Page 106 of Replay

“How are you feeling?” Mitch asked. He looked worried. His girlfriend had lost her hockey career due to a knee injury. What would have happened to them if the trade had gone through?

My stomach knotted again, but I wasn’t going to stress the team. They had games to win. I shrugged. “Enough drugs to keep me from hurting too much.”

“What did they say about recovery?”

“Six months.” But no guarantees.

“You work hard, you play again. I will help,” Petey promised, or was that a threat?

Mitch passed over a bag of something that smelled incredible. “Figure you’re not watching your weight right now, and hospital food sucks, so…”

“Give me!”

I munched on burgers, listening as the guys talked about the last games, how they’d squeaked out a couple of wins, including the one I’d been injured in, but insisted they needed me back. I couldn’t tell them about the trade that hadn’t happened, but would management switch to sending someone else out after the holiday freeze? Had they given up on the Blaze’s season? Would some of these guys be gone before I was back on my feet?

My phone buzzed.

I’m done with school for the day. Should I come by?

YES

I didn’t care if it was shouty. I wanted her to know this was a priority for me.

Fitch smirked. “That Katie?” I nodded. “She coming?”

“Yes.”

He deliberately looked around the room. “Get things worked out with your mother?”

Yeah, she was conspicuously absent. I shrugged a shoulder. “I told her Katie was here to stay.”

“How did that go?”

The guys were watching me. Some looked amused, some concerned.

“Mom left. Her choice. Like you said, I figured out what was most important. And now Katie’s on her way, so you guys have to book.”

Oppy pouted. “We like Katie. We want to see her too.”

“Another time. We have a lot to talk about.”

They teased me, and Petey reminded me not to be distracted by a woman, but they left soon after. I appreciated the visit, but I needed my girl. And while it was great of them to come by, they had stuff to do and I was a reminder of how easily we could lose our careers. I didn’t want to bring anyone down.

I finished the food Mitch had brought and tossed the bag at the garbage. I missed but couldn’t get up to put it in the can. Oppy had left the duck on the table with some flower arrangements fans had sent, just out of reach. So it sat, staring cross-eyed at me between roses and carnations while I waited. I shuddered.

A nurse came in, checked a bunch of stuff, told me I was doing well, and then left.

I heard footsteps and watched the door till I saw her there. Katie. She was wearing a coat, hair messed up from the hat she was now carrying in her hand.

She paused, staring at me while I stared at her. I was trying to figure out what she was thinking by how she looked, and she might have been doing the same. It didn’t work, at least for me. She didn’t seem to be upset or angry, but I couldn’t understand how she was feeling. It was going to take words.

“You gonna come in?” The way she lingered in the doorway made me nervous.

A bit of a smile, just one corner of her mouth turning up. “I picked up some donairs.”

Was that our thing now? “Thanks. But you didn’t have to. I just needed to see you.”

She bit her lip and crossed the threshold, walking toward me. I saw her eyes go to the food wrapper I’d not sunk in the garbage.

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