Page 139 of Saving Forever with the Hockey Captain

Her smile fades into something gentler. "What's scaring you?"

The question lands differently than the others, not because I don't know the answer.

Because I do.

"When this rotation ends..."My fingers tighten around the warm mug. "...he won't have any reason to keep me in his life."

***

The words sit between us. Painfully honest. I stare out the window. Snow continues drifting past the streetlights.

One day...he'll walk into therapy for the last time.

We'll joke about stretching.

I'll congratulate him.

We'll shake hands.

I'll wish him luck.

He'll thank me.

Then he'll walk out the door.

And that'll be the end of the story.

The thought hurts far more than it should. Keisha lets the silence settle before asking quietly, "Is that what you want?"

I don't answer, because I can't.

She knows me too well to rescue me.

Instead, she asks another question. "When is his discharge?"

"Three weeks."

The answer comes instantly. Her head tilts.

"How many appointments left?"

I don't even have to think. "Seven."

The word leaves my mouth. Then...I stop.

Keisha doesn't smile. She doesn't need to. "You knew that awfully fast."

I stare at the screen. I hadn't realized I'd been counting. Not consciously. Not deliberately.

But somewhere along the way...I'd started measuring time differently.

Not in weeks. Not in days. In appointments.

Only seven.

The realization steals my breath.

Keisha speaks so softly I almost miss it. "Remember when he first came in?"