Baggage Claim

Brooke lay across Sidney’s bed in a pair of leggings and one of his old penguins sweaters. She had been lying there since she had gotten home from the hospital and was staring up at the ceiling. Her phone started to vibrate on the bedside table before the ringtone started to play but she ignored it and stayed where she was. She figured it was Sidney, having promised he would call once they were back at the hotel after dinner. She sighed and rubbed her hands over her face before covering her eyes with her forearms. “I don’t want to do this,” Brooke said to herself in a scratchy voice. She shook her head and scrunched her eyes closed to keep the tears from coming.

Brooke sat up and crawled over to the table, crouching next to it and looking at the paper sitting next to her phone. She was scared to touch it, like it was possibly going to bite her and she was trying to avoid its existence. Her phone started ringing again and Brooke sat there frozen still looking at the piece of paper. She picked it up and held it in her hands, reading over the words for the tenth time that day. Broke was started when her phone went off for the third time and she looked down to see Sidney’s goofy picture staring back at her and she picked up the phone. “Hello?”

“Hey, why didn’t you pick up before?” Sidney asked, sounding the slightest bit concerned. Brooke smiled slightly, feeling bad that she had ignored his two calls but was happy to hear his voice.

“Sorry, I left my phone downstairs and I was getting out of the shower,” Brooke quickly lied. She shoved the paper in a drawer and laid back on the bed. “How was dinner?”

“It was good, only a couple of us went out but it was nice. We did a little bit of shopping too so it was interesting seeing Chris in a female shoe store,” Sidney explained getting a small giggle out of Brooke. She was happy talking to him and it let her relax a bit.

“I didn’t realize that big hockey players had any use for high heeled shoes but to each their own I guess,” Brooke joked trying to lighten her mood for him. Sidney chuckled and let out a deep breath. “What was the sigh for Mr. Crosby?”

“I just wish I was at home with you instead of in New York City alone,” Brooke shook her head and smiled.

“Poor you being in the most amazing city during Christmas of all places, but I do miss you too. A lot,” Brooke explained lying back down on the bed. they talked for a little while longer before Brooke started to yawn. “Sorry, you’re not boring me I promise, keep going,” Brooke said feeling bad for interrupting his story.

“No, it’s okay, I should probably let you go and I should probably get some sleep.”

“Okay,” Brooke said sadly but knew that she needed to get to sleep to think over things.

“I’ll be home tomorrow night probably closer to one-thirty so I’ll try to be quiet coming in. I love you,” Sidney said.

“Love you too Sid, good luck tomorrow,” Brooke said smiling into the phone.

“Goodnight,” Sidney said before hanging up. Brooke held her phone into her chest and rolled over onto her side. How did she get so lucky to be so happy with him? She never though that she would end up with Sidney Crosby and had always pushed her feeling away but now here she was, laying in his bed telling him she loved him and feeling over the moon. Brooke closed her eyes and let out a deep breath. The paper drifted back into the forefront of her thoughts and she was seeing the words pop up on the back of her eyelids. She shook her head and sat up taking the paper in her hands again. She was angry with herself for not knowing what to do right away and for letting it bother her so much but she didn’t have a clue in the world as to what to do. Brooke opened to drawer to the table and shoved the paper in it angrily and fell back into bed. She turned off the light next to bed knowing that although she was exhausted, she would be awake all night tossing and turning.
….
“Taylor!” Brooke yelled out as she saw the blonde head of hair looking around the terminal for her. Taylor’s face lit up and she ran the short distance to where Brooke was standing. Brooke rapped her arms around Taylor’s shoulders and pulled her in for a tight hug. “You are so beautiful oh my gosh, when did you grow up?” Brooke asked holding her away slightly to look at her. Taylor shook her head but kept the smile on her face.

“Thanks but I don’t even compare to you by a mile,” Taylor said blushing slightly. Brooke grabber her suitcase from Taylor and lead her out to where she had Sidney’s truck waiting for them.

“I can see why Sid keeps you away from all his teammates, so he doesn’t have to kill any of them for hitting on his baby sister,” Brooke said winking. She unlocked the truck and they loaded Taylors things into the trunk.

“I’m surprised he let you take his truck,” Taylor said hopping into the passenger seat.

“Well he couldn’t come pick you up and my trunk wouldn't have been big enough for your bags so I don’t think he was too upset to be driving my Audi,” Brooke said with a laugh. Brooke pulled into the traffic and sped off in the direction of Sidney’s house.

“Thanks for coming and getting me by the way,” Taylor said.

“Oh no problem, I’m glad I got to come,” Brooke said smiling over at her. She had missed a lot of Taylor and her little brother growing up over the years and she felt like this was a completely different girl sitting next to her. “So what do you want to do today? Get some food, go shopping, maybe go and hit on some hockey players?” Brooke asked getting a laugh from Taylor.

“Lunch sounds good,” Taylor said smiling from ear to ear. She had missed having Brooke around because it had always been them hanging out at the cottage during the summer or Broke her watching her and Brendan while the parents went out. And once Brooke went off to college that changed everything. She didn’t have that ‘older sister’ there to help her through things and she felt weird calling her and asking her advice since she hated home so much. Taylor looked at Brooke and wished things could sort of be like they once were. “I also need to get a prom dress and I was sort of hoping that you could help me to pick one out?” Taylor asked, nervous that Brooke wouldn’t be interested.

“I would love to Taylor!” Brooke said turning to beam at her. “I’ve missed having my little sister around.” Taylor smiled and leaned back in her seat.

“I’ve missed having you around too.”
….
“I’m not too sure about this one,” Taylor called from behind the curtain. Brooke was sitting in an overstuffed chair in the fitting room of a dress store. Taylor had only tried on a few dresses and hadn’t loved any of them. Brooke sat with her leg curled under with her phone ready to take a photo. She had tried on a couple dresses too, more business attire but had settled down inner chair to help Taylor.

“Well if you’re not sure then we can move onto the next right after you come out and show me,” Brooke said smiling at the fitting room attendant trying to get Taylor to come out.

“You are not taking a photo of this one though,” Taylor said before peaking her head out from behind the curtain. Brooke dropped her phone in her lap and held up her hands to show that they were phone free before Taylor stepped out. She had on a strapless green dress that was full length and had a sheer sparkly layer over the normal fabric. She though that Taylor looked nice in it but she agreed that it wasn’t ‘the’ one.

“It took me about fifty dresses before I found mine and you’re only on your fourth so it’s okay if you don’t find it right away,” Brooke said walking up to Taylor to give her some words of encouragement. She could see the look of discouragement on her face and didn’t want her to feel defeated. Taylor was so beautiful she just needed to see it and whatever dress she was going to choose was only going to help with displaying her natural beauty. “Why don’t you go I there and try on your absolute favourite one, I don’t care if you don’t think it will look good or whatever, just try it on okay?” Brooke said getting her to smile a little. Taylor walked back in and pulled the curtain closed while Brooke went back to sit on her chair. She picked up her phone, pressing the home button seeing that she had a notification from Sidney. She smiled and unlocked her phone.

Sidney: Hey babe, where are you guys?
Brooke: At the moment we’re trying on prom dresses! :D

It took Sidney a little while to respond after reading the message and she figured he was either having trouble dealing with the fact that his baby sister was going to a prom or was driving when he read it. When he finally replied she laughed at his response.

Sidney: And you’re helping her pick it out…..I don’t think I’m going to be okay with her going then…
Brooke: Sidney, do you think I would let your sister go out looking like a stripper or something?
Sidney: if I remember correctly, every single guy was staring at you and wanted to take you home that night
Brooke: well it obviously didn't get the right guy's attention
Sidney: trust me, I noticed
Brooke: you know i'm pretty sure i still have the dress in the back of my closet still if you wanted to see me in it again...or maybe out of it this time ;)

Brooke smiled down at her phone knowing that he was probably feeling a bit uncomfortable and she wasn’t going to be able to help him out until after his family left after the holidays. She saw that Sidney was typing but her attention was pulled away once Taylor walked out in her dress. She looked almost embarrassed to be wearing it and when she looked up to see Brooke in awe, her face went red. “I know, I look dumb but I just really liked the pattern, I’m going to take it off,” She said turning to go back into the room.

“No, no,” Brooke said getting up. She walked up to Taylor and put her hands over her mouth. She could believe how amazing she looked in the dress. “Taylor, you look so beautiful in this dress,” Brooke said looking down at it. Taylor stepped in front of the 3-way mirror to get a better look. It had a sweetheart neck line and was tight around the top of the dress until it flared out only slightly into a floor length skirt that had shimmering blue material under a purple tool. The dress had a very pretty almost tear drop design going down the middle from the top of the dress to part way down to the thigh with silver glitter detailing.

“I think I would remove the under liner of the tool to make it a little less poofy but I really love it,” Taylor said beaming.

“Then we’re getting it,” Brooke said squeezing her shoulders.

“I’ll have to wait till my mom gets here, she’s paying for half of it and I’m using my babysitting money for the other half,” Taylor explained, walking back to take it off. Brooke nodded her head and walked over the chair to get her purse.

“Once you get it off hand it to me and I’ll go and ask them to put it on hold for you,” Brooke said going to stand by the curtain. Taylor passed the dress to Brooke and she told her she would meet her at the front of the store. She walked up to the cashier and the girl who had been helping them in the fitting room had appeared to help her.

“What name should I hold it under?” The girl asked taking the dress from Brooke.

" I’m going to pay for it,” Brooke said taking out her wallet. She loved the way Taylor looked in that dress and she wanted to do something special for her.

“No problem, did you want us to hold it here for you” the girl asked smiling at Brooke.

"You know what, I'll just take it with me," Brooke said seeing that the girl had already put it into a dress bag and then a larger shopping bag. She gave the girl her credit card and was signing the receipt when Taylor walked back out. She was smiling from ear to ear as she looked down at her phone.

“And what’s that smile for missy?” Brooke said catching Taylor’s attention.

“Oh, I was telling my date that I found my dress,” she said shoving her phone in her pocket. Brooke grabbed the bag from the counter. “Is that the black dress you tried on? You looked so pretty in it, ” Taylor asked as they walked out of the store, Brooke knowing she could play this off for a little bit.

“Yeah, I figured I could wear it to some fancy Doctor diner or something, you know, look nice for once rather than being in scrubs,” she said putting the bag over her shoulder. “They put the dress on hold under your name for when you come back to pick it up,” Brooke said wrapping her arm over Taylors shoulder.

“Home to see your best friend?” Taylor asked sarcastically as they made their way to the truck. Brooke was anxious to get home, knowing that she was back to being friend with Sidney. She nodded her head and continued to wonder how this was all going to work.
….
Sidney was sitting on the couch watching sports center when the girls walked in form the garage. He got up to go and see them and grab Taylor’s bags for her.

“Hey Tay,” Sid said smiling and pulled his little sister in for a hug. Taylor wrapped her arms around his abdomen and held him tight as if he was going to try and get away from her.

“I missed you,” Taylor said muffled into his chest. Brooke smiled at the two and walked farter into the kitchen to drop some bags on the counter. The had done some Christmas shopping before they had ended up in the dress store so Brooke had offered to carry in those so Taylor could get her bags. Sid was never intimate with anyone other than her and she was amazed at how loving and relaxed her was with his sister. It made Brooke feel as warm seeing the love he had for Taylor just from looking at his face. They finally broke apart and Taylor walked over to pick up her bags.

“Here, I'll take the heavy one and I’ll show you which room you’re in,” Sidney said motioning for the bag.

“Am I not it my normal room?” Taylor asked a bit perplexed. Sidney shook his head.

“Brooke took that room,” he said looking at her for the first time she had walked in. Brooke shrugged apologetically at Taylor and smiled as the two walked out of the kitchen. “How was your flight?” Sidney asked as they started up the stairs.

“It was good, I’m pretty tired though to be honest. Brooke took me shopping and we picked out my prom dress,” She said smiling.

“Oh really, that was nice of her.”

“Yeah, it was a pretty awesome afternoon hanging out, she’s not as terrible as you like to think she is Sid,” Taylor said following him down the hallway to bedroom. He rolled his eyes knowing she would see it and opened the door to her room. He set the bag down at the foot of the bed and she tossed her backpack onto the bed.

“Pizza good for dinner?” he asked.

“Yum, sounds fantastic, do you mind if I have a shower while we wait for it? I had practice this morning and I also smell like a plane,” Taylor asked opening her bag.

“Yeah of course, there are fresh towels in the bathroom for you,” Sidney said motioning into the hallway. “You good with just the regular pizza order,” Sidney asked smiling thinking about their regular Friday night dinner in the summer.

“Yeah sounds perfect, I’m starving,” Taylor said grabbing her stuff before they walked out of the room.

“Good. I’ll see you when you’re done,” Sidney said walking past the bathroom. He was happy he was going to be able to spend the holidays with her since they didn’t get much time to see each other during the year.
….

They had all gathered in the living room and ate the pizza and watched movies together. Taylor applauded them on being able stand one another’s company longer than five minutes and they both laughed.

“I think I’m going to do a little bit of reading for work so I’ll be in the kitchen,” Brooke announced before heading upstairs to grab some stuff and change. She bounded back down the stairs in her short sleeping shorts and an old baseball Henley from high school. She had her hair up and in a messy bun on the top of her head and had traded her contacts for her glasses. Sidney looked up and her and could help but smile when he saw her. This was his favourite Brooke. She looked so pretty without even trying and just looked so relaxed.

“I wish I looked that pretty in my pajamas,” Taylor said getting Sidney’s attention. He tried to play it off as he didn’t know what she was referring to and nudged her for saying that.

“So prom huh,” He said turning his attention on her. She rolled her eyes and Brooke laughed as she heard him asking while walking to the kitchen. Their voices began to fade as she walked farther from them but she knew Taylor didn’t want to talk to him about it.

She sat down at the island and opened her laptop waiting for it to boot up. When it finally did she pulled up her email to look over some of the x-rays that Dr. Leviey had sent her to familiarize herself with for Monday. She has been jotting down notes explaining that the tumor looked to be about an inch across when her laptop pinged notifying her she had a new email. She went back to her mailbox to see that it was from her program director at John Hopkins and opened it. she read through it quickly and then read it again. Her heart stopped and leaned back from her screen she took her glasses off and rubbed her eyes trying to calm herself down before she read the email again. She sighed as she rested her hand on her cell phone that was sitting on the counter next to her note pad and looked at the time. 9:27pm. She picked up her phone and went through her contacts before finding the one she had been searching for. She didn’t know if she really wanted to press the call button or if she was having a brain aneurism but she pressed the call button and held her phone up to her ear.

“Brooke,” heard after three rings.

“Hi Dad,” Broke said sounding defeated. She didn’t want to resort to calling her dad for advice but she didn’t know anyone she could trust for an unbiased opinion about her situation.

“What can I help you with nine-thirty on a Friday night?” he asked eliciting an eye roll from Brooke.

“Yeah, I know it’s late but I need your opinion on something and we both know I would be calling you if I had any other choice,” She said getting up and walking down the back hallway towards the back office out of earshot.

“Is everything alright?” Her father asked sounding the tiniest bit worried. Brooke sighed and rested her head against the back hallway window and looked out at the light snow falling.

“Yeah I just, uhm, where do I start?” Brook said letting out a deep breath. “There is a program that is only offered to five medical students in the US, if they are endorsed by their program directors, to go to Switzerland for a surgical placement for their last semester of school, all expenses paid and I’ve been selected as one of the five. I got my at work a couple days ago. ”

“Congratulations Brooke, that phenomenal,” he said sounding what she though was proud.

“Thanks. And it would be spearheaded by some of the best surgical doctors around the world and it’s honestly a once and a lifetime opportunity,” Brooke sliding down to sit on the ground after feeling as though her legs we about to give out.

“And?” Her father asked, knowing that there had to be something more to this conversation.

“And they need an answer by tonight.”

Notes

Hope you like it!! Let me know what you guys think :3

I hope you all have had a happy holiday and are enjoying time off of work and school and ate way too much food :)

As always, love you guys for reading along xoxo