Page 61 of The Head Game

Well, at least August would be dead by that point. Was it possible to die of shame? He felt like he was on the verge of it right now.

Kate snapped her fingers. “August Manning. Referee. Number Forty-Nine.”

August flinched. Oh shit.

“That’s me,” he said weakly.

“Well, what a surprise. I had no idea I’d be meeting Nico’s fiancé today. We’ll have to have a nice long talk about that later,” Kate said, her voice filled with cheer but her gaze saying something else entirely.

When the door opened again, August fully expected to see the Commissioner of the NHL or the Director of Officiating for the NHL walk in but no, it was only the doctor.

The original one, Dr. Douglas. Ugh. There were too many people for August to keep track of when he was running on no sleep.

No wonder he wasn’t thinking clearly.

“Well, I have great news for you,” Dr. Douglas said with a tired smile. “Nico is out of surgery and doing well. No unexpected complications. I feel confident we were able to remove the tumor cleanly and based on its appearance, we’re hopeful it’s benign. We won’t know for sure until the biopsy is back—which will take a couple of hours—but I believe you have every reason to be optimistic about his prognosis.”

There were some murmurs of relief, including a few in what August assumed was Dutch, before Pieter said, “Will he be able to play hockey again?”

Isa made a noise of disbelief. “He’s alive, Piet, that’s all that matters!”

“Nico would want to know,” he protested.

Isa sighed. “I suppose that matters more to the two of you than I will ever understand.”

Dr. Douglas smiled. “We won’t know until he’s awake. As I cautioned Nico before the surgery, there may be a few deficits he’ll need to spend some time recovering from but he’s young and healthy. I have seen people come back from worse to flourish. I have every reason to believe he can do the same.”

There were a few more murmurs of relief and Skylar reached out to squeeze August’s hand. Kate tracked their interaction, her gaze curious.

But despite the fear over this stupid ruse about being Nico’s fiancé, August was glad he’d stayed. Whatever the consequences, he was glad to hear Nico would be okay.

“Now, I do want to warn you of a few things,” Dr. Douglas continued. “He will be very groggy when he comes out of the anesthetic. His brain has been through quite a bit of trauma lately. Between the seizures and the surgery, he may have some temporary amnesia. He may struggle to recognize you at first. Please don’t be alarmed. His long-term memory won’t have been impacted but the more recent past may be very foggy to him. Some of that memory will return but some of it may not. Just be patient with him.”

“Oh.” Isa pressed her hand to her chest. “Thank you for the warning.”

The doctor’s smile was kind. “I need to head out now unless you have any more questions.”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Once Nico is a little more alert, he’ll be brought up to the floor here and you’ll be able to go in to see him.”

“Thank you, doctor. That’s great news.”

Dr. Douglas excused herself and they all took their seats again.

It was about an hour before a nurse popped her head in. “Nico is back in his room. Would you like to go in and see him? I’m afraid it’ll only be two people at a time so you’ll need to decide who goes in first.”

Isa glanced over at August, her expression conflicted. “I know you’re his fiancé but—”

“Go, go,” August urged. “You and Pieter should see him first.”

August would never be able to live with himself if he went in before Nico’s parents.

Isa and Pieter followed the nurse out of the room and when they were gone, Kate gave the other two women a smile.

“I hate to ask this of you, but would you mind giving August and Skylar and me a moment alone? There’s something private I need to discuss with them.”

“Oh. Yes. No problem,” Noor said. “Anika and I will pop in to see Nico, then go find some coffee. It was a very long night and we found it impossible to sleep on the plane when we were so worried.”

---