Crash Into Me (Into Me Series Book One)

Chapter Eleven - Blood

All of the hair stands up on the back of my neck, but I can't seem to move my legs. He's a kid... he's just a kid...

Riley screams, snapping us all back into reality.

We rush over to him as he curls up in a tight ball on the ice. Tony books it from the goal to be next to his little brother as Tom and I kneel down next to him.
"Fuck!" Riley spits, blood dripping out of his mouth.
"What the fuck is your problem?!" Tony yells at the desk jockey that tripped Riley. Tony throws his helmet and gloves onto the ice and grabs the jersey of the desk jockey, throwing a punch.

Desk jockey stumbles back, surprised. He lunges towards Tony and tries to throw a punch back, but Tony blocks it. Tony lands an uppercut on desk jockey's jaw, splitting open the skin. Blood starts running down his neck. Tony lands another punch across his face, his teeth gritted. The refs start blowing their whistles. Connor takes off, grabbing Tony and holding him back as Tony yells at the desk jockey, his face bright red and his body stiff. Connor tells him to walk it off, shoving him in the direction of the locker room.

Tony screams "Fuck!" as he gets off the ice, heading towards the locker room. Connor says something to the refs, flashing his smile that seems to always get us out of trouble, and then nods. He skates back over to us, his smile dropping. He's fucking pissed. He stops next to me and leans down to Riley, his face paling when he sees just how much blood is puddled underneath him.

Suddenly, there's yelling somewhere in the stadium. I search for the owner of the voices and find Jet and her friend arguing with a ref at the side of the rink. Jet is turning bright red, her fists balled at her side, her shoulders tense. The other one stands with her arms crossed, glaring at the ref with the same death stare that I got at the bar.

"I got him, go," Connor says to me as he kneels next to Riley, grabbing his face with his hands and looking at the damage.
I stand and skate over to Jet. She looks like she's about to kill the ref. "Hey," I call as I near. I stop, shifting onto the sides of my blades, next to the ref. "What's going on?"
"I was going to go check on your guy and, you know, help, 'cause there's a lot of blood but Paul Blart mall cop here won't let me on the fucking ice," Jet sneers. Those gorgeous eyes land on mine and my heart does that stupid jig thing again. I can practically see the steam coming from her ears she's so angry.
"Dude, come on. Riley is bleeding badly and she's an ER nurse and she's..." I point to Jet's friend.
"... I'm also an ER nurse," she states, cocking her eyebrow.
"Yeah, exactly! We need help back here and Jet and..." I look to Jet's friend again.
"Caroline!" Caroline says.
"And Caroline can help. You and I both know we need get the bleeding to stop," I reason with the ref.
"She's not in any gear," he argues.
"Oh my fucking god, I'm not gonna be the one playing hockey, assface," Jet snaps.
"I don't know... I still don't like the idea of-" he starts.
"Oh fuck this!" Jet exclaims, hopping over the wall and landing on the ice. She catches her balance and starts shuffling quickly towards Riley. She's managing quite well, given the fact that she's wearing Chuck's again.

The ref skates towards her, reaching out to grab her to stop. I grab the back of his shirt and pull him towards me, "Don't fucking touch her," I sneer. He nods as his eyes widen.

I skate back over to Caroline and help lift her other the wall. She's fucking tiny. Like I could punt her across a football field. She settles on her feet once she finds her balance and looks out to the ice, taking off in the same shuffle as Jet.
"Thanks for the lift, Bubbles," Caroline yells, waving her hand.
Wait... did she... "Did you just call me fucking bubbles?" I call after her.

She starts laughing as she continues to shuffle across the ice towards Riley and Jet. I shake my head and skate over to Riley.

Jet has his head in her hands, tilting it a few different directions. She's doing that mumbling thing again. Her fingers trace along the cut on the bottom of Riley's chin. Riley winces and Jet apologizes in the soft voice she used with me. My heart does the stupid fucking jig thing again.