𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐃𝐄𝐍 - 𝐐. 𝐇𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐄𝐒

𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐄

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SIENNA
December 10th, 2023

QUINN is barely a foot away from me as we watch Jack and Trevor walk inside. I can feel his eyes on me, and I turn around to meet his gaze.

"I feel like I don't know you well enough, Sienna. I don't like that." He confesses, tilting his head to the side slightly.

"Well," I giggle, "I am 23 years old, born and raised here in Vancouver, I studied medicine, and I'm currently living with a hot-shot hockey superstar."

He snorts at that last part, before opening his mouth to respond. "Superstar, hey?" He grins, revealing his perfect teeth.

"You've got a cute smile." I blurt, thinking out loud.

"Thanks." He smiles, and we stare into each other's eyes for just a moment too long.

"How about you? I wanna hear about your life."

He sighs, still smiling. "I'm 24, born in Orlando, raised in Toronto, and now living here in Vancouver with a pretty blonde lady. I love hockey, and I went to UMich." I blush at his comment about me, turning away shyly.
"I've got wonderful parents and two insufferable brothers," He brings an arm up out of the hot tub, revealing a muscular arm that distracts me for a second. "Tell me about your family."

I swallow, suddenly enjoying the conversation a little less. "Um- well, it's just Brock and I. No other siblings, and my dad passed away from cancer not too long ago after he and my mom got divorced. She's moved away to Boston, I haven't heard from her in a while." I shrug, embarrassed at my lame excuse of a family life.

We keep talking all night, chatting about our biggest fears, childhood memories, funny stories, and anything that comes to mind. My eyes are getting drowsy, but I don't want my night to end. He's telling me about when Jack knocked his tooth out with a pillow, and I'm trying my best to mask how tired I am.

I finally give in, resting my head on his shoulder without a second thought. He pauses his story for a second.

"Are you alright?" He asks, shifting to look down at me without knocking me off of him. I nod, waiting to hear the rest of his story.

"I'm just tired, but I'm listening. Keep talking." I say softly, closing my eyes and relaxing into him.

He goes on about how he'd had to get a fake tooth, and how much trouble Jack had gotten in. I rub my eye, sleep threatening to take me soon.

"Why don't we head in? That's enough hot tubbing for one night." He says, lifting himself up and out of the water. He offers me his hand, and I reach out and grab it. He helps me up and out, and I wait for him before we go inside.

It's freezing out of the water, but we stand just outside the door, inches apart with thin towels wrapped around us. He's looking into my eyes, and I almost don't want to go inside. Shivering, I finally break our eye contact and open the door.

"Goodnight, Quinn." I say as we go our separate ways.

"Night, Sienna."

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SIENNA
December 11th, 2023

I pull on a pair of shoes, ready to head out the door with Quinn. The Canucks play the Leafs tonight, and it'll be my first day on the job.

"I'm scared." I say, cracking my knuckles nervously.

"Don't be, you're gonna do great." Quinn comforts. I take some deep breaths and fix my hair before we go in, and I'm already having trouble finding everything in this huge place. Quinn helps me find where I'm supposed to go, and then he leaves for start warmup.

"Oh, perfect timing!" Greta exclaims as ai walk through the door, "Sienna, come meet the team."

I'm introduced to Simon and Vivian, two other athletic trainers. Greta leaves, and Simon speaks up.

"Nice to meet you, Sienna." He says with a friendly smile, paired with a firm handshake.

"You two will be working together lots," Vivian chimes in, "I specifically work on goalies, but I'll be around." She leaves to go double check all of her things, and I'm alone with Simon.

"Okay, so today you and I are going to be working together- if anybody gets hurt obviously, just for the first game." He says, "And then you'll be on your own."

"Okay, sounds good." I reply, and we fall into some small talk as we wait for the game to start.

"So we need to be on stand by, here's where we're supposed to stand." He directs me to the beginning of the tunnel that leads out onto the ice just as the players round the corner into our room, and we move out of the way to let them through.

Brock runs by, hitting me on the top of the head before heading out onto the ice. I smile and fix my hair, watching as they go onto the ice.

"Oh my gosh, are you and Brock together?" Simon asks, "That's so cute-"

"No! He's my brother, Simon." I laugh hysterically, looking up to find a very confused looking Vivian.

We've got a large TV in the room with us, where we'll be watching the game. We're supposed to stay here and watch closely in case anybody gets hurt.

Brock is out on the ice, and I watch as he scores the first goal of the game. I excitedly jump up and cheer for him with Simon cheering by my side.

The game goes on, and soon it's 2-0 for us. In a race for the puck, one of our players gets slammed into boards from behind. I gasp, and the player doesn't get up. After a closer look, I realize it's Elias Pettersson, a good friend of Brock's. He skates off to the bench, limping as he goes. He's down the tunnel in no time, and Simon and I immediately sit him down.

I replay the footage of him getting hit, and I can see where his knee gets messed up. Simon helps him quickly undress, and he lies down so that I can take a closer look.

"Okay, Elias. It looks like you tore your medial cruciate ligament." I sigh apologetically, knowing this is bad news. "You'll be out for at least a few weeks, I'm sorry."

He sighs in frustration, taking the rest of his equipment off as managers take it. He looks at me, and he almost seems to squint.

"Hey- you're the new trainer, aren't you?" He says, answering my question. "Sienna Boeser."

I awkwardly smile at the mention of my name, "Yeah, that's me." I say, putting some KT tape onto his knee.

"Awesome." He mutters under his breath, wincing as I touch the underside of his knee.

"I'm sorry, I know this hurts." I say, applying more tape. "It'll heal on its own as long as you're careful with it."

He thanks me before getting up, walking a little funny but walking nonetheless. I let out a breath I didn't know I'd been holding as he walks away, and Simon is smiling proudly at me.

"That was perfect, Sienna! You did such a great job."

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