Puck Off!

Chapter 17

My tongue felt weird. Or maybe it was just my mouth. No, it was everything. I opened my eyes, taking in the hospital room I was in, and the sight of Iryna curled up uncomfortably in the chair next to my bed. I could feel bandages on my face, and my left arm seemed to be in a cast. The odd sensation in my mouth might be stitches, now that I remembered the nail in my mouth. Did I have a hole in my face? I could hear a gentle beeping from my monitors, and I had to clear my throat to have any chance of talking.

"Ryn? Are you awake?" I choked out.

Her eyes flew open as she swiveled her head towards me. "Logan!" She was on her feet in a flash, sitting on the edge of the bed and leaning down to gently hug me while sobbing quietly. "Oh my god I thought so many bad things!"

"I'm okay, I think. How long was I out?"

She picked up her phone and looked. "Not long. It's only Thursday morning. So, you just slept in a little bit, which is good because you need it."

Oh, good. I had thought maybe I'd been asleep for days! "How did you get here? Don't they usually only allow family?"

"Thank your sister. She facetimed the staff here with your folks, and told them to let me in. That was good enough."

"Thanks for being here, though I'd rather wake up with you in my bed, than in the hospital."

She wasted little time in pivoting her body to lay on her side next to me, throwing her arm over me. "It this better?"

"Much. Yes. How long do I need to be here?" I wondered.

"Oh, shit! Let me tell someone you're awake! The cops wanted to talk to you too!" She stood up and walked quickly out of the room before I could ask anything else.

A minute later she was back with a nurse, who checked all my monitors before saying that she'd let the doctor know I was awake. I had a feeling there would be a lot of bureaucracy trying to get through all the checkouts of the injuries. On the good side, while we waited, I did get some more snuggling in with my lovely girlfriend.

"Mr. Vargas, my name is Dr. Harris," a stern looking woman said as she came into the room. "You seem to be in pretty good shape, all things considered, so if you remain that way, we should be able to check out of here sometime later this afternoon. You have a cast on your arm to set the cracked ulna that you suffered. You also had a concussion from the board that hit in the head as well as a puncture through the cheek from a nail that was in the board. That same nail put a hole in your arm as well, though both of those wounds have been sewn up."

"How bad is my face?" I was almost afraid to ask.

"There will be a scar, but not too bad. It was a straight puncture, since the board broke, and no ripping. We'll set you up with a consultation with a plastic surgeon to see if they can minimize that," she stated. Her bedside manner was right to the point, which was fine, but I was glad she wasn't giving me super bad news. What would Ryn think of the scar though? "You'll have an instruction sheet on caring for the wound for the next few weeks, but you should be able to handle it. Chew on the other side of your mouth, no straws, things like that."

Awesome. Fuck.

"It's going to be fine Logan," Ryn assured me, having seen my face fall at the news. "You're still going to look great; I promise."

"Right. I guess we'll see when the bandages come off." I stated. I wasn't too vain, but I didn't exactly want to see a reminder of Fisher and the incident every time I looked in the mirror.

"Mr. Vargas, I know this is a little much to take in, but you will be fine," the doctor said. "We have some very good doctors, and they did their best to minimize the scarring, and that is even before a plastic surgeon looks at it. I won't say that it will be invisible, but it will be minimal."

"Thanks doc. Oh, where is my phone? I probably need to call work and my folks."

"Your mom and Ella are already on their way. They got a flight this morning, and probably already landed," Ryn assured me. "But here is your phone if you want to call work." She handed me my phone that she must have gotten from Val.

"Thanks." The call with Oliva was fast. I just explained the situation, and she told me to not worry about it, which I appreciated. I knew I could take a few days of sick leave and show back up on Monday, and things would be fine. I'd be a little slower at my job with the broken arm, but I knew I could still get things done.

When the door next opened, I had hoped it was my mom and Ella, but it turned out to be the police. They had already retrieved the security footage for the parking lot, something I had installed during the renovation to make sure we caught thieves breaking into any of the residents' cars, and Iryna was easily able to identify them as Alec Barrett and Russell Cobb, Fisher's two best friends. I also told them about Fisher and them following me on the subway, and I showed them the texts that I'd sent to Ryn about it. Val could easily verify seeing Fisher outside the pizza place too, so hopefully they could resolve that easily enough.

Oh, and yes, I absolutely wanted to press charges.

I was exhausted when they finally left, and just sank back into the pillows with Ryn holding my good hand. "I really want to go home."

"We'll get you home soon, I promise. They just need to monitor you a little more and then you'll be good to go," Ryn promised.

"And you'll cut up my food for me, right?" I whined, pointing at my broken arm.

She chuckled, then leaned in to kiss my nose. "Yes, I'll cut your food. I'll open doors and help you up the stairs. I'll even help you get cleaned up in the shower if you need." she promised in a husky voice.

"Eww, I did not need to hear that!" cried Ella from the doorway.

My mom pushed right past her and rushed into the room, swooping down and pulling me into a hug that made me groan a little. "Oh, I thought we'd lost you!"

"Mom, a little less pressure, okay? I'm fine. I promise."

"Right. Except for the broken arm and the hole in your face!" Ella snorted. "Maybe that will improve your looks!"

"Hey! He's already gorgeous!" Iryna retorted.

"Blech!" Ella shuddered. "Save the mushy stuff for when there are no witnesses!"

"Ella, stop being a child!" my mom scolded her. "Go call that Elske girl!"

Ella's face lit up and she ran out into the hallway while gripping her phone. That wasn't the look of someone who wanted to talk to a friend. "How long are you two here?" I asked my mom.

"I have to send your sister back home on Sunday, so she doesn't miss too much school. But I'll stay as long as you need me to," my mother promised. Then glanced at Iryna with a smile. "Though it looks like you have a good nurse already."

Ryn held her hand out to my mom. "I'm Iryna, it's nice to meet you."

"I'm Anne. It's a pleasure to meet you too, though I think both of my children have mentioned you many times already."

Ryn blushed quickly at that, obviously not expecting the praise. I wasn't expecting my mom to say it either, but it was true. I'd mentioned her a couple times when talking to my folks, and I had little doubt Ella had been gushing about her since her trip a few weeks ago. "Well, I have been telling my parents about Logan too, so I guess it's only fair."

My ears perked up at that. She'd mentioned me to her parents? I'd never had to go meet a girl's parents, obviously, but I didn't think that would be too big a deal in this case. I might not be perfect, but I could make a strong case for myself to parents that wanted their daughter to be treated well. Maybe that would be something she'd want to do soon?

On the good side, while it wasn't how I'd wanted to introduce Ryn to my mom, it had gone well, and my mom obviously liked her. My dad would be at a later time, but I had little doubt he'd be here when Ella moved in. With the girls talking now that Ella returned with a big smile, I called the pizza place to check on Valentino. I remembered him getting pushed back through the doorway and wanted to make sure he hadn't been hurt. I had to thank everyone that worked there, they'd been quick in calling 911, and who knows what would have happened if they hadn't fought to come back out.

I had some good people in my life.