Page 52 of The Price of Ice

He made himself nod. “Okay.”

Levy was probably right, Maslowwasthe team’s head physician, after all. He was also a kitten, if a guy in his sixties could still be called that, and wholeheartedly dedicated to the White Cat Family. Kallen just didn’t like how often he referred to Kallen’s future as a breeder for the team. But it was true, wasn’t it? And Maslow hadn’t made him sign the contract, or choose the life he had. And maybe talking about it so much was meant to help him get used to the idea.

It wasn’t that long before the bell went off. Levy grabbed the half-full plate before he left to get it, and Kallen stayed right where he was, since he had no other choice.

“Good afternoon,” Maslow said, walking briskly into the bedroom, and Kallen raised his eyes to track him. “Kallen?” the doctor asked, and he realised he hadn’t responded.

“Um, hello.”

Maslow had something in his hand that turned out to be a medical torch and he took hold of Kallen’s chin and ordered, “Open.”

He examined his eyes and ears too, then pulled the blankets away and checked his reflexes. His knees dutifully jumped, and he could feel pressure and temperature all over his legs and feet too.

“Nothing amiss,” the doctor concluded. “What happened yesterday?”

Kallen had expected questions, but he hadn’t expected Maslow to know that somethinghadhappened, and he couldn’t keep from tensing up.

“I see, so something happened. At the game?” When he didn’t respond, the grip on his knee tightened painfully. “Answer,” Maslow commanded, low and serious. A dull pressure Kallen could feel on the back of his neck.

“No,” he choked out.

“Afterwards then?”

He nodded, hunching over as much as he could. His jaw hurt from how hard he was clenching it. If Maslow pushed for it...

But the doctor just hummed, taking off his phone and sitting down on the chair Levy had been using all morning to keep Kallen company. It was like he’d forgotten Kallen was in the room.

Look at me, Kallen wanted to demand. He could use lure, he thought, which was absolutely insane. And why did he even want Maslow to look at him? The guy had always creeped him out.

A tentative knock on the doorframe finally got Maslow to look away from the screen. Levy’s eyes were travelling between them, full of uncertainty. “Is... Um, I just wanted to check on you,” he said.

Kallen appreciated him not asking for an update from the doctor directly. He thought Maslow would have probably told him.

The man stood up. “Nothing wrong with him,” he told Levy, confirming Kallen’s suspicions. Did he think Levy had a right to know what was going on with him since he was technically one of Kallen’s alphas?

“Oh.” Levy’s eyes met his own, still unsure. “Does that— So why can’t he move his legs?” he asked, not looking away.

Kallen dropped his own gaze. He was grateful to his friend for asking, really. At least it meant he didn’t have to talk to Maslow himself.

“Omegas are sensitive,” Maslow explained with a shrug, glancing Kallen’s way and shaking his head. “Something makes them feel unsafe, they do this kind of thing, shut down, somatise...” He sighed, dropping his phone back into his pocket and turning for the door.

“Excuse me?” Levy asked, stepping fully into the room and stopping at the foot of the bed—as close to Kallen as he possibly could without crawling into it with him again. He was also blocking Maslow’s path to the exit. “Soma what?”

“Somatise,” Maslow repeated, then translated it. “He’s doing it to himself.”

“What?” Levy snapped. “Are you serious? He can’tmove his legs. How is he doing that to himself? Who would do that to themselves?”

The doctor didn’t answer for a long moment, then, strangely, took a step back, closer to Kallen, and then he said, “Someone who is afraid to get back on the ice.”

Levy had followed the movement, so he caught Kallen twisting his head away from the words. He was clenching his hands so hard he was afraid he’d break the skin despite howshort his nails were. Not that it would matter, if he couldn’t use them for hockey...

“As I was saying,” the doctor went on. “This is outside my area of expertise.”

Levy kept pushing, asking follow up questions, but Kallen stopped listening. He didn’t like Maslow, but he couldn’t find it within himself to argue. What were the chances that the day after he’d got so freaked out something like this would happen? And without a single clue a doctor could read?

And besides, it wasn’t the first time.

HAVING LEVY CARRY HIMinto the toilet had to be the most humiliating experience of his life. If he hadn’t made the mistake of claiming Levy wasn’tableof lifting someone as heavy as he was, he might have avoided it altogether.

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