The Diary of an Unintentional Puck Slut

February 7, 2015

Dear Diary,

Have I ever mentioned how much I hate that the ice girls skate before the zamboni? Yeah, I hate it. The ice crew clears the ice of any extra ‘snow’ from the game before we skate, but there are still huge divots, holes, and other uneven things on the ice, especially after the second period.

So I really should not have been surprised when I landed a double axel wrong and tore a ligament in my knee. A few of the ice girls helped me off the ice and into the medical room, where Brandon was by my side a few minutes later.

“What happened?” he asked as the Shark’s medical staff tended to my knee. I winced as they applied more ice, the pain medicine already starting to work.

“I fell, tripped on a stupid hole in the ice,” I squeezed my eyes shut as my knee got twisted and prodded. “We should really skate after the zamboni resurfaces the ice, not before. Our little three minute routine isn’t going to ruin the ice for you guys.”

I was complaining, and to the wrong person, but Brandon was nice enough to listen to me ramble until he had to head back to the locker room for the remainder of the game. I closed my eyes and tried to ignore the pain, listening to the game playing in the background.

Suddenly there was a lot of commotion, and the medical staff left the room. I slowly sat up to watch the game on the tv in the corner of room. There was a down player on the ice, but I couldn’t see who it was. My heart beat faster as I tried to find Brandon on the ice somewhere, but from the camera angle I couldn’t see much.

Finally I saw him skating up to the injured player, and the medical staff moved a little and I could see Brandon’s best friend on the team, TK, lying on the ice. I gasped, and tried to sit up more, but my knee prevented me. There was no one left in the medical room for me to ask what was happening, and the tv was too quiet to hear the announcers. I lied back on the bed; my head was getting kind of funny from the pain medicine.

Suddenly the room was busy again as the medical team attended to TK. I tried to say something, but my head was swimming, and I just stared up at the ceiling.

The rest of the game flew by in a haze and eventually Brandon came to collect me. I was on crutches, but still very wobbly, so he carried me to the car (such a gentleman).

“Is he going to be okay?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steady. I was falling asleep from the pain medicine, and fast.

“I’m not sure, he might be out for a few weeks, or the rest of the season,” Brandon said grimly, shaking his head. “They’ll know once they do some scans, but I think the swelling needs to go down first.”

“What about me?” I asked.

“Tomorrow I’ll bring you to the hospital so you can get your knee scanned, and then we’ll see,” Brandon tried to sound more cheerful, almost as if he were talking to a child. I smiled, not really sure why, and drifted into a medicated sleep.

The next morning I awoke to hear Brandon talking to someone, a guy. It took me a while to remember what had happened, and I was only reminded by the pain in my knee. I slowly got out of bed, and found my crutches leaning against the wall. Brandon must have put them there, in case I woke up and he wasn’t around.

Hearing me struggle with the crutches (something I’d never had to use before, and thus had limited experience), Brandon came into our bedroom carrying Ellie. Followed by Caeleigh’s boyfriend, holding Ted.

“Freddie?” I finally figured out whose voice I’d heard in the hallway with Brandon.

“Hey Em!” He smiled brightly at me, and then went back to cooing at my little boy.

“Um, hi…?” I glanced at Brandon, but he was engrossed in giving Ellie a bottle.

(Was no one going to tell me why Freddie was here?!! And no less, why he was in my bedroom, holding my baby?!)

It should have been obvious, and that’s probably why they didn’t say anything, but Freddie had been called up to replace TK. I discovered this after checking my phone and found I had 15 texts from Caels telling me about it, complaining that she couldn’t come with him. And finally, she added- ‘Oh, sorry to hear about your knee.’

So typical Caeleigh, I just laughed. I’m surprised she didn’t offer to take my place as head ice girl, just so she could be with her Freddie.

Soon after breakfast Brandon and I left for the hospital and I got my knee scanned a few times. Brandon held my hand the whole time, not because I was scared, but we were both nervous for the outcome. I’d never had surgery before, and I really didn’t want to. And if this didn’t heal well, I might never skate again.

After touching my leg in a dozen different places and asking “does is it hurt here?” the doctor left to retrieve the results of my scans, leaving Brandon and I alone.

“What if it’s bad, B?” I finally asked, still gripping his hand.

“We’ll get thought this, together.” He sounded so sure and confidant, that my worry started to melt. “If you need surgery, that’s something we’ll deal with together. The doctors at this hospital are very capable, don’t worry.”

“But what if I can’t skate?” I added quietly, almost like a child.

“You’ll skate again, don’t worry about that,” he took both of my hands and smiled. “You’re so beautiful when you skate.”

We were smiling into each other’s eyes when the doctor returned. He glanced at us for a few seconds, before putting the scans of my knee up on the light board.

“Ms. Saxon, it looks like it was only a minor tear in your anterior cruciate ligament, your ACL,” he added when we both stared at him with black expressions.

“Oh,” I said as I figured out what he meant. “Isn’t that what happened to Duper last year? And he was out for the whole season?” Brandon nodded and we both stared at the doctor for his verdict.

“You’re going to need a knee brace for about a month, and depending on how your ligament has healed by then, you could be skating again in two months,” he explained with a smile on his face, and I realized that meant this could have been a lot worse, and I’d been lucky (for once).

“So no surgery?” I asked, still holding my breath (metaphorically, of course.)

“If you stay off of that knee and wear your brace, you won’t need any surgery,” he explained, still smiling, and Brandon and I both breathed a sigh of relief.

I had to go back in a few days to get fitted for the brace, once the swelling reduced enough. But now I have a sexy black metal brace on my leg!

So I guess I’ll know more in a few weeks if I can keep skating or not, but the doctor seems very confident that I’ll heal well.

Brandon said TK has a similar injury, but it’s on the other side. So he’ll be out a few weeks, and Freddie will be here until he’s better.

And by ‘here,’ I mean in my house. Caeleigh volunteered us to house him while he was in San Jose, claiming she ‘didn’t want him living out of a hotel.’ And he’s been a huge help with the twins while I’m down, so that’s a plus. I like having him around, he’s nice, but I can tell something is up between him and Caeleigh and I don’t want to get involved.

Whatever it is Caeleigh doesn’t want me knowing, and she’ll tell me when she’s ready.

Sincerely,

Emme

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February 23, 2015

Dear Diary,

Brandon’s 26th birthday was quiet, just me, Freddie, the twins, TK and his girlfriend, and a few others. They had a game the next night so we didn’t do too much, but it was still pretty fun.

I have two weeks left with this brace on, and I’m getting pretty tired of it. But the doctor says my leg is heeling well : )

So, this is the deal with Caeleigh and Freddie. She wanted to visit us when the Bruins were on a week long road trip, so I let her. I was happy to see her, and I could use the extra help since Brandon and Freddie were going to be away for a few days as well.

The first day she spent with Freddie as much as she could, which is understandable, since he and Brandon were leaving the next day for a three day road trip. But, that left her and I alone for four days.

The first day we caught up on everything, gossip mostly, and we had fun. The second day, she kept getting all of these texts, and I didn’t think they were from Freddie. She was getting really secretive, and would hide her phone from me.

So on the third day I did something I’m not proud of. Maybe it’s because I’m tired of being stuck in my house, and I’m going a little crazy?

Whatever the reason, I snuck into the guest bedroom while she was in the shower and went through her phone. I shouldn’t have done it, but I just had to know! I feel so bad about it, but she was acting so strange I thought maybe she was hiding something important, like maybe she was sick, or something had happened in her family.

But it was exactly what I’d expected, exactly what I’d been trying to not think about.

When I visited her at Christmas I got a weird vibe from her and Dougie, some kind of energy between them that I couldn’t quite figure out, but I had a feeling I knew what was up. Of course she denied it, but it was obvious.

But it’s so much worse than that.

Not only is Caeleigh sleeping with her boyfriend’s brother, but her period is late.

That is, according to her texts with Dougie, why she insisted on coming out here while Freddie was playing with the Sharks. She wanted to see him, away from Dougie, and she also wanted to ask my advice, since I have plenty of experience with unplanned pregnancy and multiple baby daddy’s.

But I am way too mad to deal with this now. We have one day left alone together before her boyfriend gets back and I hope she can figure out what to do by then, because I wouldn’t be much help.

Ugh. I don’t want to say I knew this would happen… but I did.

Sincerely,

Emme

Notes

Sorry it took me so long to update, I'm busy with work and school and stuff....