Not play in the playoffs?His heart tensed, releasing higher-pitched beeps on the machine.Then the other part of what the doctor had said filtered in.“What do you meanifthe surgery goes as planned?Is there a chance it won’t?”
“There’s always a chance, but let’s not focus on that.We want you to think positive, okay?”He smiled, like thinking positive was as easy as putting on a Band-Aid.
Huh.Positive thinking still hadn’t dealt with the soul-deep shame that prickled into awareness every so often.You’d think believing in God, knowing one’s sins were washed away, would deal with this by now, but nope.Still there.Triggered afresh by seeingher, no doubt.
A short time later a nurse approached with the news a surgery spot had opened up.“Is there anyone you want us to contact?”she asked.
Kyle glanced at Gerry.“My folks know?”
Gerry nodded.“They’re on a plane as we speak.”
“Good.”After all they’d sacrificed for him, he hated being the cause of interrupting their weekend, but they’d feel even more ticked to be out of the loop.And with no girlfriend to inform, they were the only ones who really needed to know.Apart from—
“Hey, Gerry, you got my phone?”
Gerry passed it to him, and he winced at the number of text messages steadily piling up.Sure enough, more than a few were from the Northwest Ice crew, his Christian brothers-in-arms who played pro hockey while doing their best to live for Jesus.And while Kyle was a newer member, it did his heart good to see their messages of concern.
He typed in a prayer request in the group chat:
Thanks for your prayers.I’d appreciate some more as I go under the knife.Gotta stop my kidney bleeding.
That might not be strictly true medically speaking, but he’d never claimed to be an expert.His skills lay in the hockey and business worlds, not medical procedures.The thought of who apparently was now an expert in medical procedures made him hesitate for a second, wondering if he should mention her.But he knew as soon as he did, he’d be opening a can of worms that would be impossible to put back, and he really didn’t have the head or heart space to deal with people’s curious questions about someone he hadn’t seen in years.
“Ready?”the nurse asked.
He nodded, passed his phone to Gerry, who promised to let his folks know where things were up to and bring them in as soon as possible.He again felt that urge to ask whethersomeone elsecould be found and kept updated, before quickly nixing that idea.She’d made it pretty plain before just how much of a nonentity he was to her.
He grimaced.Why hadn’t he checked to see if she wore a wedding ring?
“You’ll be fine,” Gerry assured, misinterpreting Kyle’s face.
“Yeah.”
God was with him.Had never left his side.This injury hadn’t taken Him by surprise.
It was only when the anesthetist covered his mouth and asked Kyle to count backward from one hundred that Kyle was reminded of another truth.
That just as God obviously hadn’t been taken by surprise by this injury, so He hadn’t been taken by surprise by Kyle’s awkward encounter with Genevieve before.
Which made him wonder just what was going to happen next.
* * *
Worry drummedwithin Gen’s veins as she finished her shift.Another motor vehicle accident, a drug overdose, and a patient who was obviously high, yet none of them had snagged a corner of her heart the way an earlier admittance had managed—
Stop!
She didn’t have room to play favorites, to let herself get emotionally involved with any of her patients.But unfortunately, there was a difference between knowledge and practice, and some patients managed to slip under her guard.Patients like Lily, a foster girl who had first presented to the ER as a ten-year-old, putting up a brave front as she tried not to cry about her broken arm, courtesy of her soon-to-be-ex foster brother.
Poor girl.With all the pain and suffering Gen was exposed to on a daily basis, some days she questioned why she did this, but the memory of Lily and others who desperately needed her kept her going.You never knew who would enter the doors and need help.Even if some of those had made it plain in the past that they didn’t need her or want her.
Her heart panged, and she wondered how he still had this hold on her.Why did her body have to betray her like this?She wasn’t a child, she wasn’t led by emotions.She’d done that and now lived with the consequences so knew the danger of letting emotions get the better of her.
Although…
Was it so bad to have a smidge of concern about how he fared?He was an old high school acquaintance, after all, as well as her first and only—
She clampedthatthought down.But still.As Dr.Singh liked to remind her, she was a human, not a robot, and humans were allowed to veer occasionally from the cold, hard facts.
