Overtime

Kevin could hear David Wymack’s booming laugh from all the way down the hallway. As long as Kevin has known him, (granted, not that long), he never seemed to have much volume control. It’s nice to hear a coach laugh for once though. The conversation became clearer as he approached Abby Winfield’s office. The door was ajar. He wasn’t sure if he should interrupt or not so he just stood there, fidgeting with the brace on his left hand. He couldn’t wait to get out of it. Sure, it was slightly lower profile than the seemingly endless parade of casts and bandages he’d been sporting over the past year but it was still restrictive and irritating.
“I beg your finest pardon?”, Wymack’s gruff voice
“Our starting goalies. They fight each other.” Abby, newly appointed women’s team coach and medic for both teams.
“Minyard and Walker?”
“Yep.”
“Do I need to get SafeSport involved?”
“Nope. I think they like it.” A pause. “-it’s not a sex thing, David! Jesus! Renée says it’s ‘regulating’ or something.”
Finally they noticed Kevin by the door. Wymack nudged the door open with his foot. “Fuck, Kevin, why are you standing there like some hallway phantom? Come in!” He made his way onto the small examination table at one wall of the office at Abby’s insistence. Wymack threw something at Kevin’s head, which he reflexively caught with his right hand.
“Thank god you caught that or else you’d make me reconsider” Wymack laughed. Reconsider what? Kevin carefully opened the small manila envelope he just caught. It was difficult with one and a half working hands. Inside the envelope was a white, nylon, letter C. He shook his head.
“No. Should be Boyd. You’re making a mistake, Coach. Respectfully.”
Wymack shook his head. “Matty doesn’t want it! I’ve been trying since his junior year! He loves that goddamn A. And honestly? I really like him in that support role. But you, Kevin, I’ve been seeing you run drills for the team in the off-season. I’ve seen how you lead that line on the Ravens. I need you as captain this year. You and Wilds leading our teams might be what we need. Should Abby clear you,” he shot a pointed glare at the womens’ coach and she just shrugged in response “we’ll need you starting.”
“Coach, I don’t know what to say” Kevin stammered.
“Sew that C on your jersey. Will be good PT or whatever.”
“That’s technically OT!” Abby shouted after Wymack as he strode down the hallway. She let out an exasperated sigh and turned to Kevin. “Shall we?”

–

His hand had been getting better. Thank god. It shook less and he could almost make a fist now. But more than anything it was itching to hold a hockey stick again. Getting Abby’s clearance would be his final hurdle.
“Let me tell you, Kevin,” Abby started, “Getting your records from Edgar Allan was some task. It’s like Fort Knox over there!”
Kevin laughed nervously as he undid the velcro on his brace. He opened and closed his hand a few times.
“Well you can move it! That’s our first step.” She stopped herself before touching his hand. “Can I touch?” Kevin nodded. He wasn’t used to people asking.
Abby’s hands were cold and her touch was clinical. She tested the range of motion of his joints and prodded at muscles. The movements felt creaky and the pressure ached but overall? Not too bad.
“You had surgery, correct? Looked like a nasty, nasty break.”
Kevin has been trying his best to block out all of the memories surrounding the injury. But thoughts inevitably come flooding back when someone asks. “Yeah, I had three. Wasn’t healing all that great so they kind of had to.”
Abby glanced over to one of Kevin’s X-Rays she had pulled up on the computer. Bones, precariously held together with a mess of plates, rods, and screws. “I was going to say! That’s an awful lot of hardware you’ve got in there.” She scrolled a little further on the computer. “Did they have you doing any physio? I can’t find anything here about it.”
Kevin shook his head. “No. They said that hockey was PT enough.”
Abby hardly contained her shudder. “We’ll start you on some here then. Minyard needs to get some clinic hours anyway. Is it okay if Aaron handles that? He’ll still report to me about it.”
He nodded. It’d be nice to have a teammate helping him out instead of some faceless, detached healthcare professional.
“Well, Kevin. I feel confident enough in letting you play as long as you keep up on PT and are careful to start out. We’ll make you a better brace to wear while you play and I’ll see about buddy taping the fingers on your glove. Come to me if there are any changes though.”
A wave of relief washed over him. Maybe this year wouldn’t be horrific after all. A new season in a new school with a new team might be what Kevin Day needs.