Page 42 of Puck Me

That gets a weak smile out of me. When I was playing, I was always being reprimanded for my impatience on the ice. If anything will teach me patience, it’s this stupid injury.

Noah leaves two hours later, and I’m feeling marginally more cheerful. Of course, my mood starts to drop as soon as I’m alone again, but I’m grateful for at least a little time of feeling slightly less awful than before.

Days pass and turn into weeks. I miss Storm so much it hurts, almost more than the depression. My mood is all over the place and only now do I realize what a stabilizing effect he’s actually had on me. He may not be my psychiatrist, but he’s been helping me just as much as Dr. George has been.

I suspect Dr. George has given Storm an earful about setting back my progress. She didn’t say anything, but when I told her what happened—leaving out Storm’s illegal activities—she pursed her lips and made terse notes on her notepad. I got the impression that she was going to address the issue with Storm and it wouldn’t be pleasant for him.

I try not to think about Storm; doing so just makes the black hole worse. Instead, I focus on my leg. It’s getting better every day. I know Storm shouldn’t have blackmailed the doctor to get me into the trial, but I can’t help but be grateful for it all the same. I’m seeing real progress now, and it gives me hope, something I haven’t had for a long time.

Three weeks after that fateful scene with Storm, everything goes wrong.

It starts off as normal day. I manage to get myself out of bed before Noah arrives and text him telling him that I can make it to Xavier myself. We’re past the point where he has to help me to my every appointment. It’s not that it doesn’t still happen, but I’m functional enough now that I can often get myself where I need to go.

Of course, I can’t drive, but the bus works just fine.

I get distracted with looking at an email from Dr. Kline with my latest results and realize that I’m running late. I hurry out of the door—only to realize too late that it’s raining and there’s water on the front step.

The crutches slide out from under me and I go flying.

My bad leg hits the ground with a sickening crunch. I scream in pain as I feel the muscles tearing. I know at once that I’ve done serious damage, just like I knew when the accident happened that something terrible had occurred in my body.

“FUCK!” I struggle to get up, but every movement I make sends flames licking through my leg. It’s at an awkward angle, and I’m sure that if I can get it straight, it will hurt less, but just trying makes me dizzy with pain.

I fumble for my phone. Noah answers on the first ring. “Hey, Chester. Did you make it to your appointment alright? Chester?”

“I need help,” I grit out. “I fell.”

“Fuck. Where are you?”

“Just outside my house.”

“I’m on my way. Don’t move.”

Like I could even if I wanted to.

I know logically that it can’t take Noah more than ten minutes to get here, but it feels like hours. His car screeches into the driveway and he tumbles out of it, hurrying over to me.

He takes in the situation before composing his face into a look of determined calm. “Okay, let’s get you up. I’m driving you to the hospital.”

I’m certainly not arguing with that. I do my best not to cry out in pain as Noah carefully maneuvers me into the car. My breathing is labored and I clutch at my leg. Worse than the pain is the fear—fear of exactly how much progress I’ve undone.

Noah gets me to the hospital in record time and one of the ER doctors sees me. If the look on her face wasn’t enough, Xavier’s expression when he’s called in for a consult would have been.

“I’ve undone all of my progress, haven’t I?”

“Try not to think of it in such black and white terms, Chester. This is a setback, but—”

“Don’t give me that roundabout talk, Xavier! Fuck!” I throw my crutches violently across the room, sending them crashing into the wall.

“I’m calling Dr. George.”

“I don’t want her, Noah. I want Storm.”

“Chester, are you sure?”

“I want Storm,” I repeat. Maybe it’s a recipe for disaster, but all I can think of is how badly I need Storm right now.

“I’ll call him.”

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