Counting Down The Days (Counting on Hockey #3)

Chapter 22: Emergency Contact

"Wake up. It's exercise morning. Get your sports bra on and let's go", I'm awoken to Aiden shaking me. I open one eye and look up at him.

"How did you get in? Isn't is like the middle of the night", I mumble, rolling over, my face in the pillow.

"It's nine A.M. We agreed that our one morning off a week, that we weren't on the road, we would go for a run around the city. It stopped snowing, it's a whopping thirty seven degrees outside, practically a heat wave, and our goal today is four and a half miles".

I groan, then push the blankets off of me. Aiden doesn't flinch when he looks at me in my 'sleep' sports bra and underwear. I stumble over to my closet and find my athletic wear, then go into my bathroom and get ready.

When I come out, my bed is made, and I hear the blender going in the kitchen. I put a headband over my ponytail and walk into the kitchen. "I'll do the dishes after", Aiden says to me as he pours a pink smoothie into a glass. He hands one to me, then takes a drink of his. "Drink it. It's good for us before a run. We go over this before every run, you should know this. This time, I added an extra banana, then we drink the rest after we get back and we get the most potassium possible".

We go for the run around the city. And, this just above freezing weather felt really good. Aiden takes the rest of our smoothie out of the fridge and pours it in our glasses.

As he does that, I walk into my room and grab my phone. It starts to ring the second I pick it up. It's a number I don't know, but it's from Boston. "Hello?"

"Hello. I'm looking for Meredith Adams", the calm female voice says to me.

"This is her", I reply

"Hi, Miss Adams. My name is Kelsi, from Boston General Hospital. I'm calling on behalf Noah Smith".

"Yes", I say in a worried voice.

"Miss, I regret to inform you that Noah was in a terrible accident, we can't give you full details yet, but he was struck by a car while crossing a street earlier this morning. You are the emergency contact provided by his employer. May I ask how you are related to him?"

"Um", my mind goes blank. "I'm his best friend".

"Well, we were wondering if you had his families numbers, his phone is locked and we have no way of getting a hold of them. Do they live here in the area? Do you?"

"Um, no. His parents live up in Maine, but they're never home, and at the moment I live in Minnesota".

"Well, could I get their numbers please? Is there anyway you could come out, he asked for you".

I rub my forehead and walk back into my living room as I give her Noah's parent's numbers. She thanks me for them. "So, if he asked for me, would you tell him that I will be there within the next day. And, please don't tell me if he is actually awake. I couldn't handle if he was or not".

"Okay Miss. I'm sorry to deliver this news to you. Goodbye".

I hang up the phone and place it on table, before hunching over in tears. Aiden rushes to my side, putting his arm over my back and pulling me towards him. "What happened, Mere?"

"Noah", I choke back tears. "He-he-he was in an accident. I nee-need my pho-phone-phone".

Aiden rushes from my side and grabs my phone, handing it to me. I rush through my contacts and click on Cole's number. It rings and rings, then goes to voicemail. "Cole. Cole I need you over here right now. It's Noah. Please come over here to my apartment quickly". I hang up and out my phone down again.

I cry and cry and cry some more. Aiden practically had to pull himself away from me when he got a call from his advisor, Carin. He left to take care of something at the stadium. I tell him I'll be okay, but he was reluctant.

Noah's hurt. Noah's hurt. I can't help him. I should be there right now, sitting at his bedside, waiting for him to get better. I need to be there.

A knock on the door comes, and I quickly get off the couch and open the door. Cole stands there, who seems, pretty much, out of breath. "What happened?"

I try and think of something to say, but I just start to cry again. He walks up to me and wraps his arms around me. I let him, and it feels good.

Cole wipes the tears from my cheeks with the pad of his thumb. "Tell me what happened", he says calmly.

"I just got a call from Boston Gen. I guess I'm Noah's emergency contact and they can't get his parent's number, so I had to give it to her. Noah was hit by a car or something this morning. They couldn't tell me anything else."

"Oh my god", Cole wraps his arms around me. I listen to his shaky breath, he's about to cry. "You have to go out there".

"I know I do, but how? We have a game tonight and tomorrow, and the next day. I'm not really allowed to miss the games. I'm counted on to write the summaries of these games. Maria gave me that job-"

"Hey. If she gives you any trouble, tell her to go talk to coach. He would have no problem if one of you were to miss a game or two for an emergency. Call Maria to tell her you're leaving for a little while, and I have to call coach".

I call Maria, and she has no problem with any of it, she just tells me to take care of him. Cole calls his coach about something, but I don't listen to what. The next thing I can think of is calling an airline company to buy a ticket. I have one in no time. It leaves tonight at eleven thirty. I can only stay for part of the game, but have to leave after the second period.