Chapter 16
A Bad Bump
Olli
“All right, who bet on Kean getting distracted by Kodi at today’s game?” Brooker shouted as the team rushed into the locker room, all of us eager to get a shower or ice injuries or just go home to get away from an asshole teammate.
“I wasn’t distracted.”
“I put twenty on it,” Carter said, following Brooker over to his cubby, who pulled out a huge wad of cash.
“You actually bet on that?” I shouted, tossing my empty water bottle at his feet.
“I bet that you wouldn’t, so you kind of owe me twenty,” Gallagher said.
“Y’all are assholes.”
“Says the guy who almost ruined our shutout,” Ricci said. “The one time they get their shit together and you’re out there staring at the screen like a lovestruck teenager.”
“I’m not —” I started to argue but gave up when Christenson put a hand on my shoulder.
“How’s the head?”
“It’s fine.”
“Uh-huh. Get a medic to check you out before you go.”
“I’m fine,” I repeated, but Christenson ignored me, patting my shoulder before getting up. Huffing, I turned right back around to go out of the locker room and down to the med bay. He was being overly cautious, but if I went now, I could avoid Brooker’s betting ring harassment.
“Kean!”
My shoulders tensed as I turned to see who was shouting at me, figuring it was some staff member berating me for my bad play or to make sure I was going to the medics.
But it wasn’t anybody on staff. It was Kodi.
Though I suppose she was technically staff, too.
“Are you all right? That was a nasty ringer,” she said, jogging through the hall and stopping in front of me. Then she grabbed my face and pulled me down to her level.
My heart stopped.
Kodi’s fingers slid up my face and into my hair and I suddenly thought maybe Christenson was right. I very well might have a concussion. Because a hallucination was the only explanation for Kodi pulling me in for a kiss.
Unless after telling that story, she realized I was the one who attended that game with her. Then it would make sense. Then I could believe she’d run down and kiss me.
But then my head tilted and I was suddenly looking down at her shoes. She was wearing the same plum pair from the other day.
“Damn, that’s a nasty-looking knot. When’s the last time you iced it?”
Oh. She wasn’t trying to kiss me.
Heat crept up my neck and I pulled away from her.
“I’m going to the medics now,” I grumbled and started back down the hall, choking down my embarrassment.
“Good. Do you have somebody to keep you company for the next few hours? A neighbor? Friend? Just to make sure you don’t fall into a coma,” she said as she followed after me.
“That’s a myth. Besides, I didn’t hit my head that hard. Coach would’ve pulled me if I had.”
“He should have,” Kodi said, raising her voice just enough that it made me wince. “Sorry. But if that hurt, it kind of proves my point.”
“It’s just a little headache. I’ll be fine.”
Kodi hummed, but otherwise remained quiet as she followed me down to the medics. And she stayed by my side while Dustin sat me down on one of the beds.
“I won’t keep ya long, Kean, we’ll just run through a basic assessment. It’d be pretty hard for you to jump fast enough to give yourself a concussion, but better safe than sorry. Can you tell me today’s date?”
“Saturday, June 27th.”
“Great. Months backwards starting with October.”
“September, August, July, June —”
“Good. Follow the pen cap.” Dustin grabbed a pen from his front pocket and slowly moved it back and forth in front of me, then close to my face.
“It feels like you’re rushing this assessment,” Kodi grumbled to my left and Dustin pulled back, raising an eyebrow.
“Ignore her.”
“Well, ma’am, it’s just that the likelihood of a concussion is considerably low. Especially since he was able to play through the rest of the game without issue and he’s not showing any sympt—”
“Yes, he is, he’s got a headache,” Kodi interrupted and Dustin’s eyes snapped to mine.
“Is that true?”
I tilted my head back and groaned, the noise reverberating painfully.
“It’s just a small one.”
“And that’s it?”
“And the bump on his head.”
“Kodi, will you cut it out already? I’m fine. Having a headache and a bump is normal. It’s not a sign of a concussion.”
“It’s one of the signs, though,” she argued. Dustin chuckled at our exchange before stepping over to a counter at the back side of the bay. He returned with a printout that he handed to Kodi.
“This is a list of all the things to look out for when it comes to a concussion. One or two of the symptoms are normal after any head injury, but if they’re still present tomorrow morning, then you can start worrying.
And just so you know, the whole keeping a patient awake thing is an old wives’ tale.
Sleep is the body’s best recovery tactic. ”
“Told you,” I mumbled under my breath, even though Kodi was clearly focused on flipping through the hand out.
“I know it feels like she’s babying you, Kean, but be grateful your girlfriend is being fairly reasonable. I’ve seen partners freak out after an injury and ask the player to retire.”
I was so shell-shocked by Dustin calling Kodi my girlfriend that I just … stopped thinking altogether. If my brain was capable of reading any of my body’s senses, I’m sure I’d realize my jaw was on the floor.
“We’re not dating. I’m just his PA,” Kodi said, not looking up from the papers.
“Oh, shit. Sorry,” Dustin stumbled, embarrassment coloring his cheeks.
“It’s all right. Proximity effect. I get it. But I would never go for this grumpy asshole,” she said with a little laugh. Then she clapped the tops of her thighs and stood. “All right, let’s get you home, Kean. I’ll keep an eye on you for a few hours, then get out of your hair.”
I was too hung up on what she said about not dating me to comprehend the last half of what she said.
“Why not?”
“What?” Her brows furrowed as she looked back at me and out of the corner of my eyes, I could see Dustin cringe before backing away.
“Why wouldn’t you go for me?” It was a stupid question. There were at least half a dozen reasons she shouldn’t consider me, the highlights being that I was sort of her boss and that I haven’t been all that nice to her since she was hired.
“Oh. I don’t date players anymore,” she said, like it was simple. But I had follow-up questions.
“Why not?” I pushed off the cot and followed her out of the med bay, assuming that Dustin would stop me if there was anything else he needed.
“Because I went through …” She stopped herself, biting her lip hard enough that the plump flesh darkened. “I dated a couple and it didn’t work out is all.”
“Did they hurt you?” The small headache was starting to rage as blood rushed in my ears.
“Oh no! They were just kinda … fun for a while, but the actual relationships were always stale.”
My head hurt too much to try and find any deeper meaning to what she said, but this did mean that Brooker didn’t have a chance with her. Which should be enough.
But it wasn’t.
“Fun how?”
Kodi stopped suddenly and turned to me with fire in her eyes.
“Do you not understand what you just asked or do you not care how wildly inappropriate it is to ask it?”
“I didn’t mean fun like —” I tried to argue, because I genuinely hadn’t meant that kind of fun, but quickly gave up as she narrowed her eyes at me and something sunk into the pit of my stomach. “Sorry.”
“Good. I’ll give you a break because you might be concussed, but —”
“I’m not concussed.”
“But if you say something else like that, I’ll let you fall asleep and slip into a comma.”
I bit back the urge to remind her that wasn’t real and nodded.
“Good. Now go get changed and whatever and I’ll take you home.”
“What?”
“What? Did you forget already? My case for a concussion is getting stronger by the minute.”
“I didn’t forget,” I grumbled. “I just didn’t think you were serious.”
That and I was distracted by other things said.
“Well, unless you have someone else you can get to check in on you, you’re stuck with me for another few hours.”
I chewed at my bottom lip, torn. On one hand, this had been a rather miserable day and it’d be nice to go home and throw myself a pity party. On the other hand, the longer Kodi hung out with me, the more likely it was that she’d remember me.
“Fine, but … why?” My breath solidified in my lungs, bracing for an answer I didn’t want to hear.
“Well, for one, if you slip into a comma, I’m out of a job.”
That was exactly what I figured she’d say. Too bad knowing it was coming didn’t make it hurt any less.
Shaking my head, I moved over to the locker room door, hand on the knob when she spoke again.
“But also you’re not a complete asshole. So I don’t want you to die in your sleep, either.”
Was it pathetic that that was enough to make me feel better?
“Okay. I’ll be out in just a few minutes.”