Page 146 of Slew Foot
“Concussion,” Mickey said. “Not the inner ear thing.”
“Yes. In 99% of cases, the answer is head trauma, not a lingering ear infection. The worsening of symptoms on the plane kept sticking with me though. And when I went through your chart yesterday, I saw you had mentioned a headache and some discomfort on the flight to Minneapolis,beforethe hit from Logan Walker ever happened. I met with Gus here last nightand the pieces finally came together. I am sorry it was missed initially though.”
Mickey appreciated that, but he wasn’t going to dwell on what had been missed in the past. All he cared about was what was happening now. What the future might look like.
“So what’s the plan?” he asked.
“Well,” Dr. Pope said, straightening. “I think I can get you in for testing tomorrow. After we’ve confirmed the results, we’ll get you started on a round of steroids and antihistamines, which should help reduce the inflammation.”
“No antibiotics?” Mickey asked.
“No, those aren’t useful against viruses,” Dr. Browning said. “And there are no anti-virals appropriate for this, not at this late stage, anyway. If we’d caught this early on in the infection, that would have been a different story.”
“How long before I’m on the ice?” Mickey asked.
“I told you that would be one of the first questions he asked, Gus,” Dr. Pope said, glancing at his colleague with a smile. He looked back at Mickey. “Truthfully, we don’t know. The hope is, you’ll start feeling some relief in a few days. It could take a week or two to clear up completely, and you know the drill when it comes to your fitness. You’ll probably go down to Concord on a conditioning stint, to get you back in playing shape, but Gavin will go through everything with you.”
Mickey opened his mouth to say how relieved he was, that this wasgoodnews, but Dr. Pope held up a hand. His voice was very gentle when he spoke. “There is a chance, however, that thisdamage to your inner ear could be permanent. We’ll have to wait and see.”
And Mickey’s heart, which had felt so light seconds before, plummeted to the ground.
“You’re looking great, guys!” Thad said, giving Rafe and the others a thumbs-up from behind his camera. “One more change of wardrobe and we’ll be done.”
Rafe grinned. He was having so much fun modeling the team gear. He kept getting praised for his ability to follow direction and stay still. Jesse was having a great time with it and Tanner kept getting yelled at for being too fidgety and cracking nonstop jokes, but he let the criticism flow right off him and seemed to be having a blast anyway.
It was painfully obvious Graham was not enjoying any of it. He’d been quiet all afternoon and although he did everything they were told to do, Thad kept having to remind him to smile.
“Look, Graham, you’ve got the bitchy, pouty model look down pat and if that’s what we were going for, you’d have nailed it,” Thad had called out. “But you’re supposed to either look tough or happy. Remember, this isn’t a high fashion shoot. It’s a marketing campaign for hockey merch.”
Graham had flashed him a tight, fake-looking smile that had made Thad sigh and roll his eyes. During the last wardrobe change, Rafe had sidled over to Graham to ask if he was doing okay but he’d blown him off.
Which wasn’t like Graham atall.
Rafe had just pulled off the team hoodie and was smoothing his hair down after putting on the muscle shirt when Thad stepped closer to Graham and spoke quietly. “Hey. I know things got a little weird the other night, but if you don’t want to do these promo shots, you don’t have to.”
Graham offered him a weak smile. “No. It’s fine. I told you I would.”
“I know but?—”
“Drop it,” Graham snapped.
Thad held up his hands. “Dude. I’m sorry.”
Graham’s shoulders slumped. “No. I’m sorry. I’ve been a dick since …” His gaze landed on Rafe.
Rafe quickly looked away.Whoops. He hadn’t meant to eavesdrop.
“Uhh, anyway,” Graham continued. “Sorry things got weird. I want to be your friend, okay?”
“Yeah, okay,” Thad said.
“Want to go to the wing place tonight after work?”
“Sounds great. Now move your ass. We’ve got photos to take,” Thad said.
Graham laughed and, for the first time all day, sounded like himself.
“Dude, so what wasthatabout?” Tanner asked under his breath as they waited for Graham to finish changing and for the makeup lady to powder his nose.
