I’m not short, but my forehead is level with his shoulder.Having his solid, warm body just inches away is making my heart race.He has a very faint, woodsy smell that I want to lean closer to smell better.
“What are we studying?”he asks.
“Labor, delivery, and postpartum assessment checklists.I’m getting tested in the field on Monday and I need to make sure I remember everything I have to check for and monitor.”
“How’s it going in the obstetrics unit?”
“I like it a lot.It’s fast-paced, but I like that.”
The boys take their food to the basement and Magnus waits until I make a plate to get food for himself.
“How was your week?”I ask him.
“I should say it was good, I guess.That’s what people say.But it kind of sucked.”
“How come?”
He meets my eyes over the island.“I didn’t play as well as I would’ve liked, but mostly it was stress about my sister.”
“What kind of stress?”
He finishes loading up his plate, coming to sit across from me at the kitchen table before he answers.
“Elin’s three years younger than me; she’s twenty-eight.She was in a bad car accident when she was twenty and she has a TBI.”
“Oh, Magnus.”I gently squeeze the top of his hand.“I’m so sorry.”
“Thank you.It’s been a rough road.Elin was always athletic.She loved climbing and swimming.She was just getting into triathlons when the accident happened.”
Traumatic brain injuries can be mild or severe.It sounds like Elin’s has taken a lot from her.
“She rehabbed in Sweden for years.My mom lives about two hours away from that facility, so she was there with her often.But Elin was frustrated with her lack of progress.The TBI affected everything, physically and mentally.She’s got the heart and the will to work as hard as she has to to get better, but her body and her mind ...”
“It’s so fucking hard.”
He nods.“So we moved her to a place in Berlin.They do more intensive therapy.Elin’s happier there.She was able to walk with assistance and her speech was improving with therapy.But this week ...”He shakes his head.“The doctors said she didn’t have a stroke, but she’s lost her speech gains.She’s angry and depressed.”
“That has to be hard for your mom.”
“Yeah.And I have to keep playing hockey.I haven’t seen her since June.”
I push my plate aside, not caring about eating any more.“Do your teammates know?Does Noel?”
He shakes his head.“No, and I don’t want them to.I don’t mean to be a bummer.You asked me how I am and it just came out.”
“Never say that.I won’t tell anyone, and I’m always here to listen if it helps.”
He hasn’t touched his food either.His gaze is locked with mine, a lock of hair covering one of his eyes as he says, “Everything about being near you helps.”
12
Magnus
I want to kiss her.All I can think about is brushing her hair over her shoulder and cupping her face in my hands so I can kiss her and make the rest of the world disappear.
But the sound of feet pounding on the stairs makes us both lean back a little.Blair clears her throat and squares her shoulders.
Coop opens the basement door, goes to the counter to get some napkins, and then goes back down without another word.
