We made our way past security and into the locker room. I wasn't sure where to go but I saw some people in hawks clothes so we went over to them to find out. We were told that they had just gotten him off the ice and that the team doctor was looking at him and that we were probably going to have to wait until they were finished before we could see him. We were directed to go to the family lounge and wait until someone came to get us. I could tell that Karri was frusterated and so was I but we did as we were told and went to wait.
" Do you think that he tore his alc again?" she said with the worry evident in her voice
I shrugged my shoulders.
" It could be anything really. Let's hope it's a sprain or something that won't be to serious."
She nodded her head but didn't look convinced. I wasn't sure that I was convienced but I had to hope because if it was another alc tear there was a very real possibility that it could end his career and I couldn't even fathom the thought of what it would do to him. Finally one of the medical interns came and told us that we could see him. I let Karri see him first and when she came out she was nearly in tears.
" They did an xray and they can't see anything but they are sending him to the doctor that did his surgery to make sure that there isn't something there that they can't see."
I pulled her into a tight hug and tried to calm her down.
" It will be okay, I promise. I'm going to go check on him. I'll be right back." I let go of her and went into the room that she had just come out of. He was laying back on the table still in his underarmour and they had elevated his leg.
" Hey sweetie how are you doing?" I asked as he lifted his head to look at me
" I've been better. They aren't sure if I did more damage or what is going on." I could tell that he was still in pain but was trying to be a tough guy and not show it. They had already called the doctor and got him an appointment but it was going to be three days until he could get in and I could tell that he wasn't happy about it. I wanted to stay a little while longer but he insisted that I should get back to the game and I wasn't about to argue with him in the pissy mood that he was in. I went and saw that Karri hadn't came back to her seat and even though I was worried I had to take care of my son. I took him back from Anna and told her what little I knew. I got a call from Karri letting me know that they had put a brace on him and gave him a pair of crutches before sending them home.
" Call me if you need any help with anything. I have a feeling that he's going to get really cranky from sitting around the house."
" Thanks for the warning. I'll talk to you later."
I went after the game and the locker room was pretty silent even though they had won. I knew that it had to be hard to see a teammate that was so well liked being helped off of the ice. We drove home in silence and I didn't push the issue. I knew that he would talk about it if and when he wanted too.
We spent his off day just hanging out as a family. I offered to pack his clothes so he could spend some time with the baby. When I was finished I went to peek in on them to see what they were doing. AJ was sitting up and Pat had given him one of those little mini sticks and he was trying to bat at a ball that was sitting in front of him. Patrick was trying to encourage him and when he finally hit it Patrick raised his arms and cheered which caused AJ to laugh. I didn't want to interupt but the babys routines were just as important as Pats.
" Hey babe. Can you feed AJ while I make supper please?"
" Sure. We will be right down." he said as he got up off the floor. Aj lifted up his arms as Patrick came and picked him up and I headed downstairs to start supper. He sat him in his high chair and started to try to feed him some baby food which went over surprisingly well. He had really been making alot of noise lately and we knew that it wouldn't be to long until he started to actually talk. He was banging a spoon on the tray and as I turned around I could of swore that I heard him say Dada.
" Hey did you hear that?" Patrick asked me as I turned around. Unfortuantly for us he wasn't a circus pony and couldn't be talked into performing on command. After dinner was done we were sitting around watching t.v when I got a phone call.
" So we got into the doctors early since they had a cancellation today and they told us that as far as they can tell that it's just a bad sprain."
" That's great news." I said relieved to not hear worse news
" Yeah but they figure that he's still going to be out for at least a couple of weeks. Now he's all pissy at me because I want to cancel the plans that I made while he was suppose to be gone. He say's I'm treating him like a baby." she complained to me
" If you want AJ and I can come over and take care of him while you go out of town. I don't have anything planned other than job hunting and I can do that on my laptop."
" Are you sure?" she asked with hesitation in her voice
" Yeah. You know that I would do anything for you two and it sounds like you need a vacation."
She let out what I percieved as a sigh of relief.
" Between this and school I really do need to get away for awhile. I really appreciate it. I'm pretty sure that you are the only one who can deal with his mopey ass right about now."
" No problem. I'll be over tomorrow sometime in the afternoon." I hung up my phone and went to let Patrick know what was going on. He was glad that it wasn't something more serious and told me to make sure that I took care of him while everyone was gone. We said our goodbyes that night in bed since he had to be up super early to get to the airport to head out to Calgary. The next day I woke up to an empty bed and the baby crying and after I got us both fed and ready I packed a small bag and headed over to Burs place. I let myself in and set the bag down on the floor before heading inside to find him. He was sitting on the couch with his leg elevated and he greeted the both of us while I sat down beside him. He took AJ out of my arms and sat him on his lap.
" So..." I prompted trying to start a conversation without being pushy
He sighed and looked at me.
" I hate sitting here feeling useless and then I have Karri treating me like an invalid on top of it."
" She isn't doing it on purpose. She's just worried about you." I tried to remind him without pissing him off even more.
" I know that, I really do it's just it makes me feel like one of her patients and not like her boyfriend you know.
I understood how he felt, I really did but at the same time I understood what Karri was going through too. It was going to be her job to take care of people and she was taking care of him in the best way that she knew how. I left him in the living room with AJ while I made us a quick lunch of tuna fish sandwiches. I handed him a plate and and he put AJ in the crook of one arm while he ate the sandwich with the other hand. He seemed a little more cheerful then when I had first shown up and for that I was glad. We settled into watch a movie while that baby took his nap in the portable crib that they had bought for times when we were over. He talked me into getting a beer for him even though I knew he shouldn't be drinking while taking even a low dose of pain meds. I cut him off after three since he seemed like he was already getting tipsy and I knew that wasn't normal. He laid back on the couch with his eyes closed and I was positive that he had dosed off so I was startled when he started to smile than laugh. I was about to ask him if he had gone completely nuts when he asked me a question.
" Do you remember the night that we met?" he asked opening his eyes to look at me
" Are you kidding me? How could I forget what is still probably one of the top ten most embarrasing moments of my life?" I said with a groan
" Yeah it had to have been horrible falling and giving yourself a cuncussion when you weren't even moving." he said with a laugh.
My friend had talked me into going out to the annual skate with the badgers and even though I couldn't skate worth a crap I let myself be talked into putting on a pair of skates and going onto the ice. My friend then proceeded to ditch me to flirt with some of the guys. I stood there by myself for awhile when I saw Adam and one of his teammates start in my direction and I spazzed out and tried to move and immediaetly fell over and hit my head on the ice. The next thing that I remember is waking up in one of the training rooms with a bunch of people standing over me freaking out. Luckily the worst thing that I got out of the whole incident was a headache. I found out after the fact that I had been carried off of the ice by Adam and he felt so bad that he had stuck around and offered to take me home after I convinced the medics that I didn't need to go to the hospital. We started talking in his car and after having a really good conversation we kept in contact and ended up becoming friends that we were today.
" I never told you that the reason that we were coming over was that I had a bet that I could get you to agree to go out me before Pavelski."
" You were going to ask me out on a date? Really?" I asked surprised that this was the first that I had ever heard of it
" Yeah why not? You were hot and funny and actually knew something about hockey and you just seemed to get me. What wasn't there to like?"
I was having a hard time wrapping my head around what he was telling me.
" You thought I was hot?" I asked repeating what he was telling me like I had some form of speech impediment.
" Yeah I did."
" Why didn't you ever say anything?" I asked him curious to hear his explanation.
He shrugged his shoulders and thought about it before he anwsered.
" You were dating that douchebag when we first met and even though I couldn't stand him I knew that if I had anything to do with breaking you two up that you would blame me and after what he did to you it just didn't seem right to try. Then I got stuck in the friends zone and after awhile I got over it. I would rather be there for you as a friend than not have you in my life at all and I've always known that you care about me, just not that way.
I didn't say anything as I studied his face intently. He had a few more lines on his face than when I had first met him but mostly he looked the same. His bright blue eyes watched me as he waited for some kind of response. I didn't even begin to know what to say to what he had revealed to me. I brought my hand up and traced the like of his jaw with the pads of my fingers as I tried to sort through what I was feeling.
Oh my gosh, I still want them to be together...I doubt that will happen though. I mean they both have significant others...
ReplyDeleteHow they met was so cute.