I swallow and give a nod.
They don’t say it, but they all know Grandpa’s it for me. Only family I’ve got. He and my grandma Adele raised me, watched every game. She’s gone now, but he still calls every Sunday without fail, whether we’re on the road or not. If he knew how much this injury could mean…
“Thanks,” I say roughly.
There’s a pause amongst the guys, the kind of silence that creeps in when there’s too much they’re not saying. Logan fills it.
“You want someone to check on Gremlin, too?”
I glance over. “She’s got an automatic cat feeder.”
“For like a day, maybe. She’ll start rioting by day two.”
Chase makes a face. “I’m not going in there alone. She’s doesn’t wanna be my friend.”
“She’s territorial,” I correct.
“She attacked my foot.”
“You walked into her domain wearing neon Crocs.”
“They wereZoe’s.”
“I can’t begin to describe how much worse that makes it.”
Chase scoffs, spreading his arms wide. “Crocs are waterproof! I had to start wearing them after that one time I came over, and she pissed in my shoe!”
“That was a gift,” I say. “She was claiming you.”
“She was threatening me.”
Logan grins. “Lu and I can swing by yours tomorrow after practice. Feed her, clean the tray, make sure she hasn’t sacrificed a bird on your stovetop or something.”
“She only did that once.”
Eli snorts. “That you know of.”
Their voices are light, but it’s all surface. I can feel what’s underneath it. They’re trying to keep the mood up, but they’re just as gutted as I am and know what this means. How close we are to the Olympics. How close I am to the edge.
But none of us is mentioning it, not yet.
There’s a knock at the door, and the boys’ heads all whip toward it as it opens.
Dr. Park doesn’t acknowledge the guys as she steps in and stops beside the bed. Their eyes remain on her as she checks the chart again, and scrawls something onto it.
“We’re ready for pre-op,” she murmurs, eyes on her notes. “Porters are on their way up.”
They boys blink, and their collective gaze trails back over to where I lay on the bed.
“You guys can wait in the day lounge,” she adds, still not looking at anyone. “Or come back later once Mr. Hutchison is out of surgery.”
Jake nods first and stands. Chase follows, gently cupping a hand to my cheek. “You got this, Hutchy.”
Logan doesn’t say anything, just holds my gaze for a second, then nods. Eli’s last. He doesn’t speak either, but places a hand on my shoulder and squeezes once before turning for the door.
They file out, one by one, the door hissing closed behind them, and the silence I usually love so much suddenly feels deafening.
I stare at the ceiling again, trying not to let panic set in. The sharp shift in my gut tells me it’s not working, and I scramble to fill the void with something,anythingto take my mind off what’s about to happen.
