If We've Got No Place To Go..

As I began to regain consciousness, I felt two strong, sturdy arms scoop me up. I couldn't force my eyes open, but I didn't have to. I smell his cologne on the soft, cotton t-shirt he's wearing. I hear the passenger door to Tyler's truck open. He gently sat me in the seat and I felt the seat belt slide across my waist and click into place. He carefully closed the door.

I heard him get into the truck next to me. He started the engine and I felt us move. Then I heard Tyler on his phone. "Yeah, Jamie..I'm gonna need to take a rain check on tonight. Something came up." He's not going to embarass me! So maybe the wild child isn't too bad after all. I needed to do something..so maybe he wouldn't take me to the dumb hospital. I finally managed to crack my eyes open. We are on the highway. "T-Tyler.." I said softly. "Jordan!" He smiled softly, but he seemed upset. "What's wrong?" I asked weakly. "Oh, I don't know.. I see beautiful girls passed out in the parking lot all the time." I rolled my eyes. "I'm fine. Just take me home." "Uh..no way. You have a bad cut on your face. I could stitch it up but I don't think you would like the scar after." I started to protest, but then I reached up and winced as I brushed a fairly deep cut above my right eye. "What happened, anyways?" Tyler asked. "There was some ice by my car, I must have slipped." A flash of anger passed over Tyler's face. "I told that idiot to put some sand out after that ice storm. It takes forever for back there to melt." We rarely have any cold weather in Dallas; but when it hits, it hits hard. Not very many people know how to deal with ice and snow around here.

We got to the hospital and Tyler didn't take me to the emergency room; but lead me through the hospital until we arrived at a small office. "Good, she's here." Tyler mumbled to himself. He pushed the door open and said, "Hey, Nik. You mind fixing her up? We have a little problem with the lot at the barn." A woman that was probably in her forties smiled warmly at me. "Nice to meet you, I'm Nikki Schnieder. I help out some of the pro teams now and then." "Nice to meet you, I'm Jordan Karalis."

She helped me up on to a table and started to sew together my skin. "Karalis, huh?" She smiled knowingly, it was very motherly. "Yeah, do you know my dad?" I asked, looking nervously at her. "Tom, right? I used to live in Tulsa and caught a game or two back in the day. I was there when they won the championship." I smiled. "I was too." "WHAT?" Tyler exploded. "What championship? Your dad was a pro?" I grinned sheepishly. "My dad was a hockey player back in the day. He won the CHL championship when I was a year old." Tyler raised his eyebrows. "We will talk about this in the car." Nikki chuckled, "Sweetie, prepare yourself for an earful. Hockey players love to talk about hockey players."

Nikki finished up and we were headed towards the parking lot. Tyler had impatiently sighed a couple times, but didn't say a word until we were back in his truck. "YOUR DAD PLAYED HOCKEY?!? AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO DOESN'T KNOW ABOUT THIS?!"

Tyler's POV
She giggled. I had exploded and she sat there giggling. "Well you do now." She smirked. All the sudden I had the urge to kiss that smirk right off her face. Wait..what the hell? I've never thought of Jordan that way. I mean, she's beautiful; and that's exactly why I would never do that. She's way too good for me.

We started to talk about how she never wanted anyone to know because she just wanted to be her. She said her relationship with her dad wasn't the best. All the sudden, Jordan became very quiet. I had just merged on to the highway. "What's wrong?" I asked. "My head, it hurts. I feel terrible." She said. Jordan's eyes stayed closed the whole way to her apartment. We had navigated with short phrases. She started to get out of the truck, but braced herself the whole way down. She almost fell on the sidewalk. "Woah, woah!" I said. "You're not okay to be by yourself." "I'll..be fine." She mustered. I held her hand all the way up to her apartment, in fear she might fall again. We were almost to her place, when she threw herself to the trash can in the hall. She threw up for a little bit. "You are not fine." I stated. "Mmm.." Is all I got in response. "C'mon, I'm getting you into bed."

Notes

For the record: this story is fiction, obviously. But Tom Karalis was an actual player, as is Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn, etc.