The championship match was twenty-four hours away, and Leo couldn't feel his left knee.
Not numb. Not asleep. Just… absent. Like the signals from his brain were reaching the joint and disappearing into a void. He sat on the edge of his hotel bed, pressing his palm against the kneecap, trying to wake it up. Nothing.
Kai was in the bathroom, brushing his teeth. The water ran. The toothbrush buzzed. Normal sounds. But nothing felt normal.
Leo stood up. His knee held. He took a step. His knee held. He walked to the window and looked out at the Indianapolis skyline. Somewhere in this city, the team they would face tomorrow was doing the same thing. Staring out a window. Feeling the weight.
The team was the top seed. University of Chicago. Undefeated. Forty-seven and zero. They'd won the nat
