Page 126 of Forever Offsides

I roll my eyes and wave him away. “Blah. Your threats don’t scare me.”

His eyes are hooded as he says, “I’ll see you tonight, Doctor.”

I give him a cheeky grin. “Yes, Coach.”

I jog over to Crew and Mason, tell them the scoop, then hop in the ambulance and ride up to the hospital with Reynolds. I stay with him through X-rays and an MRI. He has a fibula fracture, no tibia injury, but he tore his ACL.

“Because the bone doesn’t require extensive reconstruction, I’m going to fix both at the same time. How does that sound? Only one surgery.”

Reynolds grins at me before it slips just as quickly. He shifts ever so slightly on the gurney, but I can tell he’s uncomfortable. He refused pain meds for his fracture, choosing to tough it out as a woman would.

“I like the sound of that. But I’m out for the season, right?”

“Yes. I’m sorry. We’re very lucky to have a donor for your graft already in our bank, so we’re good to go with that. The procedure itself⁠—”

“Yo, Yang.”

My eyes close. I swear, Hirsh really wants me to slice his carotid.

“Why is he calling you Yang? You’re Reyes, right?”

I nod at Reynolds. “He thinks he’s funny and clever when he’s neither.”

“Go away, Hirsh. You’re not getting in on my surgery.”

“Why? Because I called you Yang? If it helps my position, you’ve been a little less Yang-like over the last few weeks.”

I flip him off, making Reynolds chuckle.

“Who’s Yang?”

“She’s from a show,” I explain to Reynolds. “She was a kickass surgeon that every other doctor was jealous of.” I wink at him.

“Oh come on!”

“Bye, Hirsh.”

“I’m going to be watching from the gallery anyway.”

I twist over my shoulder to acknowledge him. “Goodie gumdrops on you, big boy. Your intern can scrub in if she wants. I feel bad she has to put up with you.”

“This is why no one likes you.”

“Everyone likes me. It’s you they can’t stand.” I give him a saccharine-sweet smile. “Karev.”

Hirsh chokes. “Low blow.”

I shrug and return to Reynolds. “Sit tight. We’ll get the OR ready and bring you in when we can. Someone from anesthesia will come and talk to you.”

“Thanks, Doc.”

“Sure thing.”

I head down the hall and bump into my mother.

“Ah, Quinn. I heard from your father that one of his players is here.”

“Yep. Wanna scrub in so I don’t have to deal with another attending or a fellow?”