It only takes 10 seconds

Part Sixteen

Laura's POV

At the rink, I sit down at the bench to lace up my skates. They're my Bauer Vapor APX2 skates and they're my absolute favorite. When I was only 20 and got my first paycheck four years ago, they were the first item I bought. I'm always careful to keep them clean and from harms way. Jonny always makes fun of me for wearing the same pair of skates for so long, but there's something special about them. 

As I finish lacing up my skates, I glance out at the rink. There's some couples and individual skaters, and then a couple of adorable kids in Hawks jerseys. I spot a Toews one, a Kane one, and a Keith one. Jonny stands impatiently in front of me. "Ready to go?" he says. "Yep," I say, as we head out onto the ice. We skate around for a bit, first together and then individually. I'm turning a corner when he comes up fast behind me and sprays me with ice. "Seriously?!?" I say, but I can't help laughing. He holds my hand and we slowly skate around the rink some more. The kid in the Toews jersey skates past us, moving slowly. He wobbles a bit, then topples over right in front of Jonathan. Jonny holds out his hand and says, "Bit slippery out here, eh?" The kid looks up at him, and his eyes widen. He can't be more than five or six. "Y-y-you're Jonathan Toews!" he stutters boucing up and down on his skates and almost toppling over again. "I want to play hockey like you one day!" Excitedly he hugs Jonathan, who kneels down and hugs him right back. "Can you sign my jersey?" the kid asks. "Sure!" Jonny says. "Let's go get a pen." He looks over at me. "Do you want to come with?" "I'm just going to skate around a bit more," I reply.

I watch the two of them skate away, hand in hand, the kid barely half of Jonny's height. I feel a tap on my arm and look down. There's another little kid, this time a girl, wearing a Kane jersey. "Are you Laura Cappelli?" she asks. I smile at her. "Yep!" She holds out a little Blackhawks notebook and a pen. "Can you autograph this for me? I want to be a coach like you one day." A smile lights up her little face as I take the book and write a little message for her. "What's your name?" I ask. "Anna," she replies, so I write: Dear Anna, Don't forget your dreams. I'll expect to see you as a coach one day. Best wishes, Laura Cappelli. I hand the book back to her and she thanks me before excitedly skating off to show her mom and dad on the side of the rink. Jonny comes skating back to me. "I see you have a little fan of your own," he says, gesturing to Anna. "Hey now, you're not the only famous one," I say jokingly. He laughs and gives me a kiss. "Free skate is ending in about ten minutes, so do you wanna go around a few more laps?" I nod, and we skate around in lazy ovals for a couple more minutes before packing up to go home.

As we're getting back into Jonny's car, my phone rings. I look at the screen, where the caller ID says "Heidi." Heidi is one of my best friends, whom I met when I was in high school. She lives in Canada, but we're close and she's visited me in Chicago once or twice in the past. I click the answer button. "Hey Heidi, what's up?" I say excitedly. Maybe she's coming to visit again! I'm greeted by sobbing on the other end of the phone. My happiness falls away and is replaced by worry. "Heidi, what's wrong?" 

Becca's POV

I walk into the living room and see Andrew and Nick Leddy on the couch, playing Mario Kart. I sneak up on them and wrap my hands around Andrew's eyes. "Guess who?" I sing-song. "Hmmm," he says. "Is it...Tazer?" I laugh and kiss him as he leans his head up at me. I sit down next to him on the couch. "So, uhm, what happened last night?" I ask Andrew. "I'm gonna let you two be together," Nick says, putting down his controller and awkwardly creeping away before anything gets too serious. Andrew looks down at the ground. "So, this is a long story, and please don't think I did anything to hurt you." he says, taking a deep breath. "I think what happened is this. I saw my ex at the bar before you came up. She tried to get with me, but I turned her down. She's been known to do some pretty crazy stuff and I think she saw you and me together and was jealous, so she slipped something into your drink." I gesture towards the hallway where Nick went. "Leddy thought it was date rape drug or something like that."

I feel shocked. "But, you didn't do anything to me....right?" I ask, afraid to hear the answer. "No, of course not!" Andrew says. "I absolutely would not do anything like that to you. I know we've only known each other for a day, but I really like you already." He blushes. "I was even wondering if you would maybe want to spend the day together now that you're feeling better." I think about it for a moment. I feel like I can trust what Andrew says. "I have a doctor's appointment at noon, but after that I'd love to hang out with you," I tell him. I give him my address and he tells me that he'll pick me up around two pm. I grab my stuff and he walks me down to my car, giving me a kiss and waving goodbye as I drive back to my apartment. 

Kayla's POV

I spend the night with Patrick, sleeping on the little cot that they brought in for me. I wake up in the morning our hands still entwined. Patrick wakes up after me, his blue eyes glancing over to make sure I'm still there. "Hey," he whispers. "Hey yourself." The doctor comes in around nine am and shakes my hand. "Hi Miss Goldburg. I'm Dr. Carter. I have some good news and some bad news for the two of you." She sets up some X-Rays on the lighted screen. "As you can see here, Patrick will need surgery on his leg, which will take at least three months to heal. The good news is that this surgery is relatively simple and that he will be able to go home right after it.""Will I still be able to play hockey?" Patrick interjects. "Yes, of course, but you'll have to take it slowly and not rush the process. Otherwise, you might harm yourself even more and then not be able to play hockey anymore," Dr. Carter replies. "I'll give you some time to look over the process and then I'll come back and we can schedule a date for the surgery."

We look over the papers that she gave us, which outline all the details of the surgery. The actual surgery only takes an hour, but the healing process has a minimum time of three months. Patrick thinks ahead. "Well, it's only January, so I could still maybe play in the Playoffs if it healed by then and if Coach Q would let me." "Pat," I tell him. "Just don't rush it. I know that hockey is important, but I want you to just take it slowly." He scowls at the thought of not being able to play for so long. What is a few months to some people is a lifetime for him.

Patrick's POV

Dr. Carter comes back in and we schedule the surgery for the next day, since I want to go home as soon as possible. "You know, you're really lucky, Mr. Kane," she says. "I've seen people in accidents such as yours and you are, by far, the least injured person that I have seen. Someone up there must be watching out for you." I watch her as she walks out of the room. Kayla stays for a bit more, but then she has to go home so that she will be ready for work tomorrow. "If you want anything or you want me to come over, just call me ok? Don't hesitate or anything, Pat." I kiss her goodbye and when she leaves, it's just me and the empty room. I look out at the dark night and see a single star shining above the bright city lights. It reminds me of Dr. Carter's words and I whisper, "Thanks Gramps." 

Becca's POV

I sit in the doctor's office, nervously tapping my feet against the carpeted floor. The nurse comes out and calls my name. "Rebecca?" I follow her down the hallway and she seats me in a little room. I wait for a little bit, my heart thudding nervously, until the doctor comes in. "Hi Rebecca, I'm Dr. Miriam," she says, holding out her hand and giving me a friendly smile. "Why don't you tell me what's going on?" I tell her everything. About how two days ago, I found the lump on my chest when I was changing for a game, how it scared the heck out of me. She listens to everything, nodding and taking notes. She takes x-rays of my chest and does some examinations, then goes off to process the results. I sit in silence waiting for her to come back, my breath ragged and catching on itself. She comes back, a serious look on her face. "I'm so sorry, Miss Scott, but the tests came back positive. You have breast cancer." 

~Just a side note: some of the stuff in my story is not equivalent to the timing in real life, because I need specific timing to make things work. Thanks for reading!~