Page 7 of Twisted Ruck

"It's not your fault," I said. "You could have given him a dozen medicals and this might have happened anyway." Chances were, it would have. What had Atlas done to him? And why? What might he do to Doctor Stuart if he made the choice to hire me? If Atlas thought he was going to lay a finger on the team doctor, he'd have to go through me. Doctor Stuart was a good man, he didn't deserve to be killed, especially because of me.

"That will be up to the coroner to determine," Doctor Stuart said.

I forced back a grimace. If my brother did the autopsy, the official findings wouldn't show Bruce was murdered. Not if Atlas was involved.

I'd talk to him and make sure he determined the GM's cause of death was something Doctor Stuart couldn't have found with a regular medical. Nothing medically preventable.

"Right," I said simply. "This is such a sad time for the team."

"It is," he agreed. "But let's not spend too much time on self-pity. Bruce and I had an appointment for this morning to discuss the position here. If he made a decision, he didn't tell me. As well as one other physician, I'd like to officially offer you the position with the team. You'll be the junior for a while, but I suspect you'll be doing my job in a few years." He gave me a watery smile and held out his hand.

I should have been excited, but Bruce's death took the shine off somewhat. Still, I took Doctor Stuart's hand and shook it.

"Thank you so much. I promise I won't let you down."

"I know you won't," he said. "I expect you to hit the ground running. Bruce informed Doctor Otis Skinner of his appointment yesterday. Between the three of us, we'll have this place shipshape. Doctor Skinner has lots of experience working with professional athletes."

I frowned briefly. "Didn't he work for the Sydney Devils?"

"He did, but he was looking for a change of scenery." Doctor Stuart pulled his chair out from behind his desk and sank into it. "He's been doing a lot of research in aqua therapy and wants to put it into practice here."

The stadium had a state-of-the-art pool for the players to use while recovering from injuries. The pressure on muscles, bones and ligaments was less in water than it was on land, supporting healing while minimising the risk of further injury. Aqua therapy was nothing new, but I was fascinated to discuss his research when he arrived. I'd always been a geek for learning new things.

"I look forward to meeting him," I said. "I really appreciate this opportunity. This is going to be amazing." For the first time, I let myself become excited.

"It'll certainly be interesting," Doctor Stuart agreed. "If a little turbulent for a while."

"Who do you think they'll choose to replace Bruce?" I asked.

Doctor Stuart leaned his elbows on the desk and clasped his hands. "My pick would be Dominic King. He's more than ready for a position like that. He's been a manager for the Sydney Devils for the last few years."

"It sounds like we're poaching all their best people," I said. I knew of King, but I never met the man. From what I heard, he was a good choice.

Doctor Stuart smiled. "It does, doesn't it? I can't say I have any regrets about that. They may even teach us a thing or two."

I scoffed playfully. "They'll learn a lot here."

"That too," Doctor Stuart agreed. "I think we'll learn a lot from each other. We have complimentary skills and experience between all of us. Best of all, we have passion for the game, and taking care of the players."

"That we do," I said.

I had lots of passion for at least three in particular. And, in spite of our date, I was still attracted to Atlas. Cautiously so. I wasn't going to jump in too deep, not until I knew what the hell he was up to. After my brief conversation with Jay and Ramsey, I got the impression Atlas and Jay were a package deal. Atlas may not realise it yet, but Jay definitely had.

I didn't want to interfere with their relationship, but that was something they'd have to work out between them. Atlas may not feel the same way about the other player. And if he did? That was something we'd deal with later.

Then there was Ramsey, who fascinated me, although I wasn't entirely sure why. Maybe because he was such a closed book, I was curious to tease the pages open.

"I trust you have a passport," Doctor Stuart said, breaking through my thoughts.

"Recently updated and ready to go," I said with a smile.

"Good, because you'll be doing a lot of travel with the team," he said. "Primarily, over the ditch." He jerked his head towards the bay, indicating roughly in the direction of New Zealand.

"I can't wait," I said. "I love to travel."

"They all say that to start with." He gave me a wry smile. "Give it a year or two and you'll be sick of the inside of aircraft and airports. And hotel lobbies. The guys will tell you the travel is the best and worst part of playing. Between games, they oftenspend a lot of time waiting. Waiting for buses, waiting for planes. It can be tedious at best."

"I still can't wait," I said. I suspected things wouldn't get boring with Storm, Frost and Dallas, as well as the other guys.

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