Page 78 of You Again

Darwin sighs loudly, taking my attention away from my phone. Away from conjuring Rosalie’s happiest smile in my mind. He’s looking at my leg, as if it might speak up and tell him what’s the matter. I’m still weak. I’m still tingly and numb at times. I’m still in pain. A heavy sigh falls from his chest. “I think there’s nerve damage.”

My jaw clenches. “How severe?”

Darwin shakes his head and rubs one hand over the back of his neck. “We need an MRI. Best scenario, you’re just going to need a longer recovery.”

“And worst scenario?”

His brow cinches, but he doesn’t shy away from my eyes. “You find a new job.”

I blink. “Oh. Okay.”

“I don’t think it’s that bad.”

“But you don’t know.” I rest my head against the therapy table and peer at the stucco ceiling.

He turns to his computer and starts typing away. “I’ll call Dr. White and get something set up for tomorrow.”

“Sure. Okay.”

“In the meantime, go to practice. Jacobson’s worried about you. Go to work, Zev. It’ll help.”

“Are you releasing me to play then?” I grunt. “Nerve damage and all?”

“You know I’m not.”

“So, I’ll go and watch the guys warm up, I’ll watch them practice, and I’ll watch them play. How exactly will that help?”

“They still need you,” Darwin says. He’s a Red Tail, just like the rest of us. He works for the team. He is our personal physical therapist, and he works around our schedule. This isn’t a man who is clueless as to what I do or when I do it.

I clench my jaw and shake my head. “I’m not that much help right now.”

He nods. “Go anyway.”

So, I’ve skipped a few practices. It was for Rosalie. I’d skip again if she asked me to.

I hobble out of the gym—just like I do whenever Darwin is finished with me. My phone rings in my pocket and my insides jolt. I expect it to be her. I’m hoping and praying she’s telling me to call in sick to work and to spend the day with her. Maybe she’ll even tell me that our kiss unlocked all her memories, and she knows exactly who I am.

Then she’ll propose—or accept my proposal all over again—and we’ll hop on the next plane to Vegas. Nah—who needs Vegas? Reno will do. There are plenty of walk-in chapels just forty minutes away.

My phone sings again, only it’s Fran I’ve kept waiting.

I sigh, but answer just the same. “Hello?”

“How are we going to handle this, Zev?” Fran is all business. There’s no friendly Franny hello today.

“Could you be more specific?” I limp over to my car and yank open the door. I’m driving to practice—I’m doing exactly what Rosalie and Darwin told me to do. I will sit on the bench and watch for the next three hours as my team practices together.

“With Rose. You two had a very… productive evening, and now she likes you.”

I’m like a giddy kid at Christmas. “Wait. She does?” Of course she does. She loves me. She just doesn’t know it yet.

“She does. So, what now? Are you telling her the truth?”

“Um…” I scratch my head as a million scenarios play in my mind. “I—I don’t know.” What if I tell her the truth and she’s angry? Or changes her mind? Or decides I’m no better than Robert?

“She’s going to find out,” Fran says. “I could plan a date for the two of you. I know the perfect scene⁠—”

“No.” I’m not trying to be abrupt, but one of Fran’s dates isn’t going to work here. “Thanks. But no. I’ll handle it.”