Page 330 of Saving Forever with the Hockey Captain

Now it feels as though I never left.

A member of the media relations staff meets me just outside the bench door. "Jamie." He gestures toward center ice where a television camera is already waiting.

"One quick interview?"

I glance toward Ethan.

"Shouldn't that be him?"

"He already did one."

I smile. "Poor kid."

"He survived."

"All right."

***

The camera operator adjusts his position while the reporter waits with a microphone in hand.

She smiles as I skate into place.

"Jamie, congratulations."

"Thank you."

"First game back after a long recovery. A primary assist on the game-winning goal. The crowd gives you one of the loudest ovations we've heard all season."

She pauses. "How does it feel to be back?"

For just a moment I don't answer. Instead, I look toward the stands. The arena is beginning to empty, but one section remains exactly where it has been all evening.

Mom and Dad.

Coach's wife.

The team families.

And Annette, who hasn't taken her eyes off me. A smile finds its way across my face before I even realize it.

"Honestly..." I look back at the reporter. "I thought returning tonight was going to be about hockey."

A few people nearby grow quieter. "But somewhere during rehabilitation I realized I'd been measuring the wrong victory."

She tilts her head slightly. "What do you mean?"

"For a long time, I believed getting back on the ice would mean everything was normal again."

I glance once more toward the stands. "It turns out hockey was only part of coming home."

The reporter waits. "So, what was the rest?"

I smile. "The people waiting for me."

Silence settles over the small group gathered around the camera. Not awkward silence. The kind that follows an honest answer. The reporter lowers the microphone just slightly.

"I imagine there are a lot of people who helped you get here."