Page 23 of Through the Water

The mantra had come into existence after a particularly nasty concussion I’d suffered when I was sixteen. After getting into a fight with a kid from school over something I could no longer recall, I’d slipped and fallen off the dock. From there, the details had become a bit hazy. I came to on the beach and remembered seeing a girl hovering over me.

My mama, in her undying faith, firmly believed I’d been saved by an angel. Whether she was an angel or just a hallucination brought on by the head injury, those three words had been enough to keep me in line until the Hurricanes called me up. But by then, I’d given up the idea of being a good person in favor of being the best athlete.

Maybe that was where my guilt stemmed from, poking away at my consciousness until I paid attention. When I looked across the room, I no longer saw a crazed fan who’d hunted me down for an autograph.I saw a woman whose own future might have been as murky as my own.

The idea came to me as I was on my way down to the cafeteria for lunch after class. I’d apologize to the girl, maybe even offer to sign some things, and then get back to what I was here to do.

Heal.

I ordered a grilled chicken sandwich and balanced on my right leg long enough to grab a salad from the salad bar. As I did, I envisioned one of the woman’s many nurses leaking the details of my good deed to the general public.

Killian Reed Befriends Woman in Wheelchair.

God, the press had been starving for details of my personal life for so long they’d lap it up like a cat with cream.

Maybe Theo hadn’t been wrong, after all. The Hurricanes weren’t going to drop their star because of one little injury, especially not when they got wind of his charitable behavior off-field.

A staff member took my tray and gestured toward the crowded cafeteria. “Where to, Mr. Reed?”

Naturally, my crutches led me right to her table, already preparing for the good karma headed my way.

“Is this seat taken?” I asked with mock ignorance, only to find myself rendered stupid when she glanced up. My mouth hung slack, and whatever I’d planned to say next fell to the floor, completely forgotten.

The last time I’d been this close, I hadn’t been paying attention to her features. No, I’d been more than a little preoccupied with kicking Theo’s ass for lying to me about NDAs and HIPAA laws.

But it was her eyes…

Bright green eyes that felt familiar to me in a way that I couldn’t explain.

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