He winced.“Out for the rest of the season?”
“’Fraid so, Son,” Dad said.
He exhaled.And just when he’d been having his best season in years.Still, a man could choose to wallow in what-ifs or choose to find the positive.And having spent the better part of the past year trying to show his parents he was a changed man, he couldn’t fall back into old patterns.Not when he was trying to shine Jesus.
“Well, I’m grateful it got seen to so fast.It could’ve been worse.”
“That’s true.”Mom patted his hand.
“It’s just a real shame it had to happen when you’ve been playing so well,” Dad complained.
“Can’t be helped.”
“That’s right.It wasn’t like Kyle went out of his way to get injured,” Mom snipped.
Ah, this.He loved his parents, but he’d forgotten the way they carried on sometimes.And while he might be twenty-nine, knowing they’d given up so much for him over the years meant he’d never really found the way to encourage them to settle down and live peacefully.They weren’t Christians, but even so, he knew plenty of people who seemed to coexist without throwing verbal hand grenades at each other all the time.
A nurse entered, and he exhaled.Finally, he might get some answers.
“Ah, Mr.Tinker.Good to see you’re awake.Did you get some sleep?”
“I must’ve.Huh.What time is it?”
“Nearly seven.So yes, I think you must’ve caught a few z’s.That’s good.”She checked his charts.
“Is the doc coming by?”
As soon as he said it, his heart picked up pace.He’d meant his surgeon, but the thought of seeing Gen again—
“I know you’re on his rounds—”
His.His heart fell.
“—so just be patient.”
He clicked his fingers.“I see what you did there.You want the patient to be patient, and—”
“Oh, Kyle.Why you have to persist in making dumb jokes is beyond me,” Mom complained, but with a twinkle in her eye that suggested it wasn’t so bad.
“I’ll make sure he sees you soon,” the nurse promised, before exiting.
He glanced around for his phone, saw it hadn’t charged last night and the battery was down to five percent.Awesome.“Uh, do one of you have a phone charger I can use?”
Mom investigated the depths of her bag and drew out a magnetized portable battery.“Will this do?”
“Thanks.”
He shifted up the bed, wincing as his side let him know he’d had surgery mere hours ago.Nausea rippled through his insides, his skin flushing hot then cold.Ugh.
“Oh, be careful, dear,” Mom warned.
“Yep.”
He charged his phone and watched the notifications pop up.Messages from his teammates, his agent, the coaching staff.Messages from members of the Northwest Ice online Bible study: from Calgary’s Mike Vaughan, Edmonton’s Ryan Guillemette, Winnipeg’s Luc Blanchard, Zac Parotti, and recently retired Minnesota defenseman Mitchell Reilly, who wanted to know if he was up for visitors.Seeing Mitch had also grown up in Washington state he probably would find it easier to connect than some of the others.
He’d respond soon, but right now he probably needed to talk to his folks.“So, uh, how long do you plan to be here?”
“Oh, we thought we’d wait to see what the doctor says about going home,” his mom said.“If you need us to stay we can do so, help you get settled in.And it gives us a bit of time to catch up with some people, maybe see the old house.”
