16
Lexi
The next couple of weeks sailed by.
Except for the sleep deprivation that always went hand in hand with owning a new puppy.
I didn’t mind one bit. I’d trade any amount of sleep if it meant Trey was in a better mood.
Which he definitely seemed to be.
Even so, he still often had his sad times. He wasn’t playing yet. Not even once.
He’d come a long way, but the coaching staff still wouldn’t make a decision.
The other night in bed, Trey couldn’t sleep. We talked for a couple of hours about everything.
Mostly about his fears of going down to the minors.
Nothing I said lifted his worries.
And it kind of sucked.
It also majorly sucked that all of his fears were totally real.
He was a pro hockey player in his thirties, who’d sustained a horrible, life-threatening injury.
Yes, he was on his way back.
But also yes—it was taking a while.
Longer than the world of sport wanted to wait.
Being at the top level of play like he was, the talk and rumors going around were—unkind.
To say the least.
Most broadcasters and talk shows had nearly written him off for good.
None of that helped Trey’s mindset.
At all.
Thank goodness for the puppy. She really did force him to think about something else.
She was growing like a weed, but still very much a puppy.
And that meant she got into everything.
The bigger she got, the more mischievous she became.
It could be cute to watch her tear up an entire box of tissues.
But, it also meant that puppy proofing our apartment was quickly becoming our new side job.
I’d just arrived home from a few days away.
Our team traveled to Canada to play a few games.