Page 70 of Drop Pass

We got back to the car and loaded everything before heading to the hospital.

I explained things to them as Nikolay drove. “The team is waiting for us. They have a room already set up with a bed for you.”

His mom nodded. “Thank you. Thank you for all you’ve done for us.”

I smiled. “It took the entire team. We’re just glad you guys are here.”

Yula gave a weak smile, looking out the window as we drove. “It’s pretty here.”

I looked out at the snow-covered mountains. “Yeah it is.”

We arrived at the hospital a few minutes later, and the team took over. I stepped back giving the family space while they filled out forms and asked the doctors questions. They were going to run some tests then start Yula on treatment. They seemed hopeful that things hadn’t progressed too far.

Nikolay found me as soon as Yula was situated in her room. He hugged me and buried his face in my hair. “Thank you.”

I squeezed him. “Of course.”

“I couldn’t have done this without you.”

“We make a good team.”

He nodded against me. “Yeah we do.”

I stepped back and gazed up at him. “You’ve done everything you can. Now we have to let them take over.”

He nodded once before kissing me.

22

Nikolay

I hated leaving. I didn’t want to. I asked Coach if I could stay back, but we had too many guys injured. They needed me to play.

My knee bounced the entire flight to San Francisco. Luckily, we weren’t very far away. If something happened, I could be back home in a couple of hours. That wasn’t enough, though. I wanted to be at the hospital with Yula.

“Hey man. You okay?” Hartman leaned across the aisle to talk to me.

I shook my head. “No.”

He gave me a sympathetic smile. “I know it’s hard, but she has a team of doctors watching over her. Plus, the Pride is there. She’s going to be smothered with attention.”

I smirked for a second before going back to scowling.

“We’ll be back tomorrow morning. Just focus on the game for the next twelve hours then you have a few days off.”

I nodded. He was right. It wasn’t like Yula was alone. Mama and Elena were with her, plus the Pride had set up a schedule to rotate so they had breaks. Elena only left for a few hours in the early morning to work, then she was right back to Yula’s bedside. Those two had grown close with just a few hours together. They talked about everything from books to clothes and nail polish to boys. Yula loved practicing her English with her and Elena was having fun teaching her slang terms.

Tiana and Samara were jealous of the time Yula had with her, but at least they were being taken care of at my aunt’s house. They were just happy our sister was getting treatment.

I wasn’t going to give up until they were here too. Permanently. I had John working on things. I didn’t know what the odds were, but I wasn’t willing to accept anything else.

We landed soon after and headed straight to the arena for our morning skate. I listened to Hartman and pushed everything out of my mind while we went through drills and warm ups. Our line wasn’t changing even with the injuries, so I practiced with the guys until Coach blew the whistle.

“That’s it, team. Lunch is at the hotel, so eat and rest then we’ll come back here at five.”

I followed the team outside to the waiting bus when my phone vibrated. I pulled it out and smiled when I saw Elena’s name.

“Hi.”