But McAvoy and Holly kept me pinned in place.
I looked at his shoulder. The way the skin pulled. The way his whole body guarded it without being told.
And something fractured inside me.
“I falsified the reports,” I said.
Holly gasped. McAvoy went still.
“All season. I’ve been lying about his condition to keep him on the ice. I also faked the MRI summary,” I continued, relief opening up the constant squeeze in my chest. “I shredded the real one, and created a fake.”
McAvoy cursed under his breath, shaking his head slowly.
Holly’s arms dropped to her sides. “You’re saying—”
“I’m saying I did what I could to keep him playing.”
“It’s not her fault.” Theo tried to sit up. Pain ripped a raw sound out of him. I pressed him back with my forearm, careful, careful.
“Stay,” I said. “Please.”
His gaze burned into mine. “Reese—”
“I know,” I said. My throat burned.
McAvoy paced. One step. Two. Stopped. “That alone is a firing offense. More than that. You’d be lucky to get a job in the amateur league.”
“I’m not done,” I said.
Silence fell again. Even Theo quieted, breath shuddering.
“He’s been getting nerve blockers,” I said. “Outside the team.”
Holly’s hand flew to her mouth. “Jesus.”
McAvoy spun. “You allowed that?”
“No,” I said. “I didn’t know until tonight.”
Theo shook his head, a small motion that cost him anyway. “You don’t—”
“Stop,” I said. My voice broke. “Just stop.”
He went still. Not calm, but contained.
“I tried,” I said, and now the words came faster, spilling over each other without stacking. “I taped him. I adjusted his load. Ifought for rest. I thought if I stayed ahead of it, he wouldn’t need anything else.”
Holly’s voice was quiet now. “How long?”
I looked at Theo’s shoulder again. At the faint marks that had been there even before tonight. “Long enough.”
McAvoy dragged a hand through his hair. “You let this team believe he was fine, when he was held together by tape and blockers?”
Theo’s breathing hitched. His hand loosened in mine. Then tightened again.
“I was trying to keep him together,” I said. “Because he was breaking himself open to stay on the ice. I thought I could help him do it the right way. And then with van der Berg leaving, there was this whole other aspect of my job to consider. I couldn’t tell you. I couldn’t risk it.”
McAvoy stopped pacing. His face was thunderous. “You were selfish, and it ended up costing the whole team.”
