Page 43 of Second Round

“Yeah, that sounds fair. I know you’ll keep thingsreasonable.”

“Of course.” I’d give him refined and neutral up thewazoo.

15

TheFuture

Leo

Iknewthat Bob Pankowski was getting released from the hospital this week, so I figured I should drop by and see him one last time. It was bound to be unpleasant, but it was the right thingtodo.

I got to Vancouver General Hospital and waited at the bottom of the elevator bank. Prominent dispensers encouraged everyone to sanitize their hands, so I did that and moved closer to two young women who were talking angrily. Hospitals were full of emotion and much of it was on display in the hallways and waitingrooms.

“I don’t see why it’s my responsibility,” the taller woman declared. “Lucy, why can’t youtakehim?”

“Because I’ve got Grady, and Mom comes over to babysit every week. He’s not going to want to be in the same room assheis.”

“Maybe he couldbabysit....”

They both snorted at that idea. The elevator opened and we all got in. They continued talking in lowtones.

“After the way he treated us, he’s lucky we’re even talkingtohim.”

“Come on, it’s not that bad. He was there in thebeginning.”

Lucy snorted. “Only because Mom was covering for him. Did he ever make one of our events? He missed all my birthdays, and he barely made it forChristmas.”

“You sound like a child. Have you been saving up your grievances all these years? Dad can’t livealonenow.”

“He has insurance. He can move into an assisted living place orsomething.”

The elevator dinged, and we all got out on the tenth floor. The two women stayed near the elevators and continued to argue. I made my way toPanner’sroom.

“Oh. It’s you,” he said unenthusiastically. I was surprised to see two of the players in the room: Marty Devonshire and Rico Aleppo. They rose as soon as Ientered.

“Hey, Coach,” they said to me inunison.

Lepper turned back to the bed. “Er, well, Coach Panner, I guess we’ll be going now. Take care ofyourself.”

Devo stood and patted the older man on the shoulder. “My grandfather had a heart attack, and he was back to work on the farm in a couple ofmonths.”

“Thanks, doctor. I’ll keep that in mind,” Bob replied sarcastically. Then he softened a little. “Good of you two tocomeby.”

The two of them left. I sat down in one of the still-warmchairs.

“Have a lot of the players been coming to see you?” Iasked.

“Naw, and that’s the way I prefer it. If you’re friends with those guys, you can’tcoach’em.”

“Well, we’ve been on the road,” I explained. I should have reminded more of the guys to stop by. Too late now. There were reasons why some guys were revered and otherswerenot.

Bob scowled at me. “Have you got the team on a winningstreak?”

“Are you allowed to talk abouthockeynow?”

He sniffed. “I’m leaving the hospital soon, so I better be able to handle a little hockey talk. Besides, how can you avoid hearing about hockey?” He motioned to the TV, which was tuned to a muted sportschannel.

“We lost our games to Texas and San Antonio,” I replied. A coaching change wasn’t going to make a difference in a few weeks. The new season was when you could really measure what effects I washaving.

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