The Goalie Bet novel · Chapter 22 of 32

Chapter 22: The Semifinal

Logan skated out at the start of the third and the building lost its mind.

Margo sat down next to me with her tea.

"He looks fine," she said.

"He looks fine."

He did. That was the thing.

First shift, he went post to post and stopped a shot with his pad and got up without using his stick.

Second shift, a scramble in front and he covered the puck with his glove.

Third shift, a power play, and he made four saves in ninety seconds.

The camera cut to the bench and the coach was standing with his arms crossed and his jaw set like he'd known all along.

I sat on my couch with my hands around a mug that had gone cold.

"He's good," Margo said.

"He's very good."

"So why are you squeezing that cup like that."

I didn't answer.

Nine minutes left in the third.

The puck went into the corner and the defenseman went after it and the other team's forward came in hard.

Logan came out of his crease to play it.

He got there first. He played it off the boards.

Then he turned to go back to the net and his right skate caught the edge of the crease and his leg didn't answer.

He went down.

The play kept going for four more seconds before the whistle.

Then everybody stopped.

The camera found him on the ice with his glove flat and his stick dropped.

He wasn't moving his right leg at all.

The trainer ran out. Then the team doctor.

Margo set her mug down.

"Baby."

"I'm watching."

"Are you okay."

"I'm watching."

They got him up on one skate and a hand under each arm.

He couldn't put weight on the right side.

The whole building was standing. You could hear it through the laptop speaker.

They carried him off down the tunnel and the camera followed him until the tunnel swallowed him.

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