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and padded up the stairs to my room, where I grabbed my pajamas and headed straight for the shower. With the smell of food washed from my hair and skin, I snuggled under the thick comforter with my laptop and typed what I’d been worried about all night.
    Effects of a concussion
    The search engine spit out thousands of hits with something called Post-Concussion Syndrome or PCS for short. I clicked on one of the reputable medical sites and began to read.
    Symptoms include headaches, anxiety, mood swings, irritability, loss of concentration and memory, insomnia… usually occur within first seven to ten days and can last weeks… may sometimes persist for months or even years.
    Years??
    I chewed on my thumbnail as I clicked on another site. That’s worst-case scenario. Don’t go there.
    I found more of the same information on other sites, so I tried searching for instances of people who had suffered a concussion and had forgotten how to play a musical instrument. I couldn’t find anything, but there were many examples of patients who had problems with cognitive skills. Some indeed lasting years.
    I shut the laptop and shoved it to the empty side of the bed. Don’t get yourself worked up. Every case is different. Josh could start to feel better in a few days.
    But I was officially concerned.

Chapter Five
     
    “Your turn, Coco.” Quinn shook my knee.
    I looked up from the Candy Land game board at four-year-old Quinn and her twin brother Alex. I’d spaced out somewhere between Peppermint Forest and Gumdrop Pass. My mind was on Josh and his doctor appointment. Em and Sergei had gone with him, so I was babysitting the twins. The house smelled like the pumpkin pie Em had baked for her family’s Thanksgiving feast the next day.
    “Let’s see if I can get lucky,” I said as I picked a card from the pile.
    Alex leaned into me to see my card. “You go two blue squares.”
    “That’s right.” I moved my gingerbread man marker across the board and cuddled Alex to my side. “Better watch out. I’m catching up to you.”
    He shook his little blond head. “You not gonna catch me.”
    “I gonna beat you and Coco,” Quinn announced.
    The side door from the garage opened, and Josh, Em, and Sergei entered the kitchen, none of them wearing the smiles I’d hoped to see.
    “Josh!” Quinn scrambled up from the living room carpet and ran toward him.
    He crouched to hug her, and Quinn threw herself around him, almost tipping him backward.
    “Be careful, Sweetie,” Em said.
    Quinn looked at Josh and petted his hair. “Your head hurt?”
    He smiled a little. “It’s getting better.”
    Alex raced over and latched onto Josh’s arm. “Come see my new truck, Josh.”
    “Let’s give him some space to breathe, okay?” Em said.
    “It’s fine,” Josh said.
    He let Alex lead him to the stairs, and Quinn followed right on their heels. Meanwhile, I joined Em and Sergei in the kitchen.
    “What did the doctor say?” I asked.
    “He did some testing, and he wants Josh to take it easy a while longer,” Sergei said. “He’s encouraged the headaches are fewer and farther between. Next Friday he’ll evaluate him again to see if he can start driving and doing light workouts.”
    Em opened one of the cabinets and pulled out a large skillet. “I told Josh even if he gets cleared to skate, I don’t want him on the ice without Sergei and me there. He can start on the bike in the gym.”
    “Why won’t you be there?”
    “We’re going to China right after the Christmas show, remember?”
    “Oh, yeah.” I’d forgotten they had a junior team competing in the Grand Prix Final, plus Sergei’s sixteen-year-old daughter Liza had qualified at the senior level.
    “Did the doctor say anything about Josh’s memory and not being able to play the piano?” I asked.
    “He suggested Josh should start slowly and do simple lessons like he gives his students. He thinks it could help him remember and recover the skill he already