6
Trey
“When are you back on the ice?” Isaac asked as he ran on the treadmill beside mine.
“Won’t be long. As soon as I get back into fighting shape,” I huffed out, feeling like I was going to fall over and die.
My workouts had sucked major ass lately.
The only good part was that I could read on my phone while I ran.
Gigi had taught me how to buy ebooks and load them onto my phone.
Jane Jefferies—one of Gigi’s favorite authors, and mine—released a new romance book today.
I’d ordered the paperback, but it wouldn’t come for a day or two.
And I couldn’t wait that long to read it.
Plus, reading on my phone in public had the added benefit of being able to hide the fact I was reading a romance novel.
“You were in the freaking ICU not too long ago,” Gigi said while she worked across the room with some weights.
The workout room was surprisingly large and well-stocked.
Having it steps away from my front door had helped a lot in my recovery.
Especially in the early days when just walking to the room was a big feat.
“That was weeks ago,” I said to Gigi, and she shook her head at me.
She’d been such an integral part of my healing process. “You’ll be fine, but don’t push it,” Gigi warned, always sitting on the side of caution.
The problem was—that I couldn’t push it.
All my damn life, I’d been able to push my body and make it do the impossible.
But, being body checked from behind, and crashing into the boards—headfirst—then ending up on life support for days—well, it had thrown one big, fat wrench into my otherwise trouble-free existence.
Yeah, I’d had occasional injuries during my career.
It was impossible to avoid the stress and strain that a sport will cause.
I’d never had an injury like this before, though.
An almost life-ending injury.
The pain it had caused in my back and neck wasn’t resolving like the doctors had promised.
It seemed like I was taking more pills lately—instead of less.
“Hush, mom,” I snarked back at Gigi. She gave me a dirty look—just like she did every time I called her that.
Truth be told—she was my best friend in the world. Having her around had done nothing but help my recovery.
It still pissed me off that I needed help.
In the past, I’d always been able to bounce back from anything.