Page 167 of Desperate Pucker
“Five.”
Her blue eyes cut to me, a serious look on her face. “Now’s not the time to be a tough guy, Ryker. I need you to be honest.”
I huff out a breath. “Seven.”
She rests her hand on the outside of my knee. “This is going to hurt. Sorry,” she says gently.
When she presses against the side of my knee, I mutter a curse. Fuck, that’s painful. And probably not a good sign.
“The inside of your knee is opening up slightly when I push on the outside.” She brushes her strawberry blonde hair out of her face. “That means it could be a bad sprain or a tear. I wanna do an X-ray though to rule out a fracture or any other bone injuries.”
I nod and try to swallow back the dread rattling through me. Every worst case scenario loops through my brain. If it’s afracture or an ACL tear, I’m fucked. My chance to play during the rest of the playoffs will be over.
My chance to help my team make a run for the Cup? Gone.
And my career? That might be gone too.
That dread hammers through my gut.
No. Please, no. This can’t be how it all ends for me.
But it might be.
Every shitty comment from fans and reporters echoes in my brain.
Too old. Too injured. Past my prime. Waste of a spot on a roster. Waste of a jersey.
“Hey.” Sophie’s calm voice pulls me out of my spiral. “I know what you’re thinking. Don’t go there. I don’t want you thinking anything until I’m done examining you.”
“Easier said than done,” I mutter.
“I know. But I need you to try, okay?”
I nod. I’m quiet during the X-ray, even though my nerves are blowing off like fireworks.
She gives me a dose of pain meds. I sit on the exam table as I wait for her to come back with the results, quietly battling all the negative thoughts swirling through my brain.
“Ryker?”
I look up at Maddy standing in the doorway of the exam room. Comfort instantly swoops through.
She’s the only person I want with me right now.
She walks over to me and cups my face in her hands. As if on cue, my body relaxes. Her touch is a calm in this storm of uncertainty.
“Are you okay?”
I shrug. “Not sure.”
“Are you in a lot of pain?”
I shake my head. “Sophie gave me meds. I’m fine.”
I glance down at my knee, which is elevated on the table and wrapped in ice packs and bandages.
“I’m so sorry.” Maddy’s voice cracks. It breaks me how much she cares, how much she’s worried for me.
“Don’t be sorry. You’re not the one who crashed into my knee twenty minutes ago.”
