Page 25

Ruben

My head pounded as I struggled to open my eyes, unsure how long I’d been asleep or why I was. “Sir, you’ve had an accident. You’re at Downtown Hospital. Can you tell me what your name is?” someone asked me and for a moment I couldn’t answer.

“I—I’m Ruben, Ruben Franklin.”

“Thank you, Mr. Franklin. Do you remember what happened?” He shined a light in my eyes, and I flinched away from the pain.

“No. I don’t remember.” My mind was a mess of pain and fog. I thought back on the day and knew I’d gone to work but I couldn’t remember anything more than being there. “What happened?”

“You were hit in the head with a puck. We’ve done an X-ray and didn’t see anything serious but we’re going to order an MRI just to be sure.”

It took me a moment to realize what that was, but I still didn’t remember what had happened.

“I’m sorry, is there someone I can call?” someone else asked.

“Yes, my family is local.” I gave him the number to my parents, and he told me he’d call them while I was getting the MRI.

“Are you in pain?”

“Yeah, a little,” I said and tried to keep my eyes open.

“I don’t want to give you anything too strong until we know what we’re working with.”

“I understand,” I said just as someone else came into the room and said they were there to take me for the MRI.

“Don’t worry, this won’t take long,” the person pushing the gurney said. My eyes were heavy, and it was harder and harder for me to concentrate on their words and stay awake. I was wheeled into a room and helped onto the bed of the MRI machine. Even with all the pounding noise I slept. In my dreams Max was here holding my hand and making sure I wasn’t afraid and knew he was there. That thought kept me calm and helped me through the noisy and uncomfortable procedure. I was wheeled back to my room where now some of the team was waiting in the hall.

“Ruben, are you okay?” Griffin asked as he rushed over to the gurney.

“Yeah, I think so. What happened?”

“There’s time for that after you talk to the doctor,” the person pushing the gurney said and pushed the gurney into the room before helping me back into bed. “Doctor Davis will be here soon to speak to you.”

Everything was a haze of confusion and pain but then a warm hand gripped mine and as I faded in and out of sleep, I held onto the feeling of that hand until the doctor woke me up and I realized the hand was gone. “Mr. Franklin. We have your results. You got very lucky, no skull fracture, which is what we were afraid of. You do have a slight concussion. So, we’ll be releasing you soon, but you shouldn’t be alone.”

“I can stay with him,” Max said, and walked into the room next to the bed. “Are you okay? I was so worried.”

“You’re not really supposed to be in here,” the doctor said. But I took Max’s hand and held it tight like the lifeline it was.

“I want him to stay,” I said.

“Your parents are here too,” the doctor said. “Should I send them in?”

“Sure, and can you explain again to them what’s wrong, so they don’t worry?” I asked.

“Of course.”

“Ruben, are you okay?” Mom asked as soon as she walked into the room and to the opposite side of the bed as Max.

“Yes, I’m fine. The doctor said I can go home soon.” He explained to them about my injury while my mom asked a million questions, and my dad stood silently next to her listening to every detail.

“So, you’re sure he doesn’t need to stay the night?” Mom asked.

“Yes, it looks worse than it really is. He was knocked out because of where it hit him, but it didn’t do any real harm.”

“What happened, Ruben?” Dad asked.

“I’m not sure. I don’t remember anything after I got to work.”

“You don’t?” Max asked. I shook my head and tried again to find a memory that told me what happened. “We were playing the Storm. It was the second period, and I had just switched up with Vanel. They were being aggressive the way they were in the first period, so they were pressing me hard against the net but then their blocker circled behind the net and slapped the puck at the players’ box. He said he was trying to hit the plexi in front, but you were standing in the opening when he shot, and it hit you on the side of the head.”

“Did we win?” I asked, making Max smile and my dad chuckle.

“Oh yeah, we kicked their ass.”

A voice spoke from the door. “Max?”

Max’s eyes widened but he didn’t move. “Joel? What are you doing here?” Max asked.

Joel? Why was Joel here? None of this made sense. I had to be in some weird fucking nightmare, or I was high from some unknown drug and tripping hard.

“I was talking to the administrator to see if my job was still open. Seattle isn’t working out for me.” He looked from me to Max and then down at our hands. Max shook his head and turned back to me without saying anything.

“Sir, are you a relative?” the doctor asked.

“No, he’s not,” I said before Joel or Max had time to say anything.

“You’ll need to leave, sir,” the doctor said.

“Joel,” Max said then stood and walked over closer to him. “Ruben and I are together now.” He didn’t say it in a threatening way, more matter of fact than anything, but the look in Joel’s eyes said he understood. His games were not going to work.

“I’m happy to hear that. I’ll let you go, and I’m sorry for any trouble I may have caused,” he said, obviously knowing exactly what he’d done. He said goodbye and walked out of the room.

Max walked back to where he’d been and took my hand again.

“Any idea when you’re free?”

“Soon,” the doctor said. But soon wasn’t fast enough for me.