Page 64 of The Battery
Through the haze of drugs, I made an attempt at sitting up in bed but the discomfort hit me good. I used a button on the side to raise the back portion to a forty-five-degree angle. Absently, Iran a hand through my hair, as if coiffing would make me more presentable. I had been in the middle of adjusting my hospital johnny when Leo swung in like slow-rolling fog.
Tall. Imperious. And still wearing his Riders uniform. He waited all night.
I held up my hands in a sudden effort. He came at me too fast, arms stretched out. I winced prematurely at the pain about to explode as Leo lowered himself to crush me.
His arms shot out at the last second to brace himself above the bed and he only extended his head to nestle his face in my neck while holding his body over me without touching or crushing. I felt him take a deep breath, his lips a soft caress on my skin.
I couldn’t sag into him but I hooked my own head around his neck like a lovebird cooing to its mate. Sweat, the distance traces of cologne. I took it in as much as I could before he pulled back, still braced over me, our faces inches from each other.
That stare. The one that could carve glyphs into glacial ice. Irises a moss green on a summer’s eve. Capable of dressing down someone to a single screaming neuron. And yet they looked upon me with… regret?
“I’m sorry, Cody.”
My brain needed a quarter turn of the second hand to comprehend what he said through the haze of drugs in my system. He was apologizing for what he had said to me what felt like an age ago.
“Oh. Leo, you don’t have to…” No. I didn’t mean that. He did have to. I had been waiting to hear these words. I blinked and then corrected myself. “Thank you. I needed to hear that.”
But he wasn’t done. “I didn’t mean what I said. Truly. I only said what I did to make you upset. My intentions were worse than my words. I’m ashamed for trying to make you feel lesserthan you really are and I hope you can forgive me for that. I take back everything I said to you that night.”
Wowwas my only thought for a moment.Hell of an apology.
I giggled at my own thoughts, which reddened my cheeks. My turn to apologize. “Sorry, my thoughts are all over the place right now.”
It didn’t seem to bother him. He kept that hard gaze on me, unwavering andwaiting.
I pushed through the clouds. “Apology accepted, Leo.”
His face was back in my neck, this time breathing out a long sigh. My skin was cold after he eventually pulled away. There were no chairs for visitors in the ICU, so he pressed half a cheek on the bedside with one of his hands on my shoulder, thumb delicately tracing a pattern.
“You waited all night?” I asked and looked pointedly at his uniform.
“Yeah. Lawson arrived an hour or so ago. Nice guy. Here I thoughtmyguilt was bad.” He pulled his hand away from my shoulder and then locked it onto my forearm, as if I would drift away from him. “I made sure he came in first. He’s gotta get back to Ottawa.”
“It was sweet of him to come by.” I looked down at a sudden thought of the game. The drugs stoked my emotions, and I felt control slipping.The game.
“Hey,” came Leo’s voice. He squeezed my forearm. “Where did you go just now?”
I couldn’t look at him. The periphery of my vision showed me the concern on his face; it was enough to make me crack. “I was doing so well…wewere doing so well. I loved—loved—closing. And now? I’m done for the rest of—”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” he interrupted. “Hold up. No, no, no. You’renotdone. Is that why you’re upset? Because you think it’s over?”
Finally I looked up, with more anger toward my situation than with him. “Well,yeah. I havetwobroken ribs and the rest are all bruised. I thought my heart stoppingwouldbe the issue, but I was wrong. It’s the frigginCPR.”
Leo held up his hand and began to count off on his fingers. “You’re young. Not some geezer like me whose injuries lay him out for way too long.”
“Leo, you’re only six years older than me. That doesn’t make you a ‘geezer.’”
“Thanks. Two, you have the best sports medicine personnel available and theyalreadyknow about what’s going on. You’ll be monitored and scheduled for recovery. There’sno way in hellthe Riders are losing you as a pitcher. They’ve already assured me and the others that you’ll be back in time for postseason. And lastly, I’m moving you in with me so I can keep track of your progress.”
Another stretch of seconds-long contemplation. I had been internalizing his litany and then my brain broke with the last one. “Wha…no. Absolutelynot.”
“Yes. I need to keep an eye on you. I can help you with recovery and training. It’s no different from what we’ve done this summer.”
“No. Leo, no. I’m not moving in right after…” My jaw tightened and I let my words trail off. I didn’t have the wherewithal to be a chisel against the marble that was his personality. I had to use a hammer. “Leo, your uncle just died after you’ve been taking care of him all year. You need a break and some time alone. I’m not moving in. Freddie’s a good roommate. He can help.” He started to speak. “No, Leo. I’m not moving in with you. I appreciate the sentiment, I do, but it isn’t happening.”
He stood and it looked like he wanted to pace and enter into a tirade, but the confines of our little tent made that impossible.
His eyes were on the equipment surrounding me. “I…”
