Chapter 45

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

Cole

Adriana is just staring at me. I can see she is tearing up. I move my hand to the side of her face that isn’t as swollen.

“I love you too, Casanova.” she tells me.

“Baby, don’t cry.” I tell her.

She tries to nod her head, but winces from pain.

“You need sleep. I won’t leave, but I’m going to go back to the chair.” I say.

I go to sit up to get out of the hospital bed, but she squeezes my hand.

“You want me to stay?” I ask.

“Yes.” she whispers.

I lay back down all way. Just as she is about to fall asleep, the person comes in to put her cast on. We got the look of disapproval, but they didn’t make me get out of the bed. I wouldn’t have left it, anyway.

She fell asleep shortly after her cast is put on. I stare down at her in amazement. This woman is so resilient and beautiful. Even with her injuries, she shines brighter than the sun.

I hear my phone vibrate on the rolling bedside table. It must be one of the guys or Heather. I haven’t updated anyone since we got here. I wasn’t worried about them. That might make me a horrible person, but my only focus was Adriana.

I drag my arm from under her head and get up from the bed. I grab my phone and see I have five missed calls between Heather and Ty, twenty texts from the group chat with the guys, Ty, Heather, a group chat with Heather, and a number I don’t know. The last text that came in just now is from Coach telling me to call him.

While I know I need to update our friends, I just want to get the phone call with coach over with. With that, I go to his contact profile and call. He picks up after the first ring.

“Cole, how is Adriana?” he asks right away.

“She’s okay for now. Banged up pretty bad. Sleeping.” I tell him.

“I’m sorry this happened to her. I wasn’t aware of Crawford’s indiscretions or I never would have okay’d for him to come on to the team,” he responds.

“I know, coach.” I say.

“I’m putting you on the disabled list for a week. I know you will want to be there for Adriana and we want you to be there for her too,” he informs me.

I really love being a part of this organization. While I know we are more than just players to them, this really shows me they care about me as a person.

“I appreciate that coach more than you could know.”

“Don’t mention it. We are all here for you both. If you need anything, just let us know.”

“I will. Coach, what’s going to happen to him?” I ask because I need to know.

“Crawford won’t be returning here. I can’t say legally what will happen, but the police advised they would let us know.” He’s honest with me.

“Okay, thanks again.” I say and hang up.

Thank fuck. I don’t know what would happen if I had to see him in the locker room. No, I know. I’d be the one getting arrested for beating the shit out of Crawford.

Time to face the next phone call.

“Cole, what’s going on? Is A okay?” Heather blurts out as she answers the phone.

“She’s alive. She has a concussion, and a few broken bones. One eye is swollen all the way shut, but she’s okay. Or she will be.” I tell her.

“Damn it. This is all my fault. I thought the stadium was safe,” she replies.

“Sis, we went over this already. It’s not your fault. I told her it wasn’t her fault either.” I say.

“I don’t know what I would do if something worse happened. When can we come up to see her?”

“You all still here?” I ask.

“Yes. We didn’t want to leave until we knew she was okay.” She tells me.

“She’s sleeping right now. Do you and the girls just want to come up?” I ask.

“Yes, what room number?”

“724. I’ll see you in a minute.” I tell her.

It hadn’t even been five minutes when Heather, Dani and Laine come through the door.

“Are the guys in the lobby still?” I ask them.

“They are. Go talk to them. We won’t leave her side until you get back,” Dani tells me.

I nod my head and go to the elevators. I’m trying not to let my anger get the best of me now that I’m not in Adriana’s presence.

The elevator doors open up. I walk out and see the guys right away. I make my way towards them. They each give me a hug.

“How about we go get you some coffee across the street?” Ty asks.

“I don’t want to leave in case she needs me.” I tell him.

“The girls are with her. They will call if she needs you.” King tries to convince me.

I know King’s right. I could use the caffeine and fresh air.

“Fine.” I tell them.

As soon as we step outside, the fresh air hits my face and I feel some sense of relief. We walk across the street, get our coffee, and then walk back to the hospital, where there is a private room for us to talk without being bothered.

“Any updates on Crawford?” I ask.

“He’ll live.” King tells me.

“He’s lucky he’s alive. We didn’t damage him too much.” Ty informs me.

“Do you know why Crawford did it?” Dean asks.

I nod my head and take a breath. These four guys helped me out and showed me they’re not just my teammates but genuine friends today.

“Crawford had asked Adriana to be his date to the gala. She obviously turned him down. Apparently, he doesn’t like the word no and doesn’t know how to walk away. It’s part of the reason he was traded. The woman wasn’t able to get the police involved prior to anything like this happening, though.” I inform them.

The guys are all dumbfounded. The looks on their faces say it all. They don’t even have to speak.

Yeah, how do you think I felt hearing that?

“When did Crawford ask A to the Gala?” Dean asks.

“The game before the gala. She went to get gloves from the maintenance closet. He saw her head that way, offered to help, and asked. She said he seemed okay when she declined.” I tell the guys.

“That’s crazy.” Dane says.

I nod my head in agreement. What else can I do?