Page 51 of Fair Play
BILLIE: Please text me as soon as you can… I’m so worried.
I’m not expecting a response but stare at the screen for a few seconds anyway.
Then I stuff it back in my pocket and go back to my job.
There’s nothing to be done until I hear from him.
Chapter 18
Rome
When I hitthe boards with my right leg extended, I heard the pop in my groin, immediately followed by not just pain but a strange warmth flooding my inner thigh. The doc tells me it was probably blood filling the area, that it’s pretty normal, but it was the weirdest damn thing I’ve ever experienced.
And the pain was intense.
I like to think I’m pretty tough, both on and off the ice. I’m used to playing through injuries but this is something else entirely. I’m going to be off my feet for weeks. Maybe for the rest of the season. Which means my future on the team is now even more uncertain than before.
At least I got the goal.
Even while I’m lying here at the hospital getting X-rayed, poked and prodded, I’m proud of that. Getting hurt wasn’t optimal, though. Injuries always suck but when you’re on the road it’s worse because you’re dealing with strangers instead of your team’s staff.
Now I’m waiting for the on-call orthopedic surgeon to come in to let me know the extent of the injury. Rowan, our team’s assistant trainer, is with me and she looks up with a grin.
“We just pulled out the win in overtime. Canyon got the goal a minute into the period.”
“Excellent.” I grin even though my heart isn’t in it. I’m in considerable pain and there’s already an ugly bruise forming on the inside of my thigh.
Since there’s nothing to do but wait, I dig out my phone and see a million texts. A wave of guilt washes over me, because I know my mom and sisters always watch.
And Billie.
I forgot all about Billie.
Dammit.
I reply to her text first.
ROME: Hey, babe. I’m okay. Looks like a sprain or tear of the groin muscle—waiting for the doc to come in. But in the grand scheme of things, I’m fine.
She responds immediately.
BILLIE: Thank goodness. I was a little panicked.
ROME: I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you. It’s just been nonstop since it happened. Getting checked out at the arena, then they brought me to the hospital, did a bunch of tests and shit.
BILLIE: I’m still at work, so I can’t stay on the phone, but thanks for letting me know. Can I call you when I get off?
ROME: Absolutely. I’ll be up.
She disappears and I take a few minutes to message my mom and sisters, since we have a group chat, updating them on the injury and assuring them I’m okay.
The three of us have a weird relationship and they frustrate the hell out of me sometimes, but they’re still my family. They’ve never understood me or my lifestyle choices, and I don’t alwaysunderstand them, so we’ve kept a polite distance over the years. Initially, it was all me being selfish, wanting to focus on hockey. I was sixteen when I first left home so I don’t blame my teenage self for not being super cognizant of those kinds of things.
As I got older, I would hear the disappointment in their voices after a game where I got in multiple fights or got benched for mixing it up in the locker room. And that felt like a betrayal, that my family didn’t understand my career. I was never going to be a Wayne Gretzky so I had to mark my path in other ways.
Between my awful marriages, subsequent divorces, and the almost constant trades from team to team, it just seemed easier not to engage. I wouldn’t have to hear about how disappointed they were or get lectured about my taste in women. Ironic, considering my sister Cat introduced me to wife number two.
It's not like I cut them off. I do my best to remember birthdays, visit in the off-season, and stay in touch during the holidays. Dad would come on the dads’ trips, but otherwise, we didn’t spend a lot of time together.
