Page 155 of The Backup Plan

Well, if you weren’t hiding something, you wouldn’t feel on edge, now, would you?

“Good afternoon,” I say and take a seat across from them as motioned to do.

“We’ll get right to it,” Grant says, face grim and sigh frustrated. “Cole’s ankle isn’t going to hold up for this weekend’s game.”

“Or rather it could hold, but we don’t want to risk it since it’s iffy and take the chance of ruining his season.”

“Okay.” I draw the word out.

Coach leans forward. “Which means we need to prepare Lucas to start.”

There it is. Exactly what Lucas wants. Exactly what I fear.

Grant studies me, head tilted, eyes narrowed. He knows about the scans, doesn’t he? “He’s played a few sequences at a time, a few minutes on the clock at a time, but not an entire sixty minutes. In his current state of rehabilitation, do you think his shoulder is ready to handle a full game?”

Mirna’s advice wars against Coach’s words in my head.

My doctor brain knows exactly what to say.

My heart shuts it down.

“I think,” I begin slowly, choosing each word like it might detonate, “that Lucas understands his body better than most quarterbacks I’ve worked with.”

Coach’s eyes narrow. “That wasn’t the question.”

I swallow. “We all know his shoulder has been damaged.”

Grant nods once, encouraging and dangerous all at once.

“The question,” I continue, skirting around the issue, “isn’t if it’s damaged but rather if the damage and subsequent repair will hold under the load, the wear and tear, of a full game.”

Jesus, dance around the truth much, Em?

The silence stretches as all three men stare at me with varying degrees of perplexity in their expressions.

Coach exhales. “That’s a hell of a non-answer.”

“It’s the reality,” I say. “If Lucas tells you and me both that it feels good and that he’s ready to go, then we have no other choice but to believe him.”

“But we have scans that could back his opinion up, correct?” Peter asks.

Fight or flight time, Em.

“Soft tissue isn’t an exact science. We have to consider all factors when evaluating. Scans. Athlete’s performance. What he says. How he reacts during PT.”

Grant pulls out a chair and takes a seat next to Coach. “And your medical opinion after taking in and weighing all those factors?”

I meet his eyes. Hold them. Pretend that I’m okay with bending rules even with Mirna’s advice.

“My medical opinion is that he can play—for now,” I state carefully.

Not a lie.

Not the truth.

I open my mouth to say more, to justify my reasons, but then slowly close it. Less is more—especially when I’m the one in the wrong.

“For now?” Grant lifts his eyebrows. “Isn’t everyone a for now in this league?” he asks.