Chapter 16: The Left Wall

The federation doctor was a small woman in a grey fleece with a tablet under her arm.

She set up a folding chair at the end of my mother's rink at five to nine on Monday.

Wyatt's mother stood beside her.

I stood a little apart, with my mother, who had put a hand on my back and left it there.

Nobody had asked me to come.

Wyatt's mother had only looked at me on Saturday, and I had understood.

At nine exactly, Wyatt walked in with his father.

He was wearing the camel coat.

He was smiling at the doctor before he reached her, a wide, easy smile that I knew from every sponsor dinner.

"Doctor," he said, and held out his hand.

She was standing a little to his left.

He found her hand on the third try, and he turned the smile up as though nothing had happened.

I wished I had not noticed it.

"Mr. Kessler, thank you for coming," the doctor said. "The exam takes fifteen minutes."

"I'm sorry, Doctor. I'm in the middle of a training week."

He turned the smile on his mother.

"Mom, you shouldn't have bothered her."

"Sit down, Wyatt," his mother said.

"I'm cleared for the season. Dad filed the form in August."

"Your father filed a form from a friend's practice," the doctor said. "I'd like to see for myself."

"It's a simple field test. You look at my nose and tell me when you see my fingers."

"After I skate."

"Wyatt," his mother said.

"I'll do it after I skate." His voice rose. "I've been standing here five minutes."

Keep reading free with an account. Start He Switched Partners. I Switched Countries. from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.