Page 76 of Cheap Shot
I nod my head, my mind still trying to figure out what the hell is going on. I know from looking at Cole’s chart that everything for him is fine. If it were anyone but Stacey who did his final assessment before releasing him from physical therapy, I’d want to run all the tests again. But my best friend is damn good at her job.
“We can rule out any genetic conditions since neither of the other two brothers is presenting with any symptoms.” I push to my feet, pacing back and forth in front of Parker’s desk.
“It’s probably nothing.” Parker leans back in his chair, threading his fingers together before placing them on the back of his head. “Beau is a jokester and hates conflict. I have a feeling he was just fucking with the both of us.”
You could definitely cut the tension in that room with a knife the minute Beau walked into the room. Jensen looked downright terrified, sandwiched between both Hendrix brothers. I could see him trying to crack a joke to break the tension. That’s what I did, but I just can’t shake this feeling that we are missing something important.
“I would love to believe that, but I have a feeling that’s not it. You didn’t see his face when he missed that tape. He looked just as worried as we both were.”
I saw the confusion and a flash of fear in his eyes before he picked up the tape off the floor. I remember Dad used to always say a netminder is only as good as the quickness of his glove, or something like that. I don’t remember it perfectly, but it makes sense. The quickness of his reflexes and ability to grasp the puck out of the air with his glove are requirements for his job on the team. If he loses those, he may as well kiss his career goodbye.
“Could it be Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE)?” I wince, hating to even speak those words out loud.
CTE is every athlete’s worst nightmare. It’s a brain disorder believed to be caused by repeated head injuries. After repeated damage to the brain, it’s believed that the nerve cells in your brain degenerate, which continues to get worse over an extended period and repeated damage to the brain. A common warning sign of CTE is a progressive deficit in motor function, including problems with balance, gait, and coordination. However, the only way to definitively diagnose CTE is after death, during an autopsy of the brain. And since I would like to keep Beau alive for the foreseeable future, we’re going to have to make an educated guess.
“It could be. He has had concussions in the past, but I haven’t noticed any issues with his balance or any speech issues. He was skating around on the ice like usual. He even beat some of the rookies during the speed drills during practice.”
“That doesn’t rule out CTE completely, but it soothes my worries a little.” I flop back down in the seat, my leg bouncing up and down with nerves. “I know I should let this go, but I just can’t shake the feeling that this is something we should be concerned about.”
Parker shakes his head, typing something into his computer before smiling at me. “I can’t let this go, either. Beau isn’t just one of the players; he’s a friend. I’m just as worried about him as you.”
“What are we going to do about it?”
“I don’t know. There isn’t much we can do based on the information we know.”
Parker is right. I doubt Beau will be up for a full physical and a blood panel at the doctor's office right now. I know that’s probably overkill and could cause him unnecessary stress, which could potentially make things worse. Either way, we need more information.
“Do you do physical workups at the start of the season?” I ask, an idea forming in my head.
“Sometimes, but I don’t think we’ve done one in a few years.”
“Although we don’t know how many rookies are going to make the final roster, this is as good a time as any to do a comprehensive workup on the team. That way, we can get a baseline on how well the entire team is doing before the start of the season.”
Parker thinks about it for a moment before responding. “It’s a good idea. The veterans could use a full workup, as well. None of them are getting any younger. Although it would be a lot of late hours here at the training center, it can be done. We just need to get your dad to sign off on it.”
“You can leave that to me. Dad loves this team and will do anything he can to ensure all his players are healthy throughout the season,” I respond with conviction.
Dad might be focused on winning conference championships and the Cup again this year, but he also cares for his players. I don’t want to tell him who we are specifically looking at so that we don’t draw any unnecessary attention to Beau, but he needs to know we have concerns.
“If you can get your dad on board without breaking patient confidentiality, we can make it happen. I just need to talk to the other trainers. We are going to need all hands on deck if we are going to do a comprehensive workup on twenty-something players.
“It's settled. Please don’t tell Stacey it’s my fault she’s going to be seeing even less of you than expected. She’ll never forgive me,” I whine, not wanting to get on my best friend’s bad side. It’s only happened a few times, and none of them were pretty.
“Oh, shut it. She always forgives you and blames me.”
“That’s right. Chicks before dicks.” I giggle, causing Parker to roll his eyes. “Don’t ever get me fired, or you might find yourself potentially without a girlfriend.”
“You aren’t ever going anywhere if I can help it. You’re the reason I manage to get out of here before sunset most days. Though not today.” He sighs, chuckling softly to himself. “But that’s also your fault.”
“How the hell is it my fault? I’m not the one who went after Jensen like a rabid dog on the ice during practice.”
“Very vivid description. But you can’t have not noticed?”
“Notice what?” I pull my bottom lip between my teeth and bite down on it.
The idea of this having to do with me causes wetness to pool between my legs. Why is it so hot that Cole beat the crap out of a potential teammate for saying something inappropriate to me? I have no idea what the answer to that is, and I don’t care, but more importantly, what am I going to do about it?
“You know what? Why don’t you ask him yourself,” Parker responds as I spin around in my chair and notice Cole, Beau, and Cooper all having a chat with Jensen. I would say it was friendly, but judging by the murderous look on Cole’s face, I have a feeling it’s anything but.
