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“Look, he might not have said it directly to you, but he really likes you. Always has. For what it’s worth, and I know he should say this.

Er—I shouldn’t be meddling where I don’t belong, but I fear he won’t tell you.

He got scared after your night together.

Thought you’d wake up and realize you’d made a mistake. ”

I exhaled. “Because of last time. Fuck.”

“Don’t be too hard on yourself. Just promise you’ll talk to him, okay?”

“I will.” I promised.

Thierry

Two things became apparent at once. The beeping noise coming from somewhere in the room I was in irritated the hell out of me.

Second, I wasn’t at home, nor was I at the arena anymore.

I eased my eyes open. The soft glow of amber lighting gave the space a dim glow.

I tried to rub my blurry eyes, only to hiss as something pinched my hand. What the fuck happened to me ?

“Easy, Thier. You’ve had us all worried about you.” Pope... I sank into the pillows and blankets as embarrassment and rejection filled me. Why was he here?

“Pope,” I croaked, then coughed, my throat dry and my lips chapped.

“Here, drink,” he said, putting a straw to my lips. I did as he asked, basking in the cold water sliding down my throat. “You have a ton of questions, I bet. So, I’ll start from the beginning. You’re at Vanderbilt Hospital. You passed out at the game.”

Sounded about right for the first part. Then I popped my eyes open. “Va—” I coughing jag hit me, taking my breath away. When I caught my breath, I sucked down a bit more water Pope offered me. “Vanderbilt Hospital? What happened?”

“The infection in your knee hadn’t gone away, like you and Dr. Jay thought it had,” Pope said.

Fear seized my throat. I glanced down at myself, then exhaled in relief when I saw both of my legs still intact. However, Dr. Jay had elevated and wrapped my left knee. “That sucks.”

“For you, yeah,” he murmured. “You had staph in your knee, man. No one knew. No way for you to even realize it until you got sick and the infection made an appearance on the outside of your knee.”

“I pushed aside the signs though,” I whispered, still too tired to speak louder.

“Dr. Jay said with all you’d been through; you’d have thought it was normal.”

I nodded, trying to get comfortable even as the lines pulled in my hands, and my leg felt too heavy to lift. “So, what now?”

A knock came at the door and Dr. Jay walked in as if he magically knew I’d just woken up. “Good, you’re awake. How do you feel?” His exhaustion and chipperness confused me. The man always seemed to be in a good mood, no matter what happened. Does he ever have a bad day?

“Just woke up,” I murmured. “I don’t know how I feel. What happened?”

“I was just about to tell him when you walked in,” Pope said.

“Ah,” Dr. Jay said, grabbing a chair to sit on. “Then we’ll start from the beginning and you’re going to tell me what happened the other night.”

“Other night?” Confusion filled me. “How many days have I been here?”

“Tonight makes day three,” Dr. Jay said. “You were rushed here from the arena after you passed out on the bench.”

Oh, I guess I didn’t puke on myself. “I had a fever.”

“You did,” Dr. Jay agreed. “A very high one.”

“But I was cold too.” I frowned.

“The staff put cold pack and bags of ice all around you,” Pope said. “They were trying to manually bring your fever down.”

“By the time you arrived here,” Dr. Jay said you were on the verge of a hundred-and-three-degree fever.”

“Oh. That’s really bad.” I’d taken the ibuprofen in hopes of bringing it down along with drinking those sports drinks. Guess I’d been too far gone by then. “My knee really hurt. Hot to the touch and swollen. A few white bumps.”

“When did you notice that?” Dr. Jay opened my file.

“Uh... Before the pre-game meeting with Coach.” I cleared my throat.

“I’d had a low-grade fever on and off too, but I chalked it up to the schedule, rehab, and strain.

” I cut my gaze toward Pope who stared a hole in me.

“Don’t look at me like that. Most of us played through bronchitis or some other illness.

You know this. We’ve done it a few times as kids. ”

“This wasn’t bronchitis,” Pope said through clenched teeth.

“He’s right.” Dr. Jay sat forward bracing his elbows on his knees. “You had a staph infection and the beginning stages of sepsis, Thierry.”

The news smacked me in the middle of the chest, knocking the air from my lungs. Sepsis? Staph? How the hell had that happened? Did I not care for my knee properly? Had I done something wrong? Tried to come back too soon after surgery? My mind spun with the reality of my situation.

“Your wheels are churning I see,” Dr. Jay said.

“There was nothing you could do to prevent this. The infection was lurking in your knee and none of the tests or cultures caught it when we ran them before your initial surgery six months’ ago.

Ninety-nine out of a hundred surgeries this wouldn’t have been an issue. All it takes is one.”

“So, it was there when you replaced my knee?” I asked, pissed at the team orthopedic doctor who claimed he could do the surgery without me having to miss a beat.”

“Lurking? Yes. Can I say either way the other team botched your surgery with certainty?” He’d had the same thought as I did.

“Not with certainty.” Dr. Jay shrugged. “However, I’ve sent the previous surgery writeups along with this one and our first surgery to a peer review group to investigate.

I’d like to say I’m always learning and using new innovations for non-invasive surgeries, so I believe others do the same.

But somewhere along the lines our work went wrong, Thierry, and I am sorry for that. ”

I waved off his apology. “I don’t blame you, Dr. Jay. You took almost all my pain away when you replaced my knee.”

“Well, I appreciate your vote of confidence. Now, let’s talk about the new knee and what I’ve done to help you heal properly this time.”

The whole time Dr. Jay explained the subsequent surgery and my new knee, Pope didn’t leave my side.

Not even when the nurse checked my catheter or emptied the bag.

That was totally embarrassing. At least until tomorrow, I had to stay in bed then physical therapy would come in and get me moving again.

Once everyone left, Pope stood to stretch then paced. The unease rolling off him hurt my head. Or maybe not being able to eat in seventy-two hours, either way... “Pope, stop pacing, please. You’re making me dizzy.”

He spun around, guilt on his face as he released a breath ten times bigger than him. “We should talk.”

Yeah, I figured. I thought I’d have a bit more time, all things considered. But I was stuck here so maybe getting all our issues out on the table was for the best. At least now he could leave and there’d be no ill-will between us. “Sure, what about?”

He frowned. “Derrick.”

Oh. Not exactly what I suspected. Then again, he had showed up to the same game Pope was at. “What did he have to say?”

Pope stared at me, and my stomach gave a nervous turn.

Like whatever he was about to tell me could end up hurting me more than Derrick.

Like always. “He’s been trying to get in here and while the medical team worked on you at the arena.

He’s made a fuss over everything. Even today, down in the lobby, he was harassing all the guards. ”

Yep, typical Derrick. “Did he threaten to get his lawyer?”

“Not that I’m aware of,” Pope said. “I’m going to cut straight to it. I think he wants an angle. Maybe views on his social media? Before you knocked out, he was taking videos or photos of the game and being generally annoying.”

Sounded like Derrick, too. Not caring about those around him, making the moments about him instead of who he supported. I’d fallen prey to his schtick before. Nice to know someone else saw him for what he was worth. “Sorry about that.”

Pope made a sour face, rearing back as if someone slapped him or he touched something he shouldn’t have.

“Why are you apologizing for that piece of shit excuse for a human? He’s done nothing but been rude, self-centered and a borderline stalker since the incident.

I put your phone on the charger I picked up from your pla?—”

“You went to my home?”

“Lily-Mae took me,” he said. “We didn’t want you to not have clean clothes or your toiletries.”

Shame washed over me. Of course, Lily-Mae would help Pope. “Thank you.”

“Not a problem. Anyway, your phone has been buzzing and ringing since I plugged your device in. So, I turned it off. I’m sure the team wants to know how you’re doing, but I have a sneaky suspicion it’s him blowing up your phone.”

Pope was right. “I’m not with him.” That felt good to say. “After he accused me of abusing him, I have kept my distance.” I saw the questions swirling in Pope’s obsidian eyes. “I haven’t slept with him either.”

“So, why did he come back?” There wasn’t an ounce of accusation in Pope’s question.

“He got cheated on,” I said. “He’s been up my ass. It’s like he knows where I’m at all the time. I think someone on the team is sending him my location.”

Pope got this thoughtful look on his face. “Can I see your phone for a minute? I want to check something out.”

I motioned to the rolling table at my side. “Not like I’ve used it yet. Be my guest.”

“Great. I have this friend,” Pope said, grabbing my phone before opening his. “He’s good at figuring this kind of stuff out. He’s kind of in the stalker business. Hacking mostly. You didn’t hear that from me.”

I honestly didn’t want to know either.

“Troy,” Pope said after putting his device to his ear, “yeah man, it’s been a good minute.

Look, I need your help. A friend is in a situation.

I think his ex is stalking him. Person’s been showing up everywhere and won’t leave him alone.

If I put you on video, can you walk me through cleaning his phone? ”

Pope hit a button on the screen. “No problem, man. Whoa are you in the hospital?”

“Yes,” Pope said, turning my phone toward me to unlock it with facial recognition. The minute the device opened messages and phone call notifications started going off. “Not the point man.”

“That must be the stalker, huh?” Troy said.

“Yes,” Pope and I replied.

“Alright, show me those apps.”

Pope lined up the devices before swiping the screen. Could it be that easy? An app? No way. I’d have noticed it. Wouldn’t I have?

“Wait!” Troy said, “Go back to the previous screen.”

Pope did as he asked. “Tell me when to stop.”

“Right there,” Troy said. “The PomPom app. New shit. All the kids are using it to send texts to their friends and to track locations. It’s lowkey and all the data deletes within twenty-four hours.

Once the app is uploaded to the phone or tablet, the person doing all the tracking has access to everything.

Phone logs, messages, calendars. Everything. ”

I stared at Pope who deleted the app from my phone while listening to Troy.

There was a time when I would’ve defended Derrick.

Made excuses and cleaned up the messes he made without a second thought because I fancied myself in love with him.

Now, I wanted to strangle him. I couldn’t believe what was happening.

“I don’t think we should remove the app,” I said. “How do I prove he’s been on my phone without it?”

“App store,” Troy said. “If it came down to it, forensic search of the phone. But for now, if you look in the app store, once you type in PomPom , a purple box will come up. The corresponding green box is on his phone.”

Which meant, the minute Derrick couldn’t track me, he’d know I knew about his little stalker tendencies. “Guess a restraining order won’t work.”

“I don’t know, man,” Troy said. “With as much as your phone has been going off, I’d say you have plenty of proof of harassment at least.”

True. “Thanks, I appreciate the help.”

“Anytime,” Troy said. “A friend of Pope’s is a friend of mine. Hey, Pope, didn’t catch your friend’s name.”

I smirked. “Thierry Thomas.”

“No shit! Holy fuck, man. You son of a bitch. You never told me you were friends with famous people. Fucker.”

Pope’s cheeks reddened. “Hanging up now. Bye.”

“Yeah, yeah, asshole. Bye.”

The call ended and Pope turned his gaze on me. “Well, maybe now you’ll get some peace.”

I hoped so, until a knock came at the door and Cobi Mayson strode into the room. “Hey, Thierry. Glad you’re awake. Pope.” Cobi nodded in his direction. “We need to talk. There’s been an incident.”