Page 140 of Player Misconduct
A hush falls over the room.
I can't breathe. I can't think. I can only stare at him, at the way he's standing there, soaked and fierce and utterly unafraid, like he'd burn the whole world down to protect me.
"She takes her job seriously," he says quietly, his voice rough now. "She would've never given me a chance if she thought we'd live to see morning. But we did. And she's spent every day since trying to protect me from the fallout. She shouldn't lose everything for that."
Dr. Lowe clears her throat. "Mr. Mäkelin, we understand your… passion. But you're not authorized to—"
"Authorized?" he snaps, his voice rising. "You're authorized to destroy a family?"
He looks around the room, his eyes burning with something raw and unfiltered. "Do you really want the story to be that the state board punished a pregnant woman for saving lives and falling in love in the process?"
The tension ripples through the board members like static. Dr. Peirce exchanges a glance with Dr. Oswald. Dr. Lowe shifts in her seat, her expression conflicted.
Finally, Dr. Oswald asks carefully, "What are you proposing, Mr. Mäkelin?"
Aleksi's answer is immediate. "What if we were married?"
The room collectively blinks.
My brain short-circuits. "Aleksi—what?"
He turns to me, his expression softening. "There's no rule saying a husband and wife can't work for the same organization. It’s a grey area at best, Penelope looked it up on our way here.You wouldn't be treating me as a patient—you'd be treating me as your husband."
Dr. Oswald frowns. "Technically… she's not currently employed with the team."
Penelope seizes the opening, stepping forward with the confidence of a woman who's negotiated a thousand deals and won most of them. "Exactly. She stepped down temporarily. Dr. Grant's role is interim only. Once she's reinstated after maternity leave, the conflict would be null. We'd be hiring a married team member's spouse, not a doctor fraternizing with a player."
The board murmurs. Someone flips through the file. Dr. Lowe says slowly, "That… it’s a technicality, but it would satisfy conflict-of-interest requirements."
Dr. Pierce leans back in her chair, her expression unreadable. "You're suggesting we approve this based on a hypothetical marriage?"
"Not hypothetical," Aleksi says, his voice steady. He looks at me, and the world narrows to just the two of us. "Not if she says yes."
My heart stops.
He drops to one knee right there, between the legal pads and briefcases, in front of the medical board and my lawyer and Penelope and God knows who else is watching from the doorway.
"You haven't even asked me yet," I whisper, my voice breaking.
He smiles softly. "Then I should fix that."
His hand finds mine, his thumb brushing over my knuckles in that familiar, grounding way that makes me feel like I can breathe again.
"You were always there, Doc," he says quietly. "In the locker room, in the stands, in the stars over Nevada. I knew the day Imet you—the day Penelope introduced you to the team—that I'd marry you. That I'd follow your voice anywhere."
My vision blurs. I press my free hand to my mouth, trying to hold back the sob clawing up my throat.
"That night in the motel wasn't the end of the world," he continues, his voice rough now, weighted with emotion. "It was the start of mine. I want the house. The Christmases. The scraped knees. The baby who'll grow up knowing we fought for him before he was even born. I want all of it with you. The moment I put the athletic tape ring on your finger, I knew I’d do anything to keep it on your finger."
Tears stream down my face. I can't stop them. I don't even try.
He asks softly, "And it must have meant something to you too because you still wear my ring around your neck."
I nod, reaching under my blouse to pull out the chain. The athletic-tape ring encased in a thin lining, dangles from it, the one he made me in Nevada, preserved in resin like a promise I was too scared to keep.
I slide it free, my hands shaking.
"Then marry me, again," he says, his eyes shining. "But for real this time."
