Cry to Me

"Let me look into your beautiful eyes," Dulci cooed at Sam as she began her physical exam. She was happy to be distracted with the important task as hand, something she knew she was good at, rather than daydreaming about Sidney with his shirt off. At least he was dressed at this point. But Dulci couldn't decide what was worse, sweaty and shirtless, or showered fresh with the most Devine smelling cologne that may serve as an aroma aphrodisiac. Not only did he smell like sex, but he was wearing a tee shirt that was so tight to his body that Dulci was sure it could bust at the seams at any moment.

"Wow. A lab with clean ears. That's atypical," Dulci joked as she moved from Sam's eyes to her ears.

"Yeah. She used to get horrible infections as a puppy so my parents would religiously clean and medicate them. Hopefully I can keep up with my schedule," he said while rubbing her ears and making her back leg thump.

“What type of infections did she have?”Dulci already knew the answer.Most ear infections consisted of an abundance of yeast and bacteria, and if the patient was really lucky, they would also have rods.

“Good question… I’d have to call and ask my mom.I can’t remember off hand.”

"She has a little tartar on her teeth. She could probably benefit from

A dental cleaning if it’s an option for you." Moving to feel for her lymph nodes, "Her lymph nodes feel normal." Dulci stood and moved to the opposite end of the dog to palmate her abdomen. "Everything feels normal in here. Last thing I have to do is listen to your heart and lungs miss Sam." Putting her stethoscope on, she gently placed her hand and instrument on Sam's chest. "Her heart and lungs sound great. Do you run with her?" Dulci asked making eye contact with Sidney for the first time since the previous evening. She figured if she didn’t see look directly at him, she wouldn’t have to deal with the humiliation of her indecency.Her instincts were correct.She shouldn't have looked because, although she knew it was her imagination, she could see herself stark naked in his eyes.Not to mention that she worried that he would forever think she was lewd.

"I've never ran with her until recently. Maybe started about two months ago. We went on a long run yesterday morning and she started limping yesterday afternoon."

"Let me check this out. Do you mind helping me put her on her side?" Dulci asked and without a verbal answer, Sidney had flipped Sam onto her side.

She placed her hands above and below Sam's gimpy leg and gently pushed and pulled at her knee, checking for the tell tale test of ligament issues; drawer and hyperextension. "That's definitely a no-brainer. She ruptured her ACL for sure but will need surgery to see if it’s also a meniscal tear.She can get up now.”

Reaching into her work satchel, she pulled out her own personal chart with a new medical history sheet sitting on top.She was writing her subjective and objective examinations when she was interrupted.

“What does S.O.A.P. mean?”

“The S and O stand for subjective and objective.The A stands for assessment and the P stands for plan, which is what we’re about to discuss,” she smiled at him putting her pen down.

“Theoretically, with a partial anterior cruciate ligament tear, extensive rest and limited exercise are recommended along with physical therapy.However, Sam’s drawer test was quite obvious that her cruciate is ruptured.With that being said, she’ll need surgery to have it repaired.Does she see a veterinarian in the area?”

“I usually leave her in Nova Scotia with my parents, but since Carly moved in, I figured I could keep her closer and Carly could take care of her while I travel with the team.I figured you could be her primary veterinarian here.”The comment about Carly caring for a dog made Dulci laugh.

“You must not know Carly very well.She loathes animals.In fact, I’m surprised she agreed to Sam living here.”

Dulci immediately mentally kicked herself for making a joke, because the smile that appeared on his face would make any girl swoon.It was a genuinely happy smile that consumed his entire face.

“Trust me, I had to fight to get her here,” he chuckled.

“I know you have time limits due to your schedule but I was wondering if you'd be able or willing to drop her off tomorrow so I can sedate her for X-rays?" She asked while patting Sam's belly again.

"I think I could probably do that,” he said with a nod.

“Don't feed her breakfast in the morning. She needs to fast for the sedation," Dulci instructed as continued to write her assessment and plan for Sam’s medical history and finally putting her chart into her satchel.She looked at her watch realizing she had probably been there too long and Savannah was probably waiting patiently for her.

"We're ordering Chinese for dinner. Who you like to join us?" Sidney asked taking Dulci by surprise.

"Umm. I'd love to, but I'm already late for drinks with a friend" she explained regrettably while lugging her medical bag over her shoulder and gesturing toward the door.

"Right. Let me walk you out."

Christ. He's beyond attractive, smells like bottled sex, and has manners. She followed him to the door and as he opened it, he turned toward her in a way that blocked her from leaving.

"Listen, I'm sorry about last night. Carly told me you knew I'd be coming over. Obviously you didn't." At this point he could see how flushed and embarrassed she was at the thought.

"I didn't see anything.I mean, peripherally I did but I tried not to look." Now he was getting flushed because he did see everything.All her bits and pieces.

"Let's just forget it happened,” she responded quickly, but it came out sounding a bit harsh.She knew he was attempting to put her mind at ease. “And thank you for the bizarre tampon trick and cleaning the kitchen floor.You didn’t have to."

"Well I couldn't let you walk into broken glass, otherwise I'd be shoving tampons in your nose and picking glass shards out of your feet,” he quipped, causing her to laugh loudly.

Dulci turned to walk to her car. She expected the front door to be closed and locked already, but as she turned around, he was standing outside the front door waiting to make sure she got off ok. It made her smile, but she tried not to show it. Rolling down her window she shouted, "Don't forget. No food tomorrow morning."

"Sure thing, Dr. Hammett," Sidney said while waving with a lopsided grin.

Dulci shook her head to herself and backed out of the driveway, she called Savannah to confirm they were still having drinks and drove in the direction of the restaurant.

----

After watching some television in the living room, Sidney decided it was time for bed. He knew his day would start early tomorrow.Walking into his bedroom, he immediately walked into his closet to undress.

"Babe? What the fuck is this?" He heard Carly ask from the bed.

"What's what?" He exited the closet in only his boxer briefs and pulled his side of the comforter back.

"This," she displayed the iPad and his heart rate doubled. He was staring at the bondage fetish store website with the hog tie getup displayed. He must not have exited the page properly.

"Why were you looking at this filthy shit? It's disgusting!"

Oh fuck.How the fuck am I going to pull this off?"One of the rookies tells us that his girl is into bondage and fetish shit. I was just curious," he shrugged rubbing the back if his neck nervously. He was hoping and praying she wouldn't try to dig any further into the matter.

"Well she must be one perverted freaky bitch that I’m not going to befriend," Carly snorted before tossing the iPad in his direction.

"Please do something with that website. It's freaking me out. I'm going to be scarred for weeks." If only you knew about Dulci.

"I bet I can think of a few ways to distract you," he whispered seductively in her ear before gently taking her earlobe between his teeth and continued kissing across her cheek before crashing his lips onto her’s.

-----

Dulci took a long dip of her margarita so her mouth could do something other than smile at the thought of sweaty chests and goofy crooked grins.

"Alright.Spill it," Savannah inquired looking suspicious of Dulci's obvious inattention.

"Spill what?"

"You've had this giant grin plastered to your face since you walked in. I could even hear it in your voice when you called earlier. I’ve also been talking to you for five minutes and you haven’t heard any of it."

"Oh my god.I’m a horrible person,” Dulci groaned as she put her face in her hands, elbows resting on the table. “This is going to sound so ludicrous but you have to promise you won't tell anyone or judge me."

"I've got my own problems. Who am I to judge?" This is why Dulci loved Savannah. She truly was a non-judgmental person.She explained in detail the events of the previous night and earlier that evening.

"So you've fallen victim, too, huh?You look and sound like Amy and Laura right now" Savannah asked with an unimpressed look.

"Fallen victim? What do you mean?"

"Sidney Crosby. Any girl who watches hockey is usually smitten with him. Go to any Pens game. Girls and women alike are fawning over him.He’s even had girls dress in wedding gowns with ‘marry me’ signs."

"You watch hockey and you don't seem interested," Dulci countered.

"Don't get me wrong. I'd fuck him three ways from Sunday, but I'm

not a penguins fan and I think he's kind of… what’s the word… whiny."

"Whiny how so?"

"Come over to my place one day and I'll give you a proper hockey education and some dirt on the players including your boyfriend," Savannah offered with a shit eating grin.

“Oh, for Christ’s sake,” Dulci shook her head taking another hefty sip of her margarita.

----

Dulci arrived home a few hours later. She had more margaritas than she should have to drive and was cleaning out her cat's litter box when she felt her phone vibrating in her back pocket. She had two notifications; one from Sidney and one from Carly. She opened Carly's first.

I NEED TO TALK TO YOU ASAP! It's urgent. Please call me!

Knowing that Carly is one to overreact and fly off the handle, Dulci called her and was slightly taken aback by the greeting.

"I think Sid's cheating on me." Dulci could hear the panic in her voice.

"Slow down and take a deep breath, Carly.What makes you say that?"

"Well, to start, he NEVER gets on his phone after we have sex. Like, ever. We cuddle. But tonight, he got out if bed with his phone and did god knows what with it in the bathroom."

"Maybe he needed to pee?" Dulci offered as a suggestion.

"Dulci! He was in there for ten minutes! But that's not all. The sex was fucking terrible.He was being more aggressive than usual and even tried to hold my wrists above my head as if to bind me!He was distracted. I know it. He's thinking about that whore."

"Do you have actual proof that there is another girl?"Dulci knew given Carly’s previous relationships, she would forever be a jealous girlfriend with or without cause to worry.

"Kind of!I found his iPad in his nightstand where it's never stored. The Internet was on some BDSM site. And when I reviewed the browser history, it looked like he reviewed hog ties, spreader bars, and bondage tape. So fucking disgusting..." Carly continued but Dulci stopped listening. It sounded eerily familiar.Thinking about the previous evening, she remembered the stuff on her bed, exactly what was in Sidney's search history. She also remembered that he texted her shortly before Carly asked Dulci to call.

“Have you talked to him about the website?Maybe there’s a reason he was looking, or, better, maybe some of his team mates were playing a cruel joke?”

“Apparently one of the rookie’s girlfriends is into it and he talks about it in the locker room.Dulci, what self-respecting woman would be into that shit?”Dulci could imagine the look on Carly’s face, pure disgust and uncertainty.

“Well, it is a life style choice and what people do behind closed doors is their own business.”Dulci hoped that she didn’t give herself away in that moment.Nobody except Henry, and now Sidney Crosby, knew about her sexual preferences.“And I’m sure he’s not fucking around on you.He adores you.Talk to him about it.Maybe he thought you might like it rougher than normal?Variety is the spice of life, so they say.”

“You’re the sweetest, Dulc!And thank God we have normal sex lives!Anyway, I’m gonna go to bed.I’m beat.Goodnight!”

“Night.”

Dulci contemplated opening the text from Sidney.If she needed to respond, it would surely alert him somehow and that would make Carly even more suspicious.She told herself that if the text needed a response, she would do it in the morning.

You never told me what time to drop Sam off, or what hospital you work at for that matter.

Of course it warrants a reply.She quickly exited Sidney’s message thread to go back to Carly’s.

I forgot to tell Sidney to drop Sam off at the hospital between 7:30 and 9:00am.I won’t be there until 10.

Settling into bed for the night with her orthopedic’s surgery textbook, she was falling asleep as her phone buzzed.

I’m telling him to drop her off at your place around 8.

Dulci groaned out loud before turning off her lamp and burying her face in her pillow for much needed sleep.

Notes