Chapter 34

Morning skate is early today, but I'm not complaining since I'll be done just in time to get Bailey from the hospital and take her out for breakfast. I skate up to Oliver—our goalie—and shred the ice with my blades, raining ice onto his face just for fun. He glares at me because it's an asshole move, so I just grin and shrug. It's all playful, and he knows it.

Ever since Bailey and I got back together a few weeks ago, I've been in a better mood. My boys can tell too, considering they tell me every chance they get.

Did Theo get his dick wet this morning? Did the pretty nurse come back?

I could go on and on about the bullshit they spew, but I'd be here all day. I have been open and honest about what happened though, without giving too many details. Just as simple as things didn't work out between us, being that she didn't want a relationship back then, and now she does. The only one who knows the full extent of the situation is Jeremy—as always.

We single-file off the ice and go back to the locker room, taking off our gear and getting ready to shower. I'm pushing it on time a little bit, so I take the quickest one of my life and return to my locker, where I begin to get dressed. Jeremy is standing next to me in his gear still, which tells me I'm clearly in a rush, but it's almost seven in the morning, and I need to get to the hospital.

"Someone's in a hurry." Jeremy grins, and I roll my eyes. "You gonna go see her?"

"Yeah." I nod once, pulling up my jeans. "You gonna go see Chey?"

Jeremy's face darkens and he shakes his head. "Nah, man. That's done." He purses his lips.

"That's it?" I furrow my brows. "You don't want her anymore?"

"She doesn't want me," he replies with a grimace. "Not after I went to your place the night you broke up with Bailey. Apparently, she expected me to stay with her or some shit. But I'm loyal to you, T."

"And she's loyal to Bailey." I shrug. "We have to understand that."

"It's just too messy for me," he tells me as he takes off his gear and I put on my shirt. "Remind me never to date one of your girl's best friends again."

"Noted." I roll my eyes.

"Tell her I said hi," Jeremy says as he walks away, not waiting for my reply.

My mood is chipper as I get in my car and drive the short distance to the hospital. The one thing I have going for me is that it's just a few minutes away, so I won't be too late. I mean, I'm already running late…but Bailey usually takes a while giving report to the next nurse anyway. She doesn't know I'm coming this morning. It's supposed to be a surprise, but a bad feeling is settling in my stomach, and now I wonder if I should've given her a heads up.

I park at a spot in front of the ER and race up to her floor, a smile on my face as I ring the doorbell at the cancer ward. They open up for me, and I stay in the lobby area for a few minutes until I get tired of waiting.

"Could you tell Bailey I'm here, please?" I ask Sarah, and she frowns, which also makes me frown.

"She already left..." she replies, and I tilt my head to the side. "She's been gone for over ten minutes."

I've only been here for eight of those.

Fuck.

My stomach drops and I nod, pulling out my phone to check the location she never turned off. I see that her car is on the highway, so I run back to mine and chase after her. I call her three times except she doesn't answer, which is unlike her as it is. What the fuck is going on?

Bailey is not going toward her studio or my place, which is weird, so I follow as fast as I can—which isn't fast enough, considering she won't answer her phone.

But it's all I can do for now.

I just have a bad feeling about this.