Rebound (Seattle Steelheads #1)(56)

The man shrugged. “Harborview’s closest. If he went to the ER, that would be the one.”

My stomach dropped. He was right that Harborview Medical Center was the closest hospital to the arena. Problem was, it also the place they took people who were really fucked up. They had a regular ER too, but in Seattle, “They’re taking him to Harborview” could very, very easily mean, “This is bad.”

Ignoring a few twinges in my knee and hips, I sprinted out to the parking garage and didn’t slow down until I reached my car.

And a minute later, remembered why I didn’t usually leave the stadium right after a game even if I didn’t have to meet the press: post-game gridlock. Fuck my life.

Fortunately, the exit from the end of the garage where the players parked let out on one of the less busy streets. Still jammed with cars, but not quite as bad as if I’d gone out the opposite corner of the stadium.

Instead of five minutes, it took almost twenty to get to Harborview, and I still hadn’t heard a word from Geoff. Hell, I probably could have walked. Except knowing me I’d have run the whole way, pulled something, and had to explain that to my coach and teammates.

I parked at the hospital and hurried inside. “Hi,” I said to the charge nurse. “I’m looking for someone who might have come in earlier. Officer Logan. Geoff. Geoff Logan.”

“Are you family?”

I swallowed. “No. I, um, I get if you can’t tell me anything. But could you tell him I’m here?”

“I can pass a message along.” She picked up a pad of sticky notes. “Who do I tell him is asking?”

“Asher. He’ll know who I am.”

The nurse nodded. “Go ahead and wait out here. Someone will come get you if Officer Logan is a patient and is up for having visitors.”

“Perfect. Thanks.” I went into the thinly crowded waiting room but didn’t bother sitting down. Way too restless for that. I stood off to the side, shifting my weight and rocking on my feet. People probably thought I was itching for some drugs or something.

Nope, not me. Just need to know if someone’s okay.

I turned my phone over and over in my hand. I thought about texting Geoff, but he hadn’t responded to my last message. Was he okay? Did he even have his phone? What if he was just doing his job and didn’t have time to respond to frantic texts from my overly worried ass? Christ, I was overthinking this. Where were the boundaries with this kind of thing? Should I have even been here? Oh God. Would this be weird? Me just showing up at the ER and—

“Asher?” a woman’s voice pulled me out of my tumbling thoughts. I turned to see Geoff’s partner, Laura.

My stomach fell into my feet. Oh fuck. He was here.

She offered a tired smile as she motioned for me to follow her.

“Is he okay?” I asked quickly as I fell into step beside her.

“Yeah, he’ll be fine. He hit his head pretty good, so the docs want to make sure the concussion isn’t too bad. We’re waiting on him to go get a CT scan.”

“Waiting? So they think he can wait?”

“I’m hoping that’s what that means.” She stopped at a room and pushed open the door. “He’s in here.”

Heart thumping, I stepped in, and in an instant, I zeroed in on Geoff. His left cheek was bruised, and I recognized the early stages of a black eye. He was awake, too, which was good.

“Oh my God,” I said. “I was so worried. I’m glad you’re okay.”

And then… I realized he wasn’t alone.

The dark-haired white woman sitting in the chair looked to be around Geoff’s age, and there were also a couple of teenagers. His kids, I assumed. They absolutely had their dad’s eyes and sharp features, along with their mother’s light brown hair and fairer skin tone.

The kids stared at me with wide eyes, and the girl sputtered, “Holy shit.”

“Claire,” both her parents said, though they sounded more amused than anything.

David turned to his dad. “You said Asher. You didn’t say that Asher.”

Geoff chuckled. “Uh. Well. Kids.” He gestured at me. “This is that Asher.”

They stared at me again, eyes huge and jaws slack.

“Asher, this is my daughter, Claire, and my son, David.” Geoff gestured at the woman beside him. “And this is Valerie. My ex-wife.”

“Nice to meet you.” I shook hands with her. That seemed to bring the kids back to life, and they managed to shake my hand as well, though their eyes stayed round the whole time.

Their mom smothered a laugh. “Bet you kids didn’t see yourselves getting starstruck tonight.”

“Uh, no.” David turned to me. “You’re really…” His gaze went to my faded jersey. “Holy shit.”

I laughed and extended my hand. “Yeah. I’m Asher Crowe.”

“Whoa.” He shook my hand.

“If it’s not obvious,” Geoff said, “they’re big fans.”

Both kids blushed. I was pretty sure I did too.

“Dad, I thought you just met him on a call,” Claire said. “How is… What’s…” She gestured back and forth between me and her father, her features taut with confusion.

I looked at Geoff. He looked at me. We both shrugged.