Page 76 of The Head Game

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In deference to Nico’s privacy and Skylar’s attempt to hide her pregnancy, August had joined Nico’s family at the hotel where they were all staying.

Rather than eat in a public space, they’d ordered room service and had it brought up to the expansive suite.

They’d spent the meal talking about the plan for Nico’s post-surgical recovery.

August kept trying to figure out a way out of taking part but of course, they expected that as Nico’s fiancé, he’d be involved.

Dr. Douglas had come in to talk to them earlier today with updates on Nico’s condition.

To everyone’s relief, the tumor results had come back benign. Nico didn’t have cancer, so he could focus on his recovery from surgery.

However, the assessments from the physical and occupational therapists had revealed Nico had some deficits.

August had gotten a little lost when they started talking about which hemispheres of the brain controlled what, but the short version was that although the right side of Nico’s head had been operated on, he had some physical and visual weakness on his left side.

Since Nico was left-handed, this was going to make his life more difficult.

He still had some amnesia caused by the seizures and swelling from the surgery and general trauma his brain had been through.

Pieter had been concerned about what that all meant for Nico’s hockey.

When Pieter had asked about it, Isa had sighed and shared a look with Skylar but August understood.

To an NHL player, nothing was more important than playing hockey.

Although the neurologist couldn’t answer their sports medicine questions, she’d indicated that rehabilitation could help with Nico’s deficits.

“The brain is elastic,” she’d explained. “It can create new pathways but it needs time and adequate rest. This is not something you can find a shortcut through.”

Assuming everything went well for the next few days, Nico would be released soon, so their focus turned to how to get Nico home and what they’d do about his appointments.

Along with a sports medicine specialist, there would be a new neurologist in Toronto for Nico to see. Plus physical and occupational therapy.

All four of Nico’s parents had either taken a leave of absence or worked in fields they could do remotely, so they were planning to stay in Canada for a month while Nico recovered.

The logistics of it all gave August a headache and the Arents-Gerritsen-Kulper family was rather exhausting to deal with.

Isa and Pieter had strong opinions about everything, which often clashed. Anika and Noor were a little gentler about it and they worked hard to keep the peace, but they could only do so much.

Skylar kept trying to advocate for Nico and August finally jumped in, backing her up because he agreed Nico should have some say about it all.

Now, as they rode the elevator up to the neuro floor, August let their chatter wash over him, tired and wondering what the hell he was doing here.

“Where do you live, August?” Isa asked.

“Hmm? Oh, I live in Hamilton. It’s about an hour from Toronto,” he said, straightening out of his tired slump.

“Well, you’ll stay in Toronto with Nico while he’s recovering, I assume?”

August opened his mouth to protest but nothing came out. Shit. Shit. Shit. He desperately needed to come clean. Fuck, how was he going to handle this?

He shot a panicked look at Skylar. “Umm.”

The elevator dinged and when the doors slid open, he found himself face-to-face with Kate Foster.

She smiled tightly. She was well-dressed and tired-looking, with a severe expression.

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