Shadows (Patrick Kane)

(60) All I Want Is You

Patrick

The first few days after surgery was rough. My body had a slight reaction to the pain pills so I stopped taking them. Now it's about toughing it out through the pain, try to make it to physical therapy so I can get back to the ice as soon as possible.

Most days Sophia comes over to my place and if that's not it then she brings me to her place. She and her brother are watching over me, making sure my spirits are high though the outlook wasn't what I wanted. There was no way I was going to be out three months, that's a lifetime in professional sports. And I've been lucky enough to be pretty healthy in my eight years. No major injuries, just a few illnesses and tweaked joints here and there. Nothing serious. Now I'm forced to look on as my team continues to fight for their spot in the playoffs and there isn't anything I can do to help them.

"I think you need to take a bath" Sophia accuses as I furrow my eyebrows.

"You think I smell" I ask.

"Like shit" she admits making me shake my head.

"You must really like me to be that brutally honest" I accuse as she smiles.

"To say the least" she replies.

So I get undressed while she draws a bath. It's hard to get clean when for the most part you can't move a arm. Resetting a bone is no joke and my entire body was sore. But a bath was needed and could help a lot.

Getting undressed was pretty easy. I haven't worn a shirt since I got home from the hospital for getting in and out of them sucked. Unless I have a doctors appointment I either just throw a blanket over me or let it hang free. So I just have to shed my boxers and I was ready to go. Sophia had all the natural soaps that's good for cleaning and calming. It smelled like fresh linen and felt like I was in a tub of the softest sheets in the world. She plays some music softly as I sink into the tub.

"What do you want for dinner" she asks as she cleans up the mess.

"You" I tease as she just rolls her eyes.

"I'm off the menu" she tells me.

"Then I guess we can do some pasta. Maybe with chicken" I say.

"I can do that. But you gotta get some vegetables in there too. It'll help your body heal" she tells me.

"You believe in that stuff" I ask.

"Science" she asks as she laughs. "Yeah. I do. And if you want to truly believe that you can be back on the ice before the playoffs you better believe it too. Listen to your doctors and trust in your body's ability to heal. Give it the resources it needs to get better and help it along."

I finish up my bath and dry off before pulling on some clean boxers. Sophia fixes up my hair a little so it doesn't get tangled. As someone who also has curls in her hair she knew how to take care of it. Plus whatever she put in it smelled really good.

I lay in my bed as a soft groan passes my lips. I'm fine most times but if I turn wrong or lay weird my chest starts to ache. Until I find a good enough position I just have to push through it.

"Are you okay" Sophia asks softly.

"Yeah. Just living the life" I smirk.

She slowly leans over to study the scar on my collar bone. The stitches were out but the wound was still fresh. I watch her closely as she presses her lips to the area just above my bone. I get chills all over as her lips linger.

"Better" she asks.

"I actually don't have much feeling there" I admit.

"Okay. Where do you have feeling" she questions.

"Here" I say as I point to a spot a little further up closer to my neck.

She leans over and places a kiss where I pointed. This one lasts a little longer before she pulls away.

"And here" I smile as I point to a spot on my neck.

She rolls her eyes before places a kiss on my neck. This one deeper than the others making me curl my toes.

"And here" I say softly as I point to my lips. I see her blush as little as she contemplates she was willing to play this game with me anymore.

But after giving it some thought she leans back over before pressing her lips to mine. My eyes slam shut as my hands cup her cheek. I feel the pain seemingly slip away as I focus on the taste of her lips. The best cure to the worst of pain was true loves kiss.

We break apart and I keep my hand on her cheek. The smile on her face was contagious as she stares down at me with those beautiful brown eyes.

"I guess I should go make dinner huh" she asks.

"One more kiss" I ask.

She chuckles before pressing a quick kiss to my lips and leaving. I watch her walk out and a sigh escapes once she's gone. I can still feel where her lips once were, I can still feel her cheek in my hand. Just a few moments with her seems to stick with me for the longest and I couldn't wait until her skin was on mine again. This girl has me going crazy and I don't think she has the slightest clue. Especially through all of this she is the one thing I can't live without. I was the best player in the league up until I got hurt. And now players will continue on and they'll forget about me. But to her I still matter and to me.. she is everything.

She comes back in my room a hour later with a plate full of food. She helps me eat and stay clean considering one side of my chest was still all out of commission. I couldn't help but to stare trying to figure out how I can feel so much love for her and not be able to tell her.

"Please stop staring at me" she begs as I shake my head.

"I'm sorry. I don't mean to make you feel uncomfortable" I insist.

"It's okay. You've just been doing it a lot lately" she notices.

"I just... I haven't seen anything better than you" I admit.

She stops before turning to me. I couldn't read her face but I could tell she was confused.

"What do you mean" she says softly.

"I mean that if I had to do this... life I mean, without you, I wouldn't want to. You are what makes my life worth living. Why I wake up and what I dream of when I sleep. And I'm sorry I haven't told you that before" I reply.

"That's nothing to apologize about" she insists.

"I think it is. You deserve to know what I think of you" I admit.

"Well thank you. I spent my whole life as someone who was disposable. I made sure of it. Everywhere I went I made it so that I could leave without a trace. No attachments and no broken hearts. While doing so it made it so that I could never mean anything either.

And I'm scared to think of a life where I am the person someone relies on because what if I can't be who you want me to be? What happens when you make me out to be more than I am" she confesses.

"I don't think that's possible. All I want is you. In whatever form in whatever way possible. I don't want you to be what I dream up. You're already that person. I want you to be whoever you want to be, and whoever that person is. That's my favorite person in the world" I say.

She just nods as she looks at her hands in her lap. "That was quite possibly the sweetest thing I've ever heard" she claims making me smile.

"I mean it. I hope you believe me" I insist.

"I do" she smiles back. "I really do."