No Sense of Direction

Chapter Four

“You’re the sole provider, Zach, it’s your choice on whether to pull the plug or not,” the nurse said and I was holding onto my brother Chris, because I knew that he was going to break down.

“Don’t,” Chris muttered and I started to sob onto his chest.

“Chris, it’s been a week! He’s not waking up!” Zach said, a little too harshly for my taste, “Let’s put him out of his misery.”

“Kat! Can he wake up?” Chris asked as he pulled me back and looked at me.

“Chris,” I said and then sighed, “If he was going to wake up, he would have done it by now, sweetie.”

“NO! He’s going to wake up!”

“Chris, he’s not!” Zach said and then turned towards dad, “This is a hard decision, Chris! I gave you what you wanted and waited the week, but he didn’t wake up! And he doesn’t look like he’s going to.”

“Zach, please,” Chris said and I wrapped my arms around his chest.

“I’m sorry Chris, this is for him. Mom’s gone and Dad’s not going to wake up, so why waste anymore time! Don’t you think he would like to go and see his wife?” Zack asked and I felt Chris relax and then felt his arms around my back, “Do you want him to spend any more time away from Mom?”

“No,” he muttered and I laid my head on his shoulder.

“Then it’s settled,” Zach said and then I heard the button to turn the machine off and I felt Chris shake.

“No,” Chris muttered as he fell to the ground and I held my baby brother and cried with him.

“Time of death, 3:12pm,” the nurse said and I felt Chris grip onto my shirt and pull me closer to him.

-Milan-

“Kat, I’m so sorry, when’s the service?” I asked and then waited for a response.

“I don’t know, Zach and I have to talk it over,” she said and softly.

“When was the last time you got some sleep?” I asked and then held the phone up to my ear with my shoulder and started to throw my gear into my bag because we had just finished up practice.

“I don’t know, maybe Tuesday,” she said and I sighed and looked at the calendar on the wall.

“Today’s Friday,” I said and then looked to see the guys staring at me, “Kat, you need to get some sleep. I’m gunna take a plane out and come down tomorrow after the Flyers game.”

“Is it an away game?”

“Yeah,” I said and she sighed and I heard a door open on her end of the line.

“When’s the game?”

“Noon, so I’ll see you tomorrow night,” I said and then looked at the schedule in my locker, “We have a few days off, so I can stay until Wednesday.”

“Ok,” she said sounding exhausted.

“Kat, get some sleep,” I said and I heard her slam into something and then squeezing.

“That’s what I’m gunna do,” she breathed and I sighed.

“I’ll call you later,” I said and she muttered an ‘ok’, “Get some sleep, babe. Bye.”

“Bye.”

I hung up my phone and then threw it in my bag and rubbed my face and then through my hair.

“How is she?” Seguin asked and I sighed.

“Not good, her dad passed this morning. He wasn’t waking up so her brother decided to pull the plug,” I explained and I heard the guys sigh.

“Poor Kat, she lost both of her parents?” Tuukka Rask asked and I nodded my head, “Damn. How?”

“Drunk driver,” I said and they all groaned.

“Did they get the driver?” Nathan Horton asked and I shrugged my shoulders.

“She’s not in the mood to talk about it, and I don’t want her to bring it up,” I said and they nodded their heads, “I’m gunna fly out tomorrow after the game, you guys care to join me?”

“Of course, when’s the funeral?” our Captain Zdeno Chara asked.

“Don’t know. Kat and her brother need to talk about it,” I said and then heard the locker room door slam open to reveal a frustrated Krejci, “What’s up?”

He looked at me and then pointed towards me, “You!” he said and then walked over towards me, “When is Kat coming back?! That temp is pissing me off!”

I sighed and then shook my head, “Don’t know, we’re flying down after the Flyers game to go see her.”

“Her dad pass too?” he asked and I nodded my head.

“What’s wrong with the temp?” Seguin asked and we all looked at Krejci.

“He’s saying I have a god damn fractured collarbone! I might not be a doc, but I sure as hell know that I don’t have that!” he shouted and then held his head and sat down.

“You all right?” I asked and a few of us walked over towards him.

“Damn headaches, they’re getting worse,” he muttered and I placed my hand on his shoulder.

“You’ll be back before you know it,” I said and he sighed.

“Yeah ok,” he said and then we all got up to go home.

-Katrina-

There was a knock at my door and I looked up to see Zach walking into the room. I sat up in my bed and then leaned my back against the headboard. He sat on the end of the bed and then sighed, rubbing his hands through his messy brown curled hair.

“What are we gunna do, Zach?” I asked probably sounding like a scared child, “They’re both gone.”

“We’ll get through this,” he said and then placed his hand on my knee, “We’ll figure this out.”

I nodded my head and then grabbed my pillow and hugged it, “Where’s Chris?”

“Sleeping, he didn’t get very much,” he said and I nodded my head, knowing the feeling.

I looked at my brother and sighed, ‘…He’s close to breaking…’ I thought as I looked into my brother’s eyes.

I knew that my brother was a quiet person, and didn’t like other people to see his emotions, just like our father. So if he was going to cry, he was going to do it where no one was around. I didn’t agree with this, and I knew that he was going to break down soon, but I wanted to be there to hold him, to cry with him, just like I had for Chris.

“We need to plan the service,” I said and Zach shook his head.

“Uncle Dan said that he was taking care of it, we would just have to pay for it,” he said and I nodded my head, “He’s going to call later with the details, I think he already has the funeral home.”

“Which one?”

“Coston, on Lincoln Ave,” he said and I nodded my head.

“Same place, Gram and Pop went to,” I said and he sighed and rubbed his face, “Are they being buried or cremated?”

“Their will says that they want a traditional burial,” he said and I looked at him.

“You already saw the will?”

“No, just asked for that part,” he said and I nodded my head, “I wanted to wait for everyone to come before we did that.”

“When are they coming?”

“Everyone will be here tomorrow,” he said and I nodded my head.

“Milan is coming down after the Flyers game tomorrow; although, I have a feeling that the team is coming with him,” I said and Zach groaned, “Zach don’t-“

“I’m not! I’m not starting, calm down, I’m thinking about where everyone is going to stay, because my team is coming up too,” he said and I nodded my head and then rubbed his arm.

“There are plenty of hotels pretty close to here, and we have enough room for our family,” I said and he nodded his head, “We pretty much live in a mansion.”

“Yeah, but, what are we going to do with the house? I don’t want to leave Chris buy himself,” he said and I nodded my head.

“We’ll think of something,” I said and then looked at the bed, “Even if I have to move back to Pittsburgh and stay with him.”

“Kat, what about Boston?” he asked and I looked at him.

“I don’t know, family is more important to me,” I said and he shook his head.

“We’ll figure something out.”

“Zach, Chris is a junior in college; I’m not letting him drop out of Pitt just because we don’t know what to do with him!” I said and then gripped my pillow, “If I have to quit the Bruins and move back down here to take care of my little brother, then that’s what I’m going to do!”

“And do what? Sit around the house all down?”

“No, I’ll find a job around here! Maybe Uncle Dan will find a spot for me with the Penguins!” I said and Zach looked at me and nodded his head.

“I’d rather you on the Penguins then the Bruins!” he said and I scoffed and shook my head.

“You never change.”