Stockholm Syndrome

I wake up on the floor of the exercise lab with Dr. Evans and a nurse standing over me.

“You’re back. How do you feel?” he asks.

“Weird? What happened?” I ask dazed.

“You had a tachycardia episode. I shocked you back, we’re good.” He helps me up and I get back to my wheelchair.

“Are we done with the test?” I ask.

“Yes. And you passed.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means your heart really does need a pacemaker.” I smile and he wheels me back to my room.

When we get back, Sidney and my family are all in my room.

“How did the test go?” my mother asks.

“Good I passed out!” I hold my hand out and Dr. Evans high fives it.

“I told you that would happen,” My mother snaps at Dr. Evans.

“Just had to be sure.” He replies

“You passed out?” Bobbie asks.

“Yeah my heart went all funny. But Dr. Evans shocked it back. No big deal.” Sidney looks at me with dismay. My mother and Dr. Evans leave the room and I ask my dad and brothers to go get food from somewhere that isn’t the hospital.

“Do you wanna take me for a walk?” I ask Sidney. He grabs my wheelchair handles and starts pushing me down the hall.

“Look. Life is too short. Obviously anything can happen and I don’t want to waste time fighting with you.” He pushes us to a windowed wall with a view of the city. He sits down beside me and adjusts his cap.

“I don’t want to fight either. Besides we both know you’re going do what you want anyway.”

“I love you Sidney. I can’t imagine what you must have gone through the past few weeks but I need this. I need to snowboard. I need you to understand that I don’t exist without it. It’s my saving grace. It’s the core part of who I am. This surgery is a risk I need to take. Even if you don’t understand it, please support it. For better or for worse right?” I look at him and he has his head in his hands. We sit there for a while until he finally sighs.

“Okay. If this is really what you want. Okay.” I lean over to hug him but quickly pull back. I yelp out in pain and wrap my arms around my broken rib cage. “Are you okay?” he asks worriedly. I give him the thumbs up and we both start laughing. He wheels me back to room where I find Trina, Troy and Taylor waiting me.

“Oh my goodness, it’s so good to see you!” Trina says bursting into tears. Troy and Taylor both hug me and hand me a bouquet of flowers.

“I’m so happy you guy’s are here!” I say excitedly. Although the circumstances weren’t great I was happy to have my entire family in the same city. We spend the rest of the visiting until it gets dark and visiting hours are over. They leave and then Sidney crawls into bed with me.

“I’m sorry I didn’t pick you.” I say

“It was wrong to make you choose. I get it. I wouldn’t want you to make me choose between you and hockey.” He says softly, stroking my hair.

“So both?” I ask.

“Both. “

“Until we’re 98 and can’t do either sports.” I say smiling. He chuckles in my hair and we both drift to sleep.

I wake up early the next morning to a nurse checking my vitals. Sidney is nowhere to be seen and I see a note on the table.

Went home to shower. Be back soon. –Sidney

I sigh and turn on the TV. I watch ESPN and I’m surprised when I hear my name pop up. They talk about my accident and how they wish me a speedy recovery. I hear a familiar clicking noise and Natalia appears in the doorway.

“Nat! Oh my god!” I exclaim. She walks up to me and gently hugs me.

“I’m so happy you’re okay, I was so worried,” she says, her eyes welling up.

“Oh don’t cry. I’m okay for the most part.” I give her the low down of what happened and she looks shocked.

“I’m staying at your guy’s house, I hope that’s okay.” She’s about to say something else when Dr. Evans walks in. He looks at Natalia and looks stunned.

“Hi I’m sorry, you are?” he asks.

“Oh I’m Natalia. Her friend,” she says smiling.

“Hi Natalia, I’m Dr. Evans,” he says shaking her hand. I roll my eyes at how quick he went from shocked to smooth. They continue to stare at each other until I clear my throat.

“Oh yeah. Phoenix. It’s time for your ECG,” he says awkwardly. A nurse comes in with the machine and hooks a bunch of leads up to my chest. The needles start drawing lines on the paper and Dr. Evans reads them. Natalia watches intensely and I wait anxiously for the results.

“Hmmm. Okay. Your arrhythmia is stable now but you are going to need a pacemaker to help control your abnormal heart rhythm.” He takes a stethoscope and listens to my chest. “Your lungs sound terrific so that patch we did is healing nicely. Your heart sounds good but I still want to wait to do surgery. But this is good news. Everything is healing nicely.” I feel relief wash over me and smile at him.

“Does that mean I can go home?” I ask hopefully.

“As much as I’ll miss you, yes you can go home.” I smile and high five Natalia. “Oh and Natalia, I was wondering if you might want to grab dinner with me later?” Natalia looks at me and I shrug.

“Sure,” she says finally. She writes down her number and gives it to him. Suddenly Carl, Bobbie and Sidney walk into the room.

“I’ve got your discharge papers ready so you can leave whenever you’re ready and Natalia I’ll see you tonight,” he says winking. He leaves the room and Carl just stares at Natalia.

“Carl could you bring the car to the front?” I ask, trying to diffuse the situation. He eventually tears his eyes from Natalia and leaves the room.
“Well that was awkward,” Bobbie says. I get Natalia and Bobbie to wait for me downstairs and Sidney helps me get changed.

“Our house is a little hectic, just a heads up,” He warns me. His parents, my parents, Taylor and Natalia were all staying at my house. I had told Bobbie to stay with Carl because we didn’t have enough space. He wheels me down the front and I see Sidney’s Range Rover. He comes in front of me to help me but I freeze. I can’t bring myself to get in the vehicle.

“Phoenix what’s wrong?” Sidney asks confused.
I just stare at the SUV and visions of my accident come flooding back.

“I can’t,” I say, my voice shaky. It takes him a minute but I see the realization dawn on his face. He crouches down and cups my face.

“Hey it’s going to be okay. You can do this,” he says softly. I realize I don’t really have a choice and nod my head. He helps me stand up helps lift me into the vehicle. He sits in the back with me and holds my hand. I didn’t realize how tight I was holding his hand until we got to our house and I let go. His hand was red and he had to stretch it a few times. He helps me get out and passes me my crutches. I hobble inside and there are welcome home banners on the wall. I see my parents and Sidney’s parents standing there waiting for me.

“Welcome home,” Trina says while gently hugging me. My mother comes and carefully wraps her arms around me.

“I’m so glad your home dear,” she adds.

“Thanks you guys. I think I’m going to go nap,” I reply. I head to the stairs and slowly make my way up them. I get to my bedroom and gently lay down on the bed and I savour the feeling of being in my own bed. I hear Sidney comes in and lay down beside me.

“How’re you feeling?” he asks.

“Sore,” I answer.

“Well you’ll have to wait another hour for a painkiller.”

“Hey Sidney?”

“Yeah Nix?

“What happened to my jeep?

“It got totalled in the accident. It’s probably in some junkyard.” I feel myself get really sad. I had bought that black jeep when I was 16 with money I had won at contests.

“What was the cause of the accident?” Sidney doesn’t answer right away.

“Drunk driver. They’re facing charges,” he says seriously. I was at the wrong place at the wrong time. It could have been worse. I could be dead.

“I love you Sidney,” I say quietly.

“I love you more Phoenix,” he responds.

I wake up and the house is chaotic. My dad, Troy, Carl and Bobbie are watching hockey and my mother, Trina, Natalia and Taylor are all baking my favourite muffins.

“Where’s Sidney?” I ask Trina.

“He went to get your prescription,” she replies. I limp to the table and Natalia comes and sits down beside me.

“Is it weird with Carl here?” I ask her quietly.

“Yeah. We’re just avoiding each other,” she responds.

“So you’re dating again?”

“I guess so. He’s hot and a doctor so why not.” She gets a text and she stands up. “Well he’s here. I’ll tell you about it later.” She kisses my cheek and heads out the door. I head to the den where the guys are watching the Ranger Capitals game.

“Hey kiddo, how are you feeling?” Dad asks me.

“I’m okay, how’s the game?” I ask.

“The caps are dominating. Lundqvist is having a bad game,” Troy responds. Sidney enters the room and kisses my head. “Where did Natalia go?” he asks me.

“She uh had a date?” I say awkwardly.

“With who?”

“Dr. Evans.” I look at Carl and he’s staring hard at the television.

“First he totally hits on you then he asks your friend out. I don’t like the dude,” Bobbie says disapprovingly. I shrug and continue watching the game. I hear Trina call my name I make my way to the kitchen.

“Try one,” she says handing me a muffin. I try it and I’m impressed.

“This is really good. Thank you guys,” I say with my mouth full. We end the night playing board games and laughing. I was happy our families got along so well. We all get tired and everyone calls it a night.

Notes