He arches a brow at me. “That it? Okay?”
“What do you want from me? It’s not like we’ll be competing against each other in hockey anymore.”
He blinks at me. “You can’t let this stop you. You’re good, you deserve to be in the NHL, fuck the designation limitations.”
“It’s not about that.”
His brows furrow, and he crosses his arms over his chest as he sits in the uncomfortable hospital chair.
“Then why? Why would you leave?”
“I have something more important now.”
“You’re leaving the NHL for your pack?” he asks, confused. Bless my stupid brother. I give him a small smile and nod.
“For my pack and for me. I’ve spent so long shoving down who I am. I wanted to be an Alpha in the NHL, and I pushed my body to the brink to achieve that. I want to be unmedicated and find out who I really am.”
“So what, you’re just going to be a stay-at-home Omega?” he asks, not being judgmental, but I still laugh and shake my head.
“I don’t know what's next really, I just know Piper and Alexi are my whole world. Especially after this bullshit.” I hold up my wrist covered in wires. “I need to rest, find myself, and just be.”
“Okay, little brother.”
“Maybe we could hang out during your off season.”
He nods and rubs the back of his neck. “Yeah, especially since I don’t know where I’m going.”
“Your contract is up?”
“Yeah, I’m a free agent this year. I don’t know if the Sharks want to pay to keep me on the team or not.”
“They’d be stupid not to.” My brother's eyes widen at the compliment, and I watch him hold back a smile.
“We’ll see.”
Piper and Alexi walk back in the room hand in hand. I smile at their affection for each other. I never gave much thought to pack life and handle not being the center of attention all the time. But I fucking love it. I love them individually, together, as well as us as a pack.
I should probably feel more disturbed about the whole situation, but it seems to have had the opposite effect. I feel grateful to still be here and have the life that I have. That my pack is here for me and that they love me and we will get through this and that I’ve made some sort of amends with my brother.
I’m sure that when the reality of everything hits me, I might feel more anger toward what has happened to me. But right now, all I can feel is happy to be alive and to be surrounded by people who love me.
“What’s the verdict?” I ask Piper.
“They want to keep you overnight to monitor your heart rate and do some more blood work in the morning.”
“What about him being drugged?” Max asks, and Alexi gives him a curt nod.
“I reached out to coach, and everything is a clusterfuck right now, but we’ll get it sorted.”
“Why is it a clusterfuck?” I ask him, and he shakes his head.
“Let me worry about it, you just worry about feeling better.” I give him a glare, but I’m feeling tired. This has been enough excitement to last me a fucking lifetime. I haven’t even had a moment to really let it sink in that my name is going to be engraved on the fucking Stanley Cup.
I’m trying to stay awake, but as Piper strokes my hair and Alexi kneads my calf, I’m all but lost to the need to finally let my body have the rest it deserves.
* * *
Mikael and his whole pack come to the hospital. Partly because Alexi needed his car and neither him or Piper have left my side the entire time. Max went back to California with his team, and my mom is still at her hotel with my stepdad.
