The Sweetest Save

Healing

"She's good," the surgeon announced precisely seven hours after Tuure arrived at the hospital. "We have finished the surgery. You should be able to visit her in a few minutes."

"Thank God!" Tuure exclaimed a bit too loudly. Venla whacked his arm and laughed, still smiling at the news that Esteri had survived the surgery without having any major complications.

"You go visit her first," Venla encouraged Tuure. "You're her father. I think she'd want to see you."

"Right," Tuure stood up and waited for the surgeon to return from where he had gone. When the surgeon returned, he told Tuure that he was allowed to visit Esteri, but the thirteen-year-old was still unconscious due to the anesthesia she had been given.

Tuure accepted that she wouldn't be awake when he visited her. He didn't mind at all that she would be asleep. All he cared about was seeing his daughter healthy and safe.

She was asleep in the bed. Some of her dark brown curls were resting on her face as she breathed in and out softly. Tuure ran to her and touched her hand. He breathed out. She was safe. His only child was alive and well. She was not going to die today.

Esteri's girlfriend Valerie appeared in the doorway a few moments later. The girls had been friends for years until Esteri decided to take things further by asking Valerie to the eighth grade formal. The two had been dating for approximately ten months.

Tuure liked Valerie and thought she was a very nice girl, so he waved at her.

"Hi, Mr. Raskinen," Valerie said. "I was visiting Esteri, but I didn't realize you were coming. I'll wait for you to get done with your visit."

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize I interrupted your visit," Tuure apologized. "I'll be quick, I promise."

"Take as much time as you need," Valerie assured him as she stepped out of the room to wait.

Just a moment later, Tuure felt his daughter squeeze his hand. He spun around to look at her. Her eyes weren't open yet, but she was moving and clearly conscious.

"Esteri," he called her name quietly. "Esteri."

She shot up suddenly, her green eyes open like she'd just seen a ghost. "Dad! What the hell are you doing here! You're supposed to be in Boston! Did you leave the playoff bubble?"

"I did," Tuure confirmed. "As soon as I heard the news of your emergency, I decided to leave. The Maple Leafs have announced that I have opted out of the playoffs, and Alexej will take over as the main goaltender of the Leafs until I return. Depending on how long you're here and how long we last in the playoffs, my return may not happen."

"Dad, hockey is your job...the fans need you! The team needs you!" Esteri sputtered, still in shock. "You can't just...quit!"

"I will 'quit' if a family member that I care for deeply is in danger of dying," Tuure informed his daughter. "And when I was informed of your condition, you were having emergency surgery on your heart, which is an organ that could kill you if it malfunctioned."

"So..." Esteri tried to work things out in her mind. "Who will be the main goaltender for the Leafs now?"

"Alexej," Tuure smiled slightly after mentioning his boyfriend. "He was the goalie for the Canadiens' playoff run in 2010, and they made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals. I think he will do a pretty good job."

"He's not usually a starter, but I can see him getting far," Esteri pondered the thought. "Well! What an interesting decision you made. Has anyone else opted out?"

"There was a player from...I believe it was Calgary," Tuure thought for a moment. "His daughter has medical issues as well. He opted out because he didn't want to catch the coronavirus and pass it on to his immune compromised daughter."

"Many players are putting the safety of themselves and their families over their desire to win the Stanley Cup," Esteri realized.

"For me, family comes before work," Tuure told his daughter. "Both are important to me, but I'm only going to be working for a couple more years now. It's important, of course, but it is temporary. My family, on the other hand, will last for many more years. I didn't want to be that parent that has to bury their child. Thankfully, though, I don't think that that will happen. I trust that the surgeons did a good job repairing the problem."

"The only chest pain I'm having is the aching that naturally comes from having stitches," Esteri revealed, and her father breathed a sigh of relief. "And I know you. If I get an infection or something, you will immediately take me back to the hospital and demand that I get the best care available immediately."

"I don't demand things," Tuure argued.

"Yes you do," Valerie retorted from the hallway.

"I am on Valerie's side," Esteri added.

"Okay, I am outnumbered," Tuure laughed and put up his hands in surrender. "I demand things nicely, though. Anyway, I should go and let you spend some more time with your girlfriend."

"Even though you left the playoff bubble, which makes me sad, I am delighted that you came back to Toronto to be with me," said Esteri. "I hope that people understand that although hockey and work are both very important, nothing comes before family."

"I hope so too," Tuure agreed. He then motioned Valerie into the room and quickly left.

People online did not agree with Esteri. They called Tuure a quitter and shamed him for abandoning the Toronto Maple Leafs during the playoffs. A few people even accused him of lying about his daughter's medical emergency so that he wouldn't have to play for the rest of the season.

Tuure did not listen to the words of such people, though. Instead, he put all his effort into supporting his daughter and being there for her as she healed from her surgery.

Well, he didn't put all of his effort into that. Some of it went into cheering for Alexej as he became the new starting goaltender for the Maple Leafs.

They defeated the Carolina Hurricanes easily in five games and moved on to face the Tampa Bay Lightning in the second round of the playoffs. Having faced them in the second round in 2018, Tuure knew that the Lightning were a very dangerous team.

"We lost in five games because I didn't pay attention to how fast they were and how beautifully they could pass the puck around during the power play," Tuure told Alexej during a video call before the first game.

"I'll do everything in my power to win this series," Alexej promised. "I'll do it for you, my love. I'll do it for Esteri, and I'll do it for all the Leafs fans."

"I trust you," Tuure told his boyfriend. "I trust you with all my heart."