At the moment, only his eyelids moved. The fluorescent glare above him was bright and he squinted. The male nurse blocked the light as he leaned over to examine him. “How are you feeling, Ray?” he asked with that professional concern in his voice. “Like a damn truck ran over me.” Ray said in a hoarse whisper. “You’re a tough guy. It was a long surgery, but we think you’ll recover. Let’s take it slowly.” The nurse was patronizing, but Ray felt he couldn’t respond. Not just yet. The nurse told him Dr. Moskowitz would be in soon while removing a few pieces of tubing from his battered body. Ray was no stranger to the hospital recovery room. He’d broken his ankle, his nose and had a ruptured appendix before, so it was no big deal to him. As the blood pressure cuff automatically inflated once again, his thoughts were racing. The last thing he remembered was the puck being shot toward him and he was in front of the goal.
