Note: Okay, I know I have to other stories I'm working on but oh well. I
watched D3 before going to work last night and since I don't particularly
car for the co-worker I worked with last I found I had to find something to
do to keep myself awake in between rounds. This story is the result. Hope
you like it.
I glance up at the clock on the wall. It read almost ten am. I had been sitting in this room since about seven thirty this morning and in the waiting room for probably about a half hour before that. I was waiting for my friend to give us some sign that he was going to be okay.
With a sigh I looked away from the clock and back to the bed where my friend lay. The only movement was the slight rise and fall of his chest. Out in the hallway I heard voices. It was my Mom and Coach Orion .
"Any luck?" I heard Orion ask.
"No," my Mom answered. "There is still no answer at his house and I don't know how else to reach his parents. How did this happen?"
"I don't know. All the kids are pretty upset about what happened and I haven't even tried questioning them yet. The guidance counselor finally got most of them to go back to the dorms. I haven't even seen any of the other Varsity players. They were gone when I got to the rink if they were even there to begin with. I talked to Dean Buckley and he told me that all of them are in class which means they either don't know what happened or they're more worried about getting in trouble themselves."
"Charlie still in there?" I heard my Mom ask even though she tried to keep her voice low.
'Yes', I thought. 'I'm still here and no one is making me leave.'
"Yeah, he's the only one still here," Orion answered her. He dropped his voice lower for the next part of what he had to say but I could still hear him. "The doctor is starting to get worried. He told me that the longer he remains unconscious the greater the risk of there being permanent complications. They have another CAT scan scheduled for eleven so they can compare it with the one they took when he was first brought in and see if there has been any change."
"I'm going to go check on Charlie," I heard my Mom tell him. A few moments later she was standing beside me, one hand resting on my shoulder.
"You okay, honey?" she asked me.
"Yeah," I told her in a flat voice. I didn't really feel like talking to anyone right now.
"Why don't we go get something to eat," she suggested.
"I'm not hungry," I told her.
"Okay, then something to drink."
"No thanks," I told her. "I'm not going anywhere," I told her my stubborn side coming out.
"Okay," she said with a sigh. "I'll be back in a little while," she told me and the left the room.
Which left me alone again with the sound of the clock ticking and my own thoughts. This was all my fault.
***flashback***
It had been a grudge match. The final battle in the prank war we had been having. JV versus Varsity. I was determined that JV was going to win. Problem was, I think Varsity was just as determined as I was.
When we skated out onto the ice this morning Adam had sought me out.
"They didn't tell me until it was too late. Believe me Charlie," he pleaded. Why hadn't I listened to him.
"Save it Preppy," I had told him. At that point I was still seeing him as the enemy. I had completely forgotten that he was my friend.
Varsity had wasted no time in getting rough. No matter what we did we just couldn't seem to score a point. Varsity however was having a field day.
And then I got the puck. As I skated toward Varsity's goal I found Adam right beside me trying to get the puck away from me. I could hear Varsity cheering him on. Despite Adam's efforts I was still able to get the shot off but Scooter caught the puck in his glove.
When I saw that save something inside of me snapped. I dropped my stick and put my arm around Adam's neck taking us both down to the ice. But we had been too close to the goal by that time. Scooter had scrambled back into the net as far away from us as he could get. As Adam and I went down Adam had hit his head on the top bar to the goal.
"Adam are you okay?" I remember asking quickly as I immediately pushed myself up off the ice but I had got no reply. I moved closer to him and could see that he was unconscious.
"Someone call an ambulance," I had called out. I had been vaguely aware of some of the other Varsity players leaving the ice but at the sounds of those words every last one of them had split for the locker room. I had seen Averman leaving the ice and hoped it was for help.
By this time all of the other Ducks had gathered around. I was still kneeling next to Adam one hand resting gently on his shoulder. ' What have I done' I remember thinking to myself. At least I don't think I said it out loud.
Orion had been the next one to show up. He made his way through the other Ducks and knelt down on the other side of Adam.
"Banks, can you hear me?" Orion had said but there was still no response from Adam.
***end flashback***
That was how I had found myself sitting in his hospital room instead of in a classroom. I recall some of the other Ducks being mad at the Varsity players for splitting but I wasn't. All I could focus on was how I had let my temper get the best of me and seriously hurt my friend. But this wasn't the only stupid thing I had done since coming to Eden Hall. Sitting in this hospital room thinking had made me realize exactly how much of a jerk I had been these last few weeks.
Movement brought me out of my thoughts. I quickly looked toward the bed. Adam had moved his head from one side to the other. I heard him let out a groan but his eyes were still closed.
"Adam," I said as I got up from my chair and moved closer to the bedside. I took one my friend's hands in mine. "Adam, can your hear me?" I asked not giving up.
"Charlie," Adam said slowly and softly his eyes fluttering open.
"I'm right here Adam," I told him. "I'm sorry Adam. I never meant to hurt you. I wasn't thinking."
"Charlie, I swear I wasn't in on the pranks Varsity pulled on you guys. They didn't even tell me until it was too late to do anything about them."
"I believe you," I told him. "I should've listened to you this morning. I'm the only one who needs to be apologizing . I don't know what I was thinking. I didn't mean to hurt you, Adam." By this time I realized I had tears running down my cheeks. I reached up with my other hand to wipe them away.
"Forget about it. Things happen," Adam told me which only made me feel worse. All the stuff that I and the other Ducks had put him through, both recently and when he first joined our team, and he was still the most forgiving one out of all of us.
"I wish I could but I can't," I told him. "For years I've hated what McGill did to you in the first game you skated with us against the Hawks and then I go and do the same exact thing as he did."
"That's not true," Adam told me. "McGill never hung around to make sure I was going to be okay," he said.
And with those words I couldn't hold back the tears anymore. I let them flow freely down my face. Though still very groggy, Adam sat up in the bed and gave me a hug. I hugged him back the tears still falling. I don't know who was actually comforting who. Maybe we were just two friends comforting each other.
I glance up at the clock on the wall. It read almost ten am. I had been sitting in this room since about seven thirty this morning and in the waiting room for probably about a half hour before that. I was waiting for my friend to give us some sign that he was going to be okay.
With a sigh I looked away from the clock and back to the bed where my friend lay. The only movement was the slight rise and fall of his chest. Out in the hallway I heard voices. It was my Mom and Coach Orion .
"Any luck?" I heard Orion ask.
"No," my Mom answered. "There is still no answer at his house and I don't know how else to reach his parents. How did this happen?"
"I don't know. All the kids are pretty upset about what happened and I haven't even tried questioning them yet. The guidance counselor finally got most of them to go back to the dorms. I haven't even seen any of the other Varsity players. They were gone when I got to the rink if they were even there to begin with. I talked to Dean Buckley and he told me that all of them are in class which means they either don't know what happened or they're more worried about getting in trouble themselves."
"Charlie still in there?" I heard my Mom ask even though she tried to keep her voice low.
'Yes', I thought. 'I'm still here and no one is making me leave.'
"Yeah, he's the only one still here," Orion answered her. He dropped his voice lower for the next part of what he had to say but I could still hear him. "The doctor is starting to get worried. He told me that the longer he remains unconscious the greater the risk of there being permanent complications. They have another CAT scan scheduled for eleven so they can compare it with the one they took when he was first brought in and see if there has been any change."
"I'm going to go check on Charlie," I heard my Mom tell him. A few moments later she was standing beside me, one hand resting on my shoulder.
"You okay, honey?" she asked me.
"Yeah," I told her in a flat voice. I didn't really feel like talking to anyone right now.
"Why don't we go get something to eat," she suggested.
"I'm not hungry," I told her.
"Okay, then something to drink."
"No thanks," I told her. "I'm not going anywhere," I told her my stubborn side coming out.
"Okay," she said with a sigh. "I'll be back in a little while," she told me and the left the room.
Which left me alone again with the sound of the clock ticking and my own thoughts. This was all my fault.
***flashback***
It had been a grudge match. The final battle in the prank war we had been having. JV versus Varsity. I was determined that JV was going to win. Problem was, I think Varsity was just as determined as I was.
When we skated out onto the ice this morning Adam had sought me out.
"They didn't tell me until it was too late. Believe me Charlie," he pleaded. Why hadn't I listened to him.
"Save it Preppy," I had told him. At that point I was still seeing him as the enemy. I had completely forgotten that he was my friend.
Varsity had wasted no time in getting rough. No matter what we did we just couldn't seem to score a point. Varsity however was having a field day.
And then I got the puck. As I skated toward Varsity's goal I found Adam right beside me trying to get the puck away from me. I could hear Varsity cheering him on. Despite Adam's efforts I was still able to get the shot off but Scooter caught the puck in his glove.
When I saw that save something inside of me snapped. I dropped my stick and put my arm around Adam's neck taking us both down to the ice. But we had been too close to the goal by that time. Scooter had scrambled back into the net as far away from us as he could get. As Adam and I went down Adam had hit his head on the top bar to the goal.
"Adam are you okay?" I remember asking quickly as I immediately pushed myself up off the ice but I had got no reply. I moved closer to him and could see that he was unconscious.
"Someone call an ambulance," I had called out. I had been vaguely aware of some of the other Varsity players leaving the ice but at the sounds of those words every last one of them had split for the locker room. I had seen Averman leaving the ice and hoped it was for help.
By this time all of the other Ducks had gathered around. I was still kneeling next to Adam one hand resting gently on his shoulder. ' What have I done' I remember thinking to myself. At least I don't think I said it out loud.
Orion had been the next one to show up. He made his way through the other Ducks and knelt down on the other side of Adam.
"Banks, can you hear me?" Orion had said but there was still no response from Adam.
***end flashback***
That was how I had found myself sitting in his hospital room instead of in a classroom. I recall some of the other Ducks being mad at the Varsity players for splitting but I wasn't. All I could focus on was how I had let my temper get the best of me and seriously hurt my friend. But this wasn't the only stupid thing I had done since coming to Eden Hall. Sitting in this hospital room thinking had made me realize exactly how much of a jerk I had been these last few weeks.
Movement brought me out of my thoughts. I quickly looked toward the bed. Adam had moved his head from one side to the other. I heard him let out a groan but his eyes were still closed.
"Adam," I said as I got up from my chair and moved closer to the bedside. I took one my friend's hands in mine. "Adam, can your hear me?" I asked not giving up.
"Charlie," Adam said slowly and softly his eyes fluttering open.
"I'm right here Adam," I told him. "I'm sorry Adam. I never meant to hurt you. I wasn't thinking."
"Charlie, I swear I wasn't in on the pranks Varsity pulled on you guys. They didn't even tell me until it was too late to do anything about them."
"I believe you," I told him. "I should've listened to you this morning. I'm the only one who needs to be apologizing . I don't know what I was thinking. I didn't mean to hurt you, Adam." By this time I realized I had tears running down my cheeks. I reached up with my other hand to wipe them away.
"Forget about it. Things happen," Adam told me which only made me feel worse. All the stuff that I and the other Ducks had put him through, both recently and when he first joined our team, and he was still the most forgiving one out of all of us.
"I wish I could but I can't," I told him. "For years I've hated what McGill did to you in the first game you skated with us against the Hawks and then I go and do the same exact thing as he did."
"That's not true," Adam told me. "McGill never hung around to make sure I was going to be okay," he said.
And with those words I couldn't hold back the tears anymore. I let them flow freely down my face. Though still very groggy, Adam sat up in the bed and gave me a hug. I hugged him back the tears still falling. I don't know who was actually comforting who. Maybe we were just two friends comforting each other.