41. Ella

41

ELLA

“ D ude, there are bathrooms for that,” Luca snaps as West drags his shirt off before shoving his pants down his legs, exposing his bare ass to the room.

“I’m not leaving. The second I step out of this room, you know a doctor is going to turn up with news.You’ve all seen my ass plenty of times. And it’s only got better since then.”

“In your opinion,” Letty scoffs.

“Pfft. It’s a fact, and you know it,” he mutters as he drags on a clean pair of boxers from the bag.

He’s reaching for a pair of sweats when the door opens and a woman in blue scrubs steps in, followed by another older man in a nurse’s uniform.

The woman—I assume the doctor—looks around the room before her eyes lock on West’s bare chest and then briefly to his barely covered crotch.

Her cheeks blaze before her eyes jump to his.

“Mr. Rogers,” she says, steeling her expression and holding her hand out in greeting.

“Hi. Do you have news?” West asks without missing a beat.

“Yes, but details are for immediate family only,” she says with a wince, glancing at all of us.

“We’re all immediate family,” Luca says, pushing to his feet and walking over.

The two of them stand shoulder to shoulder. They’re like an impenetrable wall as they look down at the small woman.

“Go,” Brax encourages, pushing me from his lap and gently shoving me in their direction.

By the time I get there, I sense the others all step up behind me.

As soon as I’m in reaching distance, West reaches out and tugs me in front of him, wrapping his arms around my waist.

“Everyone in this room is Colt’s immediate family. Only our father is missing, but we don’t expect him to get here for a while. Anything you have to say to me, you can say to them.”

The doctor swallows nervously, but as she looks at each man standing in front of her, it’s easy to see the awe in her eyes.

She’s a football fan. And there is no way in hell she’s going to refuse any of their demands.

Her mouth opens and closes as she fights between what she should do and what’s being asked of her.

Finally, she concedes.

“I’m Anna Watson, I’m the cardiologist that’s been treating your brother.”

“How is he?” I ask, unable to cope with the suspense.

“Due to a hard collision on the field, Colton suffered from commotio cordis.”

“Please explain in a way we understand,” Peyton begs.

“S-sorry. Due to a blunt blow to the chest, Colton suffered from a cardiac arrest on the field.”

“Oh my god,” I sob, my hand lifting to cover my mouth.

His heart stopped.

The man I love…the only man I’ve ever loved…his heart just…stopped.

“Thanks to the fast actions of the medical team and the paramedics, I’m pleased to say that Colton’s heart was restarted on the field.”

The tears filling my eyes finally spill over again as I grasp onto every bit of hope in the doctor’s words.

“He’s received further treatment here from my team, and I’m happy to say that he’s now stable.”

A loud sob erupts from my throat and I turn in West’s arms and bury my face into his chest.

His arms tighten around me as he holds me to him.

Voices float around me, I assume as the doctor continues to explain Colt’s condition, but I’ve heard all I need to right now.

He’s stable.

He’s alive.

That’s all I need to know.

My knees give out as relief floods me, but West doesn’t let me fall. He just holds me tighter, keeps me together, and is everything I need in his brother’s absence.

“Can we see him?” West asks, his deep, rumbling voice breaking through my daze.

“We’ll let you know when he’s ready for visitors. But it will be strictly immediate family only.”

I can only imagine how much strength it takes an avid football fan to hold strong against the power that the men around me exude.

“We understand,” Brax says. “West and Ella will be by his side the second you allow it.”

“Ella?” the doctor says.

I turn, ready to speak, but West beats me to it.

“Colt’s fiancée,” he explains, the tone of his voice leaving no room for argument. Not that I’m going to do anything that will keep me away from my man.

“Uh…okay, sure. I’ll put your names on the list along with your father.”

“Thank you, Doctor,” West says, one of his arms leaving me so he can shake her hand again. “We appreciate everything you and your team are doing.”

“Please,” she says, glancing around at the guys. “Call me Anna.”

“Thank you, Anna,” Brax says. Through my watery eyes, I watch as he gives her a look I remember all too well.

Thankfully, Anna and the nurse disappear out of the room before anyone gets a chance to say anything. But the second the door closes, I discover that I’m not the only one who clocked it.

“You did not just try hitting on the doctor,” Letty chastises as we all return to our seats.

“What?” Brax asks innocently. “West is still naked,” he points out in an attempt to change the subject.

“Yeah, we’re all still aware of that,” Leon mutters, taking his seat again and pulling Macie with him.

“You can’t hook up with Colt’s doctor,” Peyton says, ignoring Brax’s attempt at a subject change while West finally pulls some clothes on.

“Why not? As far as I see it, if she gets some proper downtime, some…” He wiggles his brows. “Relaxation, then she’ll be a better doctor.”

“Jesus,” Kane mutters, scrubbing his hand down his face.

“I’m all about helping my boy.”

“And it of course has nothing to do with the fact she was hot,” West mutters.

“Oh, was she?” Brax asks in a faux-shocked voice. “I didn’t notice.”

A ripple of laughter floats around the room, but no one feels the joy in it. We might have had good news, but until we see him awake and well, we’re not going to relax.

T he girls do three more coffee runs while we all sit there waiting, none of which I drink.

I can’t. My stomach is too twisted up with anxiety and fear. Every time I swallow some, I’m sure I’m going to vomit it straight back up on the floor.

I sit beside West, his hand gripping mine tightly and his knee bouncing uncontrollably as he tries to get a handle on this situation.

I want to help, but I don’t know how to when I’m also falling apart at the seams.

My skin feels too tight for my body. Every inch of me aches as if I’m the one in a hospital bed. And my heart…fuck. The pain is unbearable. The fear from those first few moments when he didn’t get back up, the sight of them giving him CPR…it won’t leave me.

I might have heard from the doctor that he’s stable, but until I see it with my own eyes, I’m not going to be able to let go of it.

“Does anyone want something to eat?” Letty offers.

Unsurprisingly, the guys all agree, giving her a list as long as her arm to get from the shop on the ground floor.

“Ella?” she asks, turning her eyes on me.

The knot in my stomach tightens further.

“N-no. I’m okay. Thank you,” I say quietly.

Her eyes hold mine, but thankfully, she doesn’t push it. Instead, she stands, tugging on Kane’s arm so he can help her.

“We won’t be long. I’ve got my cell if?—”

The door opens and the nurse who accompanied the doctor earlier steps into the room.

“Can we see him now?” West says, jumping to his feet and pulling me with him.

“Yes,” the nurse confirms.

It’s everything I’ve wanted since the moment we were told he was stable, but instead of feeling relieved, I’m even more terrified than before.

“We’ll be back with updates,” West says in a rush before tugging me toward the door as the nurse backs out of the room again.

We follow him down the hallway toward the signs for intensive care.

Each and every one makes the tears that are cascading down my cheeks run faster.

This is wrong.

All of this.

We were supposed to be getting our second chance. We weren’t supposed to end up here.

Colt wasn’t meant to end up fighting for his life.

“Mr. Rogers is heavily sedated. We’ll keep him this way for a few days as we monitor him. He won’t react to your presence, but that doesn’t mean he can’t hear you, feel you.”

I sniffle, desperately trying to get a grip on my emotions. If what the nurse is saying is true, then Colt won’t want to listen to me sobbing.

He’ll want me strong. He’ll want to hear me fighting for him. Feel nothing but my support.

Sucking in a deep, steeling breath, I wipe my cheeks with the back of my hand and hold my head up high.

West looks back at me and smiles.

With a nod, letting him know that I’ve got this, I grab the door he opens and walk in behind him.

My eyes are everywhere as we’re led through the ward, but despite seeing it all, I don’t register any of it or the kindness on the faces of the staff members we pass.

My only focus is Colt.

He’s lying here somewhere in a hospital bed alone.

We need to find him. He needs us.

“Just in here,” the nurse says, opening a door that leads to a single room. “We’ll be in and out, but if you need anything, please just ask any of us.”

West thanks him, but I can’t speak through the lump clogging my throat.

Reaching up on my toes, I try to look over West’s shoulder, but he’s too tall and wide.

Although, the second we both step into the room and I finally get a look at Colt, I can’t help but wonder why I was in a rush.

“Colton,” I gasp, pulling my hand from West’s and rushing to his bedside. “Oh my god, Colt.”

Everything I told myself outside about being strong is instantly forgotten as I collapse into the chair beside him, clutching his cannulated hand in both of mine.

Seeing him lying there with his eyes closed, machines surrounding him, beeping to their own rhythm with white sheets covering him is just wrong.

“Hey, Bro,” West says behind me, his voice cracking with emotion as he registers the state of his brother.

He walks around the other side of the bed and takes his hand.

“We’re right here with you, man. Whatever you need, El and I have got it covered,” he promises, giving me a wink that forces a single tear from his eye.

The sight of it makes my heart lodge so high in my throat it’s almost impossible to breathe.

It’s bad enough that Colt is hurt, that my heart is breaking for him, but to watch those I love in pain, too? It’s too much.

I sit there holding his cool hand as West explains everything that’s happened since the moment he hit the ground. Despite knowing it all and remembering it in harrowing detail, hearing it repeated is even worse.

And knowing the entire world was watching?

Fuck.