Frankie fell into step beside her, matching Elise's slower pace without comment. "Good. Because I'm not doing your faceoffs for you forever. I won sixty percent last time and my back is killing me from crouching down that much. Mara's got me filling in on the draw and honestly, Elise, my body was not designedfor that kind of sustained squatting. I'm built for speed, not endurance."
Elise smiled. It was a real one. "You're built for complaining."
"That too." Frankie bumped her good shoulder gently. "Seriously though, take your time. We've got you covered. The team misses you but nobody wants you back before you're ready."
Elise swallowed. "Thanks, Frankie."
"Also, Lou said to tell you she's saving you a seat at the next home game. Front row, behind the bench. She said you can yell instructions at her the way she yells instructions at everyone."
"That sounds like Lou."
Frankie peeled off toward the locker room with a wave, and Elise continued down the corridor to Medical. The encounter had been kind and casual and exactly what she needed, and the tightness in her chest eased a fraction.
Rowan was coming out of the medical suite as Elise arrived, her practice bag over her shoulder, cheeks still pink from training. She was the youngest player on the squad, barely twenty, and she had a nervous energy about her that reminded Elise of a young horse, all long limbs and bright eyes and barely contained movement.
"Hey, Elise." Rowan stopped in the doorway. "Dr. Park just iced my ankle. She's really good. Like, really thorough."
"I know."
Rowan shifted her practice bag higher on her shoulder, eyes wide. "She explained the entire anatomy of my ankle joint to me while she was taping it. With diagrams. I now know what a lateral malleolus is and I'm not sure I wanted to."
Elise laughed. "That sounds like her."
Rowan wished her luck and disappeared down the corridor, and Elise pushed through the door into the medical suite.
Sienna was at the counter, her back to the door, washing her hands. She was in her usual work clothes: dark trousers, a fitted white blouse with the sleeves rolled to her elbows. Her dark hair was pulled back in its ponytail, neat and smooth, and the overhead lights caught the silver at her temples. The room smelled of antiseptic and beneath it, a scent that was clean and specifically Sienna.
"Morning," Elise said.
Sienna turned. Her expression shifted when she saw Elise, a smile briefly crossing her face before she pulled it back. "Good morning. How did you sleep?"
"Badly. But the anti-inflammatories helped."
Sienna reached for a towel and dried her hands, her eyes moving to Elise's shoulder with a physician's reflex. "Pain level this morning?"
"Five. Maybe six when I first woke up."
Sienna nodded and gestured to the treatment bed. "Sit down. Let's have a look."
Elise set her bag by the door and crossed the room. The treatment bed was the same one she'd been on the night of the injury, the vinyl still cool beneath her thighs as she hopped up. The room was bright and clinical, and everything about the space was controlled and controlled and nothing about the way Elise's pulse picked up when Sienna stepped closer was clinical at all.
"I'm going to explain your rehab programme," Sienna said, pulling up a chart on her tablet. "We'll be working together daily for the next six to eight weeks. Each session will be forty-five minutes to an hour, depending on where we are in the protocol."
She talked through the phases. Phase one was the current stage: rest, gentle mobilisation, inflammation management. Phase two would begin in about ten days, progressive strengthening exercises targeting the rotator cuff and scapularstabilisers. Phase three was sport-specific work, stick handling, shooting, balance on the ice. Phase four was return to play, a graduated process with specific benchmarks Elise would need to clear before she could join full contact training.
Sienna explained each stage with the same thoroughness Rowan had described, gesturing at diagrams on her tablet, her voice clear and steady. Her hands moved when she talked, long-fingered and sure, drawing shapes in the air to illustrate joint mechanics. Elise watched those hands and thought about how they'd pressed against her chest in this room last night, the press of Sienna's palm through her sports bra, and the back of her neck went hot.
"Any questions so far?"
"When can I skate?" The question came out sharper than she intended.
"Phase three. Roughly week four or five, if everything progresses on schedule."
Five weeks. The number lodged itself behind Elise's ribs.
"And until then?"
"Lower body conditioning in the gym. I've already coordinated with Kylie on a programme for you. Squats, hip thrusts, cycling, core work. Everything that doesn't load the shoulder." Sienna set the tablet down and looked at Elise. "I want to check your range of motion today. Can you take your top off for me?"