Jane waited patiently for Viktor to come back from his examination. She’d brought a book to occupy herself while he was gone. She still wasn’t a fan of hospitals, but she didn’t want to wait outside as well. After all, she was the one taking care of him, so it was only appropriate for her to wait here. One of the nurses had even brought her a coffee.
After about half an hour Jane was so captures by her book, that she didn’t realize that Viktor was standing in front of her. Only when he cleared his throat for the second time did she look up, startled.
”Jeez, how long have you been standing there.” She stared at him, before she snapped out of it and put her book away.
”A moment.” He leaned on his crutch, a grin on his face. ”You were so engrossed in your book, you didn’t hear me. I caled your name at least three times.”
Shocked she stared at him, but quickly said: ”Stop teasing me! You did not.” She shoved his shoulder, but regretted it straight away when she saw him wince. ”Oh God, sorry. For a moment there I forgot about your injuries.” He was so cocky sometimes, that she didn’t think about his injuries anymore. Ashamed she blushed and kept her head down. This was unusual behavior for her. Normally, she’d just laugh it off, but it had been a mistake to shove him.
”Don’t worry about it, it’s not so bad. I’m feeling a lot better.”
”What did they say?”
”That the swelling’s gone back on my knee and that I’m healing fine. They don’t worry so much about my ribs and foot, but more about me knee.”
Jane had already thought that they’d say this. ”We’ll start with a few exercises tomorrow. It will mostly be me moving your leg a bit for your knee, because we don’t want you to do anything stupid and cause more damage. But you can do upper body exercises, as long as you don’t experience too much pain because of your ribs.”
What could he say to this? He would have loved to do more than these simple exercises, more to get back on the ice, but he had to trust Jane. She knew better what was good for him. As much as he wanted to play hockey again as fast as possible, he had to be careful or he wouldn’t play hockey ever again.
”Okay. Before we go, though-”
”I know.” Jane interrupted him and held up the presents they’d gotten the day before. They were in a bag along with something else.
Together they walked up to the room where Nathan was lying in bed. He wasn’t allowed to move around that much anymore, and they could only hope they’d find a donor heart soon.
Viktor knocked on the open door and peeked inside. Nathan was completely alone. His eyes lit up as soon as he saw Viktor.
”Hey Nathan, how are you doing today?” Viktor closed the distance, ruffled the boy’s hair and sat down on the vacant chair. Jane stayed behind him, giving the boy a smile.
”I’m okay.” Excitement shone in his eyes, despite the obvious exhaustion. ”Is this your girlfriend?”
”Jane?” Viktor looked up at her, before he shook his head at Nathan. ”She’s a friend and she helps me get better.”
Nathan motioned for Viktor to come closer, so that he could whisper something in his ear. Viktor kept his eyes on Jane, started grinning and nodded his head. ”Yeah, she is.”
”What?” Jane asked, scowling at the two of them, before she pulled a chair out and sat down. She didn’t want to be the only one standing in this room.
”Nothing.” Viktor winked at her.
”Aww, come on. That’s not fair!”
”This is a secret between men, right Nathan?”
”Right!” He smiled proudly at the two adults in the room. His attention was quickly drawn to the bag by Viktor’s feet, though. ”What’s this?”
”Ahh, I wwas already wondering how long it would take you to notice.” Viktor reached in the bag and got a two Chicago Blackhawks jerseys out. ”One home and one away jersey. One with my number and one with the Captain’s. Signed by the whole team, just for you. Jonny said that he’d love to meet you, but we’ll have to see about the schedule.” The boy’s eyes shone so bright, that it brought a smile to Jane’s lips. He was adorable, and so was Viktor for doing this for him. And as soon as you’re better, we’ll show you around the rink, the locker room and so on. You in?”
”Yes!” Nathan immediately pulled one of the jersey over his head. It was too big, for the skinny boy, but he looked so cute and happy, that it warmed Jane’s heart.
”Wel, we got something else for you. Jane helped me pick it out.”
Nathan’s excited eyes darted to her, a huge grin on his face, showing her that he was missing two teeth. When Viktor extended the wrapped packages to him, Jane couldn’t take her eyes off Nathan. He unwrapped them so quicly and even squealed a little, that she wanted to wrap him in her arms and offer him her own heart. It waas such a wonderful scene, but tinged with sadness as well. They didn’t know how long he’d still be there. Or if he’d make it to the rink.
”Oh, Mr Stalberg, it’s nice to see you again.” Jane turned around to look at a young woman, who wasprobably Nathan’s mother. She looked tired.
”It’s nice to see you again!” He slowly got up from the chair and turned towards Nathan once more. ”I’ll come visit you again soon!”
”Okay!” Nathan grinned at them both again before he concentrated on his presents.
Viktor asked Nathan’s mother to step outside with him and Jane. He quickly introducced them, before he asked whether there were any new developments, but she only shook her head.
”So far there’s nothing new.”
”Well, call me if there’s anything I can do or if there’s news.” iktor gently squeezed her arm. It was time for him and Jane to leave the hospital. While they’d been with Nathan, Jane had completely forgotten about their surroundings. She’d felt comfortable.
At Viktor’s place, something entered her mind. She just had to ask aagain. ”So, what did Nathan whisper to you?”
Viktor sighed with a grin on his face. He knew that she’d ask again. She was too curious to leave it at that.
”He said that he likes your hair and that you are beautiful.” Most of the time she wore her hair in a high ponytail but today she’d had it loose around her face, because she’d felt like it. And that way she could maybe hide a bit behind her hair at the hospital.
It entered her mind that Viktor had agreed to what Nathan had ssaid. Had he meant that he liked her hair as well or that he thought she was beautiful? Usually she had no problem, asking this question, but right now she felt a little self-concious. She didn’t want to think aabout the reason for this.
”He really seems like a great kid. And he was so happy. You’re really good with children!”
”You think so?” A little surprised Viktor looked at her. He put the crutch aside and slowly lowered himself on the sofa.
”Yeah. You really cheered him up.”
With a smile on her lips, Jane walked to the kitchen. She should probably get started on dinner, so it was ready on time. She quite enjoyed cooking for two people and not eating alone all the time.