Page 68 of Face Off

It wasn’t until the images were done that she looked at me. “Mikey.” She swallowed. “I’m so sorry.” I could see tears in her eyes, and I had to fight back my own.

“It’s okay. I know.”

She nodded. “I’ll go with you to the hospital.”

“No, you need to stay.”

“There’s only ten minutes left. They’ll be fine.” I wouldn’t be. I understood the unspoken words.

“Okay.”

The on-site paramedics entered the room moments later, and in a blur of words and movement, I was out of my gear and on the stretcher headed for the hospital.

I didn’t let my emotions surface. There was no point in crying or screaming or cursing my fate.

What was done was done. This was it. I knew it was coming. I’d ignored the signs and warnings. I was prepared. And instead of being angry, I was calm.

23

Holly

The second Mikey went down, Sadie jumped onto her seat to watch. He didn’t move, and I screamed in my head for him to do something, anything to signal to us he was okay. The tension in the arena was palpable, and I knew the second the guys helped him up, it wasn’t good. He didn’t put his right foot down at all.

His injured foot.

“They’ll take him to the university hospital,” Sydney said without me having to ask. “Do you want me to watch her?”

Sadie’s eyes were locked on the tunnel where Mikey had disappeared, waiting for him to come back.

“Yeah, that would be great,” I replied, then took Sadie’s shoulders and twisted her to face me. “Mommy is going to go make sure Mikey is okay. Sydney will take you––”

“No!” she screamed before I could even finish. She was terrified, and there was only one solution.

“Do you want to come with me? Mikey is going to the hospital so a doctor can check his foot and make sure he’s okay.”

She blinked up at me with watery eyes. “He’s going to be okay?”

“Yes.” I nodded, but her lower lip quivered.

Sydney jumped in. “Oh yeah. Mikey is one of the toughest guys I know. He just hurt his ankle, but he’ll be fine.”

Hearing it from someone other than me seemed to put her at ease.

“Come on.” I stood and picked up my purse, taking her hand and hurrying down the row.

A few of the women offered their condolences as we passed, and I tried to smile and pretend like I wasn’t panicking, but I was barely holding it together.

This wasn’t just about him being hurt. I knew he would recover. It was what this injury meant. None of them understood the magnitude. They didn’t realize this was it. The end. His last game.

I blinked away the tears and picked up Sadie and put her on my hip so I could run up the stairs to the portal entrance.

None of the Pride knew it yet, but they’d just watched Mikey’s last game.

When I got to the top, Madi was there.

“Come on.” She smiled at Sadie. “Hey, girlie, did you know that I’m friends with Mikey too? I help him make sure his body is healthy and strong.”

Sadie wiped her face with the back of her hand.