Defender (Seattle Sharks 9)

“Yeah, I didn’t watch it either. I made my choices. Both with Harper and the helmet.” I ignored the pain that came from both consequences. Denial was a great place to live. When Langley’s eyes filled with pity and she opened her mouth to say something, I charged ahead. “But enough about me. Why are you here? Not that I’m not happy to see you.”

Her forehead wrinkled, but she shook it off and took a deep breath, hopefully getting the point that I didn’t want to talk about Harper or the helmet, or my lack of a contract. “A few of the guys were talking about flying in to see you tomorrow if you didn’t get out of the hospital by then, so I figured if I wanted to say my own hellos, I’d better get here early. You know how they get.”

“Yeah,” I grinned. “I do. How are they doing with the season being over?”

“Disappointed, of course, but there’s something deeper there, too. A lot of people are worried about, well, the direction of the team, I guess.” She looked away.

“That’s a face I haven’t seen since Sweden.”

She scoffed. “I was drunk in Sweden. God, was I drunk. Embarrassingly...drunk.”

“Your fiancé had just broken up with you. I think you’re allowed a week or two to lose yourself before you have to pull it all back together again. Now, what’s bugging you? Besides seeing me all banged up, of course.”

“I think…” She sighed and then brought her gaze to mine. “Can you keep a secret?”

“You’re pregnant with Axel’s baby,” I teased.

“That giant? Hell no. He’d probably crush me.” Her eyes flew wide. “Not crush in that way, of course. I mean—never mind.” Her cheeks flamed, just like they had every time Axel had come to her rescue last year.

“Yes, I can keep a secret. Hello, experimental helmet.”

“Right. I think I’m leaving Seattle.”

“The Sharks?” I couldn’t hide my shock.

She nodded. “Paulson’s an asshole. Life is too short to work for an asshole. Besides, I keep running into my ex because we still share some friends, and I just need a clean break. I’ve heard Chicago is looking for a new publicist, so maybe—”

Three knocks at my door halted her words in their tracks.

“Come in,” I called out, still blown away by her admission.

“Hey there, Mr. Noble,” Dr. Hernandez greeted me as he came in, two more docs on his heels.

“Doc,” I said with a nod. “This is Langley Pierce. She can hear whatever you have to say. She’s pretty much paid to keep secrets.”

“Okay. You’re missing your brother?” He looked over to the vacant chair that Nixon had almost grown into the last few days.

“He’s taking a shower, as far as I know. Guy needs a break.”

“He has been quite the guard dog for you. Now, let’s get to your head.”

I braced myself for the worst.

“Given the way you’ve bounced back these last few days, we have no reason to think you won’t make a full recovery.” He grinned.

“Really?” I asked. The way my life had been going, I’d fully expected to hear that I’d have permanent damage.

“Really.” He took a film out of my file and held it up to the light. “This is where you sustained the most significant impact, and where your brain had minor swelling. We sedated you, got the swelling under control, and now you’re dealing with the repercussions of that concussion, of course.

“Headache, memory issues, all that,” I supplied.

“Right. How are those?” he questioned.

“Headache is still there, especially with the lights. Short term memory is back more dependably.”

“Good, good. You’re a lucky man. That helmet saved your life.” He put the film back into the file.

I froze.

“I don’t see why you can’t head home tomorrow. You’ll need to follow up with your neurologist before you get back on the ice, of course. Definitely another few weeks, but your guy back in Seattle can monitor you.”

“Can you say that again?” I asked slowly.

“Which part?”

“The part where the helmet saved my life?” I made sure each word I spoke was clear so there were no misunderstandings.

Langley shifted until her hand was in mine.

“From what I can tell, the insert absorbed the impact. I don’t have it anymore, of course, but the force they hit you with cracked the external shell. It crippled whatever foam you had in there, but when we were shown numbers from your actual scans—the ones done by the helmet itself, the impact that reached you was nothing compared to the force the helmet took. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Pride and wonder hit me simultaneously. She’d done it. She was brilliant, and I loved her, and she...wasn’t here.

“You’re telling me that if I’d been wearing my normal helmet, I’d be dead.”

“It’s hard to say that with a hundred percent certainty, of course, but having seen the force with which you were struck, I’d say yes. I’ve never seen a helmet capable of taking a hit like that.”