Intrigue

We had a game that night at home. I hadn’t heard anything from her yet and I was starting to get discouraged. “Head up bro, give her a chance, she may have been at Court all day” Jon said as he skated by me.

I decided not to worry about it. Encouraged by his words, I had my best game in two months. I finally scored a goal after a fourteen game drought. I was feeling good walking into the locker room after the game. I checked my phone and realized I did have a missed call from her. I didn’t even shower before I dialed her back. She didn’t answer and I figured she was showering. I showered and left quickly, almost running to the car. I pulled up and noticed her parking space was empty. I tried her number again and no answer. It puzzled me, but I figured I would wait a little while then see if she came home.

Duncan made it home about thirty minutes after me. We sat in the living room watching the 11:00 news which was close to ending. They were on a breaking news report and I seen them flash a picture of the article on her new job. They were reporting that she had an arraignment hearing today for a known convict and was attacked leaving the office around 8 pm tonight. They said she was hurt but stable. I put on my jeans and grabbed my heavy winter coat, my car keys and jogged down the four flights. I got to the hospital in record time. It was a flurry of activity there. There were detectives, the police commissioner and plenty of reporters. I walked up to the nursing station and asked to be let in to see her. The girl didn’t recognize me and denied me access. I tried arguing with her and a cop stopped me. “Listen, what’s the problem?” He recognized me immediately. “Listen Mr. Seabrook, they aren’t really letting friends in to see her right now, they won’t go for it. It is family only.” I looked up and smiled. “Well she is my fiancée.”

I entered the room holding my breath. She was sound asleep and I didn’t want to wake her. Her wrist was casted and her arm in a sling on her right hand side. She had a few bumps and bruises, but she was alive. The doctor came in and she started to stir. Her eyes fluttered open and she realized I was there immediately. “Hey you. I tried to call you to thank you for the flowers.” I put my finger to her lips to shush her. The Doctor let her know everything looked ok. She had two broken ribs, a separated shoulder and a broken wrist, but nothing life-threatening. He gave her a shot of pain medicine and she slowly drifted back off to sleep. I took the opportunity to run down to the cafeteria and get a cup of coffee. I called Duncan and let him know what was going on and that I was staying.

I got back to the room and sat with her. I brushed the hair out of her eyes and held her good hand while she slept. About four o'clock in the morning I woke up to her staring at me. “Hey sleepyhead” she whispered, her voice hoarse. “Thank you for coming. You didn’t have to stay. You gotta be uncomfortable.“

I smiled at her. “I wanted to stay.” The nurse came in and interrupted us giving her more medicine and ice water. Once she left, I put my head down on Alex’s bed. She rubbed the back of my head which immediately relieved some of the tension.

We watched the news and she was the top story. We cracked up when a reporter announced that she was doing better and that her fiancée was by her side and they flashed a picture of me walking towards the nurse’s station. They didn’t announce my name, but I knew most people would recognize me. My phone rang three minutes later. My agent was flipping out. I couldn’t stop laughing. “I said it so I could get inside. It was after visiting hours. So who cares, don’t say anything. No comment is perfect, thanks.”

Alex gave me a grin, “created a fiasco huh.”

I just smiled, “I don’t care Alex, let them talk. Little things like that don’t matter to me sweetheart.”

She said “thank you” quietly. A few hours later the doctor came in and released her. I had already called Duncan and let him know I was skipping the optional skate that was scheduled. I wanted to help her get settled.

I drove her home and carried her up the steps. “Umm, Brent, my legs are fine.” I just laughed.

“Shush, enjoy the pampering now Alex. I promise the next time I need someone to take care of me, I’m calling you.” I got her settled on the sofa and handed her the remote and her laptop. Work had given her a month off to heal. I tried to talk her into taking a nap while I went to get her food and her medicine.

She just groaned. “I slept enough. I can’t sleep anymore.” She whined.

“Ok, I’ll be right back then.” I replied, walking towards the door.

I ran by the Italian deli near our apartments and the pharmacy, then decided to run through the supermarket and grabbed stuff to drink and dinner for tonight. I grabbed a couple of movies on the way back. When I re-entered her apartment, she was sound asleep. I took the blanket off the back of the couch and covered her. I put away the stuff in the kitchen and laid back in her recliner, falling asleep myself. I woke up to my phone ringing a few hours later. I glanced down and realized it was my mom. I thought about ignoring it and calling her back later until I realized she may have caught wind of the “engagement”. I looked over and Alex was sitting Indian style, trying to eat the sandwich I had brought back for her.

I just smiled as I hit the button to answer the phone. “Hi Mom, how are you?” She immediately babbled on about how she would have at least liked her son to call her and let her know the happy news.

“Mom, I’m not engaged. I said that so I could get in and visit a friend in the hospital. The news kind of ran with it. I think its funny.” She just laughed and told me I gave her a heart attack. Then she asked me who the friend is. “A good friend Mom. Maybe I’ll get the chance to introduce you sometime. Let me go, I’m going to cook dinner now.”

She laughed and asked me when I learned how to cook. “Hahaha, I haven’t, it’s going to be a valiant effort though. She’s hurt the least I can do is feed her.” My mom asked if I was seeing the “pretty lawyer” in the pictures. “Not sure Mom, I’m working on her, she is a tough girl to convince though.” Alex looked up and smirked.

I hung up with my Mom and looked at Alex. “So what am I so tough about?” she asked.

“She wanted to know if you were relaxing.” I answered and couldn't help but smile.

Notes

:) This is Part 10 of 44. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing it.