“Shit happens, Sammy, and it happens at the speed of light.Even if you’d had the advantage of three-sixty vision, I’m not sure you could have avoided it in time.”He wheezed, and the rattle spiked Sam’s pulse rate.It was an unnerving sound.“How’s your PT?Do you like him?I’m sure he’s top-notch if the Blizzard hired him.”
Sam pushed out a silent breath.“It’s a her, and she seems to know what she’s doing.Are you taking your oxygen like the docs told you to?”
“’Course I am,” his father protested, sounding stronger now.“Now tell me more about this physical therapist.Can I ask if she’s pretty, or does that make me a misogynist?Or sexist?I never know which is which.”
Scratching the back of his head, Sam forced a laugh.“She’s all right.You’ll never believe who she is.”
“Oh?You know her?”
“Sure do.You do too.Remember Brianna’s best friend, Angelina Rossi?”
“That cute little blond thing that was always glued to Brianna’s side?”
“That’s the one.”
“Well, I’ll be damned.Your mother always wondered why you didn’t dateher.”
“Uh, maybe because I was with Brianna?”
“No, I mean after you and Brianna broke up.I suppose that would have been a little awkward, though, especially considering how things ended with you two.”
Alittleawkward?Oh hell yeah, it was.
Sam jumped the track.“How’s Joey?I haven’t talked to him in a while.”
“Joe’s busy with his studies, as usual.You should give him a call.”
Busy with the studies Sam was paying for.Hell, he’d been paying his little brother’s college tuition for the past two years, and he didn’t intend to stop.It was one of his mother’s dying wishes, and he had promised her he’d take care of it.No matter what happened to his bank account, Sam would figure out a way to keep honoring that promise, especially since his brother was putting in the hard work and getting the grades.The same way Sam was dedicated to hockey, Joey was dedicated to schoolwork—and he was damn good at it too.
Still, the obligation added another layer of financial stress.One more reason that missing a stint in the playoffs sucked balls.
“Yeah, I’ll do that, though I might wait until he’s through with finals.He gets pissy if I try to talk to him when his nose is glued to the books.”Amazing how different he and his brother were.Sam had always been the sporty one, while Joe had been cerebral.Sam was proud of his brother—and envious at times too.If hockey didn’t pan out, he didn’t have a higher education to fall back on.Maybe his brother could supporthim, he thought ruefully.
“Well, at least send him a text now and again so he knows you’re alive.”
Sam was about to remind his dad that if Joe wanted to know where Sam was, he only had to turn on the TV, but he corralled the words before they escaped.His brotherwouldn’tsee him on TV because Sam wouldn’t be playing.
Damn it!He hated this new reality.
It’s a temporary setback, that’s all.But would he be able to get back on the ice this season?
Sam pulled himself up from his morass.“Hey, so tell me about what kinds of things the docs are having you do.”
“Oh, Christ!You wouldn’t believe the rabbit food I have to eat nowadays.”
Sam chuckled.“What?You mean no more brats and buttered mashed potatoes for Coach?No more yelling at his players until his face turns purple?”
“Oh, come on, I wasn’tthatbad.And look how you turned out because of it.”Sam could hear the pride in his dad’s voice.“I’m not allowed to have any more of the good-tasting food, and your Aunt Julie is having a field day making me eat that crap the nutritionist says is good for the old ticker.Says she’s getting her revenge for all those years I was looking out for her.Can you believe she thinks I bullied her?She doesn’t get it, no matter how many times I tell her that I wasprotectingher from all those bad actors who kept sniffing around.”
Apparently, it had worked because Aunt Julie had never married.
“Yeah?They were hockey players too, am I right?”Sam’s heart lifted as his old man spun one story after another about his former teammates, the same guys who used to chase Aunt Julie.He’d heard the stories a million times—from both his dadandhis aunt—and he always marveled at how different their versions sounded.
After exchanging a few more minutes of conversation and a few gruff I-love-yous, they hung up.Sam looked around his half-vacant apartment, and desolation crept its way through him.He hadn’t wanted to put too much attention toward the place because God only knew where he’d be in a few months.Wise move, but the condo was sterile, what little furniture he had lacking warmth or personality.Like something you’d find in a hotel room.If only he couldstickthis time, he’d hire someone to decorate it for him, or he’d find himself a furnished condo in the same building as some of his teammates.Or maybe a house in the neighborhood where the family guys lived.Nothing fancy, but with a big enough backyard where he could finally have a dog.
Yeah, that was a bigif.
His phone pinged with a text.
