Chapter 28 #2
He looks around the room, his eyes burning with something raw and unfiltered. "Do you really want the story to be that the state board punished a pregnant woman for saving lives and falling in love in the process?"
The tension ripples through the board members like static. Dr. Peirce exchanges a glance with Dr. Oswald. Dr. Lowe shifts in her seat, her expression conflicted.
Finally, Dr. Oswald asks carefully, "What are you proposing, Mr. M?kelin?"
Aleksi's answer is immediate. "What if we were married?"
The room collectively blinks.
My brain short-circuits. "Aleksi—what?"
He turns to me, his expression softening. "There's no rule saying a husband and wife can't work for the same organization. It’s a grey area at best, Penelope looked it up on our way here. You wouldn't be treating me as a patient—you'd be treating me as your husband."
Dr. Oswald frowns. "Technically… she's not currently employed with the team."
Penelope seizes the opening, stepping forward with the confidence of a woman who's negotiated a thousand deals and won most of them.
"Exactly. She stepped down temporarily. Dr. Grant's role is interim only.
Once she's reinstated after maternity leave, the conflict would be null.
We'd be hiring a married team member's spouse, not a doctor fraternizing with a player. "
The board murmurs. Someone flips through the file. Dr. Lowe says slowly, "That… it’s a technicality, but it would satisfy conflict-of-interest requirements."
Dr. Pierce leans back in her chair, her expression unreadable. "You're suggesting we approve this based on a hypothetical marriage?"
"Not hypothetical," Aleksi says, his voice steady. He looks at me, and the world narrows to just the two of us. "Not if she says yes."
My heart stops.
He drops to one knee right there, between the legal pads and briefcases, in front of the medical board and my lawyer and Penelope and God knows who else is watching from the doorway.
"You haven't even asked me yet," I whisper, my voice breaking.
He smiles softly. "Then I should fix that."
His hand finds mine, his thumb brushing over my knuckles in that familiar, grounding way that makes me feel like I can breathe again.
"You were always there, Doc," he says quietly. "In the locker room, in the stands, in the stars over Nevada. I knew the day I met you—the day Penelope introduced you to the team—that I'd marry you. That I'd follow your voice anywhere."
My vision blurs. I press my free hand to my mouth, trying to hold back the sob clawing up my throat.
"That night in the motel wasn't the end of the world," he continues, his voice rough now, weighted with emotion.
"It was the start of mine. I want the house.
The Christmases. The scraped knees. The baby who'll grow up knowing we fought for him before he was even born. I want all of it with you. The moment I put the athletic tape ring on your finger, I knew I’d do anything to keep it on your finger. "
Tears stream down my face. I can't stop them. I don't even try.
He asks softly, "And it must have meant something to you too because you still wear my ring around your neck."
I nod, reaching under my blouse to pull out the chain. The athletic-tape ring encased in a thin lining, dangles from it, the one he made me in Nevada, preserved in resin like a promise I was too scared to keep.
I slide it free, my hands shaking.
"Then marry me, again," he says, his eyes shining. "But for real this time."
My laugh breaks through the tears, half-sob, half-joy. "Yes."
He slips the ring off the chain and then onto my finger, where it's always belonged, and I take the ring off his right hand, the one he's been wearing since that night, and slide it onto his left.
The room breaks into scattered applause. Penelope outright cheers, her phone already out, typing furiously.
Dr. Pierce clears her throat, flustered but smiling faintly. "Well… I suppose the simplest path forward is this. File your marriage certificate before Dr. Hensen resumes her role, and this board will close the investigation."
Aleksi stands, pulling me up with him, his hand never leaving mine. "You'll drop the NHL notification?"
"We will not escalate this to the league," Dr. Pierce confirms. "If there’s no record… there’s no sanctions."
Relief floods through me, so intense it nearly buckles my knees. Aleksi's arm wraps around my waist, steadying me, holding me up.
"You did it," I whisper against his shoulder.
"We did," he murmurs back, pressing a kiss to my temple. “We’re stronger together, Doc. We always have been.”
Richard starts gathering his papers, smiling for the first time since I met him. The board members stand, shuffling files, murmuring to each other.
It's over.
It's really over.
As we turn to leave, Penelope stops us in the doorway, her eyes bright with mischief.
"Are you sure you two want a hidden courthouse wedding?" she asks, arching a brow.
I blink. "What other option do we have?"
She grins, already dialing her phone. "Oh, I think I've got a better idea—and a few girlfriends who owe me favors."
Aleksi frowns. "What kind of idea?"
"How about a pre-season wedding," Penelope says, her grin widening, "on center ice during the third period?"
My breath catches. "You're joking."
"I'm not," she says, her eyes sparkling. "It's televised. Aleksi's mom and sister can watch from Finland. The fans will lose their minds. And this time, the press gets the story right the first time."
Aleksi lights up like a kid on Christmas morning. "That's—that's brilliant."
I stare at both of them, my brain struggling to keep up. "You really think we can pull that off?"
Penelope winks. "Honey, I've pulled off worse. Leave it to me."
Aleksi turns to me, his smile soft and hopeful. "What do you think, Doc? Ready to make history?"
I look at him—at the man who just proposed to me in front of the medical board, who bought me a house, who built me a nursery, who's been fighting for me even when I tried to push him away—and I realize something.
I've spent my whole life surviving.
Maybe it's time to start living.
I thread my fingers through his and smile. "I’m game if you are."