Page 35 of Rookie Rules

Rowan stood with one hand on the desk. The first shift pulled. The second did not. By the fifth, his lower back had stopped joining the complaint. Luca kept facing the window, except once when the chair leg caught Rowan's heel. Even then, he only turned far enough to confirm Rowan had not fallen.

"Do you count everything?" Rowan asked.

"Only when someone else is pretending not to."

Rowan completed eight repetitions. He sat before fatigue changed the quality of the movement.

Luca twisted the factory seal loose on the water bottle and returned it to the same spot. "Independent hydration," he said. "Very dignified."

Rowan drank half of it.

Rowan should tell him to leave it.

Instead, he reached for the pillow.

It supported the right angle better than the towel.

Before lying down, Luca took the folded towel from behind Rowan's waist and set it on the empty bed corner.

"Not touching you," he said. "Chair modification only."

He folded it lengthwise and placed it beneath the pillow so the support reached lower.

Rowan could have objected. The adjustment was competent. That made objection feel childish rather than controlled.

"That better?" Luca asked.

Rowan tested the angle. "Yes."

Luca nodded once, accepting the answer without triumph.

No one outside medical staff saw Rowan evaluate his body this closely. Teammates noticed if he stretched longer or stood carefully, then offered the privacy of turning elsewhere. Luca had not learned that habit. He paid attention, asked permission, changed one thing, and stopped.

The boundary remained where Rowan placed it.

That should not have felt like trust.

Luca returned to bed and lay down facing away from him.

The lack of observation felt more intimate than watching would have.

Rowan restarted the clip.

The defenseman retrieved the puck. Center swung low. The first pass arrived late.

On the next bed, Luca said, "You always do this?"

Rowan kept his eyes on the screen. "Review?"

"Wait until no one's looking."

The room became too quiet.

"You have an exhibition tomorrow," Rowan said. "Sleep."

"So do you."

"I know what I need."