Page 37 of Open Net

Madi nodded. “We have to respect her wishes. She’s a new mom figuring things out. I’m sure she wants to be able to do things on her own. She probably expects herself to, but it’s not required. That’s what family is for.”

I smiled but stopped when I remembered the locker room. “Some of the family is already forgetting about us.”

Her eyebrows pulled together. “What?”

“Tyler introduced the new guy, Nikolay, to the team. He told him Derek is the goalie.”

She shook her head. “He’s a kid, Olli. Don’t hold on to some stupid thing he said. I’m sure he wasn’t saying it to be mean. Derek is just the current goalie.”

I knew she was right, but it didn’t make me feel any better. I still felt annoyed. No, not annoyed. Enraged. How could I be replaced by some new kid who had only played his first NHL game because I was injured? It was ridiculous and infuriating.

“Olli, I have something else I want to talk to you about.”

I glanced back at her.

“I know we’ve told you it’s not likely that you’re going to play this season.”

I blinked, not trusting myself to speak.

“Coach and I spoke, and it was decided to officially pull you this season.”

“What?” I didn’t think this day could get any worse, but it did.

“Coach was willing to hold off for a few days, just to see how things with your knee were progressing. If some miracle were to happen and we realized the doctors and tests were wrong, that’s great, but we all need to be honest with ourselves. You have a long road ahead of you.” She sighed. “Honestly, Coach should have done it weeks ago.”

I swallowed and reminded myself that I couldn’t lose it. Not here. Not with Madi. Not only would Erik kill me, but it wasn’t her fault.

“Okay,” I muttered. Admitted defeat aloud was like a punch to the gut. As if I needed something else to be disappointed about.

She tilted her head. “Olli, he doesn’t have a choice. If anything were to happen to Derek or he needs to rest for a game…we need a backup.”

I knew that. She was right, Coach should have done this weeks ago. We all knew I wasn’t going to get any better anytime soon. It was wishful thinking on both our parts to ignore the inevitable.

“Is he pulling from the farm team?”

She nodded. “It’s temporary, Olli. You’ll be back.”

I scoffed. “Next year.”

She sighed. “I know it sounds like forever, but you need that time to get stronger.”

I clenched my fists. “Can we skip today?”

She was silent for a moment before nodding. “I’m sorry, Olli.”

I wanted to blame her… Coach…anyone for this. I hated this more than I’d ever hated anything. My life was out of my control and it wasn’t something I was used to.

“It’s not your fault.” I stood, hobbled out of the room and back to my car. I struggled to get my stupid crutch into the backseat before sliding behind the wheel.

Nothing about this felt right. Leaving before practice was over. Not being on the ice. Letting someone else stand in my place, and now I was officially on the injured reserve list. For a year. An entire season at the peak of my career.

I slammed my fist against the wheel. This was a year I’d never get back. A year spent watching instead of playing. A year of letting my sponsors forget about me.

How much would this cost me?

Not just money. That didn’t matter at this point. It was all the opportunities that I’d miss out on.

I hated it.