Page 1 of Scoring the Mountain Man

CHAPTER 1

Jaxon

The announcer gives us the one minute remaining in the period warning. We are down a point and need a goal to tie it up before we go into the third period.

Wesley, the right winger, passes the puck and I cradle it in my stick. I skate up the middle of the ice. I can see the opponent's goal in front of me as I skate around the left defenseman, my focus solely on looking for an opening around the goalie.

I pass the puck back to Wesley, who catches it, skates around, also looking for an opening, before he passes it back to me. I see a small opening from the advantage point I am at and I know the clock is quickly winding down. I take my shot just as a body slams into me.

My feet come up from underneath me. I twist my body to catch myself, but I feel a pop in my knee before everything goes dark.

When I wake up, I’m lying in a hospital bed. I look over and see my best friend, Wesley, sitting in a chair next to my bed.

“What happened?” I ask, my voice sounding rough.

“You’re awake, thank God,” Wes exclaims. “Let me call in the nurse.”

He pushes a button on the wall.

“Yes,” a voice over the intercom says.

“He’s awake,” Wes tells the voice.

“Be right there,” she says and then disconnects.

I look down at my legs and see I have a brace on my left leg. “What happened?” I ask again.

“You were hit by that dickhead, Cordell,” he states sadly. “Your head went into the wall and by the time we got to you, you were knocked out.”

“How long have I been out?” I ask softly.

”Twenty-four hours.”

Before I can ask anything else, the door opens, and in walks a man with thinning gray hair in a white coat and a dark haired nurse in blue scrubs.

“Nice to see you awake, Mr. Wilde. How do you feel?” he asks.

“My head hurts a little bit,” I croak out before saying, “and I could use some water.”

The nurse pours me a cup of water, placing a straw in it, then brings it to me.

“Small sips,” she whispers.

I do as instructed and my throat instantly feels better.

I hand her back the cup and she places it on the table beside my bed.

“Tell me about my leg, doctor,” I say, looking at him.

He gives me a grim look before he speaks. “Mr. Wilde, your quadriceps tendon has ruptured.”

“What does that mean?” I ask gruffly.

He sighs before explaining. “The quadriceps tendon is a strong band of tissue that attaches the four quadriceps muscles to the top of the patella. A quadriceps tendon tear is rare and cantear partially or completely. Yours, unfortunately, is the worst case and has torn completely. You will require surgery.”

I take in what he just said, then I ask, “What is the recovery time?”

“If everything goes well and you do what you're told, you could have a full recovery in six months. Once you have the surgery, you will need to wear the brace for four weeks so as to not have any knee flexing whatsoever. After four weeks, we can start you in physical therapy,” he tells me matter-of-factly.

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