I’m So Sorry This Happened （16）

"I already fuckin' told you everything I can remember!" Hayes yelled, wincing and grabbing his right side. "Shit. It hurts so bad!"

"Sit the fuck still and do not yell at me!" Osi scolded him, seated right by his friend's side as he lay in an ER hospital bed. They'd just brought him back for an x-ray and were waiting on the results, but the doctor was pretty positive that Hayes had bruised at least a few ribs.

And based on what was left of the Lamborghini, he's lucky he wasn't dead.

"Tell me again what happened."

Hayes tried to sit up again, couldn't, and was beginning to grow agitated. "Where's Teek? I need to see him." He looked desperately at his former roommate, eyes pleading for reassurance. "Os. Is Trav OK? Tell me he's OK."

"I have not heard anything."

"Fuck this," Hayes grumbled, grabbing a hold of the bed rail and attempting to pull himself up while letting out a gurgled moan. Osi jumped up and blocked him from standing. "Get the fuck off me. I need to see him!"

"I will go check for him, OK? But you? Lay down and do not move. You understand?"

Hayes nodded, grabbing at his side as a few tears escaped his eyes.

Not only was he in pain from the accident and the fear of not knowing what was going on with his friend, but he'd missed his last two alarms and was starting to come down hard.

Osi wandered through the ER and back out into the waiting room, where Neil Halloway sat with Aiden Hughes, both of them jumping up when they saw him.

"What's going on?" Hughesy asked, as Osi approached them.

"Pretty sure is bruised ribs. He is freaking out and keeps asking to see TK. Is there word on him yet?"

Halloway sighed, looking away and shaking his head slowly.

"They're assessing him for internal bleeding to see if he needs surgery or just rest," Hughesy explained. "The seatbelt caught his abdomen pretty good, even after the airbag hit him. Fucking idiot refused blood, so there goes his license for at least a year. They're gonna pull a warrant for it. I mean, he wrecked a 300-thousand-dollar rental car."

"Goddamn it," Halloway said through clenched teeth. "I fucking told Hayes not to get mixed up with that kid. He's such a piece of shit…"

"How about we don't trash talk him right now?" Osi interrupted sternly. "Let's instead pray he will be OK."

Just then, one of the nurses approached them. "For Travis Kadin?"

"Yes," Hughesy replied. "How is he?"

"Stable. He's really banged up but there doesn't appear to be any internal bleeding. Just a lot of bruising and a small laceration."

"Will you be able to release him to us?"

She shook her head. "They obtained a warrant for his blood and once he's released from here, they're gonna charge him. It was…bad. He's in some trouble."

"Fuck," all three of them said at the same time.

"His friend, the passenger, would like to see him, make sure he is OK. Can he see him?" Osi asked.

"Who's Travis's emergency contact?"

"Uh, I guess that'd be me," Hughesy said, raising his hand to his shoulder.

Sadly, TK hadn't had anyone else to call.

"Come with me. And you can come for the passenger," she said, pointing at Osi, then pointing at Halloway. "But you gotta stay."

"That's fine," he said, turning to Osi. "Ryan's flight just landed. He should be here shortly. I'll wait for him."

"You, uh…you sure that is good idea?" Osi asked cautiously.

Halloway nodded. "Water under the bridge, man. I got exactly what I fuckin' deserved. It's cool."

Osi and Hughesy followed the nurse back to Hayes's room, where he was writhing on the bed in pain. "Ugh, it hurts so fuckin' bad. When the fuck are they gonna give me pain meds, lady?" he whined.

"Child, you've been given two doses of morphine so far. You mean to tell me it's no better?" she asked incredulously.

He shook his head.

"That's…yeah, that's not normal. It should've kicked in by now."

"Well, it hasn't!" he snapped back.

She approached his bed. "Lemme guess. Built up a pretty high tolerance, have you?" she asked quietly.

He nodded.

"I figured." She leaned over him, extending her hand to help him up. "Come on. You wanna go see your friend before they take him?"

"Take him? Take him where? Is he OK?" he asked as she helped him into a nearby wheelchair.

"He's banged up, but it's not serious. He's going to be arrested and charged with DUI. I'll wheel you over there so you can see him before he goes."

???

Hughesy and Osi hung off to the side of TK's room, as Hayes, having been wheeled to the side of his bed, clutched his friend's hand as he sobbed.

"I am…so fucked, baby," TK cried, shaking his head. "When people find out…what happened…"

"Listen to me. We'll get through it, OK? There's gotta be a way to deflect this…"

"PR team's already on it," Hughesy called from across the room. "But boys? You're in really deep shit with the organization."

"I don't wanna fuckin' go to jail again, Ty."

"Then maybe you shouldn't have driven high and drunk, you fucking moron!" Osi screamed, slamming a fist against the wall behind him.

Hayes's eyes bulged. "Osi, calm down…" he began, but was quickly cut off.

"Fuck this! Calm down? You could have been killed, Hayes. Then what I'm supposed to do? This is number one bullshit! Why you didn't call me? I would have come for you two idiots."

Hughesy checked his phone. "Looks like Ryan just got here."

Upon hearing that, Hayes immediately lost it, knowing how disappointed his boyfriend would be about this, but also overcome with emotion that he'd made the trip at all considering his new team, with which he was currently trying to become established, had a game later that day.

"I go get him for you," Osi grumbled, leaving the room, Hughesy right behind him.

Both boys tightened their death grip on the other one's hand and wept, fully aware of just how badly they'd fucked up this time.

Finally, TK swiped at his face and asked, "Baby, the wheelchair? You OK?"

"It's nothin'. I can walk but it hurts. Bruised ribs, most likely. No bleeding, no signs of a concussion, and my shoulder is OK so far. I'm just really sore. You OK?"

He nodded. "No internal bleeding. Some bruising and I have a cut across my abdomen. Shit, Ty, I don't even remember leaving the club," TK whispered. "Next thing I knew, we were fuckin' upside down."

"I know. I don't remember leavin' either. Do you understand how lucky we got, with only minor injuries and just hittin' the guardrail and rollin' into that ditch though? We could've…fuckin' killed someone, Teek."

Oh God.

Hayes gasped, recalling that Ryan's dad had been killed by a drunk driver.

Fuck.

Just then, two officers entered TK's room.

"Travis Kadin?" the female officer asked.

"That'd be me."

"So, here's what's gonna happen. You're under arrest for DUI, OK? Now, we're gonna have the nursing staff wheel you outside. To avoid a scene, we're not gonna cuff you, but do not do anything stupid. Just sit there and keep your mouth shut."

TK nodded, tears steadily leaking from his puffy, bloodshot eyes.

"Once we get outside, we'll get you in the cruiser, making sure we're out of sight," the male officer continued. "You'll most likely be arraigned within the next 24 hours, but we'll work on trying to get it done sooner. Listen to this next part very carefully, Travis: I don't give a shit what any scumbag lawyer tries to tell you. At your arraignment, you need to plead guilty. Bro, your bloodwork looked like a science experiment. There's no way you're anything other than guilty in this situation. Do you understand?"

He nodded again, defeated.

"The good news is that since you don't have any priors of this nature, you'll qualify for IDP, so you can get a conditional license while yours is suspended. We'll work with you, OK? Gonna do our absolute best to work with your team and keep this as quiet as possible, though with everything being public record, I can't make any promises. It'll be alright, kid. I know it sucks, but you gotta come with us now."

He carefully stood up, wincing, and exited his bed, stopping in front of where Hayes was seated and extending both of his hands. Hayes struggled and groaned, but he was able to get to his feet with TK's help.

"I wanna hug you, but I don't wanna hurt your ribs, baby."

Hayes slid a hand around the back of TK's head and pulled their foreheads together.

"I'm so sorry, Ty. I'm so sorry this happened," he tearfully whispered against Hayes's lips. "I just wanted to take you out for your birthday, do something fun. I didn't mean…for any of this…"

"I know that, Teek."

"I think…I think we…might need help."

Hayes wailed in distress as he burst into tears again, TK following right behind him. "I think so, too. We'll…get it. We'll get help. We'll do it together, OK?" Hayes turned his face and kissed his friend on the cheek, nuzzling his face against it before kissing him once more.

TK nodded, pulled away, and slowly made his way over to the officers, avoiding eye contact with Ryan Baylor, who was now in the room and leaning against the wall, arms crossed and stone-faced.

Hayes watched as they exited the room, and it was at that point he noticed his boyfriend standing there.

"Rook," Hayes whimpered pathetically. "I'm…I'm…"

"You're what, Hayes?" he replied, unaffected. "A fucking DUI. Really? I hope you're not expecting sympathy from me. Because you won't get it."

"Rook, I'm…"

"You're what, Hayes?"

"I'm sorry…"

"Fuck that. Don't tell me you're sorry. That's weak and that's bullshit. You're what, Hayes?"

"I'm…"

"You're what?" Ryan yelled, exasperated.

"I'm…a drug addict. And I fuckin' need help, baby."

Ryan raked his fingers through his hair and exhaled loudly, relieved to finally hear him admit that, especially considering the conversation he'd just had with Aiden Hughes and Neil Halloway in the ER waiting room.

Within the next 48 hours, Tyler Hayes and Travis Kadin would have no other choice but to accept the help that was coming if either of them planned on keeping their professional hockey careers and reputations alive.