The Penalty Box (Vancouver Wolves Hockey #3) - Odette Stone Page 0,65
trying to hold it together. I needed to know he was okay. She disappeared into a room and I paced for an undetermined amount of time until she opened the door.
“Mica took a puck to the face.”
My hands flew up to my mouth.
“The puck hit right beneath his eye. They were worried about an orbital fracture, but they did an MRI and he has no broken bones in his face. He needs stitches underneath his eye.”
“Can I see him? Does he know I’m here?”
“He doesn’t want you to worry.”
My eyes filled with tears. “He doesn’t want to see me?”
She put her hand on my shoulder. “He said you can come in, but he’s more worried about your reaction than he is about his face. So, can you hold it together for him?”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
“His face is a mess. You emotionally need to prepare yourself for that, okay?”
I just wanted to see him for myself, make sure he was okay. “I’m prepared.”
She led me through the locker room, down another hall and into a medical-looking room. Mica was sitting on the edge of an examination table with his back to me. His jersey was off but he was still wearing most of his equipment. Two men in medical coats were standing at a counter, preparing something.
“It’s okay,” Rory encouraged me.
I moved around the table and worked to keep all my emotions in check. When I saw his face, I couldn’t breathe. Mica had a two-inch cut beneath his eye that was open wide and oozing blood. The skin around the cut was bruised black and purple, and his eye was starting to swell shut. It was the worst injury I had ever seen in my life, and that it had happened to his beautiful face made me want to weep.
My eyes were wet, but I worked to remain impassive. “Your face is a mess.”
He laughed and then winced. “Fuck, don’t make me laugh.”
“Sorry.” I grabbed his hand. “Are you okay?”
He squeezed my hand. “Who did they put in the line to replace me?”
“What?” The last thing I cared about was the game, but Mica was still in game mode.
“Coach has that covered,” Rory said. “You’re not playing the rest of the night.”
“Bullshit.”
The doctor turned around, holding a three-inch needle in his hand. “We’re pulling you from the game.”
“I can play,” he insisted. “Throw in some stitches and put me back.”
Rory spoke from behind us. “Mica, we’re up four nothing. We’re in the middle of the second period. You don’t need to play.”
“Put me back.” He sounded pissed.
The doctor spoke. “Your eye is almost swollen closed. You know the rules. We can’t let you play until that eye opens. Now, the stitches will be a bit deep, so I’m going to inject some local anesthetic to freeze the area.”
“I can still see,” Mica grumbled.
Rory spoke to the doctor. “He’s banned from playing until that eye opens.”
I squeezed Mica’s hand, not watching as the doctor started to stick the needle in Mica’s face. Instead, I studied Mica’s hand. It was so big and so strong, just like him. His platinum wedding ring was on his right hand.
“Were you worried?” He sounded gruff.
There was no point trying to hide my concern. I showed up almost crying. “I couldn’t breathe when I saw it was you who got hurt.”
“Where’s my mom?”
Oh shit. I had completely forgotten about her and Andrew. “I’m supposed to text them.”
I reluctantly let go of his hand. I didn’t know Yelena’s cell number, so I texted Andrew’s phone.
Me: Mica is fine. Face hurt. Not playing rest of game.
Andrew: Where do you want to meet us?
Me: Can you bring Yelena home? I’ll stay with Mica.
Andrew: Are you sure you want to miss the rest of the game?
I frowned.
Me: I’m taking Mica home.
I put my phone away. “Andrew will drive your mom home for us.”
Mica’s lip flattened slightly at the mention of Andrew’s name. I brought his hand up to my mouth and kissed his knuckles, which elicited a small smile.
“Is my face really that bad?” he asked.
“No, it’s fine,” I lied, glancing up to look at his wound. It looked horrible. “I can barely notice anything.”
The doctor looked over his shoulder at me, a huge grin on his face. “If you want his face back to normal, don’t make me laugh.”
Once the doctor finished the stitches, Mica showered and got dressed and by that time, I was more than ready to go. I walked alongside him to his Porsche.