Haunting Hallucinations

The game finally ended. The rest of the Stars piled into the locker room. No one spoke for a while. I was already dressed in my normal clothes, which consisted of a dark gray Dallas Stars workout shirt and a pair of worn out jeans. I didn’t feel much like throwing on anything nice. Sergei was still on my mind.

Suddenly the Coach, Lindy Ruff, burst into the room. He had his phone in his hand and an indifferent, puzzling expression on his face. I wasn’t sure what was going on or what had happened. Was the news good or bad? “Alright, I just received word from the hospital on Sergei!”

I instinctively got to my feet. I clasped my hands together and looked at him, wanting the answer and some closure. I felt like Sergei’s injury was partly my fault, I had riled the Wild up too much. It had to be my fault. I leaned my face to the side, in a cocked position, with my cheek on my knuckles. My eyes were wide open with a longing.

“Well, don’t keep us in suspense, Coach!” Tyler exclaimed, teasingly, as he pulled off his upper body equipment and stood with his chest exposed.

“Tyler, please put a shirt on and be presentable, there aren’t any girls in here!” the Coach shook his head, as he gazed around at all the anxious faces, which broke out in laughter at the chirp from the old man.

“Hey, Segs, Coach owned your ass!” Cody Eakin laughed, as he threw something toward the young adult male.

Tyler frowned, but pulled on a tight athletic shirt, like he’d worn at the combine. It showed off his bulging muscles underneath and hugged his upper body tightly. He looked like a stud, a hunk, and a total and complete jock.

“Come on, Coach, don’t leave poor Valeri in suspense. That’s not nice,” Jamie stated, patting me, the wide-eyed Russian on the back.

“Alright, so he’s awake and he’s doing fine, but unfortunately he won’t be returning to the ice anytime soon.”

“What?!” I shouted out, before I could stop myself.

Everyone turned and looked at me.

The Coach was sympathetic to me. He understood my pain, but he also meant business. He faced me dead on, looking me in the eyes. “I’m sorry, Val, but Sergei has a concussion. You are going to have to play without him.”

“But I can’t! I need him!” I tried to further explain. I couldn’t express how much it would hurt me if he was gone. I still wasn’t comfortable with English completely.

Jamie spun to me. He grabbed me by either side of my shoulders and held me still, forcing me to look at him. My arms were pinned down to my sides by him. “You’ll be fine, Nichy. Segs and I will help you.”

I wish that was going to be true. I wanted it to be true. I loved this team and they loved me, but I needed Sergei as a guide. No one else knew Russian like he did. I gazed into his eyes, searching for something, but he smiled and his brown eyes twinkled under the neon lights of the locker room. Tyler came up and put his hand on my shoulder.

“We got you, Nich! Come on, things will be alright.”

I didn’t understand him, but I took it, from his posture and soft expression, that he was in agreement with Jamie and that they were going to be here for me. I was incredibly thankful for their friendship. I slowly nodded my head, but I just couldn’t shake the nagging feeling I had at the back of my mind.


A few more hours went by, as I found myself in the back of Jamie Benn’s black Dodge truck. He had the window down and the breeze blew his long brown locks backward. In the passenger seat, sat Tyler Seguin, who was fiddling with the radio volume and controls. He was wearing his hat backwards.

“Sergei?” I asked, leaning forward.

Tyler sat back and looked at me. He pouted his lip. “You are so adorable, Val. I’ll check and see if there is any news. Jamie, give me your phone!”

“Why?”

“Just give it to me.”

“Why can’t you use your phone?”

“Cause Coach will text you over me, you are the captain, naturally he will fill you in with an update of Gons!”

“You’re right.” He leaned over, as he stepped on the brake at a red light. He reached into his pants’ pocket and pulled out his phone. He passed it to the younger man, who eagerly took it and quickly typed a message to the Coach.

I peered between the middle gap, between the two seats. Tyler reached over and patted me on the head. Then the phone buzzed, just as Jamie shot off once more, as the light changed to green. Tyler tapped his friend’s screen and read the message. His eyes went wide and he gasped. He dropped the phone into his lap, and threw his hands over his mouth, like he’d just seen a spider crawling on his leg.

“Hey, watch it, Segs, don’t break it.”

“Sorry.”

“What’s with you?”

“It’s Coach,” He turned in his seat, so that he could look at both of us.

I was curious to know what spooked him out. It wasn’t good news, but what was it?

“I’m so sorry, Nichy, but Sergei is going to retire!”

I was horrified. The news had gone from bad to worse. I felt the dam breaking in my eyes, as the tears flooded forth, down both of my cheeks and dripped off my chin. Sergei Gonchar, the man who had taken me under his wing, to help me out and ease my transition into the American and NHL culture was retiring! It broke my heart.

What was I going to do without him there? How could I continue playing without his aid on the ice?

Tyler saw my heartbreak and he instantly leaned forward and attempted to comfort me. He reached his hand out, but I batted it away. I withdrew to the back and gazed out the window at the Dallas countryside.

How could I go on as a Dallas Star without Sergei Gonchar?

Notes

OMG VAL STOP BEING SOOOOO CUTE AND ADORABLE!!!! You sweet, sweet, sweet Russian kid! I'm so sorry that I made Sergei get hurt and retire!!!!!!!!
AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!

Next up more with Kinny! :)