Page 242 of The Locker Room
already packed and ready to go, they headed for the airport.
The Locker Room 209
CHRIS hadn"t been kidding about the party. The next morning, there
were purple streamers and plastic bottles of soda on ice for him, and the
nurses, at least, put their disappointment in Denver"s series loss to New
York aside and congratulated Xander heartily.
Xander smiled shyly and drank a round of diet soda with Chris to
celebrate, and then he got on to more important news.
“Your parents talked to your doc—can you wait two more weeks to
get out of here?”
Two more weeks—and one more victorious playoff series. It took
two more weeks for Xander to prep the downstairs so Chris could spend
most of his time in a hospital bed down there. It took two more weeks for
Xander (with the girls supervising when he couldn"t be there) to have the
entire place remodeled, with a chair lift to Chris"s upstairs bedroom, and
a special shower so Chris could sit down when he bathed. It took two
more weeks so Chris could heal enough to be moved.
Two more weeks. It wasn"t long—they"d lived without for longer,
and the prospect of there being a light at the end of the tunnel was like
permanent intoxication for Xander. It was the speed in Xander"s veins,
the thing that got him down the court, and the shining star that watched
Xander in his sleep.
Chris was coming home.
210 Amy Lane
Star to Steer By
NEVER before had basketball felt so… liberating.
Xander did exactly as he always did—except now, he did it without
fear. Aames and Burkins knew. Hell, maybe the whole team knew. But
they wanted him out for a beer, and they were proud to play ball with
him, and in spite of what the coach screamed down the court as he ran,
