Going Back Home
Chapter 46
Garrett’s POV
It has been six long days, but I finally got out of the hospital today. I wish I could say it was a good week, but it has been a horrible one. It was Friday, and I had a lot to do today. Thankfully,
my parents were here to help me. My mother had a realtor come to the hospital two days ago for me to sign the paperwork for selling my condo. My mother let them in yesterday. They needed to get pictures from the inside to sell it. Due to the attack last weekend, I no longer have anything holding me here. My father is currently driving my SUV back to Frisco for me.
I am trying to get comfortable, but nothing works. Everything has collapsed like a house of
cards around me. All in less than a week, as Tammy hoped it would. I knew she was a jealous
b***h just from what she had done to Addison. I just never knew what a heartless b***h she was until now. The fact that she wanted to take my livelihood away from me because I didn’t
want to be with her was too far. She should be ashamed of her actions, but I know she isn’t.
They reviewed the footage that night after I spoke to the detective. I guess they’ve gotten
bolder because they haven’t been caught yet. They didn’t even try to hide from the cameras.
Tammy arrived with them, and although it was dark, the two men with her were white males- big guys who fit the brief description that Tripp and Alden had given the police.
They were too far away from the camera to make an identification. The more they tried to
zoom in, the more the picture pixelated. They seemed to know where the cameras were, and
Detective Wilson was sure they had been there before to scope out the parking lot. It was
obvious that they had because Frank had met up with Tammy from almost the moment she
arrived. The men had separated from her when they left the white SUV they were driving. They
headed to the lobby entrance, and she headed to one of the posts at the Porte cochère.
It appeared from the movement of Frank’s truck that they had intimate relations while the men
entered to wait for me. So it wasn’t their first meeting. That was the reason he was gone for
so long. The guys slipped in with a pass card that had been stolen days before and split up in
the lobby. One went down to check on me in the gym, and the other stood in the corner to
watch for anyone to enter or exit the lobby. My father positively identified Tammy to Detective
Wilson.
When Frank was in the interview room and confronted with stills of meeting up with Tammy,
he finally confessed. But he said that Tammy said her name was JoAnn. Her middle name
was Jo, so she went with something she would answer to. They had ‘met‘ in a bar two days
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Going Back Home
previous. He just considered himself lucky and went with it. She had asked to meet up with
him that night at work. I couldn’t help but wonder how they knew my routine. I got my answer
from Detective Wilson.
“She played like a big fan of the local team, and he bragged about how five of you lived there
in the condos. He was the one who said you liked to train alone and would go to the gym late
at night. They already knew. They let her know when they were done, and she left after that.
He didn’t think he had done anything wrong, but they fired him. Due to so many high–profile
clients in the building, he had signed an NDA. He was not supposed to tell anyone who lived inside the building.
Knowing she was the one behind it didn’t help me at all. She was working on a list that I knew
Addison was on. I was worried that she wasn’t safe. It didn’t matter how often my parents told
me I didn’t need to worry, I still worried. I knew just how much Tammy hated Addison. I learned
about it firsthand. Tammy always had something hateful to say about her. It didn’t matter that
Addison had never done anything to provoke Tammy. The fact that I cared for Addison made
Tammy hate her from the first moment she saw her.
It was all jealousy. I knew it, but I never stopped it. I figured Addison deserved it. I was wrong, and I would spend the rest of my life righting those wrongs if she gave me another chance.
Being in pain and worrying about Addison wasn’t the worst of it. That had come earlier this
week.
My coach came to see me on Tuesday, along with my agent. I had expected them to come but wasn’t ready to hear the bad news. My contract was a very good one. I had a guaranteed contract, as they knew I would be a strong quarterback. They had seen me in action while l played for my college team, and I had done well. So well, that I was offered an entire contract. I wasn’t worried, as my salary was set. But with the starting quarterback also being out, they wanted to cut their losses. They had to replace us quickly.
They would continue to pay my contract out, but they were releasing me from the team. I was being waived with an injury designation. Due to the injury waiver, no other team wanted me. I was a man without a team. They were all going to wait and see what happens with my healing and physical therapy. It was hard to hear because they were all basically betting on me not being able to return to play professionally. They were not trying to offend me; they couldn’t afford to roll the dice. No one knows whether I will be able to throw again. They would rather pay the penalty and see if I would be an asset to them later on down the line.
Football is a demanding sport, and injuries occur. It’s up to me to prove them wrong. This was my worst nightmare come to life. It was too soon to determine the extent of damage that had been done. I knew they were in a bad place and needed to get a quarterback in there quickly. I
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Going Back Home
am sure they tried to cut their losses and trade me first, but news of my attack has spread. I
will have to prove them all wrong, as it was clear that I had been written off.
My parents knew how badly this turn of events had hurt me. They had also told me that I
would spring back from this. They were trying to support me. None of us knew if that was true
or not. This type of injury can cause weakness and a visible change to the physical area. In all
honesty, I may never be able to throw again. I had already discussed this with a specialist and
Dr. Gregory.
They were hesitant to give me a definitive answer on how this would heal or if it would heal
properly. They said I needed to allow it to heal and that the doctor they were referring me to in Dallas would send me to physical therapy when it was time to go. The only positive they
would give me was that the rupture was not deep. That was the best they could give me: a
little hope. I am sure that they were glad that I would now be someone else’s problem.
That was the third piece of bad news. It wasn’t bad enough that I found out Tammy was a
psychopath. But losing my career like I did was incredibly painful. Not just physically, but
emotionally too. I had finally reached my dream, only to have it ripped away from me; now, I
am going back home to live with my parents. I can afford a place, but I won’t be able to cook
and clean for myself for a while. My arm has to be immobilized. I can shower alone, but my
day–to–day activities will be severely hampered.
Valerie had just graduated from college and was coming home to look for a job. Holden was
out for summer break between his junior and senior years. I am sure they will be just as happy
to see me as I am to be there. Holden was still pissed at me over what happened to Addison.
Valerie was still upset. I hadn’t forgiven her for her part in it. I couldn’t blame Holden. He was a
good friend to her, but I knew that part of his anger towards me had been finding out that I had
been the guy in the video.
He knew Addison had a thing for me, but he still held out hope, wanting her to be his girlfriend.
I was never going to allow that to happen. I didn’t care what Holden wanted. Addison will
always be mine. We had stopped for the night in Meridian, Mississippi, to rest. We made good
time, but this trip started reminding me of road trips taken as a child. Only it was worse now,
because mom only had me to focus on. She was always asking me what I needed.
I was fine; I would speak up if I needed something, but every hour on the hour, she would turn
around to check on me. I pretended to rest some of the time, but I couldn’t sleep with all the
movement of the SUV. It was causing my arm to hurt. I was looking forward to getting some
rest. Mom got a call when we were past Dallas and about ten minutes from home.
She originally answered it on speakerphone, but as soon as Holden’s voice rang out, saying, ”
Mom, Addison is back, and you will never guess…” she immediately took it off the speaker. I
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Going Back Home
was no longer pretending to sleep. I was intently listening for anything I could catch. I knew
that Mom was very aware I was awake, and she was speaking very quietly. She hung up
quickly and looked over at my father as if trying to use telepathy to communicate.
“Mom, did Holden just say that Addison was back? Back at her house?” I asked carefully. I
can’t believe the day I returned, she did too. It was like God wanted us to be back together. I
was really happy to be going home now.
“Yes, he did, Garrett, but I need you to know something,” my mother’s voice sounded strained
when she finally found her words. Nothing was going to bring me down right now. No matter what my mother was going to say, Addison was back, and my world was whole again.
“Whatever it is, Mom, it can wait,” I told her. As Dad pulled onto our street, I could see several vehicles in her driveway. Several people were milling around in the yard. I dismissed everyone except the beautiful redhead hugging an older woman goodbye. As we pulled into our driveway, I noticed they all turned to look at my SUV.
I had been sitting behind Dad and was already near her yard. Sitting behind my mother, I kept bumping my injured arm against the door. I got out quickly and headed straight for her. I watched as shock covered her face before she started to back away from me. Why would she be scared of me? I would never hurt her. Before I could speak, I heard a child ask, “Who are you?” I turned to look down at them, and now it was my turn to be shocked.
