Page 13 of Hat Trick
I know what you’re going through, Mitchell.
You can’t hide from it forever, and you can’t get through it alone.
SEVEN
RILEY
SEPTEMBER
THREE MONTHS SINCE THE ACCIDENT
Coach
I’m done being nice.
Let’s try this again.
You’re still a member of my fucking team, Mitchell.
When I schedule a meeting, you’re expected to attend. I’m sick of coming to your apartment only to be told you’re out when I know for damn sure you haven’t left your building in fucking months.
Next Thursday. Noon. At the arena.
Do NOT make me track you down again.
EIGHT
RILEY
I stareat the ceiling tiles.
There are forty-two of them.
Like the hockey number I’ll never wear again.
That’s fucking ironic.
“How are you feeling today, Riley?”
I blink and glance over at my therapist.
Dr. Ledlow knows exactly how I’m feeling.
It’s the same way I felt yesterday, the day before that, and the three months that have passed since the night of the accident and my world flipped upside down.
I’m pissed off.
Helpless.
Like I’m suffocating as my world crashes around me and I can’t do anything about it.
It’s been like this for twelve weeks. An endless cycle of being angry at everything while also grieving the life I’ll never get back.
No more skating with the boys.
No more shooting on an empty net.
No more outdoor rinks and Winter Classics.
