“Hi, Har, Jenny.” I greeted the other girls who came along with them too.
Jenny came to sit on the bed with big bright eyes. “You scared the devil out of me.” She grabbed my hand gently. “I thought you were dead.”
Harlow chuffed as she sat by my feet and let the other girls take the chairs. “I knew you were fine.”
“They told us you have a concussion,” one of the girls said.
“A moderate one,” I told them.
The wince was visible around the room. They all knew what it meant, and none of them tried to feed me kind words. The situation sucked.
“Yeah, it blows.” I sighed. “I’m not even going to bother asking if I’m playing the next game; it’ll just piss me off when they tell me ‘no’ to my face.”
Jenny squeezed my hand. “What matters is that you’re okay. Did they make sure you don’t have any hemorrhaging?”
How could you not smile at that?
The girls stayed for almost an hour, making me smile and fight back laughs as we joked around about random things that had nothing to do with the Pipers. They finally promised to see me the next day, if I was on time for the flight, and Jenny assured me she had taken my things back to our room. As they got up and started to head out, Harlow leaned in and whispered, “You want me to do something about Mel?”
Oh dear God.
I patted her cheek and totally lost it. “No, Har. It’s all right. Thank you.”
She eyed me. “If you’re sure….”
“I’m sure. Thanks though, I really do appreciate it.”
Harlow eyed me suspiciously as she walked out, as if expecting me to change my mind and ask her to exact vengeance on my behalf. I suddenly realized I wouldn’t just be leaving the Pipers. For the first time since I’d decided I didn’t have any choice but to go somewhere else, the reality of leaving two of my closest friends for the last few years really got to me.
Having to make new friends and get in well with new teammates wasn’t that daunting. I’d done it over and over again throughout my life, but if I stayed with the WPL, I wouldn’t get to play with them anymore anyway, would I?
I swallowed the melancholy down and reminded myself that I needed to do what was best for me. Right.
“Knock, knock,” Gardner called out in the middle of pushing the door open.
“Come in,” I called out.
His graying head was the first thing I noticed. He was still wearing the same suit and tie from the game.
I kept an eye on the door, expecting Kulti to come in after him, but there was no one there. Well, that was disappointing.
“I’m happy to see your head is still attached,” he said gently, taking a seat.
I smiled at him, only halfway feeling it. Since the Franz thing, I hadn’t been sure how to act around Gardner. I doubted he knew, and I especially doubted he had anything to do with their decision to trade me, but there was no way to know for sure. “Hey, thanks for coming.”
“I had to come check on you, kid. Phyllis and everyone else send their best wishes.” But they hadn’t wanted to come. Okay. It wasn’t like I wanted them to visit anyway. “How are you feeling?”
I shrugged my shoulders lightly. “Fine. A little frustrated, but it’s okay.”
“I wouldn’t expect any different from you.” He grinned.
“Tell me how the game went,” I asked.
Gardner only stayed for a bit. He kept eyeing his watch until he finally sat up straight. “I need to get going; there’s a few things I need to do before we leave tomorrow. The hospital staff knows to give me a ring once they know for sure when you’re getting released, but give me a call too so that we have someone here to pick you up.”
“Write your number down for me, will you? Jenny has my cell.”
He jotted it down on the same paper Sheena had used earlier. “Feel better. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
