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Max:Hey, hope all is good this morning. Mentioned to Dad that you’re back and had stuff you wanted to discuss and he said to swing by the house this afternoon around 2 – Gerry will be there too. Lmk if it doesn’t work.
“Your coach?”she asks, a worried look on her face.
“No, Max,” I say, shaking my head. “He said I can go see his dad and Gerry this afternoon about everything that’s happened.”
“Good,” she says with a determined nod. “I’m coming with you.”
26
ELISSA
Nick and I head over to Max’s parents’ house to meet Gerry, but I’m still not sure there’s anything he can help us with. Nick left the team and that was one of the things Gerry asked him not to do. It could put this whole thing at risk, although I understand why he did it.
We talked in great detail about what his surgeon said, and how jumping would continue to damage his knee. The surgeon even said he needed another surgery to repair the damage that’s happened in the few short weeks he was jumping.
I just keep hoping something comes up, that the lawyer has found a loophole, has found something to make this all go away. We might have to take Max up on his offer to buy out Nick’s contract and just be forever in debt to him.
Nick pulls into the driveway, and I let out a hard sigh. My body aches from the accident, but it’s nothing compared to this weight we’ve both been carrying. This contract and the money and now Nick’s reinjury, it’s all a lot.
The only positive about all of this is that when Nick and I got married, I added him to my insurance so at least we don’t have to worry about covering the cost of the surgery on our own. It was something we never even talked about, I just did it out of concern that things would change for him. The last surgery was covered by the US ski team, but I wasn’t going to count on them to keep Nick on their insurance plan if he left the team.
“I added you to my insurance,” I admit before we both exit the car. “I was worried you would be dropped from the team’s insurance and left with nothing if you got hurt again.”
Nick lets out a soft laugh, looking over at me with his eyes crinkled in the corners. “You’re a smart one, Lis. Who would have thought I’d need surgery again? I gotta tell you, I was stressing about how to pay for it too.”
“Well, it’s one thing we don’t have to worry about. There’s a shitload more that we have to worry about, but not this.”
“I’m so sorry, Lis. This is not how I wanted things to happen,” Nick says, reaching over to take my hand, a quiet concern blanketing the car.
“I know. I don’t blame you for any of this, so please stop thinking I do,” I reply, shaking my head as I give his hand a squeeze.
“All I know is that I’m never leaving you again. Coming home to find you in that hospital bed was too fucking much for me. I can’t even explain…” he stalls out, tugging a hand through his hair. “Lis, you and the baby are my family, my future and I will do anything to protect that and if that means going into debt to be here with you, then so be it.”
Reaching over, I wrap my hand around the back of his neck, pulling him closer to me, I press a soft kiss to his lips. Letting them linger there for a few seconds, I close my eyes, basking in his smell and the closeness of him.
“I love you,” I whisper against his lips, smiling.
“I love you too,” Nick says back, and a silence falls over us. We sit together for a few minutes, neither of us talking, just letting the moment of calm happen.
It’s going to be a while before our life settles down. We have a lot ahead of us in dealing with his coach and this contract.
“You ready?” I ask, my words loud in the quiet of the car.
“Guess so.”
Max’s dadgreets us at the door, letting us in and shaking Nick’s hand and giving me a hug. He wishes both of us a quick congratulations about us getting married, before leading us into the kitchen where Gerry is sitting at the table.
“Well, Nick,” Gerry starts immediately, letting out a chuckle. “Guess my advice to lay low didn’t go that great, huh?” Again, he laughs, a little louder this time to show he’s just giving Nick shit.
“Yeah, really fucked things up,” Nick replies, pulling out a chair and sitting down. “But my surgeon says I’ve reinjured my knee by jumping.”
Nick says it like it will help his case, but I have no idea how we prove to his team and to the coach when the team doctor has cleared Nick. It feels like it’s an argument between two people who want two different things. It’s an argument that we may never win.
“Yes, that’s what I heard from Jeff. Looks like we’ll let this thing go to trial and we can use the information from your surgeon, but I can’t guarantee anything,” Gerry says, and nothing about that sounds promising.
My phone begins to ring as I’m trying to process all this, and I excuse myself to answer it. Not even bothering to look at the name or the number, needing to block out what the lawyer just said.
“Hello,” I say, sounding exhausted.
