Instead, her mind continued to dwell on the transplant. Even reading an article in Sports Illustrated about the top rookies in the NHL made her think about what was happening in the operating room, because even if Trevor wasn’t on the list, Nikolai Brantov was, and anything about the Generals brought her back to thinking about Trevor.
“Ms. Greer?”
At the sound of her name, Dani looked up from the magazine. She hoped it was a nurse coming to tell her that Trevor’s part of the procedure was done. Instead, she found herself facing Jessica Rowan from Channel Twelve News and Charlene Simmons from the Generals Foundation. “Dani, please. Hi.” She stood to greet them. “What can I do for you?”
“Sit, please,” Char said. “It’s more about what we can do for you.”
“I’m not sure what you mean,” Dani said. “I know you offered do some sort of a drive to encourage more people to get tested as possible donors for Kaylen, but since we found a donor right away, I assumed that was off.”
Char nodded. “That’s off, yes, but it doesn’t mean the Foundation can’t and won’t help you. I’m here at the request of Meryl Johnson, who, as you know, is the daughter of the team’s owner.”
And presumed heir apparent of the team, one day. “Yes,” Dani said. “I’m still confused as to what any of this has to do with me.”
“Because the Johnson family has authorized the Foundation to back all of your daughter’s medical expenses related to the transplant.”
Dani had been standing, but suddenly her knees felt weak and she sank down into the nearest chair. “What?”
“I said that the Generals Foundation will be paying all of your hospital bills,” Char repeated.
Okay, she had heard correctly. It still didn’t make sense. “Why? I thought you said you couldn’t do anything specific for one family, that it had to be a broader effort to help all of the kids in the hospital.”
“I did, yes,” Char said. “But that was before we knew Kaylen was part of the Generals family. We do consider it a family, and we want to help.”
“I... wow. I don’t know what to say.” It was all so much to take in. “Is there a catch?” Dani hated to sound cynical, but she subscribed to the theory that if it sounded too good to be true, it probably was.
Jessica chuckled. “I figured you’d ask that. Just one, and it’s a pretty small one. It’s why I’m here, though.”
“The Foundation wants publicity,” Char admitted. “We need it if we’re going to keep raising both money and awareness. It’s the nature of the beast.”
“I understand that,” Dani said. “So what are you asking? I don’t want to be on the news. I don’t want my daughter on the news.”
“I figured you might say that, and I can respect your position,” Char told her. “We’ll keep names out of it, if that’s what you want. We’re just asking to be able to run a generic feature on the news about what the Foundation is doing to help a local family.”
“No names?” Dani looked at Jessica. “You can promise me that?”
The news reporter nodded. “I can. I’ll even have my brother draw up an agreement for all of us to sign before I run any story, if you prefer.”
Hearing that made it a lot easier to say yes. Dani had worked with Jessica’s brother for several years. She knew him to be a man of integrity, and had every reason to believe it was a trait shared by his sister. “If you can guarantee me that, I’d be an idiot not to accept.” It might be what kept her out of bankruptcy.
***
Trevor woke up groggy from the anesthesia and with pain in his lower back, which was probably expected after having hollow needles inserted into his pelvic bone. Dani was there, though, and that made it all worth while.
“Hey, sleepy,” she greeted him. “How are you doing?”
He lay on his side, surrounded by pillows and cushions which prevented him from being flat on his back, not that he’d choose that position. At the moment, Trevor questioned whether he’d ever want to lay on his back again. “I won’t be lacing up my skates and hitting the rink anytime soon,” he said, “but otherwise, I’m okay. I’m glad you’re here.” Maybe it was his imagination, but he could swear he’d heard her say she loved him as he’d wheeled off to the OR. He couldn’t blame it on the drugs, either, because they hadn’t even given him any yet.
“I wouldn’t be anywhere else,” she assured him, then smiled. “Well, okay, the waiting room was driving me crazy, and they won’t let me be with Kaylen.”
Trevor wanted to laugh, but didn’t quite have the energy and it would probably hurt too much, anyway. “So basically, I’m your second choice.”
“I didn’t say that.”
He couldn’t laugh, but managed a smile. “It’s okay. I can live with second,” he said. “How’s our baby girl doing? Have you heard?”
“They started the transplant,” Dani said. “That’s the easy part, though.”
Trevor nodded. “Yeah. It’s the waiting to know if it worked that will be hard.”
“Yeah, but we’ll be okay. We’re in this together, right?”
Dani’s expression looked hopeful, and Trevor couldn’t dash it. “Of course we are.”
“Trev?”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t argue with me, because I’ve made up my mind and I’m not changing it. When they discharge you from the hospital, you’re coming home with me.”
Dani’s tone was firm, and he was too damn tired to argue with her, anyway. “Yes, ma’am. Understood.” Trevor leaned his head back against the pillow and closed his eyes.
Chapter Fifteen
Three days later, Trevor sat in the press box eating nachos as he watched his team take the ice for game four of their playoff series against Dallas. Their backs were against the wall, with a three games to none deficit to overcome or the season would be over. It was a long shot, and every Generals fan knew it, but somehow Trevor was okay with it.
He didn’t think he’d lost his competitive edge. Trevor wanted his team to win, and he wished he could be on the ice with them, not eating processed cheese sauce poured over round corn chips with the other players not in uniform. As much as he wished he could be out there, though, Trevor had a new appreciation for what was really important in life.
He thought about Kaylen, back in the hospital recovering from the transplant, no doubt watching the game with Dani. Trevor wished he could be there with them, too, but it was a San Antonio home game, and quite possibly the last of the season. As much as his teammates had given to him, he owed it to them to be at the arena cheering them on.
In the end, Trevor nearly lost his voice cheering, but it wasn’t meant to be. Jamie Benn had two goals and an assist to lead Dallas to the series sweep. Their Stanley Cup dreams lived on, while those of the Generals crashed and burned.
It was somber in the locker room after the game. Nobody wanted to say much. Tomorrow, the players would come in, clean out their lockers, and give their exit interviews before beginning the long off-season. Trevor just hoped he wouldn’t be cleaning out his locker for the last time as a member of the San Antonio Generals. He hadn’t secured a new contract yet, and if it didn’t happen soon, he’d become a free agent on July 1st. There would be offers coming, he didn’t doubt that after a sixty point season. But he wanted to stay in San Antonio. His life was here.
The guys that had played headed for the showers, and Trevor headed for the door. Time to go home. Whatever happened with the contract was beyond his control.
“Hey, Collison,” Coach Moreau called to him.
Trevor stopped. “Yes, Coach?”
“I just wanted to say good season. It didn’t end the way we wanted it to, but that’s going to be the case for thirty-one other teams, too.”
In spite of the disappointment, Trevor cracked a smile. “I guess that’s true.”
“Anyway, you’ve been a good player all season. The work ethic, the effort, the leadership, all there.”
“Thanks, Coach.” Wher
e was this conversation going? It sounded too much like a goodbye, which Trevor wasn’t quite ready to accept. “It’s been a privilege to play here, and I appreciate the opportunity that the organization has given me.”
“I’m glad to hear that.” The coach smiled. “I don’t have any control over the numbers, of course, but I know Mr. Morris will be contacting your agent about a new contract. We definitely want you back in the maroon and gray next season.”
It was real. It was going to happen. He would get that new contract. Trevor didn’t even care that much about the dollar amount, although he knew his agent would fight for the highest he could get. The important thing was the term, and hopefully a no-trade clause, too. As long as he could finish his professional hockey career in the same city it started in.
***
Dani wiped tears from her eyes as the final buzzer sounded on the Generals season. Even though the outcome wasn’t unexpected—few people expected them climb out of a three games to none series deficit against Dallas—it still stung. She’d gotten so into hockey again these past few months, and especially the past few weeks since Trevor came back into her life. Was it all about to end, now?
She wasn’t ready to face that. Their relationship might still be uncertain, but Dani had made up her mind. If Trevor left San Antonio, and he asked her to accompany him to his next destination, wherever that might be, this time she was going with him. If only she got that chance.
Kaylen had fallen asleep during the game, and Dani knew she’d be devastated when she found out her team had lost. There would be other games, though. She had to believe that. Her daughter wasn’t out of danger yet, but Dani vowed to be positive. The transplant was done, and now they were in the waiting game—waiting for engraftment, or Kaylen’s new stem cells growing and developing. They probably wouldn’t know for several more weeks whether successful engraftment had occurred, and Kaylen would have to remain in the hospital until it did.
Dani planted a kiss on her daughter’s forehead and gathered her things to leave the hospital. She’d missed a lot of work staying by her daughter’s side and didn’t know if she’d have a job to go back to when she was ready, but with the help of the Generals Foundation, she was less worried about her finances. Whatever happened, she’d be okay.
She’d just gotten home when Trevor arrived soon after her. It was strange, having him staying at her house, but sleeping in the guest room. He hadn’t batted an eye when she told him he would be coming home with her, though.
“I’m sorry about the game,” she said when he walked into the house.
“Me too.” He shrugged out of his suit jacket. “Our season is over. It’s hard to believe.”
It sure was. “So what happens next?” Dani wasn’t just asking about his NHL future, but about their relationship.
“I don’t know the dollars yet, but it sounds like I’ll get a contract offer to stay in San Antonio,” he said. “Whatever it is, I intend to take it. This is where I want to be. This is home. Right here, with you and Kaylen.”
“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
“I don’t read minds, so I don’t know what you’re thinking. But if you’re asking if I want a future with you, the answer is yes,” Trevor said. “I wanted it twelve years ago, too, and I hate the time I lost with you, and with Kaylen. But I’ve had a lot of time think these last couple weeks, and I even though I don’t like the choice you made, I get it. I understand why you made it. I wasn’t ready, and I probably would have ended up hurting you, or if not that, at least disappointing you.” He exhaled. “I’m here now, though, and I intend to stick around and I’ll try my best not to let you down. I love you, Dani.”
“I love you too, Trevor.” She wiped at her eyes again. The second time that night she’d cried, but at least this time, they were happy tears. “And I’m glad you’re sticking around.”
“You can bet I am,” he said. “Now that we got that out of the way, I’ve had enough of this guest room crap. I’d like to move into your bed. If I’m welcome, that is.”
Oh yeah, he was welcome, all right. It had been way too long, and she was sick of replacing the batteries in her vibrator. “If the doctor’s say it’s all right...”
“I didn’t ask, and I don’t intend to call them.” Trevor’s face broke out in that sexy smile she had such a hard time resisting. “I think we can safely say that sex isn’t the type of contact sport they prohibit.”
Epilogue
Twenty-five days after Kaylen’s transplant, they got the good news. Her white blood count was rising. Engraftment had occurred. Dani held off on the celebration, though. It was a step, and an important one in the road to recovery, but it wasn’t the milestone they all hoped for.
That came two and a half months after surgery, when the medical team deemed Kaylen well enough to leave the hospital for the first time in more than six months. She was still weak, and would need daily monitoring for at least another month, but that could be done on an outpatient basis.
Now they could celebrate, and they did so in the most fitting fashion Dani knew how. By taking Kaylen to watch the first day of the Young Generals hockey camp. Kaylen wanted to participate, of course, but it was way too soon for that. Maybe next year. It was a goal to work toward, anyway, and if there was one thing Kaylen had proven over the course of the year, it was that she was tough, she was a fighter, and she could battle adversity. She got it from her father, Dani decided, though she knew Trevor would say otherwise.
Dani looked over at him as he pushed Kaylen’s wheelchair up the ramp to the ice rink where the camp would be held. In preparation for the chilly temperatures inside the rink, they packed plenty of blankets and dressed her in multiple layers of clothing. The top layer, of course, was her Generals jersey, with the number thirty-seven and her father’s name on the back. Maybe one day, down the road, they would take the steps to make it Kaylen’s surname, too. Now wasn’t the time. Kaylen still had a long recovery ahead of her, and the relationship still too new. They’d get there, though. Dani firmly believed that.
“What are you thinking about?” Trevor asked her.
“How happy I am right now,” she said. “Being here with you. Having our little girl out of the hospital. It’s like a dream come true.” It was still hard to believe, but maybe it was true that things had a way of working out for a reason. Twelve years ago, she’d doubted Trevor’s commitment to her and his ability to be a family man, and tried to do things on her own. She’d had her struggles as a single parent, but through it all, she’d done a good job. She’d raised a beautiful little girl. But if she had it to do over again, she would have trusted Trevor and given him the chance. Would he have stepped up? Would his life have taken a different turn if he had? She didn’t know. One thing was for certain, though. He’d stepped up now, in a big way, putting their daughter and her chance of survival and recovery ahead of himself, his own personal glory, and the chance at the playoffs. Thankfully, he’d still earned the contract extension he so badly wanted.
“It sure is, and there’s nowhere else I’d rather be,” Trevor said.
Dani pressed the button to trigger the automatic door, and walked behind as Trevor wheeled Kaylen inside. As the entered the rink, they sound of applause filled he air. Dani assumed maybe it was the spectators in attendance cheering the introduction of the Generals’ players that were in attendance at the camp, until she saw Char Simmons and Meryl Johnson approaching them.
“There she is. The special guest of honor,” Char said.
“How are you, Kaylen?” Meryl kneeled down in front of the chair extended her hand.
“Good. Happy to be here,” Kaylen said.
“It’s better than the hospital, I’m sure,” Nik Brantov said, stepping forward. “You remember me, right?”
“Yeah.” Kaylen laughed. “You’re the one that makes funny faces.”
“That’s right, I am.” The young Russian then contorted his face into one of the similar goofy expressions
that had so entertained her daughter back in March, when the players first visited the Children’s Hospital.
“We have something for you, Kaylen.” It was the team’s captain, Colton Tremblay. He held up a hockey stick. “This is your size, and signed by all of us on the team,” he said. “Well, except for Collison here, but I’m sure he’ll sign it now, too. We’re hoping maybe next year, you’ll be able to join the Young Generals camp yourself and use that sick.”
***
Trevor had expected to there might be some sort of fanfare when he got to the rink with Kaylen, but the reception they got exceeded those expectations. His daughter grinned from ear to ear as she examined her new hockey stick.
His daughter. Trevor might still be getting used to that fact, but he sure was happy about it. He loved his role on the Generals, and the new contract he’d earned that would keep him in San Antonio for the remainder of his career, but it was new role, the role of father, that he cherished the most. While there were no guarantees in life, and certainly not when you were dealing with cancer, Kaylen’s doctors were confident that her new bone marrow growth gave her a good chance at recovery and remission. Maybe joining the Young Generals camp next summer was overly optimistic, but if anyone could do it, it would be Kaylen.
“Thanks, guys,” he said. “This is great.”
“I told you, man, we’re a team,” Colton said. “We’re a family. We look out for each other.”
Trevor nodded, blinking hard. The last thing he wanted was any of the guys seeing him cry. He had a reputation to live up to, after all. It was hard not tear up, though. The Generals might have missed the playoffs, and their instate rival Dallas took home the Stanley Cup, but Trevor felt like he’d won so much more. He had love. He had a family. He had a life here and a future he could forward to. All of that was more valuable than a championship ring.
Colton and Nik headed off toward the ice. It was time to start the camp, and Trevor needed to get down there, too. He had one thing to do first, though. He wheeled his daughter to the prime viewing spot so she could watch all the action. “Here you go, Special Kay,” he said. “You won’t miss anything from here.”
Winning it All (Men of the Ice Book 3) Page 9