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Issue Closed
Mid-morning on Tuesday, the phone rang. The rehab center said Matt had a low-grade fever and skipped PT. He was resting. They just wanted her to know.
Lucy called him after lunch.
“Hey.” His voice was rough.
“Heard you’re playing hooky.”
“I’m fine, Luce.”
“You have a fever.”
“Who told you that?”
“Matt.”
“I’m just tired.”
“You want me to come by?”
“No.”
“Drink your water.”
“Yes, Coach.”
She let him go.
Danny’s laptop was open, game loaded, lobby set. He clicked through the match settings.
Matt didn’t show up on time. Danny figured tonight was a coin flip anyway.
He called. Ten seconds.
“Yo. You alive?”
“Hey.” Matt’s voice was thick.
“Lucy said you were down today. We can skip it.”
“I’m not tired.”
“You sound tired.”
“That’s different.”
“Alright. You want to give it a go?”
“Actually… I think I’ve played enough.”
They’d been playing for months. First Fridays, then Tuesdays too because Matt wanted a second night. Now he’d played enough.
“Huh.”
“Yeah.”
“You know you’re quitting undefeated.”
“Can’t convert everything forever.”
“Your monks were absolutely war crimes, Matt.”
“They won us every game.”
“They won you every game. I was out there losing Mangudai.”
Matt laughed. Danny closed the lobby.
“Alright, man. Issue closed.”
“Issue closed?”
“Dev thing. Ticket’s done, you close the issue. You’re good, I’m good.”
“That simple?”
“That simple.”
“Goodnight, Danny.”
“Get some sleep. You sound like garbage.”
Matt hung up. Danny closed the laptop and headed downstairs.
Lucy was on the couch with a book.
“How was he?”
“That’s the thing.” Danny dropped into the other end of the couch. “I offered to skip tonight. He said he wasn’t tired. Said he’s played enough.”
“Huh,” she said.
“That’s what I said.”
“Guess that’s it, then.”
“Yep.”
“You okay with it?”
“Lucy, I’m more than okay with it.” He grabbed the remote. “You wanna watch a movie?”
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