Russian Roulette

I get to Beau’s house and half the team is there.
“Quinn you made it!” Beau says excitedly.

“Yeah you said you had an infection?” I ask worriedly.

“I was just kidding. I knew you wouldn’t come otherwise.”

“That’s not cool!” I say, my voice raising.

“Sorry! But hey since you’re here, relax a bit.”

“When do you work again?” Sidney asks.

“In two hours,” I say looking at my watch.

“Geno says you’re from Colorado,” James says, tuning into the conversation.

“Yeah I grew up in Denver and went to med school there. When I graduated I came here for my internship.” I tell him.

“How did you know you wanted to be a surgeon?” Paul asks.

“When I was seven my friend broke his leg and the bone was sticking out. Everyone including the teacher was too grossed out to stay with him except for me. I thought it was the coolest thing I had ever seen. From that point on I was obsessed with bones and muscles.” I see some of the guys shudder and I can’t help but smile. I head to the bathroom but someone’s already using it. I wait until the door opens and Geno is standing there.

“Hey,” he says smiling.

“Hi. I didn’t hear you leave this morning,” I say coolly.

“Didn’t want to wake. Now we even,” he laughs.

“Thanks for last night. I really needed it,” I say shyly. All of a sudden he wraps his arms around me and I’m trapped in a big bear hug.

“You’re like a big Russian bear,” I mumble into his chest. He lets go and chuckles. He takes out his phone and opens the contacts.

“In case you need friend,” he says gently. I put my information in and
he lets me past and I quickly use the bathroom. We’re in the middle of a movie when my pager goes off.
“Well guys I gotta get back to work. Thanks for inviting me over,” I hug Beau and Geno goodbye and make my way back to the hospital.

I walk into the patient’s room and see the eight-year old boy wearing a Penguins jersey. He had broken his leg in two places playing hockey and had to get surgery. It was a big surgery to get for anyone let alone an eight-year old and he looked scared.

“Hi Ethan, I’m Dr. Eriksson, I’ll be fixing your leg today. I see you’re a Penguins fan. Who’s your favourite player?”

“Malkin,” he says quietly.

“Me too,” I smile. He plays with his jersey and I try to figure out the words to say to ease his mind.

“I know this seems scary buddy but the sooner we do this the sooner you get back on the ice and start scoring those goals. And who knows, maybe Dr. Eriksson can get her hockey friend to stop by and say hi,” I say smiling.

“Who’s your hockey friend?” he asks.

“I guess you’ll just have to wait and see.” He smiles and I walk through the procedure with him and his parents. After I leave his room and I check my phone and I have a missed text.

Geno:
Hi it’s Russian bear

Me:
Hey I have a huge favour to ask

Geno:
What’s favour

Me:
I have a patient who’s your biggest fan. Do you think you could stop by and say hi?

Geno:
Sure. I come after practice

Me:
Thank you so much!!!

Geno:
For you anything

I smile at his words and put my phone away I head to the O.R. where I prep for surgery.

“You made it!” I say excitedly. Geno hugs me and I start to really enjoy the feeling of being in his arms. I pull away and lead him to Ethan’s room.

“Ethan, my hockey friend is here,” I say smiling. Geno walks in and Ethan’s jaw hits the floor.

“You didn’t say your hockey friend was Malkin!” Ethan exclaims.

“Oops I guess I forgot to mention that,” I chuckle.

“Hi Ethan, how’s leg?” Geno asks.

“It’s okay. Kind of hurts.”

“What happened?”

“I went after the puck and slid into the boards,” Ethan explains.

“You tough. You forward?” Geno asks.

“Yeah. You’re my favourite player,” Ethan says shyly.

“Well thanks. I sign jersey?” I see Ethan’s eyes light up and Geno signs the jersey. They talk about hockey for a while before I tell Ethan it’s time for Geno to go.

“It was so cool meeting you,” Ethan says smiling.

“Nice to meet you. Don’t give up,” Geno says high-fiving him. We leave the room and Geno smiles down at me.

“What?” I ask self-consciously.

“That was nice thing you did.”

“Thanks so much for doing this. It means a lot,” I say gratefully.

“Of course. I should go though.” We say goodbye and I finish my shift.

When I get to the apartment I see Bobby leaning against his motorcycle. I know I should walk past him and go upstairs and shut the door but I wanted to know what he has to say.

“Hey,” he says coolly.

“Why are you here?” I ask stiffly.

“I wanted to say I’m sorry. I was pissed at you and I took it too far. I need you in my life Quinn,” he says quietly. I was still mad at him for how he was acting at the club but I was too tired to keep fighting.

“Okay,” I finally say. He walks up to me and plants a soft kiss on my lips.
“I love you Quinn.” His words sounded empty. It was more of an automatic response rather than words depicting how he felt. We go upstairs and he falls asleep instantly. I lie there thinking about how Geno came through for me and how Bobby was apologizing for the hundredth time in our relationship. I deserved Bobby though. We made sense together but I couldn’t stop thoughts of the Russian from flooding my mind.

The next few weeks dragged on slowly. I was working overtime all the time and I rarely left the hospital. Beau had texted inviting me out a few times but I just didn’t have the time. I knew Bobby was mad at me for working so much but I couldn’t help it.

“You look tired,” Elias says at lunch one day.

“That’s because all I do is work,” I tell him.

“I haven’t been home in a week,” Matt says yawning. My pager goes off and I sigh.

“I’ll see you guys later.” I head to the E.R. where I was paged for a consult.

“What’s up Cohen?” I ask the E.R. physician.

“Broken arm. Bed 2,” he replies. I read the file and go over to the bed where a very nervous teenager is sitting.

“Hi Vince I’m Dr. Eriksson, I’ll be looking at your arm today,” I say warmly. He holds out his arm and it’s visibly deformed. “How did this happen?”

“I was playing basketball and I tripped,” he says quietly.

“Are you nervous? I don’t bite.”

“You’re really pretty,” he says shyly.

“Well thank-you.” I examine his arm and look at his x-rays.

“Well it’s a clean break. It looks like you won’t need surgery so I’ll take you upstairs and we’ll set your arm and then get it in a cast. Does that sound okay?” Vince nods and I wheel him upstairs for the procedure.

I get to the apartment and I’m exhausted. I walk up the stairs and open the door and find Bobby cryptically smiling. I look in his hand and he has my phone.

“You’re quite the popular person. Several guys have messaged you including a ‘Russian Bear’” he says sneering.

“Give me my phone back,” I say seriously. I walk up to him and I can smell the alcohol on him.

“Poor little Quinn, always playing the victim. When in reality you’re just a dirty little slut.” He grabs my shirt and starts unbuttoning it. I grab my phone from his hand and push him away.

“That’s it Bobby I’m done. For real this time,” I say sternly. He grabs my wrists and pins me against the wall.

“We’re only over, when I say we’re over,” he says cruelly. I knee him in the groin and try to make a run for it but he grabs my ankle and pulls me to the ground. My face smashes against the corner of the coffee table and everything goes black.

Notes