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The Hockey Life

Hurt

PART SIXTY-EIGHT: HURT
Panic. This was what I felt during the next game at the United Center. I watched from the bench as the injury happened. There was contact between a Blue and a Blackhawk. The Blues player landed on the Hawks player’s leg, and it didn’t sit well with the Hawk. He was very slow to get up, and although he tried to be tough, he couldn’t hide the pained look on his face. The injured player was Patrick Kane, and he wasn’t looking so good.
As the team stood up to get a better look at what was going on, I shot up out of my seat and pushed through them all. Jonathan and one of my fellow trainers followed me onto the ice. We made our way over to Patrick and helped him up carefully. He insisted on walking, but I could see that it was difficult for him, so he received help from us trainers while Jonathan questioned him, asking if he was alright.
Once we had Patrick off the ice, we took him to the locker room, now without the captain, who was forced to continue playing.
“It’s your leg, isn’t it?” I asked, once Pat was sitting down. He nodded. “Where does it hurt the most?” I wondered.
“Everywhere, right now,” he said. I carefully felt different areas of his leg to test where he was the most sensitive. His knee seemed to be the weak spot. An injury like the one he now had would take time to heal, I knew this much. However, I got to work, doing everything I could to eliminate some pain for him. The other trainer barely said a word and he didn’t even touch Patrick. He was older and more experienced than me, but he knew that Pat was my fiancé. He must have figured out that I wanted to be the one to help him.
Patrick stayed in the locker room with us for the remainder of the game - there was no way he could go back out there and play. It was determined that he would be out for the rest of the regular season to ensure that he’d be good to go for playoffs.
As soon as the game was over, the rest of the team got into the locker room and spoke to Patrick. They were a family, and one of their brothers was hurt. They were disappointed to hear that he wouldn’t be on the ice again for a while, but they wished him a good recovery. That was all they could do.
When it was time to leave, Pat needed a lot less help with walking. He could manage on his own, but I still did as much as I could to aid him. I led him out of the building and through the parking lot until we reached the passenger door of his car.
“What are you doing?” he inquired as I opened the door and motioned for him to get in. “This is your seat.”
“Not anymore. I’m driving,” I stated, matter-of-factly.
“I can drive, Lean,” he assured me.
“I don’t care if you can, I don’t want you to. I won’t crash your precious little Harvey, so don’t worry about it,” I promised, referring to his Hummer which he had named due to his love for it that most guys seemed to have for their cars.
“Fine. Just be careful with him,” he decided. I waited as he climbed into his seat. He groaned a little in pain, but he managed. Instinct made me steady him anyways, and he laughed a little.
“I’ve got this!”
“I know, sorry. It’s my job to help people. I don’t even think about it,” I reminded him.
The next few weeks were strange. I had grown accustomed to hitching a ride with Patrick and going to work with him, but now we weren’t going together. I drove myself and left him alone at home, but not without making him promise that he’d rest while I was away. I would bring home lunch often, except for when I felt up to cooking for the two of us. Then there was the issue of away games. Patrick was perfectly capable of taking care of himself, but I didn’t rally want to leave him - not when he was hurt. Luckily, Brad worked things out with me. I would miss every other road trip to stay home with Patrick.
“Normally, you would need to come to every game, but if you’re with Pat, it’s guaranteed that he’ll get rest when he needs to and he’ll do his therapy when he needs to. He can only heal quicker if you’re with him. Plus, there are multiple trainers for a reason. Everyone will get taken care of while you’re not there,” Brad had said.
Two weeks of this passed. Patrick played the patient and I played the nurse (minus the outfit, to his dismay). I made stops at Jonathan’s a few times with Tess, because he got injured shortly after Patrick, coincidentally. They both were pretty good about taking care of their injuries, and they kept each other company while Tess and I were busy.
The next week, Patrick was doing a lot better and he was allowed to skate. That was when things began to get back to normal - he came to practices again, just not games. Jonathan got to skate again too in no time. As us trainers had predicted, they didn’t get to finish out the regular season, but their teammates did a great job of filling in the empty spaces and getting things done. Shortly after the last game, Pat and Johnny were cleared for playoffs. I hadn’t seen Patrick so excited in the longest time, it seemed.
“So, you’re glad you get to play again, huh?” I asked, as if I didn’t know the answer already.
“Hell yeah. When you’ve been playing as long as I have, it’s hard to quit,” he explained.
“I know the feeling. I haven’t touched a hockey stick in months,” I reminded him, suddenly nostalgic about being on a team with my best friends. It really had been a long time since I had played.
“Oh yeah. I kind of forgot that you’ve been a hockey player your whole life too. Well, until now.” There was a weird moment of silence when I didn’t feel like talking, and then he spoke again. “Do you want to play sometime? For fun? I’m sure Brad wouldn’t mind if we stayed after practice.”
I nodded. That was the best idea he had come up with in a while. I was excited, but I realized it was time for playoffs to start up. It was going to be one of the busiest, most stressful times of the year for us, and free time was going to easily become a thing of the past. I knew I shouldn’t get my hopes up, so I didn’t. I had gone this long without playing, and I could go longer if I had to. It was a sacrifice I just had to make. Even so, I found it oddly funny that I had to give up hockey because of my career in the NHL. Oh, the irony.

Notes

Comments

@hockeygirl07
Thank you so much! :)

MrsKaner MrsKaner
11/1/14

I just love this story...been reading it right from the start!!! Love your writing and the plot ;) keep up the great work

hockeygirl07 hockeygirl07
11/1/14

Awe. this is so cute, but sad.

Psquared91 Psquared91
5/29/14

AWE! So Cute!

Psquared91 Psquared91
5/10/14

@MrsKaner
HAHA. my BF and I are the two people in the whole school who don't get sick, but when we do Its not as bad as every one else, and we always get each other sick.

Psquared91 Psquared91
3/24/14