Page 41 of My Last Dance

They made it on some team in Hamilton, Ontario together and left for preseason training the first week of August.

It was a peaceful fall at Centre Ice, but at what cost?

Fun.

There was no more fun in the rink. And while I’d never admit it…I truly missed the boys. I missed having that little thrill in my chest when I heard their laughter. I missed secretly hoping and trying to catch glimpses of Richard through the day, and I felt a little… lost. It was almost like we’d been playing a game for years, and I hadn’t fully realized I was playing until it was over.

But maybe it was a good thing that they were gone, thathewas gone, because it made it easier to go back home to my parents in New York City for my surgery and rehab.

Patrick was going home to Montreal for the time being. He promised he’d train on his own and wait for me, and I really hoped that were true because I didn’t want to skate with anyone else. He was like my brother, and I trusted him more than anyone else on the planet… I only trusted one other person more.

And he was the first one I saw when I woke up from my surgery.

My eyes took a second to adjust to the obnoxiously bright lighting, but sure enough, Richard Charles Kappers the Third wasslumped over, sleeping in the bedside armchair, wearing joggers and his hockey team jacket, a beanie half on top of his messy hair. He had bags under his eyes, like he hadn’t slept much, but he was still the most attractive guy I’d ever seen.

But…wasn’t he supposed to be in Canada? And why did it feel like my head was floating off my body?

A second later, his eyes fluttered open, and he did a double take. “Hey, you’re up,” he said, immediately rubbing his eyes and shuffling the armchair closer to me. “How ya feeling, Viper?” he asked with a gentle grin.

I blinked at him for a second. He washere,he was talking, but…was I just dreaming?

His eyebrows popped up. “You good?”

“Am I dreaming?” I whispered in a scratchy voice. I needed water, stat.

His lip quirked up. “Nope, why do you ask?”

I squinted harder at him. “Am I in Michigan?” My eyes darted around the room, trying to place where I was, but that just made my head spin. “I feel weird, Richard.”

“Ah, you got those good drugs, girl,” he said with a chuckle. “You in any pain? They said the surgery went well, so that’s good.”

I shook my head, then immediately regretted it.

“Nauseous?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I whispered, not daring to move my head again.

He stood and hit a button attached to my bed. “And to answer your questions, no, we arenotin Michigan. We are in two places I said I’d never go.” He held up his thumb. “One, New York City. This place is wild.” He held up his pointer finger. “And two, a hospital.”

Now I was super confused. “Aren’t you in Canada?”

He laughed. “I was. Our team bussed us out to Boston for a tournament this week. They currently think we’re asleep in our motel room. We caught the train up here.”

My eyes widened. “Are you gonna get in trouble?”

He shrugged. “Nah, they’ll make it back in time for the game. No one will even notice. It was a quick trip. Our road trips this year are about to be alotlonger. Not looking forward to that. Colt snores like a chainsaw. Mer must really love him to ignore that.”

“Why?” I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to understand. He was talking awfully fast, and my throat was extremelyscratchy.

“Because it’s pretty awful,” he rambled on. “I think snoring is a deal breaker, to be honest. He really—”

“No,” I cut him off. “Why did you come here?” I held my forehead. It felt like everything was spinning out of control.

“Hey, you’re okay,” he said in a gentler tone. “I came for you, duh. I’ll always show up for you.” He moved closer and dropped a kiss on my hair. I would’ve cherished the moment if it weren’t for the pain now starting to slice through me, making me wince.

His eyes connected with mine. “Easy, easy,” he said in an even voice. His hand drifted over my forehead. “Breathe, you’re okay.”

That’s when the enormity of the situation slammed into me. This wasn’t going to be easy at all. This was going to be an uphill battle. I was starting at square one, and there was going to be more pain before there was less. I must’ve moved a fraction of an inch because pain ricocheted through me again, making my face crack. “This really hurts. This surgery was a bad idea,” I blubbered out. “It was bad.”

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