Page 100 of Rookie Move
“He’ll be all right,” Mulvey said lightly. “He might need a night off. Doc will decide soon.”
Leo groaned.
“Can you tell me what happened back there?”
No. Leo hesitated. “I misinterpreted something. It was a stupid mistake. It won’t happen again.”
“I get that part,” the doctor said. “But then what happened toyou?”
“Uh, I got...” Leo did not even have words to explain what he’d felt. He wasn’t even sure he remembered it all that clearly. Maybe itwasthe flu. “My stomach is just a little upset.”
The shrink clicked his tongue. “Butwhyis it upset? I thinkyouare upset, and you’ll feel better if you can articulate why.”
Right on cue, Leo’s gut clenched. “I psyched myself out there for a minute. It won’t happen again.”
“Maybe that’s true,” the doctor said quietly. “But for you to have such an outsized reaction to a misunderstanding suggests a fear you haven’t dealt with. Shake my hand.”
“What?”
“Just shake.” Doctor Mulvey held out his hand.
Leo shook.
“Your hands are cold and you’re not steady,” the doctor said. “That’sshock, Mr. Trevi. It happens after physical or psychological trauma. Like a bone break, or witnessing an accident on the highway.”
“But I didn’t.”
The doctor chewed on his lip. “I think you did, though. In your own way.” The doctor got off the table. “Lie down on your back and bend your knees.”
“I don’t need...”
“You want to play tonight, or what?”
Fuck. Leo turned to stretch out on the table. If this is what they wanted him to do, he’d do it. The doctor put a foam stretching block under his feet, to elevate them. Then he put a blanket over Leo’s chest, while Leo clenched his jaw to keep from arguing.
“I’m going to speak to the doctor for a moment,” Mulvey said. “Hang tight.”
“Don’t let anybody else in here,” Leo said, irritation leaking into his tone.
“Okay,” the doctor said, looking down at him. “By ‘anybody else’ do you mean Georgia?”
Leo grunted his acknowledgment.
“Fine. But you and I are definitely talking about this later.”
I can’t wait. Leo folded his hands on his chest and willed them to stop shaking.
When the doctor came in a while later, he brought Hugh Major with him. Leo sat up quickly, ready to take his punishment. The room only spun a little bit. So that was progress.
“Brought you this,” the doctor said, setting down a tray with a banana and some kind of protein bar. “If you can eat, you need something with some available sugars.”
“Thanks,” he said, waiting.
The GM was eyeing him with a frown. “O’Doul can play tonight,” Hugh finally said. “No sign of a concussion. It’s just a scrape on his head, and a big bruise on his ass.”
Leo sagged with relief. “That’s good to hear. Will he let me apologize to him?”
The GM cocked his head. “Sure he will. But areyouokay to play?”
