Page 30 of You Had Me at Hockey

“Do you want to lie down?”

“Yeah.” She grabs a couple of cushions and stuffs them behind her head, then stretches her legs out across my lap. I pick up the pale pink blanket draped over one corner of the couch and spread it out over her. “Thanks. This is nice. I’m exhausted.”

“I bet.”

“If you want a drink, there’s stuff in the fridge.”

“Do you want something?”

“Mmm…maybe a green ice tea?”

I get up and head to the kitchen and retrieve drinks from her fridge, which is nearly empty. After opening a couple of cabinets, I find glasses and use the ice maker on the fridge to dispense ice into them, then return to the living room.

Her eyes are closed. Her face is still flushed but not nearly as puffy. Crap, her eyes were nearly swollen shut in the ambulance.

I sit down gently so as not to disturb her if she’s asleep.

“I’m not asleep.”

“Okay.” I set her drink near her.

“Have you ever had a near-death experience?” she asks.

Jesus. “Yes.”

Her eyes fly open. “Really?”

“Yeah.” I pause. “Do you think you were that close to dying?”

“No. But it was scary.”

“I know.”

“What happened to you?”

“When I was seventeen, playing major junior hockey, we were on our way to an away game when our bus crashed.”

“Oh no.” Her eyes shadow behind her glasses. She pushes herself up a bit on the cushions, her attention focused on me.

“Fourteen people died.”

“Oh my God.”

“I had a bunch of injuries. Fractures. Concussion. I don’t remember some of what happened after, which is maybe a good thing, but I do have fuzzy memories of being in the first hospital and everyone rushing around like I was going to die and I…was okay with that.”

She covers her mouth with her hands. “Oh, Josh.”

I attempt a smile. “I lived, obviously.”

“That must have been so awful.”

I nod. “The worst was when they told me about everyone else. The guys that didn’t make it. We were a team.”

“Well, that makes my little anaphylactic reaction seem trivial. God.” She rolls her eyes.

“It wasn’t trivial. Anaphylaxis can be a serious thing. My cousin has a peanut allergy.”

“Well. I’m fine. You’re fine. And you were amazing—calling the ambulance and helping me. I was scared and you were so solid.”

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