Beta

Shea and Alex had gone back to Dallas, both needing to get back to reality and back to work. Unfortunately for Savannah, she still had another three days until she could see Dr. Tompkins again to see if she could go back to work.

She had decided to stay in Minnesota for an extra couple of days, and Tyler had stayed with her. She had told him he could go back to Dallas to get back to his summer workouts, but he had insisted he could do them in Minneapolis and stay with her. She had decided not to argue with him, actually pleased he was going to be there with her.

Mae and Dan had suggested they stay at their house, but Savannah had vetoed that immediately. Instead, Tyler had rented a hotel suite that she stayed in with him. He parents made a few comments about it, but didn’t seem to really care since they got to see Savannah for a couple more days. Plus, Mae was infatuated with Tyler herself.

Savannah had taken the extra two days in Minnesota to show Tyler around. Of course he’d been there many times before when the Stars played the Wild, but he’d never seen Savannah’s old hangouts. She had shown him her old high school and where she had played soccer. He really felt like he got to know her on a new level.

Things were going great and both nearly forgot about their latest fight. Until it was time to go home.

Savannah had said goodbye to her parents, who were getting ready to leave themselves to go to Australia for some adventure they’d planned at the last minute. They told her she could reach them by email if she needed them. She’d refrained from rolling her eyes at how casual they were being about going to Australia for the next four months without even having a place to live planned. “Love you, Mom,” she said, hugging Mae. “You, too, Dad,” she added as she moved on to Dan.

“Tyler, you take care of her,” Mae said with such a motherly undertone even Savannah had to glance at her. “What?” she asked, feeling Savannah’s stare. “You’re injured, Savannah, even if you refuse to admit it. Maybe you’ll listen to Tyler if he’s the one telling you to get some sleep when it’s obvious you have a migraine. And yes, Savannah, I can tell you have one now.”

Savannah sighed and bowed her head, not arguing with her mother, who unfortunately was correct about the migraine. But she would argue about something else. “I can take care of myself, Mother.”

“Yeah yeah,” Mae waved her off before pulling Tyler into a hug.

Dan held out his hand for Tyler to shake afterwards. “Now Tyler, I know it’ll be hard to get a hold of us in Australia, so I just want you to know that you have my blessing to marry Savannah.”

Tyler grinned, while Savannah’s eyes went wide and her face red with embarrassment. “Thank you, sir.”

“And if you could get that teammate of yours to man up and ask Alex,” Dan began, but Savannah quickly cut him off.

“Enough, Dad,” she said curtly. Jamie wasn’t there to defend himself and the last time her parents brought up the subject, it had ended in Jamie and Alex fighting.

Dan put his hands up, surrendering. “Fine,” he sighed dramatically. “Have a good flight back to Dallas.”

“Have a good trip to Australia,” Savannah told her parents before following Tyler out to his rental car. She really couldn’t believe her parents were going to another continent for four months. Just packing their bags and heading out without so much of a basic plan. But that was Mae and Dan Decker, and Savannah loved her parents, no matter how out there they were.

Her parents were already pulling out of the driveway before Savannah even had her seatbelt buckled. “What are you thinking?” Tyler asked, breaking the silence.

“Let’s go home and see if we can fix us,” she said seriously, looking out the passenger window and not at him.

“Fix us?” he asked curiously. He hadn’t turned on the engine yet so the silence was deafening.

Savannah nodded her head. “Yeah, we’re not completely okay, Tyler, and you have to know that. These past couple of days have been great. But we’re about to go back to reality. Back to Dallas. Back to me going to work. And I don’t know if we can actually handle that,” she spoke aloud exactly what was on her mind. She figured honesty was the best policy right now.

“We can,” Tyler said with certainty. There was no doubt in his mind they could handle it. Even if he hadn’t handled it well before.

“I hope so,” she said, looking straight forward.

“Savannah,” Tyler spoke, and she turned her head, blinking at him. “I love you,” he said simply.

“Can you promise me one thing?” she said suddenly. He paused, waiting for her to continue. “Just don’t run away again.”

“You ran to Minnesota,” he pointed out with a slight laugh.

“After you went to Toronto!”

“You’re right,” Tyler hung his head. “I bolted. Because I was scared. But now all I know is I can’t lose you again.” He hated being this vulnerable, but it was the truth. Life had been hell when they had been apart and not speaking. He couldn’t do that again.

She inhaled deeply and took several seconds to exhale. “I’m going back to work.”

Tyler nodded his head. “I know. Just...just be careful,” he said simply.

She smiled softly. “I will.” There was several moments of silence before she spoke again. “I have an appointment with Dr. Tompkins tomorrow. Do you want to go? You definitely don’t have to,” she added quickly.

“I’ll be there,” he told her. “Shea already said she couldn’t go,” he added. Of course he had already talked to her sister about it.

“Do you think I can stay at your place tonight?” she asked suddenly to his surprise, and he couldn’t keep the grin off his face. “I mean, the appointment is at 8:00 am, I don’t want you to be late picking me up,” she added a fake excuse.

“You know that’s your place as much as mine,” he replied, putting in the address to the airport into his GPS.

“Didn’t know if that privilege was still there after you broke up with me,” she teased. She wasn’t going to let him off the hook easily for breaking up with her.

“Can’t we just say we were on a break, not broken up per se?” he asked, following the directions from his phone. He didn’t know Minneapolis well enough to navigate without the directions.

“You are not trying to Ross me!” she exclaimed, making a Friends reference. “You broke up with me! So now you have to start over with anniversaries,” she added, a smirk on her face.

Tyler just smiled as he looked out the front window. He knew she didn’t put too much stake into anniversaries. “Guess we can celebrate both,” he shrugged. He suddenly furrowed his eyebrows together. “How many dates do we have to go on before we can sleep together?”

Savannah slapped his bicep with the back of her hand for that comment. They hadn’t had sex in weeks. Even staying in the hotel in Minnesota instead of her parents’ house, they hadn’t had sex. “Of course you’d have sex on the brain!” she rolled her eyes.

“I am a man,” he shrugged. “And it’s been a looooong time. Like a month,” he reminded her. She gave him a side look. “The last person I slept with was you, and the only person I’m sleeping with is you,” he told her even though she didn’t ask. He swore he saw a look of relief on her face for a split second before it was gone.

“Let’s see how this doctor appointment goes tomorrow and if he’ll let me start some strenuous exercise,” she said suggestively.

“Trust me, I can do alllll the work and let you lay back and enjoy,” he told her with a devilish look in his eye. He reached over and put a hand on her upper thigh.

Suddenly a car pulled over into his lane, causing Tyler to slam on his brakes. “Better be careful, smooth talker,” she told him as he cursed, though she knew it wasn’t his fault. “Let’s get home in one piece first.”

He squeezed her leg. “Home,” he smiled.

“I’m referring to Dallas, not your specific home,” she clarified.

“Mmhmm,” Tyler mumbled. He knew exactly what she meant.

***

The two got back to Dallas later than expected after their plane got delayed so neither of them got much sleep before needing to leave for Savannah’s doctor appointment. Tyler didn’t complain though, he was just happy to have her back.

They had an appointment with Dr. Tompkins in his regular clinic, and Tyler could feel eyes on him as he sat in the waiting room next to Savannah. “How long before someone asks you for an autograph?” she whispered. “I mean, the kid in the corner is already trying to sneak pictures,” she pointed out. The kid couldn’t be more than sixteen and wasn’t doing a very good job of hiding taking pictures on his phone.

Tyler took his hat off and ran a hand through his hair before putting it back on his head. “At least I’m recognizable,” he joked.

He looked up at the television to see ESPN on, and he settled in, reading the scrolling text at the bottom, listing all the scores from the night before. He’d seen the same baseball score ten times before Savannah’s name was finally called.

“Sorry to keep you waiting,” the nurse said as she walked them back to the exam room. “Dr. Tompkins is running a little late today.”

Tyler glanced at his watch to see what time it was. A little late was an understatement; it was forty minutes past their appointment time. Tyler was starving and needed coffee, but he didn’t complain, knowing this appointment was more important.

The nurse got Savannah’s vitals and then made them sit in the exam room waiting on Dr. Tompkins to come in. Fifteen minutes later, he came rushing in. “Savannah, I see you brought him back,” he said jokingly.

“Yeah, Jamie was a great stand in, but figured I’d bring Tyler back this time,” she replied. Tyler glanced at her curiously, wondering what she meant by Jamie standing in. He couldn’t think about it too long, though, before Dr. Tompkins was asking Savannah about her symptoms and evaluating her.

“So? Can I go back to work?” she asked the question that was hanging.

Tyler held his breath. He didn’t know what answer he’d prefer. On the one hand, he knew being away from work was killing her. The very few times he’d been held out of hockey for an injury was miserable to him so he understood. But at the same time, he knew it would likely put a strain on their relationship they were working to rebuild if she did go back to work.

“You can go back,” Dr. Tompkins said, and Savannah beamed. “With some contingencies,” he added. “You’re limited, Savannah. You’re still having headaches and your eye tracking isn’t the best. I want you to see a vestibular specialist for that. I’ll give you the referral. And as for strenuous exercise, you still are limited in that, too. Mild to moderate exercise only. And even that needs to be thirty minutes or under. No running, no jumping,” he told her. “Work needs to include breaks every hour. Away from your desk. Ten minutes every hour, no reading or concentrating. Give your brain a break,” he instructed.

Tyler looked at Savannah. Her grin had faded, but he could tell she was still happy to be going back to work at all. It was like when doctors allowed him to skate even if he couldn’t play in the games.

“Thank you, Dr. Tompkins,” Savannah said sincerely.

“I’ll see you back in four weeks. Sooner if things worsen. And I want you to get in with the vestibular therapist this week. I’ll make a call over there for you,” he added.

“Thanks, Doc,” Tyler said, shaking his hand before Dr. Tompkins shook Savannah’s and left the room. Tyler glanced at Savannah. “What do you think?”

“Can you take me to work tomorrow morning?” she asked.

Tyler’s eyebrow rose. “Tomorrow? You don’t want to go today?”

“You heard the doctor. I can do some mild to moderate exercise. I’d say sex is included in that if I’m on bottom,” she said with a fake innocent smile.

Tyler grinned at her. “You know I like it on top,” he winked at her.

Notes