"Oh, I forgot to tell you!" Ryan suddenly exclaimed in the quiet hospital room.
Andy was used to seeing these up and down energy swings from players on painkillers after their surgeries, but it still startled him. Of course, those outbursts were sometimes followed by a whole lot of nothing, which explained why Ryan was now quietly staring at him.
"Um, you forgot to tell me what?"
"What?"
Poor Ryan, Andy thought. "You forgot to tell me something."
Ryan stared at him before his eyes showed some sort of flash again. "Oh, right. My mom said you sounded cute on the phone."
"Cute?"
"Yeah, which is gross when you hear your mom say something like that. But she thinks you're probably cute, and I need to find a girl to date you or something," he explained flippantly. "You'll have to talk to her when she gets here."
"I will do that," Andy said, making a mental note to not do that. "So I'm going to head out. Are you OK?"
Ryan's mood swung again, this time to something looking much less like a macho athlete. "Would you mind staying for a little?" he asked apprehensively. "I've always hated hospitals."
Andy nodded and grabbed a chair from the corner to pull it up next to Ryan's bed. "When was the last time you were in the hospital?" he asked.
"Two years ago. I got dizzy after a game and they were worried about my head," he said, turning to the television mounted on the wall. "Apparently, my drinking the night before caused me to get dehydrated quicker than normal."
"But you still drink."
Ryan smirked. "In moderation. Can't be sloppy on the ice or off it if you know what I mean." He paused. "I mean, with the ladies. That's what I'm trying to imply," he added seriously.
Andy chuckled. "I got that."
"These drugs make me talk alot."
"Yes, they do." Andy suddenly realized he could use this to his advantage. "So I got some stuff from your place in that duffel bag."
Ryan looked at the duffel bag on the other chair as if he was seeing it for the first time.
"What did you bring from my place?"
"Just some sweatpants and clean shirts, and I think your iPad's in there."
"You were digging through my condo?" he asked.
"Uh, no," the trainer said. "I actually had Sydney let me in. You told me to knock on her door and see if she had a key for me."
"Sydney!" His whole face lit up with happiness. "She rocks. Did she take Gretzky home with her?"
Andy gave him a sideways glance. "Sure?"
"Really? Because he died yesterday."
"Right. Yeah, that's what I meant. She was going to take him home, but he wasn't in the bowl."
"I had to flush him," he explained.
Andy shook his head trying to stifle the laughter that was threatening to come out. He didn't mean to laugh, he knew this was just the painkillers that the doctors were giving the rookie after his surgery, but there was something so sweet about the young rookie not really being Ryan right now. Perhaps that's what made him feel emboldened to keep talking.
"So Sydney? She seemed concerned about you."
"I don't know what I would do without her," Ryan explained. "She let me sleep on her couch after I locked myself out a few times, and she's always smiling."
Andy furrowed his brow. That didn't sound like the Sydney he met. "She seemed pretty upset tonight."
Ryan turned with a concerned look on his face. "Did she say why?"
"No, just seemed like she had a bad day."
Ryan leaned back on his pillows and stared at the television again, his mind once again quieting down. Perhaps he wondered the same thing Andy did. What exactly happened to Sydney today that was so bad? Of course, Andy was also wondering about other things.
"So are you sure there's not something going on between you two? She seemed really worried about you even though you're only friends."
"She's…." His smile faded and for the first time since the surgery, Andy could see some clarity in his eyes as he stared at the wall.
"She's what?" Andy asked.
"What?" Ryan turned to look at him, his eyes sharp and focused.
"You started to say something about Sydney," he said. "You said 'she's' something."
Ryan stared back at the local news on TV with the headline "Financier steals millions from Detroit investors" on the bottom of the screen. A man in handcuffs was being led out of a downtown building with a bunch of guys in government-issued jackets shoving him into the back seat of an unmarked car. That didn't look good.
"Did you invest with that guy?"
"Not directly with him," Ryan muttered.
Andy kept watching, confused about why Ryan was so enthralled with this story. They watched as video from earlier in the day started playing with the local reporter running up to a brown-haired woman who seemed familiar to Andy
"Miss? Miss!" The reporter shoved her microphone towards the woman with a box in her hand. "Do you have any comment about your boss' arrest?"
Andy watched as the brown-haired woman looked up, her piercing green eyes staring at the reporter as she just shook her head and walked away.
"That's Sydney," Ryan said in awe. "She's on TV."
Andy stared at the screen, at the same woman he had met earlier with the same defeated look in her eyes.
"I have to call her. Where's my phone?"
Ryan tried to sit up before realizing that was a painful option. Andy gently laid a comforting hand on Ryan's shoulder to calm him down and keep him in bed.
"You need some rest, and I don't think she wants to be bothered tonight," he said. "We'll call her tomorrow."
Ryan leaned back, closing his eyes with a defeated look on his face. There was pain on his face, and Andy was sure it wasn't just from his missing appendix.
"You'll stay here for a little?" Ryan finally asked him.
"I will," he replied. "Get some sleep."
Andy sat in a chair next to the bed, watching the television to see if there was anymore news about Sydney's company, but nothing else was mentioned.
Ryan fell asleep only a few minutes later. Andy quietly left the room, feeling sympathy for the rookie he was leaving behind. In one day, Ryan found out he had lost his appendix and his friend lost her job working for a really bad guy. Andy had to give Sydney some credit. She really was being serious when she said she wasn't able to tell Andy anything about her day without her lawyer. She at least seemed smart when it came to the case that had taken her boss and her job in one day.
But he still had no clue what her deal was with the goldfish.
Chapter 4
Andy looked over at Ryan, who was sitting in the front seat of his car. The hockey star definitely seemed more tired than when Andy first saw him at the hospital. Although to be fair, when Andy got there, Ryan was playing video games in the pediatric ward with some of the cancer patients. For all his sports star swagger, Ryan really did have a genuine and sincere heart when it came to fans of all types when he was off the ice. He wasn't a dumb jock in that sense. He knew exactly how he would be greeted when he had headed down to that floor, and he wanted to be around those kids as much as they wanted to be around him.
But now, Ryan's focus seemed a bit off, his demeanor more reserved. He probably wouldn't admit it, but this unexpected surgery was finally starting to sink in, and it was throwing his entire personality off kilter.
"You OK, man?" Andy asked as he turned towards Ryan's building.
"What?" he replied, jolted out of his own thoughts as he turned to his trainer. "Sorry, I'm just a little distracted. I haven't been home since…"
Andy let him trail off, knowing exactly where he was going with that. Ryan hadn't been home since he left that ill-fated morning for practice and his appendix revolted against him. Andy pulled up to his building, thankful that the posh condo building had valet parking. He couldn't imagine how much Ryan's amenities cost every month for the place, but he wasn't about to ask. He was just thankful it wa
s there so he could easily get the rookie back home.
Ryan was able to walk on his own but was much slower than usual. Andy even noticed him flinch a bit in pain as he pushed himself off the elevator's wall and into the lobby on the ninth floor. They walked together and as they passed Sydney's door, both of them slowed even more. He wondered how she was doing after that night he met her. For some reason, that first meeting was still gnawing at him.
Andy took Ryan's keys and opened the door for his star player.
"There you are!" Amelia was about to throw her arms around her son's neck before restraining herself. "Sorry, I forgot that you're probably still in pain."
"Thanks for coming, mom." Ryan leaned over and gave her a kiss before shuffling into the condo. "How was your flight?"
"It was fine," she said. "No bumps the whole way here and it's warmer in Detroit than Winnipeg. Oh, and Andy picked me up so that was nice."
Ryan slowly sat down on his couch, his brow furrowing in pain. "You didn't get the car service?"
"I told her I would pick her up," Andy explained.
"When did you tell her that?"
"When I called your parents."
When you were in surgery. When you had your appendix removed. When you had all of us worried about you.
"I think I may have you drive me back to the airport again, Andy," Amelia said. "You're cuter than anyone from the car service Ryan keeps telling me to use."
Her son groaned from his spot on the couch. "Mom, stop flirting with my trainer."
Amelia gave Andy an apologetic smile. "I'm just being nice, and your father isn't here anyway so it doesn't matter." He gave her son a teasing smile and quickly moved on to the next topic. "Are you hungry? I made some chicken noodle soup from scratch."
Ryan groaned. "No food!" he whined.
Andy leaned over to Amelia. "Food is fine, but try to stick with some easy stuff. Maybe just the broth and some small noodles or something."
She grabbed his arm and gave it a light squeeze. "Anything for you, cutie."
"Gross, mom!"
Amelia giggled, and Andy wondered if she was just being complimentary or if she was purposely teasing her son. He was kind of enjoying whatever drama this was causing for Ryan after the serious stuff he had put all of them through earlier in the week.
Andy stuck around a little longer, agreeing to Amelia's offer to stay for soup. It really was pretty amazing even if it did remind Andy that he couldn't remember the last time a woman had made him anything. He gave Amelia instructions on how to care for Ryan's stitches. "I can do it myself," the rookie had grumbled, but Andy knew Ryan would let his mom help him out when no one was around. He also talked to her about what could and could not be on the menu for his star player as he recovered. Amelia said she already had a grocery shopping list and invited him to come eat with them when he could.
He knew he would be over at least a few times. One of his jobs was to check on Ryan everyday to make sure everything was healing properly. He couldn't help it if there would be a home-cooked meal waiting for him when he came by.
Andy finally said his goodbyes and made sure Ryan had his phone number before heading out the door. As he closed it behind him, he could hear Ryan's mom asking about that stupid goldfish.
"What happened to Gretzky?"
"He's dead."
"You had to feed the thing if you wanted it to live."
"I did, mom."
He could imagine Ryan's eye roll that would've been followed by relief that his mom was here to pester him.
Andy would've kept walking back to elevator if it wasn't for that stupid fish. He paused in front of Sydney's door, staring at it. Should he check on her to make sure she's doing better than the last time he saw her? Was she still in mourning over the goldfish? Would it be intrusive to talk to her knowing now what he didn't know before about her extremely bad day?
He didn't know why he did what he did next. He hadn't answered any of those questions. He just knew that he had already started knocking on her door and it was too late to take it back now. Maybe she wouldn't be home. Maybe she was ignoring people. Maybe…
The door opened and Sydney stood there with her brown hair pulled up in a ponytail that accentuated her cheekbones and pink lips. She was wearing all black — a black tank top with those really thin straps and some black yoga pants that Andy only quickly glanced at. He knew that if he didn't stop himself, he would easily be staring and make both of them feel very uncomfortable. Instead, he looked back up into her green eyes and couldn't help but smile at her.
"Hi."
She gave him a bit of an uncomfortable smile back. "Hi," she said quietly as she stared at him. "I'm sorry, this is really embarrassing, but I can't remember your name."
"Andy."
"Andy. Right," she replied, nodding her head. "I wasn't really myself the last time we met."
"Yeah, I heard about what happened."
Sydney ducked her head, averting her eyes from his. He could tell she was still emotional over the entire situation, but he couldn't really nail down which emotions. Her cheeks were flushed now, but was that out of embarrassment? Because there was nothing for her to be embarrassed about. As far as he could tell from some of the media coverage he had seen, it wasn't her fault.
She also seemed like she had no one to help her. Unlike Ryan's apartment with his bustling mother, Sydney's place still seemed quiet and subdued. No one else was there. The blinds over her living room windows were pulled shut.
"So I know I'm probably bothering you, again, but I just wanted to see if you were doing OK."
She gave him a small sad smile. "Not really."
"I'm sorry," he said quietly.
And he truly meant it even if it did sound completely inadequate for what she was going through. Andy could feel his heart breaking for her as he looked at her, and the fact that he was standing there without anything else to say was probably making it worse. She cleared her throat and showed some mercy on the floundering idiot at her front door by changing the subject.
"So do you need me to let you into Andy's place for something else?" she asked.
"Oh no. Actually, I just brought him home."
Sydney gave him the first genuine smile he had ever seen on her face. "Good. So he's going to be alright now? Wait." She held up her hand between them. "Don't tell me. I'm not supposed to know stuff like that."
"He's going to be fine," Andy said reassuringly. "He just needs to rest for awhile, and his mom is here to help. But he's got some healing to do so no pastries of any kind for awhile."
She scoffed. "Do you mean 'pastries' like donuts or do you mean 'pastries' like the random women he brings home?"
Andy's eyebrows raised in mock surprise. "Well, I meant like donuts, but both of those actually," he said. "So I guess don't offer him either of those things."
Sydney laughed, and he could see a warmth in her eyes that he hadn't seen from her. "Oh, believe me. That is no problem!" she said cheerfully, a small smile staying on her face. "But thank you for the laugh. I haven't had many of those lately."
"Anytime," he said. "So listen, I'm going to be here everyday to check on him, but it would be nice if you stopped by, especially if I'm there. I mean, his mom is already here, but you know Ryan. He likes having people around."
She nodded. "I know Ryan. I'll have to think about it though."
"Right, yeah, sure, totally," he stuttered out.
"Who's this?"
Andy and Sydney turned to a petite woman with long black hair dressed in a business suit staring at the two from the hallway outside Sydney's place. His eyes immediately fell to the box in her hand, sealed tightly with bright yellow tape.
"Lucy, this is Andy. He's the trainer for the Pirates. Andy, Lucy is my lawyer."
Apparently Sydney wasn't kidding when she told him a few nights ago that she couldn't talk to him without her lawyer present.
"Nice to meet you," he said, smiling down at Lucy. "Can I help you with th
at box?"
He started to reach for it, but she quickly pulled away. Andy flinched and gave her an awkward smile, pulling his hands back as Lucy eased her grip on the box.
"Sorry," she said. "Chain of custody. I have to make sure everyone who touches it is allowed to touch it, and you are not."
"Right, lawyer stuff, I'm assuming."
"You assume correctly," she replied curtly.
OK then. He turned back to Sydney who was still smiling at him despite his apparent gaff with the chain of command or whatever.
"Well, I should probably get going," he said. "It was nice seeing you again, Sydney."
"Yeah, you too," she replied quietly. "Thank you for checking on me. I really do appreciate it."
Andy gave Sydney a small nod and Lucy another awkward smile before ducking his head and finally leaving.
As he stood in the elevator lobby on the ninth floor, he realized he probably had sounded a bit ridiculous the whole time he stood there. Of course. Despite hanging out with the best hockey players in the world, he still hadn't been able to pick up any of their smooth skills when it came to dealing with women off the ice. And now, once again, he proved his game was completely frozen when it came to one woman in particular.
Chapter 5
Sydney moved out of the way to let her friend in the door, closing it quietly behind her. Lucy was carrying a large box that she dropped on top of the coffee table with a thud.
"So was that the hot guy who made you cry over a stupid goldfish?"
"That's not totally fair," she said defensively. "I already had a really bad day by the time I found out Gretzky was dead."
"I still can't believe it was a dead fish that finally broke your spirit."
"You're not the only one."
Sydney prided herself on not crying in front of people. It was something she had to learn while growing up. Her parents always saw the negative, always picked at her for what she was doing that disappointed them. If she cried, they would call her out on that too. It was just better to have a stiff upper lip.
It had worked pretty well for most of her life. That is until her emotions were so beaten down that a blue-eyed man and a goldfish caused the water works to turn on at full blast. Luckily, when she got home after her little "incident" at Ryan's apartment, the sound of the running water in her bathtub cover up her sobbing.
Buried Treasure (The Detroit Pirates Book 2) Page 3
