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to snow shoe and cross country ski.
    ***
    A few months after Mariana left I head to one of the bars I went to when I was single. Sitting in my car, I just can’t get the motivation up to go inside. A few weeks later, I join a couple of the guys from my hockey team who are heading over to a sports bar. Watching the women at the bar, I know exactly who I’d hit on if I wanted a hookup. The thought of a hookup is just depressing; I have no interest in sleeping with random women. I’m finally at a point where I can say I want another girlfriend. I’m just not ready to find one.
    On my winter vacation, I go scuba diving in the Andaman Sea, staying in Coh Pee Pee, Thailand. It takes forever to get there, but I’m not ready to go back to the Caribbean since it has too many memories. On the first day of scuba diving, I meet a reserved, tall, thin, blond, German woman—the polar opposite of Mariana. After scuba diving for the day, we go out for dinner, and then spend the next ten days in each other’s arms. It’s the first time I’ve been with a woman since Mariana left. Lying in bed with her, I know she’s not my future, but I realize that I’m moving on, which is good. Back in Rochester friends try fixing me up. The women are nice, but none touch my heart. Maybe it’s still too broken.
     

California - 2015

Chapter 13 – Soccer Game
     
    At the end of my residency, after passing my boards, I get offered an attending position at the Mayo Clinic. I also get an offer for a fellowship to the Jacksonville facility. With my sister’s haranguing, I apply to a couple of sports clinics in Northern California. I decide to spend a long weekend with her, heading out in October for interviews.
    On Sunday morning Jamie has a soccer game. Having not seen her play since college, I go to watch. It’s a good game; the teams are evenly matched. By the end of the first quarter, the other team has two hot women in defense; they’re tiny, but fast as hell. I figure Jamie’s going to destroy them. I’m totally blown away. The women on defense remind me of Jack Russell Terriers; they’re fast, fierce, and relentless. These women are amazing at blocking the much bigger women on Jamie’s team.
    Near the end of the game, I can see Jamie getting frustrated. Again, one of the little terrors gets the ball away from Jamie’s teammate, bringing it up the side. Jamie goes in to stop her ascend and bam, she runs smack into Jamie, as if Jamie was a wall. The little one’s out. Watching her lay on the field, I wonder if my sister might have killed her. I’m experienced with field injuries having had a few rotations in sports trauma and the last five years I’ve been the team physician for the local high school’s football and basketball teams. The little terror is not unconscious, just stunned.
    No one else seems to have a medical background so I monitor her movements, casually jumping in when she says, “Can someone give me a hand up?”
    Grabbing her under the armpits as she starts to stand, in my nice easy doctor voice I tell her, “Slow it down. Are you sure you’re ready to get up?”
    She seems to be having some problems getting her legs under her. Now I’m watching to make sure she’s not injured, I also want to get her off the field so they can finish the game. Not surprisingly, this one’s scrappy. As she tries to stand, again, I tell her, “Easy now, not so fast, give yourself some time.”
    Players either need to walk off the field on their own accord, or we need to call an ambulance. As she attempts to stand again; I feel her start to go down. Getting a good grip on her, I make sure she doesn’t fall and hurt herself. I’m relieved that she can walk off with just a bit of support from me. She’s favoring her right ankle. Spotting a blanket by the other spectators, I head that way. Settling her down, I quickly unlace her shoe, pull off her shin guard and sock. Then I check out her ankle to make sure she didn’t injure