Save Me

***Sidney’s point of view***
Doc walked into the kitchen about thirty minutes after Geno, Matt, Gronk and Tanger left.
“What’s up Doc?” I asked, not even finding the sentence humorous. He sighed and poured himself a cup of coffee.
“Someone really messed her up. If she had taken another half hour of that beating then I would have been pronouncing her deceased. Judging by all of the bruises, she’s been dealing with this abuse for a while now.She has some scar tissue around her shoulder, it’s been dislocated recently. A lot of the bruises she has are old but there will be a lot more in the morning. Her nose isn’t broken. The same goes for her eye as far as I can tell. I couldn’t feel any breaks but I suggest that she gets an x-ray for that and her ribs. Was she wearing that shirt when she got here?” He asked.
“No, she was in a torn bra and panties. I put my shirt on her so she wasn’t exposed.” I said taking a sip of my coffee.
Doc nodded and seemed to be thinking for a minute. “I think she may have been sexually assaulted as well. I can’t tell for sure without a vaginal exam or if she tells me. If she feels comfortable opening up to one of you guys let her. You don’t want to ask her until she is ready to talk about it. If you bring it up before she is ready then you may stress her out and it will just cause more damage.” I dropped my mug almost spilling my coffee everywhere. Thankfully it landed in the sink.
“You’re saying this guy raped her?” I asked, I didn’t need clarification but I was hoping that I heard him wrong. I was hoping that this was all a nightmare. Doc just nodded his head. I heard the front door open and three pairs of feet walking through the house. Geno, Cooke and Tanger all dropped a few bags down in front of the fridge.
“Doc I need you to look at my knuckles.” Tanger said taking some ice out of the freezer.
“Please tell me you didn’t hit him.” I said praying to the hockey gods. Hopefully they’re on my side tonight.
“Nope, you should’ve been there though. It was great. I had him pressed up against the wall and I went to punch him but I purposely punched the wall, I was centimeters from his head.He was scared shitless. He did fall and hit his face a few times though.” Kris added with a smile. Doc checked his knuckles and told him everything appeared to be okay, they’d just be sore and bruised for a while.
“I feel bad, I no catch in time.” Geno laughed and high fived Cooke.
“Don’t worry Cap he’s not going to the cops. He’s probably half way out of the state by now.” He laughed. I shook my head.
“Geno, Jordan, Cooke and Tanger take a seat.” I ordered, they sat in front of me leaning against the island. They knew that anytime I used my “captain” voice it was a serious matter.
“What I’m about to tell you isn’t easy for me. I wished it wasn’t true but unfortunately it is. Keeley wasn’t just beaten, she was also raped.” Matt, Kris and Jordan seemed to be frozen in shock but Geno wasn’t, I could see the anger flash in his eyes and his nostrils start to flare. This was never a good side of Geno and we all knew it.
“I kill him!” He yelled repeatedly as he paced the kitchen.
“Geno! Calm down. The only thing we can do now is be here for Keeley. She needs all of us. Doc said she should wake up sometime tonight or tomorrow. If she does then I don’t want her to see this. It won’t be good for her. If she wakes up tonight then she needs to see us calm and collected. We have to keep our crap together for her sake. I will not allow anyone to stress her out more than she is right now. She’s been through hell for the last few months and she needs us now more than ever, so can we please get it together for her?” I said pointing between all of us. “How about we take turns staying up to watch her and make sure she has someone awake with her if she wakes up.” The guys and I all made our way into the living room. Geno laid a pillow on his lap and gently placed Keeley’s head on the pillow. I placed her legs on my lap and gently put a blanket over both of us. Jordan and Marc took the recliners while Tanger and Matt took the floor.
“I stay up first.” Geno said. We all grunted in agreement and were finally able to fall asleep around four am.

***Keeley’s point of view***
I could hear someone faintly talking somewhere in the room but I couldn’t tell who it was. Was it Justin? I slowly opened my eyes, well one of them. I found my left eye was swollen shut. I let out a soft groan. If it was Justin, I was definitely going to pay for the groan that I just made. I noticed some of the boys from the team were scattered around what looked a lot like Sidney’s living room, sleeping. I slowly lifted myself up off of the couch into a sitting position. That’s when the memories from last night came flooding back to me. I remembered speeding through the streets of Pittsburg to Sid’s house, wearing nothing but a pair of torn panties and my bra. I quickly reached out for a blanket to keep myself covered but I found myself in an oversized t-shirt. I was pretty sure it was Sid’s since it smelled just like him. His shirtless sleeping body lying on the recliner next to the couch confirmed my suspicions. I took the opportunity to really look at the men laying in front of me. They all looked exhausted and I didn’t remember seeing them when I came to Sid’s. He must have called him. I saw Sid, Flower, Gronk, Cooke and Tanger; but G was nowhere to be found. I let out a sigh and attempted to get off the couch, but my sore body was fighting against me. I wanted to get up and my body wanted to stay down.
“Keels?” I heard Sid whisper. I looked back at him. He got out of the recliner quickly and took me in his arms.
“Keels, why didn’t you tell anyone about this? We could have helped you.” I could see the hurt and anger in his eyes as he spoke. Seeing Sid hurt made you feel a whole lot worse. There was nothing that Justin could do to make you feel the pain that you were feeling by the look on Sid’s face. He didn’t understand and quite frankly, neither did you. You let out a sob as he ushered you up the stairs into his bedroom. He gently placed you down on his bed.
“I’m so sorry Sid! I didn’t mean to hurt you. I was just trying to keep you and the boys safe. Justin told me that if I said anything to you or the boys back in Chicago that he’d hurt all of you. I know how important hockey is to all of you and I couldn’t risk Justin actually doing something. I didn’t want him to hurt you guys, you all mean the world to me and I couldn’t live with myself if I allowed that to happen.” I cried grabbing ahold of Sidney pulling him closer to me.
“Keels, why didn’t you tell us that you knew some of the Blackhawk players? Is that where you went off to when we went to Chicago?” I pulled away from him as he spoke.
“How’d you know? I asked shocked. I had done a pretty good job at hiding the fact that I knew them. I was pretty sure that it wouldn’t cause any problems between the two teams but I just wasn’t ready to tell them yet.
“Don’t get mad, but G went through your phone to see if we could figure out who did this to you. We had a pretty good idea that it was Justin but we wanted to be one hundred percent sure before we started to act irrationally. When we found the messages from him on your phone we knew it was him. We found Justin’s number in your phone and we took care of him. He will not bother you ever again. That reminds me anyways. I was wondering what you thought about moving in here with me? I have plenty of room and you won’t have to pay for a thing. You can have my room and the master bath if you want. I really don’t mind.” Sid said sitting down next to me.
“Sid, I couldn’t just live off of you like that. You’ve already done so much for me.” I said still trying to process everything that he just said.
“Fine, how about this. You move in with me and just make sure the house stays reasonably clean while I’m gone on road trips until you’re ready to come back to work with us, and we’re even. I’m not talking about spotless all the time. I mean just like things are picked up and not laying around everywhere.” I could tell that he was getting nervous by the way he was rubbing the back of his neck.
“Okay Sid, but you have to let me help with some things. Promise?” I asked as he nodded his head yes. I jumped off of his bed and into his arms, letting out a little yelp as I did so. “Maybe that wasn’t such a good idea.” We both laughed as I hugged him. After a few minutes Sid sat me down on his bed and walked into his bathroom. I heard the water turn on and he walked out a few minutes later. He gently picked me up off the bed walking back into the bathroom, there were candles lit on the counter and by the tub, the lights were dimmed and there was an abundance of bubbles in the large tub, there was also soft music playing in the background.
“You did this for me?” I asked almost tearing up. Sid nodded his head yes as I squeezed him tighter. I don’t know how I got so lucky as to have him as a best friend and older brother. Sidney helped me undress and get into the tub. Once I was covered by all the bubbles, Sid grabbed a hair tie out of one of his drawers and his brush. I moved so I was leaning up against the side and he ran the brush gently through my hair, then he put it up in a bun.
“Alright, now you can stay in here and relax. I’ll come check on you in a little bit. Call if you need anything.” He said kissing my cheek and walking out of the bathroom. I couldn’t hold my tears back anymore. For the first time in what felt like forever I was safe and didn’t have to worry about a thing. I had my guys back and I couldn’t be happier.
I heard a knock at the door which brought my attention back to the now cold water. I didn’t realize until now that I was shivering and turning a little blue.
“Come in” I called turning the warm water on. I turned my head in the direction of the door and laughed as Kris and Jordan walked into the bathroom with their hands covering their eyes. “You can open your eyes, you won’t see anything.” I laughed even harder as they uncovered their eyes.
“We have specific directions to come and get you out of the tub and ready for the day we have planned for you.” Jordan said grabbing a towel off the rack. Kris grabbed a hold of my arm gently and helped pull me up. Thankfully the bubbles from the bath still clung to my body as Jordan wrapped the towel around me. I could tell by the looks on their faces that they were still mad and upset about last night’s events.
“Look guys, I know you’re upset but I’m okay. I’m safe with all of you now. There isn’t any need to worry anymore and I’m sorry I kept it from all of you. I know it was stupid of me but I didn’t want you guys to get hurt. I care about all of you so much and I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if something happened to any of you.” I said as tears started to fall down my face again. Jordan pulled me into his chest and wrapped his arms around me. “Shhh. Don’t cry baby girl. We aren’t mad at you. Right Tanger?” He asked, as Kris quickly agreed. “See, we aren’t mad. Now let’s get you dressed and ready to go. We walked back into Sid’s room and I noticed some bags laying on his bed that looked a lot like mine.
“Did you guys go to my apartment?” I asked stopping dead in my tracks I was sure that there was fear written all over my face.
“Yeah, a few of the boys and I went back to your place and got a bunch of your stuff last night. I hope we picked stuff that you like.” Tanger said hopeful. Even though I was a little upset about them seeing where I lived I knew that they were still here for me and that little fact didn’t bother them.
“I’m sure you guys did fine.” I smiled and touched his arm gently. I pulled out the first bra that I found and the matching pair of panties.
“Good choice, I like those.” Jordan laughed as I smacked his arm.
“Okay, both of you out, so I can change.” I said attempting to push them out the door. I quickly got dressed and headed down stairs. I saw Sidney, Jordan, Tanger, Cooke and Flower, but Geno was nowhere to be found. My smile fell a little as I continued to walk down the stairs.
“There’s our girl!” Cooke yelled giving me a gentle hug, which I gladly returned.
“So, what’s the plan for today?” I asked sitting down on Cooke’s lap as he rubbed my back.
“Well my dear, as soon as Vero gets here you, Cooke and her are going shopping and to get your hair and nails done.” Marc spoke looking proud. I was guessing that he had planned that part.
“So why exactly are you coming along Cookie?” I asked and he laughed.
“You really think you’re doing anything by yourself for a while? That’s a definite no. I’m your body guard slash driver for the day and before you even ask, yes, I do have the Bentley.” Matt laughed as the biggest smile came across my face. He knew how much you loved his car, well you liked Bentley’s in general. Vero got to Sidney’s house about twenty minutes later. Matt walked you out to the car as Vero talked with Sidney, Tanger, Jordan and Flower. I could have sworn that I saw all of them hand her something but I couldn’t be sure. She joined us in the car a few minutes later.
“Matty can we please listen to something other than this rap stuff?” I asked giving him my best puppy dog eyes, he sighed but eventually agreed. With Matt driving it only took 15 minutes instead of the usual 35 to get to the mall.He helped Vero and I out of the car and asked where we were off too first. Vero and I decided hair would be first, then nails.
“Wow, Keels! They did a really good job on your hair. It looks great on you.” Matt said as I sat next to him and waited on Vero so we could pay together. Vero didn’t get much of a change, just went a little lighter and got a nice trim along with some low and high lights. She pulled it off quite nicely. I was sure Marc would love it. Vero quickly handed a lady her card along with another, quickly paying our tab.
“V! I was going to pay that.” I said as she smiled.
“Dear, today is your day. It is your birthday after all.” She grabbed my hand as we headed to the nail salon. How could I have forgotten it was my own birthday? For some reason I wasn’t as excited for this day as I was for past birthdays. Vero and I sat down and told the people what we would like design wise for our nails and we sat patiently as they went to work. I pulled my phone out and noticed a few texts from Justin. I could feel all of the color drain from my face. I called Matt over and handed the phone to him. He read the texts and quickly deleted them.
“You don’t have to worry about him. He won’t message you again. I promise.” Matt whispered in my ear handing the phone back to me. I started a new message and put Geno’s name into it.
“What are you up too? Plans later?” I asked and pressed send. I felt my phone vibrate and opened his message a few minutes later.
“Busy.” Was all the message read.I couldn’t believe it. Geno had never made plans on your birthday before. Did he forget or did he just not care? Afterall he wasn’t there for you this morning.Maybe he didn’t want to be in your life anymore? Keeley Nichole! Stop this nonsense right now! You scolded yourself before putting your phone back in your pocket. Vero’s nails were done before yours and you watched as she went and handed the lady two credit cards and pointed in your direction.
“You better not!” You mouthed to her as she smiled in response. You groaned as the employee handed both cards back to Vero.
“So where are we off to next, ladies?” Matt asked getting out of the chair near the door.
“Let’s see what Victoria’s Secret has.” Vero replied grabbing your hand and leading you in the direction of the store. Vero went off towards the bras and underwear as you decided that yoga pants were more of what you were looking for.
“Not feeling the whole underwear shopping with V today, huh?” Matt asked linking my arm in his. I shook my head no. There was a lot of things that I wasn’t feeling right now. “You know you should probably get some new things for your room at Sid’s. The place could use some spicing up.” I smiled as Matt laughed. “First let’s look around here for some stuff, I’m sure you could find something that Geno would like.” He said with a wink. I could feel the heat rise in my cheeks. “Like he would care.” I scoffed. Matt gave me a funny look before picking up a few pairs of yoga pants. He kept grabbing things off the racks as I would look at them. By the time we reached Vero, he didn’t have any room left in his hands.
“Oh! There you are! I found some really cute things that I think you’ll like!” Vero giggled. I rolled my eyes knowing this wasn’t going to be a good thing. I followed her over to where one of the employees were holding a few bags. “These two are for you.” She said grabbing the bags and handing them to me. I opened the first bag and dug through it, then I did the same with the second. I had to give her props, I liked everything that she had picked out.
“Dang V! I love all of this! Now I’m definitely above my budget.” I laughed as we went to the check out. Once the bags from Vero had been emptied and everything was taken out of Matt’s arms, the total came out to about $300. I watched as Vero quickly handed the cashier a sleek black credit card. I went to complain but she quickly shushed me with a smile.
“Now we need to get stuff for your room.” Vero said heading in the direction of bath and body and Kohl’s. This was going to be a long day, I could already tell.
“I am so tired.” I said with a yawn. “You can tell Coach that you got a workout in today.” I laughed as Matt started to put all of my new things into the trunk of his car. I didn’t even want to know how much money I had spent all together. I did end up with a ton of new body wash, body spray, lotion, along with massage oils and candles.
“Alright ladies. I think it’s time to head back to Sid’s.” Matt said winking at V. They were up to something but figuring out what it was exactly was going to be a challenge.

Notes

Hope y'all like the update! I have a break from school starting tomorrow so hopefully I can get a few more chapters out for you guys. (: