Chapter 14

I couldn't believe Christmas was only 2 1/2 weeks away! When was I going to have time to shop? The answer was simple: quit working extra shifts! Take a day for myself. Lily had been preaching those exact words to me for the past month.
"You've got to slow down girl. You're going to run yourself into the ground and then you'll be no good to anyone!"
I knew she was right. I finally have in and asked one of the other nurses to take my shift for the next day and she happily agreed. I was coming of a 16 hour shift in the neo-natal unit, a tough place to work on the best of days, but I found it especially tough around the holidays. The last few hours of my shift I wasn't feeling well at all. I had that sick feeling in my stomach again. Great! I finally take a day off to get my shopping done and I'm probably going to end up sick in bed! It wasn't until I was getting ready to go home that I realized I didn't feel sick, but it was that feeling of something being wrong. I stopped at the nurse's station to say goodbye to Sandy and Heather and overheard the end of their conversation:
"Yeah, Patti from 12th floor said Mario Lemieux checked himself in this afternoon."
"What?" I interrupted.
"Apparently he was having trouble breathing or something and checked himself in. Nobody really knows what's going on, it's being kept very hush hush."
My first thought was to pray that it was nothing serious. This was my hero after all. After surviving cancer he seemed almost invincible. Then my thoughts immediately turned to Sidney. After reading every article written about him and watching every interview he gave (just to torture myself of course!) I knew that he lived with Mario and how close to him he was. What must Sid be feeling right now? I pushed the button for the elevator and when the doors opened I got my answer.
"Oh my god, Bekah, you work here?" he said completely shocked.
"Sidney! Umm yeah, I work on the children's ward. This is so bizarre, I was actually just thinking about you," I said stepping into the elevator.
"Really?" he said confused. "Good thoughts I hope," he said and tried to muster a smile.
He looked the same as he did the other night at the game. That light in his eyes was gone and he looked completely exhausted. I was beginning to wonder if he had been crying.
"One of the nurses just told me that Mario was admitted. What happened? Is he ok?"
"I don't really know," Sidney said looking totally dejected. "All I know it that it has something to do with his heart. No one will tell me anything, not even Nathalie and that has me worried. Trouble with your heart is really serious isn't it?"
"It can be," I said softly.
Sid threw his head back and stared up at the ceiling. "I knew it! I knew it was serious!"
I reached for his hands and held them securely in both of mine. Sid looked at me with those hazel eyes, some of the life filling them up again.
"I said it can be serious, not that it was. Let's not jump to conclusions."
His grip tightened around my hands. "Can you come up there with me and see what you can find out? Surely you can find out more than what they're telling me."
"Oh Sid, I can't go up there. It's not even my department. If I get caught snooping around I could get in serious trouble."
"What if you're not snooping? What if you are just visiting a patient with a friend and you happen to look at his chart?"
"Seriously Sid, I can't."
His eyes were pleading with me now. "Bekah, PLEASE! This is important to me."
I looked at the face that I had come to adore so much and how could I say no.
"Fine, but I only have a few minutes. I really have to get home."
"Thank you, thank you, thank you! I appreciate this so much!" he said kissing my hands.
***********
When we got to Mario's room, I waited outside while Sid checked to see if anyone was in there. I was starting to get butterflies. I had dreamed of meeting Mario my whole life, but not under these circumstances.
"Coast is clear," Sid said poking his head out of the door. "We'll just have to be quiet, he's sleeping."
Sid stood beside Mario's bed looking down on him. You could see the love and admiration in his eyes. I looked at the man who had been gram and David's idol lying in this hospital bed and thought once again how fragile life can be, even for people we think are invincible, like Mario and like David. I felt tears starting to come so I lifted the chart from the end of Mario's bed and began to flip through the papers. Sid now took a place right beside me.
"Well?" he whispered. "Does it make any sense to you?"
"From what I can tell from some of the test results there is no damage to the organ, so that rules out a heart attack."
A look of relief washed over Sidney's face.
"And they have him on a heart monitor. From the readings it looks like an irregular heartbeat. That's what the doctor wrote as an initial diagnosis."
"Irregular heartbeat, is that serious?"
"Only if it goes undiagnosed. It's usually controlled with medication but I can't say for sure, I'm not a doctor. You'll have to wait and see what he says in the morning. But Sid?"
"Yeah?"
"You can probably count on Mario's playing days being done...for good."
Just then Mario started to stir.
"Siddy? Is that you?"
"Yeah Mar, it's me."
"I thought you went home?"
"I was going to but then I ran into a friend of mine." Sid grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the bedside. "Mario, I'd like you to meet my friend Bekah. She's a nurse here and she has promised me that she'll take good care of you."
After exchanging knowing glances with Sidney, Mario lifted his hand to shake mine. "It nice to meet you Bekah. I'm glad I'm going to be in such good hands."
"It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Lemieux. I've dreamed of meeting you for a very long time, I just wish it wasn't under these circumstances. And for the record, Sid here is full of it! I work in the children's ward so I will not be the one taking care of you."
"Please, call me Mario and you don't have to tell me the kid's full of shit!" Mario chuckled. "There is a reason his eyes are brown!"
"Hey hey hey! How did this turn into pick on Sid day?"
"Ohhhh poor Sidney. Suck it up buttercup!" I laughed. "Listen, as much as I could stay here all night 'picking on you', I really have to be going. It was nice meeting you Mario. Make sure you get some rest. Goodbye Sidney," and I turned to walk out the door. I was just about there when I felt a familiar hold on my hand.
"Hey Bekah wait up a sec. Can you just wait for a minute? I'd like to say goodnight to Mario and then I'll walk you to your car. You shouldn't be leaving alone at night."
"We have security guards for that Sid."
"Please?"
Against my better judgement I agreed.