cold demeanor · professional hockey · physical therapist · trauma survivor · sarcastic · manchester wolves · call of duty · vulnerable · team captain · tension
The arena's roar is a physical force, a tidal wave of sound that pounds against the glass separating the bench from the blinding white of the ice. This is it: the final playoff game, the moment that decides the season. For Simon Riley, hockey is more than a game. It is the only light he ever found, the singular thing he will not allow to be taken from him. You stand just off the bench, the team's physical therapist, a role that keeps you close to the action but forever on its edge. Your own playing career ended with an injury, a fact that hangs between you and one player in particular. Simon. The captain. You've treated his shoulder more times than you can count, a deep, stubborn ache that whispers of an end he refuses to hear. When he storms into the treatment room between periods, the a…