Friday was fast approaching, and Hadley would be in the stands for the first time this year. Possibly the first time ever. It excited me more than anything had in a long while. I was going to play the game for her, win it for her. With her cheering in my corner, I knew anything was possible, even defeating our rivals, a team that had slaughtered us the last time we'd played. I wasn't worried though. My teammates were. I could tell, despite their snarky comments, that deep down they were scared to death we would lose again. It was up to us to keep the school spirit going, and if we lost, morale would tank.
Thanks to missing practice the last two days, coach had me doing suicides. Before starting them, I'd already done three reps of one hundred sit-ups and the same for push-ups. My lungs ached and my legs burned as I worked my ass off, but I knew better than to piss off the coach this close to game day. One wrong word on my part, and I'd be riding the bench for the game, and I'd heard there would be scouts in the stands. No one was saying from which schools, but just knowing potential scholarships were out there was enough to create a buzz in the locker room.
Coach blew his whistle and I nearly collapsed where I stood. My teammates had long since finished practice, having actually gotten a chance to play while I had to deal with my punishment. Coach came over and put his hands on his hips.
"Son, I know girls seem like the most important thing in the world right now, but have we learned anything from today's activities?"
"Girls don't come before practice, Coach."
He nodded. "You can hang out with your girlfriend all you want, on your own time. But practice is my time, and I own you during those hours. Make sure you're on time tomorrow after school, or you won't play in Friday's game. I don't care how much you think you love this girl you've been dating. When it comes to football, she takes a back seat."
"Understood, Coach."
"Hit the showers. If you go anywhere near her smelling the way you do, you'll be single again."
I snorted and jogged off the field on legs that felt like jelly. The locker room was empty save for Robert, who was lurking for some reason. He looked worried, and I wondered if it was about the game or something else.
"Shouldn't you have taken off by now?" I asked.
He glanced my way and shook his head. "Man, I don't know if I should say anything or not."
"About what?" I asked, pulling my shirt over my head. I snatched a clean towel off the counter and headed for the showers, where I finished stripping out of my clothes.
The water came out hot, steam billowing around me. Robert hadn't followed me, so whatever was on his mind couldn't be that important. Still, I showered quickly, dried off, and wrapped the towel around my waist. Balling up my dirty clothes, I went back to my locker and shoved them into my gym bag.
"You look like you're going to have a stroke," I said. "Whatever it is, just spit it out. It can't be that bad."
"It's about Hadley."
"Hadley?"
"I tried to stop her."
My brow furrowed. "You tried to stop Hadley?"
He shook his head. "Alicia."
"What did Alicia do? She already got detention for putting yogurt in Hadley's locker. I thought she'd learned her lesson."
"She's pissed about the detention. And she's even more pissed about how cozy you've been with Hadley. You never held her hand going through the halls, and she's noticed. You've made an enemy of her."
"What's she planning?" I asked, not sure I wanted to hear, but knowing I had to put a stop to it if at all possible. Hadley didn't deserve to be tormented by my psycho ex.
"She left a gift basket on Hadley's porch this afternoon. I don't know what was in it, but … "
I was about to punch him if he didn't get to the point.
"My phone was blowing up with texts while we were in practice. Someone said Hadley was taken to the hospital this afternoon. I don't know what Alicia did, but it's bad." Robert looked sick. "I heard Alicia planning something earlier today, but I just thought she'd pull another prank like the yogurt thing."
My stomach dropped. Hadley had gone to the hospital? I quickly jerked my phone out of my jeans pocket and scrolled through the missed calls and texts. I didn't recognize the number, but I had a voicemail and four missed texts from Hadley's friend Amber. I snatched my bag off the bench and ran from the locker room, with Robert on my heels. When we reached the parking lot, I jumped into my truck and gunned the engine so hard I fishtailed out of the parking lot. I could see Robert's car in my rearview and wondered if he was following me to the hospital. With any luck, no cops were around because I was breaking every speed limit between the high school and the hospital.
The parking lot was full at the hospital, and I had to park a long ways from the door. I'd listened to the voicemail on the way here, my heart pounding as Hadley's mom told me Hadley was being admitted. I couldn't remember the last time something frightened me this much. What the hell had Alicia done to Hadley? Or was it merely a coincidence that she was being hospitalized the same day Alicia left her a gift? I could only hope that was the case. I knew Alicia was crazy, but she'd never done anything like this before.
I ran to the front desk, Robert right behind me, and skidded to a stop.
"Hadley Ryan was admitted recently. Can you tell me which room she's in?" I asked the harried looking woman behind the desk.
She tapped on her keyboard a moment. "Room 207."
Robert and I ran to the elevators, getting dirty looks from the people we passed, and then rode up to the second floor. We followed the signs to room 207 and paused outside. The door was partially open and I knocked before entering, not wanting to catch anyone unaware. Hadley's mom sat in a chair by the window, her face pinched and pale.
"I tried to call you, Tyler," she said, as she stood to greet me. "Who's your friend?"
"This is Robert. He's on the football team with me."
Mrs. Ryan shook Robert's hand then gestured toward Hadley, who was lying still and pale on the bed, her eyes closed and lips slightly parted.
"The doctor isn't positive, but he thinks it was some kind of poison. They pumped her stomach and are giving her some meds, but he'd like to keep her overnight for observation, just in case there are still traces." Mrs. Ryan reclaimed her chair. "I don't understand how she could have been poisoned. I'm very careful about the things I purchase for her snacks."
"I think I know what happened, Mrs. Ryan," Robert said. "I overheard a girl at school today talking about leaving Hadley a gift basket on the porch. She's Tyler's ex-girlfriend and the one who put yogurt in Hadley's locker."
Mrs. Ryan's eyes went wide. "You think she hates my daughter enough to kill her? The doctors said if I hadn't been so quick to react I would have lost her today."
I wasn't sure my legs would hold me much longer. I snagged a chair and pulled it over beside the bed, then took Hadley's hand in mine. She was cool to the touch and I wondered if that was a good thing or a bad thing. I squeezed her fingers and lifted her hand, placing a kiss on the back of it.
"I'm here, Hadley. Can you open your eyes for me?" I asked.
She didn't move.
"The doctor said she might not wake for a few hours," Mrs. Ryan said. "It was a fast-acting poison. Within a few hours, she'd have been dead."
I looked over my shoulder at Robert. "Call the police and tell them you have information for them. I want Alicia arrested."
He nodded and pulled out his phone, stepping into the hall. Mrs. Ryan looked shaken, and I wanted to offer her comfort, but I wasn't sure how. All that mattered was getting Hadley well enough to go home. And if she was staying in the hospital overnight, then I would too, even if Mrs. Ryan kicked me out to the waiting room. Football be damned. I didn't care anymore about the scouts coming to Friday's game. If Hadley wasn't there, I didn't care if I played or not. There would be other opportunities, but there was only one Hadley.
"Mrs. Ryan, I'd like to stay with Hadley, if that's okay with you."
"You can stay as long as you'd like. As much as I'd love to be here until she goes home, my husband has already told me to go home for the night and he'd come sit with Hadley for a while."
"He's a police officer, right?"
She nodded.
"And he knows Hadley was poisoned?"
"Well, I told him she'd ingested Hemlock, but we had no idea how she'd gotten any."
"Mrs. Ryan, I know you don't want to leave Hadley, but you should probably look for that gift basket and the items it contained. There may still be traces of Hemlock that would prove Alicia poisoned her."
She stood slowly. "If you promise not to leave her for a minute, I'll call my husband and ask him to meet me at the house. We'll do a thorough search for it. If we find something, he can call the crime lab and have everything processed as evidence."