Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
Daisy
The day before our final test match with Australia, an email lights up my phone with a meeting request for later today with Linda.
Everything has been hectic preparing for the last game of the championship, and I keep forgetting to contact her to request a meeting. Somehow, she’s managed to find the only free spot in my schedule. I chew on my lip and click add to calendar. Did she know I wanted a meeting through osmosis and her bloodhound nose? Or is it a direct result of her discussion with Jamie? My stomach swoops. I don’t think it will be anything bad. If I’m fired, she wouldn’t be the one telling me. I think. Would someone higher than Linda tell me if I’m fired or would Adam do it? Or Alex?
I shudder at the thought of Alex firing me.
There’s no point in worrying until I’m in the meeting and know what it’s about. And I can always mention Jamie and request the form while I’m there. If I’m not about to lose my job.
I’ve worked for the national team for three years, an opportunity of a lifetime… But if I am fired, I could still be with Jamie. Even though rules about dating former patients are hazy, it should be fine. Unless my licence is revoked, I could open my own practice and treat athletes on my own schedule and not fly internationally every few weeks. I could spend more time with Westley and wouldn’t miss Violet growing up. But it would also mean I left my dream job. With a shit ton of gossip following me.
But if Jamie was there, it would be worth it.
If they ask me to leave, I will absolutely fight for my job, but if I lose and have to leave, it doesn’t seem as scary anymore. As long as my licence isn’t revoked. I grind my teeth and leave the medic room to attend the meeting.
Technically, as soon as something happened, I was removed as his physio, so there was a minimal breach of conduct. Admittedly, it’s not great the line was crossed—especially since I was stupid and gave him a blowjob the next day when I thought he was still my patient—but Jamie and Suli were right. Because Jamie removed himself as my patient the day after something happened and signed the form, we’re both somewhat protected.
He was right to sign them.
Am I frustrated there wasn’t a discussion first? Yes. But because the form is signed on his end as I walk into Linda’s office, it means I’m more protected and less likely to lose my job. He was right, and when this meeting is over, I need to have a conversation with him. No matter what happens.
I will have a conversation.
“Hi, Daisy. How are you today?” Linda asks, pushing her glasses higher up her nose. The beaded glasses strap clinks against her gold hoops and she smiles softly at me. She’s wearing a blue-grey blouse that compliments her lightly tanned skin and blonde highlights.
It’s a good start if she’s smiling. I sit in the leather chair in front of her tidy desk. “I’m good, thank you. Yourself?”
“Making sure people sign contracts and disclosure forms before they do something idiotic like usual.” She puts a ream of paper down with a crack and leans forward, crossing her arms on the desk. “Now, I’ve called this meeting to discuss Jamison Atoa with you. You’ll have noticed he was switched off your patient roster and Suliasi Uhi was given to you instead.”
I nod. “In South Africa, yes.”
“Yes, I wanted to discuss with you why it happened.”
I swallow harshly. “All right.”
Linda frowns gently and purses her lips. “Jamison requested the declaration of personal relationship form to sign and wanted to be removed as your patient so he could potentially pursue a relationship with you. He didn’t mention your feelings. I want to know if you’re aware of this and if he has at any time made you uncomfortable,” Linda says seriously, her voice hard and unyielding.
I shake my head quickly. “No, no, he hasn’t. He’s one of my closest friends. He’s never done anything to harm me. He wouldn’t.” This was not the direction I thought the meeting would go.
Linda’s icy eyes narrow and scrutinise me. “Good. If anything changes, you let me know. About anyone. My second question is if you want to sign the relationship form? If you don’t, that’s fine. He was removed as your patient to protect you both and it will stay that way regardless of your feelings. There is zero pressure. This meeting is to ensure you’re aware of what’s happening and give you an opportunity to speak.”
“If I sign the form, it means we can have a relationship without penalty?”
“Correct. It’s a little dicey considering you were one of his medical providers, and I swear to god if anything happened more than a few days before at least his form was signed, we’ll have a real shitshow on our hands, and your licence will be up for debate with the disciplinary board.”
“It didn’t.” Not really. Jamie signed the form the day after we fell asleep in my hotel room, and I was rightly removed as his physio. The blowjob after they won is more of a grey area, but it helps I wasn’t his physio by then.
“Good. When this gets out, PR will spin it in the positive, and consensual, light that it is and do it carefully so no one loses their licence. I suspect they’ll carefully leave out details about when your relationship started, and when you stopped treating him.” She watches me carefully. “Jamie’s a star rugby player. No one will care about you if we spin it the wrong way. Your relationship better be for the long haul. There’s no point going through this for a fling.”
“It is. For me at least,” I finish quietly.
Linda cracks a smile. “That’s exactly what Jamie said. Right then, let’s sign some forms and organise a meeting with Diana in PR to get this sorted.”
The forms are signed quickly, and I’m warned to keep everything on the down-low so PR can work on a statement to release after The Rugby Championship is complete. They’ll have a meeting with us both before they release anything. But other than that, we’re now free to date—to have a relationship. To tell whoever we want.
I shut Linda’s door behind me and cover my mouth when a giddy laugh escapes. Somehow, everything’s fine. I stride down the hall with a grin, determined to find Jamie.
* * *
I don’t manage to tell Jamie before the game. After I signed the form, I couldn’t find him—we didn’t carpool yesterday since I visited Sage last night—and now it’s game day and everyone’s preoccupied with winning the Bledisloe Cup. I drove him today like usual but decided to wait and tell him after the game about signing the form. I don’t want to distract him before the last test of the series when the team’s fighting to win everything.
I grin at Jamie when I spy him across the room getting taped by Adam, and he returns the smile with a dramatic wiggle of his eyebrows. No matter what happens tonight, I’m going to tell him I want to be with him.
The crowd’s louder than usual. It started with roaring cheers after the haka and the sea of black jerseys in the stands have continued to yell and scream as the clock ticks down.
It’s been a violent game so far since the cup’s on the line. Not that Australia would win the cup if they won the game. Since they lost the first game, it would be a draw and we would retain the cup as the current holders. Blood and bruises have already started appearing and we haven’t reached halftime yet.
I scrunch my nose when Hemi tackles someone in a not totally legal way, but the ref doesn’t see, so the game continues.
“So, you and Jamie?” Adam asks beside me out of the corner of his mouth.
“Yeah, me and Jamie,” I reply softly. I glance at Adam, who has a smug grin on his face. I narrow my eyes. “What?”
“I knew it.”
I scoff. “You did not. You only know something because you switched my roster around.”
“Not true.”
“Care to explain?” I turn back to the game and lean forward when Johnny intercepts a sloppy pass and makes a run for the try line.
“You guys have always been close. Clicked right away. I figured it would happen one day. And you both stare at each other all the time.”
“We do not.”
“You totally do. All sappy and moon-eyed. It’s disgusting.” Adam nudges my arm, and my glare softens when I notice his teasing smile. “I’m happy for you. And for code of conduct reasons, will not be asking any more questions.”
I nudge him back and jump off the hard metal bench when I see Jamie with the ball.
He sprints for the try line with the opposition right behind him. He’s tackled and tucks into himself to protect the ball and passes it to one of our forwards. But I don’t notice who. Jamie’s not moving right. And when the boys get the ball over the try line, he’s still lying on the field.
And he doesn’t get up.
My heart races and I can’t hear the crowd over the sound as I frown and walk to the sideline. My hands shake and adrenaline rushes through me, leaving me breathless. “Something’s wrong.”
Adam follows me to stand by the sideline. “Yeah, he does not look good.”
The players crowd around him and the stadium becomes eerily quiet. Our team doctor runs on the field as Jamie begins to stir and clutches his arm.
My trembling hand clenches my cap and the other covers my mouth. My foot crosses the white line.
A hand tugs me back. “What are you doing? You can’t go on the field.”
“I can’t just leave him.” My voice breaks, and I rip my arm from Adam’s grip. Why isn’t he moving properly? He wasn’t having any issues with his shoulder last I heard.
“Daisy, they haven’t released the statement announcing your relationship yet,” he mutters urgently by my ear. “If you go out there, it will make everything more complicated for you both.”
“I don’t care.” I don’t look at him as I step over the white line and onto the playing field. My sneakers squeak on the damp grass as I jog to the medical team surrounding him.
He’s sitting up now, face leeched of colour. His brown skin has lost its healthy glow and turned dull, and the corners of his eyes are tight and lines bracket his mouth.
Our team doctor, Mark, frowns at me. “Daisy, what are you doing here?”
“I just—I wanted to—” I shake myself and force a coherent sentence out of my mouth. “Is he all right?”
“Dislocated his shoulder. Should be fine, but we’ll get some scans done once I’ve popped it back in.” I cringe and nausea rolls through me. “You don’t need to be here, Daisy.”
“I know. I?—”
“Daisy?” A pain-filled voice interrupts me, slurring slightly around his mouth guard, and we turn to Jamie.
I ignore the odd looks everyone is giving me and crouch beside him. “How are you feeling?”
He spits his mouth guard out and I take it from him, barely clocking that it’s covered in spit. “Like a fucking Australian dislocated my shoulder.” He smiles at me, but it looks more like a grimace. “Stay with me? I’m out of the game now and going to hospital.”
“Of course I’ll stay with you.”
He takes my hand and squeezes it harder than usual, probably not realising his strength while he’s in pain. “Good. Pop it in, doc.”
Mark takes Jamie’s right arm, angles it, and pops it in with a sickening crunch.
“Motherfuckingcunt. Jesus.” Jamie brings my hand to his mouth and wheezes, his grasp tight, almost too tight, but I don’t say anything.
Mark’s assistant wraps Jamie’s arm in a sling and then we’re all standing. I try to drop Jamie’s hand so we don’t draw more attention to ourselves, but he holds tight and refuses to let go as we walk across the field to the sidelines.
Adam meets us there and Jamie says, “She’s taking me to hospital. Sorry.”
“Somehow, I don’t think you are,” Adam responds and nods at me with soft eyes. “I’ll see you in a few days.”
We ignore all the cameras and flashing lights and pass Nick getting ready to go on. His olive skin is pale, and his brown eyes are narrowed in focus. Jamie drops my hand to slap his shoulder. “Good luck, mate. Make ‘em sweat for it.”
Nick nods, a concentrated frown on his face, and runs onto the field. Jamie grabs my hand again and the game begins behind us as we walk to the sheds.
Mark frowns at our clasped hands. “I’m assuming you want to drive with her?”
“Yes,” Jamie says.
“I’ll meet you at Auckland Hospital where the ambulances come in.” He strides off before I can respond.
“Okay, my lovely, let me grab your stuff and then we’re off to hospital for medicine and some tests.” A dislocated shoulder is better than something tearing, but we won’t know everything until the scans come back.
Jamie stares at me blankly and nods along to everything I say. I slip his mouth guard into its case and run around the sheds, finding his stuff and mine before we walk slowly to my car.
He gets in with a wince, and I reach over him to gently click his seatbelt on without jostling his shoulder. I kiss his cheek, already rough with stubble. “Once we’ve got you fixed, we’re talking.”
I shut the door and round the car to the driver’s seat and we leave for the hospital. But what I meant as reassurance has done the opposite, and while I drive, I’m haunted by the dark look that entered his eyes when I told him we’re going to talk.