Demons (Jonathan Toews)

Chapter Six

I woke up alone.

The body that was once pressed into me was gone, and the cold air of the vacant apartment had filled its spot. My neck was stiff from the awkward position my head fell into, and as soon as I realized that she was gone, every beat of my heart made my chest ache.

It was a horrible feeling, once worse than waking up alone from a drunken one-night stand. When I had fallen asleep, her warm body pressed into mine, my chin on the top of her head, my arm around her, I felt whole. I felt like maybe my I had gotten my shit together in life. I wasn’t saying I was going to marry that girl, but I felt like I needed her around. I’m pretty sure I loved her, but I honestly only knew her name. I didn’t know anything about her really. I knew she was from Michigan, she was in college, and her name was Madison Baker. Other than that, the girl was a mystery.

And I was in love with her?

Slamming my hand against my head, I let out a long groan and then rolled off the couch and laid on the floor, my face pressed into the small throw rug. How dumb was I? She probably stole a bunch of shit from my place or something.

Getting up, I looked around to see everything the same exact way I had left it. My jerseys and medals were still hanging up, and everything else seemed untouched. With a small pound in my head, I pulled my stiff body off of the floor and headed over to the kitchen to make myself a cup of coffee. When I reached the counter, I noticed the two mugs from last night washed and in the dish rack. As my eyes wandered over to the Keurig, I felt a small smile surface on my lips.

There was a mug already set under the dispenser, the machine was on, and the lights were blinking signaling that the water was already warmed and ready to make a nice fresh cup of coffee. There was a small cup already in place, so I pressed the top down, hit the button, ad watched as the steaming brown liquid flowed into the mug.

As the mug filled, I noticed a small piece of paper tucked under the mug. Grabbing it, I let my eyes scan over my name scribbled on the front of it. Quickly opening it like a kid opening a present on Christmas, my eyes came into contact with a paragraph long letter done in super neat handwriting.

Dear Jon,

I’m sorry that I left before you woke up. There was a moment when I wanted to wake you, but you looked so peaceful that I would hate myself for disrupting your slumber. So instead I decided to clean the mugs I made you use, and ready your coffee (which you hopefully drink) for the morning as a small thank you for letting me crash with you on your couch (which was the comfiest couch I had ever slept on). If you find this after the morning, or later on in the day, maybe even in a few days, I’m sorry if I made you worry or upset you, those weren’t my intentions. Anyway, I have class today and had to head back to my dorm to get ready. I hope we can hang out again, maybe not on a rooftop in the middle of the freezing cold winter nights of Chicago. If you want to just text me, if not I more than understand.

Sincerely, Maddie.

My heart raced in my chest as my eyes scanned over the small P.S. in the corner with her phone number scribbled next to it. I wanted to grab my phone and call her right away, ask her if she got back to the dorm okay and set a time for the next time we would meet, but instead I grabbed the note, made myself a cup of coffee and sat on the couch in the silence of the apartment, staring out of the living room window.

Halfway through my cup of coffee, my cell phone buzzed from the coffee table. Leaning over, I grabbed it and watched as my best friends name popped up on the screen. Sliding the green bar on the bottom, I sucked in a deep breath and answered with a short hello.

“Hey man, what’s up?” Patrick asked from the other end.

“Uh, drinking coffee?” I answered wondering what he was going to ask. The only time Patrick Kane ever called was when he needed something, or he wanted to be nosey. There was no in between.