The Boston Experiment

Six

For the next six years, Tuukka Rask and his new girlfriend, whose name was Anja Katariina Heikkenen, became Bobby Orr's top priority. He had never been in charge of someone else's relationship before, so he was totally winging the entire operation.

Even though every decision he made was random and sudden, the relationship was very successful. Tuukka and Anja really seemed to be in love as soon as they met. Despite the fact that being on the autism spectrum made him socially awkward, Tuukka did not have any fear at all when he asked Anja out. They went on their first date in June of 1999.

Anja made it to as many of Tuukka's games as she could. She'd hold cute signs that said things like "Number 87* on the ice, number 1 in my heart." She even let Tuukka teach Sara, her sister who was three years her junior, how to make some basic saves.

Their dates were always simple and romantic. Bobby made sure that on every single one of Tuukka and Anja's anniversaries, Tuukka would take Anja out to eat at a fancy restaurant. After that, one of the two sets of parents would drive them to the lake. There, the two lovebirds would lay next to Lake Saimaa and look at the stars.

Just after their second anniversary, Tuukka asked Anja if she wanted to attend the after-school math program at their school, which was simply called Savonlinna Lower Secondary School. The class was every Tuesday and Thursday from 2:45 to 4:15 in the afternoon. At the end of the school year, SLSS and the rest of the Lake Saimaa School District lower and upper secondary schools would participate in a competition.

Anja, who loved math nearly as much as she loved Tuukka, accepted. Tuukka didn't think he was the best math student in the world (he got an A- or a B+ at best every quarter compared to Anja's straight As), but he decided to join Anja anyway. The first class of the year would be on September 4.

The first two meetings of the Math Counts club came and went without any hassle. After all, September 4 and 6 were normal days.

September 11, on the other hand, was anything but normal.

Bobby Orr had a long night working on Carter Hart, one of the newest goalies created in the lab, and he wasn't home until six in the morning. By half past six, he was in his bedroom, and he was out like a light the moment his head hit the pillow. Bobby wasn't the type of person to sleep past noon, but he knew that this Tuesday was going to be one of the days that he did.

He'd been asleep for just under three hours when he awoke to his wife shaking him nervously. Bobby stretched and sat up, his tired eyes unfocused.

"Wh-what's happening?" Bobby mumbled as Peggy took a deep breath. "Did Rosie notice me skipping work and come to yell at me?"

"Not at all," Peggy's voice shook as she spoke to her husband. "You should probably go to the arena. There's been a disaster."

"At the arena?" Bobby gasped, bolting upright in the bed.

"No, no, it happened in New York City," Peggy explained. "It's very horrible, though, and I think the goalies should know that it happened."

"That what happened?" Bobby climbed out of bed and slipped into his shoes.

"Follow me," Peggy told him. Bobby silently followed her downstairs to the living room. Their sons were both out, but the television was still turned on. Bobby looked at the image on the screen and gasped.

One of the World Trade Center towers in Manhattan had a giant hole in the side of it, and the building was on fire. The smoke was so thick that Bobby could almost taste it all the way from Boston.

"What the hell happened here?" Bobby went pale. He turned to his wife, who was as white as a ghost.

"Some idiots flew a plane into the Trade Center," Peggy explained. "The damage is so severe that it might even cause the building to collapse."

"Is it an attack?" Bobby gasped.

"I'm not sure, but I think you should give the goalies a memory of whatever's going on right now. My uncle lives in Canada, and he says New York's made international news."

"If it's news there, then I must go to the lab," Bobby said. "A lot of my goalies are from Canada."

"Every goalie should know!" Peggy reminded her husband as he left the house.

Once he was at the lab, he grabbed the phone and dialed the phone number of the Rask household.

"Hello, Mr. Rask," he sighed. "This is Bobby Orr. I'm just wondering if you're aware of the disaster happening in America."

"I am," Kalle said solemnly. "I'm watching it on television. It's so terrifying that even Joonas is crying, and he never cries. What exactly is going on over there?"

"It may be an accident," Bobby started, "but with the precision that the plane had when it hit the tower, it doesn't seem like one of those as much as it seems like a terrorist attack."

Kalle sighed. "Please, give a memory of this to my Tuukka. One of my sons knows, so the other must know as well."

"Of course, Mr. Rask," Bobby told the Norwegian. "Every goalie must know. I was just calling to make sure that the attack is news in Nor—uh, Finland."

"Thank you, Mr. Orr," Kalle said. "I hope you and your family stay safe over there in America. Goodbye and good luck."

"Goodbye and good luck to you too, Mr. Rask," Bobby replied. A second later, there was a click, and the phone call was over.

After that, Bobby got right to work with the memories, starting with Tuukka and Anja. They would be attending the after-school math program. Since Finnish time was seven hours ahead of Boston time, it was around 4:15 in the afternoon. The class was nearly over, so the teacher gave his students some free time.

Tuukka would look up from the book his nose was buried in and stare at the television in the corner. He'd see two burning buildings, with a caption underneath about an attack in New York City, which was in America.

Anja would glance at her boyfriend, confused. "What's going on, Tuukka?"

Tuukka would look back at her, see her confused face, and shrug. "Maybe it's the newest action movie?"

Then, Tuukka would realize that he'd seen the trailers for every single major action flick coming out in 2001, and there was nothing about a World Trade Center attack in New York City.

This was real life.

Tuukka would jump up and tell the teacher who would immediately dismiss the class. Tuukka and Anja would gather their things and run out of the school, Anja holding her boyfriend's hand tightly as they ran.

They wouldn't take the bus. They'd walk home so that they could have some peace and quiet for once.

Tuukka would stop suddenly. "Do you want to go to Lake Saimaa?"

Anja would smile back. "A few minutes of rest at the lake sounds lovely, Tuukka. Let's go now."

Once they were at the lake, Tuukka would turn to Anja. "Are you alright with swimming in your clothes?"

"Sure," Anja would shrug, sending a quick text to her parents as well as Tuukka's parents before joining her boyfriend in the water.

Tuukka would turn to Anja as they stood in water two feet deep. "Anja, can I say something?"

"Sure."

"Anja, there's an attack going on in America," Tuukka would begin. "This is probably the worst time to say this, but I want you to know that I love you. I really love you, and I always will."

Anja would step closer to Tuukka. "I feel the same way."

They would share a hug, surrounded by the calm, sparkling water of Lake Saimaa.

Bobby smiled as he made the memory.

September 11, 2001, a terrible day, had produced something good.

It revealed to him that the relationship he'd created would last forever.

*Let's just pretend Tuukka Rask wore #87 in lower and upper secondary school.