Page 102 of Replay

That was encouraging. The team was going to work with me. They had to be pissed about me getting injured, but I was still valuable to them.

The doctor left, and I was poking at some sort of eggs that I’d been served when Mom arrived. Right behind her was Fitch. I was glad to see my mother but overjoyed to see Fitch.

“Good morning,” my mom said, then turned when she realized the man behind her had followed her in. “Excuse me, who are you?”

“Mom, that’s my roommate, Fitch. It’s good to see you, Fitchie.”

He raised an eyebrow my way but greeted my mother politely. “Good morning, Mrs. Middleton. I’m Daniel Astrom. I brought a few things for him.”

“My phone?” I needed to get in touch with Katie.

“Yes, your phone, some clothes, and—” He pulled a hand from behind his back with a bag showing the Golden Arches on it. “Breakfast.”

“Best roommate ever,” I vowed.

My mom frowned. “Maybe that’s not the right thing to be eating, Josh.”

I grabbed the bag from Fitch. “It’s way better than what the hospital sent me. I’ll be back on my meal plan soon.” I tore the bag open and groaned at the greasy smells wafting up. I shoved the hospital tray aside and pulled out hash brown patties and a couple of wrapped sandwiches.

“Wasn’t sure what you liked, so I got a few things.”

I shoved a bite of hash brown in my mouth. “Right now, I like all of it.”

He grinned and then passed me my phone. “Clothes and toiletries are in the bag.”

I dropped the patty and took the phone, waiting impatiently while it recognized my face and opened. There were millions of notifications, but I made my way to my conversation with Katie. There were a lot of messages from her, but they stopped after yesterday morning. I needed to read them, but I wanted to do that on my own. I quickly sent a message to reassure her.

Just got my phone. I’m okay. Will talk later. Love you.

My mother had taken the bag of clothes and started to put them in my closet. “Hey, I’d like to put those sweats on instead of this stupid gown.”

“They won’t fit over the brace.”

“I’ll rip them.”

“I brought some shorts—you can probably put those on when you’re not all hooked up,” Daniel assured me.

Right. I had tubes and needles and some of those were in very private places. “Thanks, Fitch.”

“Glad to see you’re looking better, Ducky. I’ve got to get to practice. I’ll tell the team you’re doing good. They’ll be stopping by, if that’s okay.”

Mom frowned, but I didn’t let her fuss. Before talking to Katie, I’d have assumed she was worried about me, but now I was trying to figure out if it was more than that. Katie was probably right that Mom was still a little possessive, but if I didn’t like it, it was up to me to tell her to stop. And right now, seeing my teammates was what I wanted. “That would be great.”

He smiled and leaned down, as if to fix my sheet. “Katie’s anxious. Your mother made her leave.” His voice was barely a whisper. He straightened up. “Okay, you should be good for now. Nice to meet you, Mrs. Middleton.” He left.

I needed to have a serious conversation with my mother.

“So that’s your roommate? He’s a little older.”

“He was traded from Edmonton this summer. He’s a good guy.”

She finished with the closet and turned around, frowning. “I still don’t understand why you need a roommate.”

“I like the company. He’s new, so I’m helping him get to know the city. And he cooks.”

“That’s all well and good, but while you recover, you’re going to need a lot of help. I could take care of you…”

There was my cue. I’d put this off, thinking I’d wait till I knew things were serious with Katie before upsetting Mom. But that was just avoiding the problem because talking to my mom was difficult. Katie deserved someone who stood up for her, and I needed to act like an adult.

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