Whatever that is I’m going to eat I was my first thought the next morning. I inhaled deeply before opening my eyes. Turning to the nightstand, I saw a plate covered in tin foil. I reached over and pulled it off to reveal chocolate pancakes and a note. These people sure do love notes.

Lizzie – Had an early practice but I made these. Chelsea told me how much you love food, so here you go. I think I’ll be coming by after, I’m bringing a few friends. Get ready!
- Peter

I honestly didn’t know what to think. I started reviewing it in my head. My favorite player on the Montreal Canadiens liked me so much that he brought me pancakes and is coming back to visit me. With more players. And possibly more food. What is life.

I pulled the jersey from yesterday over my head and squealed. It was the best option at the time.

The little pink flip phone – courtesy of Chelsea – started buzzing, almost falling off the nightstand. Utilizing my cat-like reflexes, I saved it. Flipping it open, I saw Chelsea’s hilarious name appear again.

- From: Chelseawesonurse :D

Today is the day! Ur finally getting your leg unwrapped! Doc should be there in a little bit. Good luck!

Sweet! That’s one appendage almost healed. Closer to healing. Well, that wasn’t necessarily a good thing. The quicker I was out of here was the quicker I got sent back to the hell hole foster home. I sighed.

I didn’t have much time to dwell on my less than desirable life before Dr. Scott came in followed by a different nurse. They both smiled brightly, dragging me out of my sad thoughts. I returned the gesture.

“Are you ready?” He asked. I nodded, grinning.

“Good, Jess here will take you to a different room and I’ll meet you there.”

*************************************

High-five to my leg for being super human and healing faster than doc thought. He took all the bandages off, and I got to view the full extent of the grisly wound. In a sense, I had done this to myself. But then again, if I hadn’t pulled myself out of that seat I would have been dead; death by fiery explosion. It was now fully stitched, and looked disgusting. I couldn’t look at it for more than a few seconds. Doc said it would be fully healed in about three weeks. Normally he said, something like this would take about five weeks to heal. My arm would be in a cast for about four. Once my leg healed, I was free to leave the hospital, but I would have to return for checkups. I asked him about the possible scar on my leg, and he promised it wouldn’t be as bad as I imagined. I hoped he was right.

So three weeks. I had three weeks left of my ‘vacation.’ I called it that because anywhere away from the orphanage was a welcome break in my grey life. Speaking of grey; I pulled off my new signed jersey and pulled on a long sleeved grey shirt that Chelsea had left me. At least I had her to brighten my vacation up. Speak of the devil…

“Hey Chels.” I smiled at her.

“Hey sugar! How’s the war wound?” she asked

“Really disgusting. You probably don’t want to see it; I don’t really like puke.” I replied with a grimace. She laughed heartily.

“I’m a nurse; I think I can handle it.”

“If you insist…” I pulled back the blanket to reveal the cut. It was a dark red, almost black, thin line that ran from the mid-thigh to mid-calf. It curved around the top of my kneecap, and it was peppered with tiny stitches. So, in short, disgusting. She pulled her lip back in a yea-that-is-pretty-bad look.

“Well….that’s not the worst I’ve seen but it’s pretty nasty.” She said with a grin. I nodded.

“I can barely look at it for more than a couple seconds.”

“It’ll be healed before you know it.” She replied with her signature smile. “Oh, you have some visitors too.”

I just gave her a look. Thanks for the advanced notice. I didn’t have any time to prepare myself because behind her in walked my favorite Hab, my second favorite Hab, and some more signatures. Behind Peter and Danny followed Brandon Prust, Tomas Plekanec, and David Desharnais.

Here we go Liz. Channel your inner yesterday. I thought to myself. Peter gave me a warm smile that I returned. The three newest additions to my jersey gave me smiles and waves. One spoke up.

“Is this the famous Lizzie that we’ve been hearing about for the past twenty four hours?” Brandon asked with raised eyebrows and a grin.

“Have they really been talking about me?” I asked innocently. Of course they have. They love me. Initiate inner sarcasm.

He scoffed good-naturedly. “Uh, yea. Buds over here hasn’t stopped talking about you since yesterday.” He shook Peter’s shoulder, getting swatted away.

“Well at least he talked about something interesting.” I replied with a smirk. Tomas chuckled, hitting Buds on the arm.

“I like her even better in person.” He gave me a grin. Oh. Ok. No, I’m fine.

“Peter never told us how beautiful you are.” David remarked with a small smile. I blushed furiously and buried my face in my hands.

“Stooop…” I said bashfully. How do you respond to someone calling you beautiful? Especially if that person happens to be David Desharnais? Coupled with the fact that I had a hard time believing I was beautiful, that compliment was hard to swallow.

Danny spoke up. “It’s true though.” I rolled my eyes, wanting to change the subject.

“So…did you tell them about the accident?” I asked. I really didn’t want to tell the whole story again.

“Yea, they all know what happened.” Peter replied. “Chelsea told me you got the bandages are off?”

“I did, but it’s pretty disgusting. I don’t know if you guys want to see it.” I said. “I’m pretty sure it’s going to be a huge scar when it’s healed.”

“We’re big boys, we can handle it.” Brandon said.

I wouldn’t go that far, Prusty. I thought to myself. I’ve seen The Duel; you are the definition of a man-child. But I obliged, pulling the covers of my bed back to reveal the black, stitched scar. Dan and Peter had a small preview of it before, but I don’t think they realized how bad it was. I don’t think any of them did.

“Wow…” Dan breathed. “That looks…painful.”

“Eh, it’s not as bad as it looks. It doesn’t hurt that much.” I said.

“Watch out, we got a badass over here.” Prusty said, throwing his hands up. I laughed; it was a perfect imitation of the meme.

“Pfft, that’s an understatement.” I replied. He looked shocked for a sec before breaking out in a grin and a laugh.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Buds pull out another Sharpie and wave it. I nodded, and he tossed at to Brandon, who dropped it. I giggled.

“Ooooh, ain’t got them hands, Prusty.” I said. He grinned and retrieved the marker, walking over to my bed to add his signature. David and Tomas followed. Another three signatures, check.

“Well, we would stay but practice just ended and we are all pretty hungry.” Brandon said. I nodded; food did come first, as much as I hated to admit it.

“That’s ok. Thanks for visiting me and signing the jersey.” I said with a smile.

“It’s no problem, hopefully we’ll see you more often.” Tomas said. That slightly confused me for a second; what did that mean? Would they be visiting me again? I shook those thoughts from my head, returning the smiles and waves as the guys filed out. Peter lingered behind, capping and uncapping the marker.

“You’re really comfortable around us.” He said thoughtfully. I shrugged.

“I have no idea where it comes from. I thought I was going to be really nervous, well, I was, but I sorta forgot you were the Montreal Canadiens for a second.” I answered. “Thanks for the pancakes too, I loved them.”

He grinned. “Well I didn’t burn my apartment down so that’s a plus.” I laughed. He locked eyes with me and seemed to be thinking hard about something. I held his gaze until he nodded. Walking over to me, he gave me a one-armed hug that I gladly returned. I watched him make his way to the door before giving me a wave and leaving.

Like the day before, I watched him through the window. He stopped to talk to Chelsea again. What I thought would be chit-chat turned into a deeper conversation. I watched as Peter followed Chels out of the window’s view. I leaned back, wondering what they could be discussing. It seemed like ten minutes before I could finally see them again. Chelsea had the biggest grin on her face, and looked like she was…crying? I saw her wipe her eyes a few times. Now I was really curious. What was happening? What could have her so happy? I saw her nod before catching my eye. She pointed to the door and I saw Peter turn. He shot me a smile before saying something to Chelsea and entering my room again. I caught a glimpse of her as she stood in the hallway. She had a hand over her mouth and the tears were flowing freely now. I furrowed my brows in confusion as Peter sat on the edge of my bed.

“What was that all about?” I asked, peering at him curiously. He seemed to considered my answer, locking eyes with me again. A small smile danced on his featured, and his eyes sparkled.

“Well…” he started. I hung on the single syllable.


“I think I’m going to adopt you.”

Notes

OHHHHHHHH SNAP

who saw that coming, be honest?

like always, you guys are the serious bestest peeps evarrrr

love your comments, keep them coming! Cheers!