Page 11 of Pucking Strong

Petra is dead. My only sister. My dearest friend.

I think I’m in shock. Medically, I believe this is shock. I’ve felt it once before. I was seven years old, ice skating on my family’s lake in northern Sweden. The ice cracked, and I dropped straight through. The water was so cold, it stabbed the air from my chest. A stream of panicked bubbles spewed from my mouth as I sank.

My saving grace was my scarf, hand-knit by my mother. Petra managed to grab the end, tightening the knot our mother had tied at my neck like a noose. I thrashed in the dark water, my feet trapped in my heavy ice skates. From the surface, Petra stretched flat on her belly and pulled me up, testing the strength of the knot with everything she had.

A scarf saved my life that day. A scarf and my fearless sister.

Afterwards, I sat before the wood-burning stove in our old cabin, wrapped in quilts, body aching with cold. Our parents stood over me, quietly debating whether to take me to the hospital. I couldn’t speak. I could hardly move. I was frozen with shock.

“Karlsson?” A gentle hand squeezes my shoulder.

I glance up, remembering where I am. I’m not seven years old, sitting before the wood-burning stove. Petra doesn’t sit at my side.No, inexplicably, it’s Teddy O’Connor who sits next to me, his face full of concern.

I’ve always held a fondness for Teddy, ever since our curious meeting at the crosswalk all those years ago. It was a surprise when he showed up in our gym this morning, still so nervous and tongue-tied. He’s tall and lean. His fair brown skin is dusted with freckles over his cheeks and nose. More than his kind smile, I’ve always noted his hair. He wears it in long, thin locs. At the moment, a spray of end pieces sticks out from the large knot, like the feathers of a bird’s crown. His hair is bold and extravagant, so at odds with his generally meek demeanor. And yet, it fits him.

I get the feeling he only acts meek and tongue-tied around me. I’ve seen him with the others. He laughs and jokes. Few people can put Lukas Novikov in his place, but Teddy does. I’m not surprised he’s different around me. I have that effect on people. They’re made uneasy by my long silences and my general awkwardness. I’m certain I must make Teddy uncomfortable.

But in this moment, his hold on me is steady, tethering me to this room and this moment.

“We have to decide what we’re doing here,” says John Weiss from across the desk. As the new general manager of the Rays, he always wants a plan. “Karlsson, what do you need from us?”

“I have to go to Sweden.”

Arjan Singh, the team’s services manager, stands by the desk, brow furrowed with worry. “We can get you on a flight tomorrow.”

“But we’re less than two weeks out from the start of training camp,” says Weiss. “Will you need a leave of absence to deal with this, Karlsson?”

I just stare at the glass of water in my hand.

“Karlsson?”

“I don’t know, sir.”

“Lindberg said his niece is still in critical condition,” Teddy explains. He turns to me, those hazel eyes full of such worry. “How old is she?”

I swallow, feeling numb. “Five.”

Every face in the room falls.

God, help me. Does Karolina know her mother is dead? Who told her? She’s an ocean away, lying in a hospital in pain. The poor little lamb.

“Henrik, honey, I’m so sorry.” Doctor Price stands behind my chair. Next to her is her husband, Jake, my team captain.

“Will anyone be there with her?” asks Teddy. “Her father, maybe? Can you meet him at the hospital? Or what about grandparents?”

“No father,” I reply. “And my parents are elderly and in poor health. It’s difficult for Mom to travel.” I stand from my chair, setting the glass of water untouched on the desk. “It has to be me. There are arrangements to be made for my niece.”

Jake searches my face. “Are you her guardian now? Will you bring her back with you?”

We’re skating perilously close to me saying out loud that my sister is dead, and I’m not ready. I clear my throat. “I must contact the hospital first to better understand her injuries. If she can’t travel, that will complicate matters. But, yes, I’m all she has left.”

Tears in his eyes, he gives a curt nod. “Then she needs to be here. Go get her, Henrik.”

Doctor Price takes my hand in both of hers. “Let me send you over on my family’s plane. That way, even if she’s injured, so long as she’s stable enough to fly, you can bring her home.”

Jake nods again. “That’s a great idea, babe. Go call Hal.”

“I couldn’t ask that of you—”

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