I hold Sarah’s gaze for a long moment. She doesn’t seem bothered by Theo’s question at all. There’s no uncertainty behind her eyes, no hesitation. Just warmth and what feels an awful lot likelove.
I turn back to Theo. “We’re working on it,” I say. “Butsomeonedecided to have a big dramatic accident, so we haven’t had a lot of time to talk.”
“Whatever, man,” Theo says. “You’ve known how you feel for weeks. Don’t pin this on me.”
Sarah starts to chuckle, and I shake my head. It’s not like he’s wrong, but I’d rather he not tell Sarah before I can.
Theo clears his throat, wincing, then licks his dry lips. “Is there any water in here?”
“I’ll get you some,” Sarah says, lifting a hand to my arm and giving it a quick squeeze. “I’ll be right back.”
I nod, watching her as she leaves the room, then I look down to see my brother watching me. “I’m happy for you, man,” he says. “You deserve it.”
There’s a distance in his tone that makes me think he doesn’t believe the same thing about himself, and I think about Rebecca, wonder if I should tell him that I spoke to her.
I’m sure I will eventually, but maybe not tonight.
“Did we win?” Theo asks.
“Nah,” I say. “We scored one more time, but they took it in the end.”
He huffs out a laugh. “Cause y’all suck without me.”
“Yeah, we do. Which is why you’d better heal quick.”
He closes his eyes for a long moment before he opens them and fixes his gaze on mine, his expression serious. “Be straight with me, man. Did you talk to the surgeon?” He takes a steadying breath. “Will I…”
I nod, knowing exactly what he’s asking even if he can’t find the words. “Yeah,” I say. “You will. It’ll take a lot of work. Rehab. But there’s no reason why you shouldn’t expect to play again.”
He nods, letting his eyes fall closed. It seems like it’s getting harder for him to stay awake. “Whose blade was it?”
“Dmitri Isakov,” I say. “They’ll have an official review, but Fly was right there when it happened, and he says it was pretty obvious it was an accident.”
“I’d never blame Dmitri,” Theo says. “I love that guy. He probably feels terrible.”
“Yeah, he texted already,” I say. “Probably messaged youtoo, which, come to think of it, I have your phone if you want it.”
I pull it out of my pocket and use my own face to unlock it. “Yeah,” I say, scrolling through his notifications. “You’ve got a message from him and pretty much everyone else you’ve ever met.”
“I’ll look at them tomorrow,” he says. “What happened to Kiminsky?”
“He got a major for boarding,” I say. “That was it.”
“No game misconduct?”
“The refs ruled the cut wasn’t a direct result of the hit.”
Theo grumbles. “Did you let Kiminsky know how you felt about that?”
“Two solid hits in the last half of the third,” I say. “You know I’ve got your back.”
He holds up his good hand, and I step closer, gripping it with mine.
“I do know that,” he says. “I always know that.”
“I can’t play this game without you, man.” My voice cracks, tears springing to my eyes, and I suddenly feel so tired, so completely frayed by everything that’s happened.
“You won’t,” Theo says, like he’s the one who’s supposed to givemereassurance. “I mean, if it wasyouwho got cut, you’d probably be done. Career over. But me? I’ve got this.”
