Page 127 of Slap Shot Surprise
Moving more slowly, I lowered my feet to the floor and took a few tentative steps. But my legs were unsteady. Or maybe it was the room. Instead of moving toward the door, I’d veered toward my dresser. I reached out, grabbing for the edge, but lost my balance, my upper body falling forward.
Something hit my temple, and I sank to the bottom of a deep, dark pool.
TWENTY-FIVE
joe
Exactly six hoursafter I’d left Chicago, I pulled into Mabel’s driveway and parked right behind her new SUV. The front lawn was covered with snow, but I was too impatient to go back to the sidewalk and use the shoveled front walk, so I stomped through six inches of snow in my shoes like a madman.
On the front porch, I stamped my feet and knocked on the door at the same time. Impatient, I shoved my hands in my coat pockets and shifted my weight from side to side. When she didn’t answer after thirty seconds, I knocked again. When she didn’t answer thirty seconds after that, I put my hands to the small window pane within her front door. The front hallway looked exactly how I remembered it, but there was no sign of Mabel or even Cleo. The hall light was on, though, and at the back of the house, I could see the kitchen lights were on. That was a little strange. Maybe she was in the shower?
I knocked again and waited a couple more minutes, but she didn’t answer. Hustling back to my car, I got back behind the wheel and turned on the engine for some heat.Then I called her. It went to voicemail. Without leaving a message, I hung up and texted.
Hey, cupcake. I have a surprise for you. Are you home?
Five minutes went by. Then ten.
A bad feeling had worked its way beneath my excitement. Something prickled at the back of my neck. I wasn’t usually someone who overreacted or assumed the worst, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off. What if she was in the house but she couldn’t get to her phone or the door?
Blood pumping, I jumped out of the car and strode back onto her porch. I banged on the door with both fists. I called her name. I went around to the back door and pounded there too.
Nothing.
“Fuck!” I tugged on my hair, which I hadn’t even combed before leaving my apartment.
I was heading for my car again, trying to decide what to do, when another car pulled up in front of Mabel’s house. Hidden behind my SUV, I watched as the driver got out and hurried up the front walk.
It was Ari.
“Ari!” Again, I waded through half a foot of snow to get to the porch. “Where’s Mabel?”
Ari squealed and jumped, placing a hand over her heart. “Oh my God, you scared me!”
“Where is she? Is everything okay?”
“Jesus.” Ari took a couple deep breaths. “She’s okay. They’re just keeping her for observation for twenty-four hours.”
My blood pressure spiked as I pictured my girl in ahospital bed hooked up to machines. “Who’s they? Where is she? Observation for what?”
“She passed out in her bedroom this morning and hit her head on the dresser. She’s at Northern Medical Center.”
“Oh my God.” My heart. My heart. “Tell me she’s okay.”
“She’s fine. A bump on the head. Austin arrived within minutes and called 9-1-1. She was confused when he found her but was awake and talking by the time paramedics got here.”
“And the baby?”
“Baby is fine too.” She pulled a key from her pocket and stuck it in Mabel’s front door. “Let’s go inside. It’s freezing out here.”
“I want to go see her!”
“I’m here getting together a bag of things she wants. You can take them to her.”
I fidgeted, glancing at my car, but reluctantly followed her into the house. If there was something Mabel needed, I wanted to bring it to her. Following Ari inside, I caught sight of Cleo in the front hall. I crouched down to pet her while Ari removed her shoes.
“I’m sorry about the outburst yesterday,” she said. “I’m just protective of Mabel.”
“It’s okay.” I straightened up. “I needed to hear those words. After you said all that stuff to me, I couldn’t think about anything else. I couldn’t even focus on hockey—thank God I’m not back on the ice yet, because I watched an entire game without seeing a fucking thing. I went home and couldn’t sleep. Because I realized you were right about one thing—I love her—but wrong about the other.”
