respect his
wishes.”

I nodded and felt a wave
of disappointment overcome me. My dad wrapped his arms around me and I leaned
into his chest.

“He’s going to be taken
to get an MRI in a few minutes,” she said, and then lowered her voice. “And if
you happen to be here when he’s wheeled out, there’s nothing I can do.”

She squeezed my arm
gently and disappeared around the corner. For the first time since I’d shown
up, I felt somewhat optimistic. All I needed was a minute to see him, and
everything would be okay.

“I’m going to get some
coffee—do you two need anything?” Dee asked.

My dad looked between
the two of us and offered to walk with her. I knew he did that to give me a
moment with Tabor. A list of things to say ran through my mind, but I didn’t
know where or how to start.
Do I
apologize? Do I tell him I love him?
Before I knew which route to go, two
technicians passed me and walked into his room, with a simple knock announcing
their arrival. They didn’t say a word to me, but I didn’t care. I needed to see
one person and he was on the other side of that door.

My heart was pounding in
the minutes before they reemerged pushing a bed through the opening. I saw his
leg first, and then his face. And when Tabor spotted me, it wasn’t the loving
face I was accustomed to seeing.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

Of everything I could’ve
asked, those were the only three words that came out. It felt insensitive given
that I’d seen him driven off the field. But it was also the question that I
needed answered.

“How do you think I am, Dani?
I blew out my knee.”

“I’m sorry, Tabor. Maybe
if I wasn’t there, you wouldn’t be here right now. I just wanted to surprise
you and show you how much I love you.”

“Dani, I can’t deal with
this right now.”

“Ma’am, we have to get
him to radiology,” one of the technicians said.

I nodded, though I
didn’t want to move. In fact, all I wanted to do was climb onto the bed and
curl into his arms. This wasn’t the beautiful, happy man that lit up when he
saw me. This man was broken, angry, and my heart ached knowing that my presence
added to it.

I reached for his hand,
and even though he let me take it, there was no feeling on the other end. The
calloused fingers that were familiar and had offered me more comfort that I
thought possible were cold and unmoving.

“I’ll be here when you
get back.”

Tabor removed his hand
from my grasp and shook his head. “I don’t want you here.”

He nodded to the men,
who were trying to avoid eye contact with either of us, but were failing
miserably. One of them gave me an apologetic smile as they wheeled him away.

When he was out of
sight, I found a chair and sank into it as my tears rolled down my face. It
wasn’t the conversation I had expected, but he was angry and physically hurt. I
hoped he was just lashing out and that his words weren’t what he wanted from
me…from us.

“What’s wrong? Where are
they taking him?” Dad asked as he walked up, with Dee trailing behind.

I wiped the tears from
my eyes and tried to smile. “The MRI.”

Dee walked over and
reached for my hand, offering a friendly embrace. “He’s going to be fine.”

“Yeah,” I whispered. “I
know.”

He would be okay, but I
wasn’t sure if
we
would be.

“You two go home. I’m
going to wait here for Marta and Abbi,” I said.

“I can wait with you,”
Dad said, but I shook my head.

“No need. He doesn’t
want to see me, but I need to be here to keep his family updated.”

Dee gave me a hug and
assured me that everything was going to be okay. My dad was not eager to leave
my side, but I convinced him I was okay. And I was.

Or I would be.