Sticks and Skates [Wayhaught]

It's Not Easy

Nicole would never admit it, but she cried herself to sleep after Game One.

Waverly knew.

It'd been a good night, actually. Wynonna had gone to the arena to snag Nicole's jersey from the equipment room and they'd planned to have a little watch party for the game, just the three of them since everyone else had jobs to do. After much hounding from Dolls, Wynonna snapped a photo of Nicole in her jersey, propped up in her bed with a smile plastered across her face and two thumbs up. The image (which Waverly instantly noticed was photoshopped to hide the NSFW imagery on Nicole's cast) was posted on the Devils' Instagram account just before the game, with the caption:

"Extra support from one of our own tonight. Glad to see our shining star, Nicole Haught, on the mend. #GoDevils."

The Devils donned small circular patches on their shoulders with the number 15 on them, and all of them had kind words to say of Nicole in the media prior to puck drop.

The three watched the game intently on the small screen in Nicole's room, snacking on the subpar hospital food. They whooped and cheered and booed and yelled at the refs in all the right places, Nicole and Wynonna occasionally making comments about the plays they would've made if they were in the game. The team played well, though Waverly could tell their game style was different since it was missing a large part of its point production. Shae dazzled as always, but it was Vic and Shan combining for a goal apiece that pushed the home team across the finish line for a 2-0 victory to take the important series lead. Doctors and nurses meandered in and out throughout the course of the game under the guise of routine checks, but really they'd wanted to catch a glimpse of the excitement.

It was pretty much a forgone conclusion that the Earps, or at the very least Waverly, would spend be spending the night in Nicole's room most nights, and the night of game one had been no exception. Wynonna skipped out about an hour after the game with an excitement that both Waverly and her girlfriend knew meant she'd be meeting up with Doc.

Waverly would've enjoyed the alone time, if not for the fact that Nicole was so visibly exhausted. The redhead was like an infant these days, needing a nap every few hours and being tired even after waking up from them. She knew it took a lot of energy, recovering from the injuries her girlfriend had sustained, but wished that they could just fast forward to the part where Nicole was good as new again (or that she could go back in time and make sure the incident never even happened in the first place).

She herself wasn't all that tired, but when Nicole started yawning more and more frequently, Waverly suggested that they turn in for the night. She rolled herself over on the cot and closed her eyes, with the initial intention of giving Nicole the quiet she needed to relax and fall asleep, but eventually she found herself floating along the edge of consciousness. She was this close to falling asleep when she heard the heart-wrenching sniffles and concealed sobs, a telltale sign that Nicole was crying. By the time Waverly was lucid enough to get up to try and console her girlfriend, the sobs became hiccups before evening out into steady breathing, and then Nicole was asleep.

But, as Nicole found some semblance of peace in her slumber, Waverly was wide awake. She ran her thumb along the redhead's knuckles, watching the rise and fall of her chest as she slept. Waverly had caught herself doing it on one occasion, and knows it was a little creepy to watch Nicole sleep like that, but for her, it was just a reassurance that she was breathing—that she was alive. She hadn't realized how much she feared for Nicole's life until Nicole finally did wake up. She knew that they were very much at the beginning of this journey, and tonight's moment was empirical evidence of that. Nicole was as stubborn as they came, and played off everything that had happened to her, putting on a smile and trying to keep up with Wynonna's snark. She'd pretend everything was okay, for the sake of others (or maybe to trick herself), and didn't want anyone to see her pain. Waverly knew that Nicole had only allowed herself to cry because she thought the younger woman was asleep, and the thought only made her heart clench tighter. All she wanted was for Nicole to get through this, healthy and happy, and she really hoped that Nicole would let her lift some of the burden of her pain.