Carved in Ice

Aftermath

Winter Hart

I awoke with a start. Troy was leaning over me, shaking me.

“Oh, thank god. How are you feeling?” He breathed out. I yawned before trying to sit up. Troy backed up to give me some space.

“I feel foggy but okay,” I replied. I reached for my phone on the nightstand beside me.

“Do you need any help?” He asked as I tried to stand up from the bed.

“I’m okay. Just need to use the bathroom, and then I’m going to call Tristan.”

“You have fifteen minutes before I come barging in there,” he warned, and I believed him. I knew as soon as the door closed, he would be looking at his watch.

I walked from the end of the bed towards the bathroom. I was a little dizzy, and I leaned on the bed. My right-winger and best friend was sleeping in the bed beside me. I just didn’t notice until I walked past the bed.

“Do you need help?” I turned to see Troy watching me from the chair in the corner.

“I’m okay. Just a little dizzy.”

I made it into the bath and sat down on the toilet. I did my business before slowly getting up and washing my hands. The light hurt my eyes and I did everything with a squint. I groaned when I caught sight of my cheek in the mirror. Not only was my cheek black, but I also had a black eye. I knew it was bad, but I didn’t expect it to bruise half my face.

After I was done, I sat down on the toilet lid before looking through my phone. My father must have called me fifty times, but nothing from the man I call my fiancé. I quickly looked through the text messages and found nothing from him from the morning before my game. What the hell was going on with him?

I looked up his contact before hitting the call button. I knew it was late there, but I didn’t care. I wanted to know why he hadn’t called to check on me.

“Hello?” He yelled into the phone. There was loud music playing and the noise hurt my pounding head.

“Tristan?”

“Baby, how are you? How was your game? Did you win?” He exclaimed.

“You didn’t watch?”

“I have to go. Work dinner. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“Tristan, wait?” But the music stopped, and I knew he had hung up. Did he not watch my game?

Tears started to build, and my head pounded harder as I fought the urge to vomit.

“Win?” Troy knocked gently on the door and I quickly wiped away the fallen tears.

“I’m okay,” I called out.

“Can I come in?” He asked.

“Yeah,” I answered as loudly as I could. I already felt like s**t, but this pain was worse. My heart twisted painfully.

“Win, what happened?” Troy stepped inside the bathroom and knelt in front of me.

“Nothing. It doesn’t matter,” I mumbled.

“Let’s get you back in bed. I have some more painkillers for you to take. I’m proud that you made it in here all by yourself,” I snorted a chuckle. It wasn’t something to be proud of.

“It’s true. You are the strongest person I know. Even after that hit, you got back on the ice. You should be proud.” He helped me to stand and led me out into the bedroom.

“Have you spoken to my father?” I asked him, sitting on the side of the bed.

“I have. I’ve been keeping him updated, don’t worry.” He handed me a couple of capsules. I drank them down with some water before he helped me lay down.

He checked my eyes before he sat back in his chair. I emptied my mind before giving in to the exhaustion of my body. There was nothing I could do about Tristan from here. And he will probably never know how much he has truly hurt me.

I awoke to the sound of my phone going off. I didn’t want to move to get it. My headache had finally subsided, and I wanted to lie here forever.

Troy answered with a hello and I kept my eyes closed since I didn’t want to speak to anyone. After the call to Tristan, I was barely holding it together.

“She’s resting,” I heard Troy say.

“I don’t care if you just watched it. She needs her rest, and I’m not waking her. If you want more information, then you will need to speak to her father or wait until she is well enough.” Troy said firmly.

“Tristan?” Sydney yawned beside me.

“Yeah. She isn’t in any state to deal with him today. Stay up with her, I’m just going to go shower and get changed.”

“Of course, how is she doing?” She asked.

“Better. I’m still taking her to the hospital for an MRI only because I know she wants to go home. Keep her away from her phone. I know he will keep calling.” I felt the phone hit the bed beside me.

I heard the door open and close before Sydney snuggled in beside me.

“How much of that did you hear?” She sighed.

“All of it,” I whispered. My emotions choked, and she wrapped her arms around me.

“It’s okay, Win,” she reassured me as I rested my head on her shoulder.

“What the hell's wrong with me?” I cried. My head began to pound again, and I hated that I couldn’t control my emotions.

“Babe, there is nothing wrong with you. He just can’t see how perfect you are and that’s his fault. You need to end things with him. His behavior is getting worse, and you deserve someone who is going to love you.”

My phone rang again, and I knew it was him. I didn’t want to hear his excuses.

Sydney answered and put it on speaker.

“What can I do for you, Tristan?”

“Where the f**k is Winter?” He growled. I was going to answer, but she clapped her hand over my mouth.

“So now you care. She could have died yesterday and what the hell were you doing? You didn’t even bother to watch her most important game. We won, by the way, not that you care,” Sydney snapped.

“You fucken b***h. Put her on the phone, now,” he demanded. I hated the way he spoke to my best friend. Sydney and I have been friends for over ten years. She was like a sister.

“Like I said, she is resting. But if you’d like an update, call her father or brothers.” She hung up, and I let out the breath I was holding in.

“Thank you,” I whispered when she removed her hand.

“I always have your back, babe. Always. And I’m done watching him suck the life out of you. You deserve the world. Now, let's get ready. Hopefully, we can be on a plane tonight.”