NHL Imagines

Zach Parise - #11 Minnesota Wild

In honor of my beloved Wild (and the fact that his birthday was a few days ago) I give you a Zach Parise imagine. Enjoy my friends! (BTW his kids are actually the cutest.) 1500+
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"Zach!" You yell through your shared apartment in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. You are getting ready to go for a fundraiser the Wild are holding at a convention center in Saint Paul. You are ready to go but your boyfriend, Zach Parise, Left Winger of the Minnesota Wild, is no where to be found. Since the dress code is formal you are wearing a maroon dress that goes down to your ankles with silver pumps and a silver teardrop necklace. Your clutch is silver along with your earrings as well. "Zach! Where are you!" You yell again. He doesn't respond so you start walking around your apartment. You find him in your kitchen, facing away from you so he is looking at your fridge with his butt resting against your island. "Babe," you say as you walk around your island so you are facing him. You notice he is on the phone after he holds up a finger as if to say "one second" and goes back to his conversation on his phone. His left hand holds his cell phone up to his ear while his right arm is crossed over his chest, pulling his suit coat and dress shirt tight over his arms and chest.

"Okay..... Thanks, Bye," Zach says as he hangs up the phone. "Sorry about that (Y/N/N). You ready to head out?" He asks as he puts his phone in his front pants pocket.

"Yeah. Let's go," you smile as you take a step away from him. He grabs your hand and leads you to the front door. He grabs his keys off of the key rack and opens the front door. He holds it open for you to walk through first and then lets go of your hand so he can lock the door behind both of you. You climb into the passenger seat of his car as he gets into the drivers seat. He turns on the radio quietly as you drive the half an hour across the cities. "So what was that call about?" You ask trying to strike up conversation.

"It's nothing," he shrugs as he turns off the highway into downtown Saint Paul. You nod your head and look out the window at the holiday lights the city set up in the park. The convention center happens to be connected to the Xcel Energy Center, the arena where the Wild play. Zach pulls into the players' lot and turns off the car. You both get out and he grabs your hand as you walk towards the building. Right before you guys make it to the door he stops moving. "Actually babe it's not nothing," he says before he grabs your other hand in his free one. With those few words your heart rate picks up and your hands start to sweat.

"What's wrong Zach," you ask nervous of what he is going to share with you.

"That was the team doctor on the phone. I haven't been feeling well after the last few games and I asked him to just check me out to make sure I was okay," he starts to explain. He pauses and you nod your head in understanding.

"Hey Springs," you hear someone yell to Zach. He turns around and you both see that it is Mikael Granlund. "You guys coming in?" He asks.

"Hey Bruce," he yells back, smiling. "We'll be there in a sec," he responds. He turns back around and faces you. "Sorry," he apologizes. You nod your head for him to continue. "Well anyway he did some tests and it turns out I'm not okay. Actually they think I have cancer," he says as he ducks his head but maintains his eye contact with you. Your eyes open and you mouth drops a little in shock.

"Cancer?" You whisper. He nods his head slightly. "Wh-what kind?" You ask just as quietly.

"They're not sure. They're also not apparently 100% sure that it is cancerous. There might just be a tumor somewhere causing symptoms," Zach explains. All you could do was nod your head. Your entire family has a history with cancer so you've been through this before. All kinds have happened on your side from skin to breast to lung to brain.

"I-I don't know what to say," you say even quieter than before. Your eyes start to tear up at the thought that your boyfriend, the love of your life, could end up dead from cancer like your grandparents did.

"Hey baby, don't cry. There's no need to cry," he says as he puts both of his hands on your cheeks. You sniffle back in your tears and compose yourself.

"Who else have you told?" You ask him as you look down at your shoes.

"Just the doctors, coach and you," Zach says as he rubs his thumbs over your cheeks.

"Brinks! You coming man? You're gonna be late!" Jason Zucker yells as he walks into the building with his girlfriend. (Now wife omg they just got married and I love them they're so adorable together and her kid omg shes the cutest little girl ever!)

"Yeah! We're coming!" Zach yells as he turns his face to yell back at Jason. "You good to go in baby?" He asks concerned.

"Yeah I'm good," you say as you take his right hand in your left and head towards the doors. You and Zach enter the building and head up the escalator towards the large hall where the benefit is being held. Every person apart of the Wild organization is there as well as fans. You and Zach mingle with the other players, their wives and fans but you can't keep your mind off of what Zach told you earlier. You keep zoning in and out of conversations so you decide that you're going to go sit down at your table before the dinner starts. As you drink from your glass of wine you see the team doctor walk over to talk to Zach. As they continue to talk you see Zach's smile slowly fade as the conversation carries on for a long time. After they finish, Zach walks straight over to you.

"Hey," you say as he takes his seat next to you. Your entire table consists of other players and their wives or girlfriends. You are sitting next to Ryan Suter and his wife on our left and Jason Zucker and his girlfriend and Jason Pominville and his wife.

"Hey," he responds as he takes his napkin off of his plate and sets it on his lap, his hands shaking in the process.

"What did the doctor say?" You ask him.

His eyes meet yours and he says quietly enough so that only you can hear, "it's stage 3 lung cancer." With that, tears start to fall down your cheeks. There is no way that Zach can have cancer. No. No way. You deny in your head, over and over again until Zach gets you out of your daze. "Hey," he whispers in to your ear as he wraps his left arm around your shoulders and puts his right hand on your right cheek, so your face is leaning against his chest. "We will get through this okay? I'm going to be fine," he says more confidently than you know he feels. He is just trying to comfort you. By now, your tearing up and Zach's attempt at comforting you had gotten your entire table's attention.

"Zach?" Ryan asks hesitantly. You see Zach look over at Ryan who is wearing a hesitant, nervous look which is unusual for him. "What's going on?"

"Um... Well I just found out that I have lung cancer," Zach says just loud enough so that everyone at the table can hear but no one else can. There is a collective gasp of all the women and the guys all get worried looks on their faces. "I haven't been feeling that great after the last few games. I've had issues catching my breath, I get light headed frequently and sometimes I get pains in my sides or my chest. It's been happening for a while but it just started getting bad recently. I had the docs check it out for me and that's what they've concluded," Zach explains.

"Brinks...," the Jasons say in sync.

"Zach. Whatever you need, just let me know," Ryan says.

"Thanks," Zach says. There is a silence for a little bit as everyone really processes what was just said. "I'm planning on telling everyone else at practice tomorrow," he says as Ryan nods his head. "I'm going to tell Mikko tonight though," the Jasons both nod their heads this time understanding that Mikko needs to know since he is the captain.

After the night is over, you and Zach head back to your apartment. The car ride is quiet as you stare out the window with tears quietly and slowly running down your cheeks. You both walk inside your apartment and get ready before climbing into bed. You curl up into Zach's arms so your head is resting on his chest with his arms around you. "I love you," you whisper.

"I love you too (Y/N/N)," he says as he kisses your temple before you fall asleep, dreaming of a world where your grandparents are still alive and Zach is cancer free. Hopefully the later will happen soon.
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Hope you liked it!! I'm sorry I was gone for so long. I miss you guys!! I'm back for a long time now so I will try my best to make it up to you guys by writing as many as I can as quickly as I can.
-S