Page 11 of Before We Break Again
Roni, of course, is oblivious to the tension.She’s still grinning, her voice even flirty.“We share patients, you know.I can leave, but tomorrow she’ll be sharing your prognosis with all of us.”
Dustin’s eyes harden, narrowing into an icy glare.His entire demeanor shifts, and suddenly, the room feels smaller.“Is that true?”His voice is cold, a quiet fury simmering beneath the surface.“I need this to stay just between us.What happened to patient confidentiality?”
I force myself to speak, though the words feel foreign on my tongue.“There is confidentiality, but internally we share patient files to discuss recovery plans.”My voice is distant, robotic, as if the words are a shield, something to keep him at arm’s length.
Dustin shakes his head, a muscle ticking in his jaw.This isn’t something that he wants, he has something specific in mind.I want to say,Good luck somewhere else, buddy, but stay quiet, watching him.
He pulls out his phone, checking the screen, and then looks back at me, eyes on mine.“What time are you off?”
“This is your last appointment,” Roni chimes in.“You don’t have a game tonight.Why don’t you head out?”
I want to scream at her to stop talking, to read the room, to understand that this is not just a routine consultation.To get the fuck away from here before she witnesses the explosion or ...I’m not sure what’s going to happen here, but I know it won’t be pretty.
There’s too much unsaid, too much history boiling beneath the surface.I should stop it now, make an excuse, some way to avoid what’s happening, but she keeps prodding.“Dr.Devoss will want you to keep this patient on board.”
Of course he would.Dustin Haverbrook isn’t just any patient.The clinic would love to have him on our list, another name to flaunt, another success story to boast about.But this isn’t about them or their egos.
“This is why I need you.”Dustin hands me his phone, and for a moment, I hesitate.
I don’t want to take it, don’t want to bridge the gap between us.But I do.My fingers brush against his, and the contact feels electric, sending an unsettling ripple through me that I’m not prepared for.His skin is warm, rough—familiar yet foreign—and it pulls me back to a place I’ve fought so hard to escape.
I don’t know if I want to pull away or lean in.The urge to run is overwhelming, but the part of me that still aches for something more keeps me rooted.I force myself to focus, to look down at the screen, but the moment my eyes land on the image, my heart plummets into my stomach.
It’s Santos.Our Santos.Lying in a hospital bed, pale and fragile, his leg tightly bandaged, his expression vacant.The photo is a punch to the gut, knocking the air from my lungs.I feel it all at once—the guilt, the love, the years of distance that did nothing to dull the pain.
I want to escape, to let go of the phone and this entire conversation.But there’s something in me that can’t.Something that won’t let me tear myself away from this, from him—from everything we used to be.
And then there’s San’s injury.I saw it happen.Live.The moment his body gave out on the ice, collapsing under the sheer force of his own dreams.I was frozen in horror, watching from a distance as everything he’d worked for slipped away in a single, devastating second.That night, I went home and replayed it in my head, over and over, torturing myself with every painful detail, knowing there was nothing I could’ve done to stop it.Nothing I could’ve done to save him.
I hand the phone back to Dustin, my hands trembling.“I can’t.”
“What?”His voice is filled with disbelief.
“It’s complicated,” I respond, but the way he looks at me, as if I’m a monster, pushes me to tell him more.“Our clinic has an exclusive contract with the Dallas Havocs.We can’t just treat any athlete.They pay handsomely.It’s because of them that we stay ahead—state-of-the-art equipment, top-tier training, everything we need to remain the best.But the contract ...it limits us.”
“Halsey ...”His voice softens, and for a brief moment, I hear the boy he used to be, the one who stood by the lake and promised me everything.But his eyes flicker to Roni, and just as quickly, the softness disappears.His expression hardens again, and he takes a step closer.“You can’t just say that.Give me five minutes to talk this through.It’s important.”
“It’s a conflict of interest,” I say, my words spilling out in a rush, desperate to create space between us.Desperate to keep my distance.
I’m trying to kick him out, forget he ever reached out to me.Anything before I do something I’ll regret.Honestly, I want to say something reckless like,give me the equipment and I’ll quit.I’ll dedicate all my time to him, to both of you.
But I know better.I’ve kept myself away for a reason.They’ve moved on, built lives without me.My heart ...it wouldn’t survive being shattered again.
They never cared for me the way I cared for them.I tried reaching out—twice—but neither of them ever responded.They never looked back.And now, after all these years, they need me?
The realization hits me like a wave crashing against the shore, relentless and unforgiving.Dustin is standing in front of me after all this time, larger than life, dredging up everything I’d tried so hard to bury.The memories, the heartbreak, the love that I was forced to leave behind—it all floods back, overwhelming me.
He is here, but how?
“How did you know where to find me?”I ask, my voice barely steady.
Dustin’s eyes meet mine.“I’ve always known.”
Something inside me cracks.The walls I’ve built so carefully are crumbling, and before I can react, he steps closer, invading the fragile distance between us.“Now grab your things.We’re leaving.This conversation can’t wait.”
“I have reports to file,” I mutter, grasping at anything to hold onto.This can’t be happening.Not like this.
“No.Grab your shit.You’re done here,” he says.The boy I once knew is gone, replaced by this man who won’t take no for an answer.
