More Than A Game (The Kings of Kroydon Hills Book 2) by Bella Matthews (the best electronic book reader .TXT) 📗

Arch is unable to move fast enough to catch me as I fall to my knees.

He lowers himself down in front of me. "Annabelle, they're gone. Your parents are gone."

"Where's my brother?" I can’t bring myself to look at this man yet. This man that let me dance the last hour and half without telling me my parents were gone. Who allowed my brother to stay alone?

Who’s with him? Is he scared?

I refuse to let my tears flow freely.

Not yet. No, I have things to do. I need to find Tommy.

Archer shakes his head. "They didn't mention anyone else. The hospital was looking for you. That was all I was told. Tell me what you need, and we will get it for you."

"I need a flight to Philly."

I didn't even go back to my apartment. Just changed into sweatpants, a long-sleeved Guns ‘N Roses t-shirt, and my Ugg's and walked out the door. Ginny, the admin for the ballet company, meets me in the hall. She wraps her seventy-five-year-old arms around me and gives me her best squeeze. "Annabelle, I've emailed you your flight information and have a town car waiting out front for you. I've also called the hospital and given them your contact information. I asked them to call as soon as they could to update you on your brother. But I warned them you would be on a plane in an hour. Now, stay strong and let us know if there is anything we can do for you, honey."

Going through the motions, I limply hug Ginny back and tap her arms to get her to let go of me. "Thank you, Ginny. I'll call when I can."

Then I'm out the front door of Lincoln Center, completely unaware that this would be the last time I ever danced on this stage.

Two hours later, I'm running through Kroydon Hills hospital's front doors in my hometown of Kroydon Hills, Pennsylvania. The hospital called and left a voice mail while I was in the air that I didn't get until I landed. I called them back as soon as I could but couldn't speak to anyone who could tell me what was happening.

Running across the old, yellowing linoleum floor, I get to the security desk and ask them where I need to go.

Oh, God.

He's in the Pediatric ICU.

This hospital is like a maze. Go down the hall, make a left, take the elevator to the third floor, make another left. The steel double doors I'm greeted by are locked. I have to press the intercom and ask to be buzzed in.

Once inside, I'm met by a kind nurse in Mickey Mouse scrubs, who escorts me to Tommy's room, and for the second time tonight, I feel like my knees are going to give out on me. He looks so small in this bed, wrapped tightly in a white blanket that I have no doubt will be too itchy for him when he wakes up. He has a tube coming out of his nose and more tubes attached to his arms. His beautiful green eyes are closed, and his head is shaved and bandaged up on the right side of his body. "Is he… Is he going to be okay?" The tears are there, behind my eyes, pushing to be let free, but I absolutely refuse to allow myself to lose control now.

The nurse, who barely looks older than I am, steps closer to me. "He is. It looks worse than it is. We had to sedate him to calm him down, but he should be waking up soon."

I slowly move to the side of the hospital bed and tentatively run my fingers over his hair. "He has Autism. Did you know that?" He’ll hate this. He’ll hate this room and having so many things touching him.

"We had an idea but couldn't be sure. Ms. Hart, do you have anyone I can call for you? Any family that we can have come to stay with you?"

I shake my head no, never looking away from Tommy. I didn’t realize that I lost my battle with my tears until I see one hit his bruised cheek. "No. We don't have any extended family. It's just us." Dad used to say it didn't matter that we didn't have a big family, as long as we had four Harts, we had more than everyone else. I look back to the nurse. "Was his dinosaur brought in with him?"

"Let me check for you. I'll be right back."

Dropping my big purse on the floor, I pull the vinyl lounge chair next to Tommy's bed and sink down into the squeaky fabric. I've spent more time with my little brother on skype chats than any other way during his short little life. Mom found out she was pregnant right after I left for school. I thought about not going, about skipping that year and trying out again the following year, but she wouldn't let me do it. She told me we'd have holidays and summers, and that New York was only an hour-long flight away. She was right, and we made the best of it and offset the rest with a ton of skype.

My little brother marched to the beat of his own drummer, and that drummer was a dinosaur. When the nurse re-entered the room with a plastic bag with Tommy's sneakers, clothes, and his stuffed Toy Story Rex, I breathed a sigh of relief.

I knew this stuffed animal would help Tommy deal with the trauma of the day.

What I didn't know was how I was going to deal with it.

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Nothing prepared me for meeting Brady Ryan.

I’ve been called football royalty my entire life.

Born into a family that has experienced the highs and lows of the game.

Constantly surrounded by football players and coaches.

Now I’m following my father