“So old man, was this your attempt to get a vacation or what?” Maverick walked into Luke’s hospital room a day later and stood at the end of his bed and folded his arms, a look of concern on his face.
“Yeah, an all-expense paid trip to the Maldives is on my agenda. Shit, Mav. I only have two years left in my contract and I was hoping to go out on top, but now . . .”
Luke sat up in bed as tall as he could. He didn’t want to look pathetic in front of his best friend even if he felt like it. He shifted to find a comfortable position, having already tried numerous times before to little relief. A sharp twinge traveled up his right side. He took a deep breath and released it slow and easy.
Damn, he hated the antiseptic stench of hospitals. “Listen asshole, I could use a bit of sympathy right now. If you want to harass me, could you wait till I’m out of this damn bed?”
Mav stood with his hands on his hips and gave him a stare down worthy of the USBL top-tier pitcher he was. Luke let out a low groan and waved off Mav when he made a move toward the bed. “Keep your hands to yourself, I’m fine. I just need a minute.”
“You look green, Luke. I haven’t seen you laid this low in a while. Although that last road trip to Miami had you flat on your back for what, three days?” Maverick rubbed his jaw and pulled out his cell phone.
“You put that damn thing away, Maverick Jansen, if you know what’s good for you.” Luke tossed a pillow toward Mav’s head and regretted the move. He listed to the left, catching himself on the bed railing, and howled out in pain. “Shit, see what you made me do? You idiot.”
“Hush now, let me get you a nurse to come change your nappie. I’ll be right back.”
Luke pushed himself back to center and lay down flat, his pillow forsaken as ammunition. He now had to deal with a buttload of damaged pride and suck up the fact he wasn’t as strong as he thought. He knew Mav wouldn’t have really taken his picture laid up in bed. They’d been through too much for him to pull that crap on him. He hoped.
The unspoken elephant in the room was how Luke was injured. He was bound to be suspended, fined, and persecuted in the press. But he’d let his team down by thumbing his nose at the “no motorcycles” clause in his contract. And worst of all, he’d let down the man he considered more family than friend or teammate.
Maverick returned with the promised nurse. She double-checked the wrapping on Luke’s knee and explained again to him how the pain med drip worked. She also scolded them both on their volume, then whipped out a pen and paper for Maverick to autograph.
He smirked at Luke as he scrawled his autograph.
“She already asked for mine, asshole. You’re not as special as you like to think.”
“Thank you boys, my grandson is going to eat his vegetables for a year when I hand him this.”
She walked out of the room before Luke could get her attention. “Could I get something else to wear Miss . . . um, Nurse . . . damn I forgot her name already.”
“I’d worry less about the dress and more about our trainer,” Mav said.
“Okay, I’ll bite. What’s up with Manny?”
“He’s on paternity leave.”
“He’s what?!”
“Their twins came two months early, so T.S. had no choice but to start his paternity leave now. And before you ask, Nelson isn’t exactly jumping for joy about working with you. As a matter of fact, I don’t think he’s recovered from you cussing him out last year when we were still in Boston,” Mav chuckled.
“Oh please, he had it coming. He started working on my shoulder, the uninjured one, and complained there was nothing wrong with me after giving me a shot in the wrong damn arm. So I had an off day and yelled at him.”
“In front of half the team.”
“Yeah, well, I would have thought he’d have grown a pair and be over it by now.”
“Apparently not. Maybe you could apologize?”
Luke growled and looked away. “No way, the guy’s an idiot.”
“Look, you need a certified physical therapist, not just a sports trainer, and quick. From what I’ve overheard you may not need surgery, so swallow your pride, apologize, and in a few weeks you’ll be ready to go back out on the field.”
“A few weeks, huh? That’s not the feeling I get when the doctors are in here. You’re not keeping something from me are you? Man, if you tell me I’m out for the season I’m going to deck you. As soon as I get a pair of crutches and then learn how to use ’em, you’re a dead man.”
“Listen, lots of players come back from a torn meniscus. You will too. You’re in better shape than most of the rookies on the team.” Maverick moved the crutches the nurse had just delivered with a promise to show Luke how to use them when she returned.
Luke stared up at the ceiling before he closed his eyes. “What if I don’t? What if this is the end for me?”
Maverick remained silent.
Luke looked at his best friend and for the first time saw uncertainty in his eyes. Mav had always been the optimistic one of the duo until his brother, Connor, had been killed last year. After the championship loss, Luke had become used to seeing despair laced with pain whenever he looked too close, but never had Luke seen that look directed at him.
“Dammit, Luke, you need to put that “poor me” crap in a bag and bury it. You’re going to rehab that knee and be back in time for playoffs.”
“So you got a crystal ball? You predicting the Outlaws in the playoffs our first year as a club?”
“Damn straight. The only competition is the L.A. Knights.”
This time a nurse’s assistant appeared and shyly gave Maverick a smile. Fuck, even his nurse had the hots for Maverick. That did little to boost his ego while lying flat on his back, with bed head and two days out from his last shower.
“Mr. Garibaldi, the doctor wants to see how you do with the crutches. If you can maneuver yourself a few steps up and down the hallway, he’ll release you tomorrow without an order for a wheelchair.”
“Those don’t look like they’ll hold me up. Don’t you have something a little, um . . . sturdier?” Luke cringed as he shifted his body to the side of the hospital bed. The pain meds were beginning to wear off and he wasn’t about to ask for more in front of Mav.
“Wuss.” Mav coughed and covered his mouth.
Luke shot him a glare and pushed himself to the edge as the pretty little nurse’s assistant stood to his left and handed him the first crutch. Another nurse appeared to assist the first.
Hell, now he had a full room to see him at his weakest. Too bad this nurse was forty-something and built like a linebacker. No chance she’d be flirting with him or slipping him her phone number.
He used the first crutch to brace his weight. He stood up on his right leg and gritted his teeth. Nurse One praised him like he was a toddler taking his first steps and Nurse Two dug her fingertips into his biceps as she shoved the other crutch under his armpit. Damn if he would complain.
Who knew if either of these angels of mercy would run to their smart phones and rat him out on Twitter for being a difficult patient. He was determined to be the model patient. Even if on the inside he was whimpering like a baby.
Nurse One guided him away from the bed. The linebacker took up position behind him as he took his first full step toward the door of his room. He made it, but not without soaking his hospital gown with sweat.
Proud of himself, he looked over at Maverick and winked. “Piece of cake.” He continued out into the hallway with his left leg bent underneath his body.
“Mr. Garibaldi, if you could turn around and head back into the room, that should be enough for today,” Nurse One said.
Luke executed an about-face. A whistle and a chuckle from Nurse Two greeted him. “What’s so funny?”
Maverick sat in the corner chair, cell phone pointed in his direction.
“Damn you, Mav. I would have thought of all people I could count on you not to take a picture of me.”
“Luke, sorry, dude. I couldn’t help myself. Your white ass is hanging out and the opportunity was just too good to pass up.”
“Give me that phone. You need to delete it. Now.”
“And if I don’t? What are you going to do?”
“I’ll sick Kelsey on you. I’ll get her to cut you off for a week.”
“Shit. She’d do it too.” Maverick made a show of deleting the photo he just took. “There, happy now?”
“Give me your phone so I can make sure it’s gone.”
“Just get back into bed, Luke. I deleted it. You need to rest up so we can get you out of here tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow? The doc said I could leave today. Who told you tomorrow?”
“The nurse said it, not me. Look don’t get your panties in a twist. Oh wait, you’re not wearing any.”
Luke flipped him the bird with both hands. Not any easy thing to do with crutches, but he managed. He needed to get out this hospital and into rehab before he murdered his best friend. There had to be a light at the end of the tunnel he found himself lost in.
Self-pity was not going to get him back on the diamond and behind the plate. And he needed to make sure Chaz didn’t win his spot permanently. Sure, he liked the guy and wanted the team to win even if he couldn’t be there to help make it happen, but this was not the way he planned on ending his career.
“How about you bring me up to speed on what’s going on in the clubhouse. Any feedback on me being replaced indefinitely?” Luke swallowed past a huge lump as he said that last word. He’d prided himself on never missing a game due to an injury.
“The usual. Rookies are bitching about paying for dinners, and JR is getting fed up with his latest ball girl and looking for someone to take her off his hands. I told him you’d be glad to since you now have a lot of free time.”
“Fuck you, Mav. And JR too. I never liked that guy. And besides, you know what I’m after. What’s Blake saying about me? He looking to make Chaz the go-to catcher for the rest of the season?” Luke tried to sound nonchalant but Mav knew him well enough to know how unsure he felt about his position on the team.
“You wish.”
That’s what Luke was worried about. Everyone would look at it as a chance for some time off, but he wanted this and next season to be his best.
“Settle yourself man, nothing that drastic. Take the rest of the season to rehab, go on a long vacation, and come back stronger than ever. That’s what I’d do.”
“Really? Quit blowing smoke up my ass. Now tell me what’s really going on.”