Chapter 56

"Here, these are for you," I said handing Scott an envelope.
"What's this?"
"Consider it a slightly belated Christmas gift," I told him.
He wrinkled his forehead and looked at me with a very questioning gaze. When he saw what was inside, he dropped the envelope on the ground and stood starring at me in disbelief, unable to speak.
"Well, what is it?" Gloria asked with childlike enthusiasm.
"It's...it's...oh my god...it's..."
"It's what?" she asked more than slightly annoyed.
"It's my tickets to the next two Pens games," I replied feeling rather proud of myself. "One tonight and one New Year's eve. I want you two to go and enjoy yourselves. Get out of this hospital for while, be normal for a few hours."
"Oh Bekah, we can't possibly accept these," Gloria said picking the envelope off the floor.
"Like hell we can't!" Scott said snatching the envelope out of her hands.
Gloria looked at me with a knowing look. "You really should be using them yourself, Bekah."
"I can't. I need to take a break from hockey. Besides, I'll probably pick up a few extra shifts or something, stay busy."
Just as Gloria was about to argue with me, she stopped herself. It was almost like a light bulb went off.
"I'll make you a deal," she said. "Scott really should experience his first game with another hockey fan so, if you go to the game with him tonight, I'll go with him on New Year's. Deal?"
"Gloria, I really don't want to..."
"That's the deal. It's either that or nothing, you can give the tickets to someone else."
"Are you crazy Gloria?" Scott sniped at his wife. "Those are amazing tickets! Bekah please, for the love of god..."
I shot Gloria a slight look of contempt. "I know what you're doing Gloria, and it's not going to work."
She just smiled a devilish smile.
"Fine. But I'm telling you Gloria, just because I'm going doesn't mean anything. I'm not changing my mind about anything."
"I don't know what the hell you two are talking about," Scott interrupted, "but I don't care! I'm going to the Pens game Whooo hoooo!" He ran out of the room and high fived the poor unsuspecting orderly who was just wandering by.

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As we made our way to the top of the stairs, a huge knot started to form in the pit of my stomach. Scott and I both paused and took in the awesome sight. Just as we were about to start making our way down towards our seats, I saw a familiar friendly face smiling at me.
"Hey Miss...I mean Bekah."
"Nate. It's good to see you."
"You too. I missed you last game."
"Yeah, I haven't been feeling well lately. Oh, I'm sorry Scott. Scott, this is Nate, the best damn usher at the Igloo. Nate, this is a good friend of mine Scott."
Nate looked at me with a puzzled look on his face as the two men shook hands.
"We should get to our seats," I said quickly. "I'll catch ya after the game Nate."

As we made our way down the stairs, that knot grew bigger and bigger. I wasn't sure what emotions I was feeling. Nervous? Scared? Both? 'Try to stay clam,' I told myself. 'He won't expect you to be here. He probably won't even look for you.' I was praying he wouldn't. I don't think I would be able to handle eye contact with those beautiful hazel eyes.
We took our seats and watched the warm up. Scott amazed me with his knowledge of almost every Pens player that skated by us. Luckily, Sid was on the other side of the ice running drills with this Armstrong kid I'd never seen before. 'Hmm. He must be a new one,' I thought to myself. 'So far, so good!'
I had managed to start to relax a little and was actually enjoying the game until the end of the second period. 30 seconds remained and Sid scored off a beauty pass from Armstrong to tie the game. The celebration was taking place right in front of us. I hadn't seen a smile that big on Sid's face in a long time, and then, it happened. Eye contact! That wonderful smile was quickly replaced by a look of surprise, followed by a look of hurt. His hazel eyes bore a hole right down to the depths of my soul. I couldn't take it anymore. I had to look away, but where. The first thing my eyes fell upon was Scott who scooped me up in a bear hug in the midst of his own celebration. When he put me back on the ground, I turned to sit down in time to see Sidney shaking his head and then skate to the bench. The whole exchange probably lasted about 20 seconds, but it felt like an eternity, like everything was happening in slow motion.
When the boys took the ice for the third period, Marc made it a point to look right at me and give me a little wave. I gave him a half smile and a nod. I could only imagine what Sid had said to him in the locker room. I knew this was a mistake, I shouldn't have come. But when I looked at Scott and saw the look of pure joy and excitement on his face, it put everything in perspective. Sure, I felt uncomfortable, but Scott was having the time of his life and he deserved a little happiness.
The game ended and the crowd was wild. The Pens won, for the first time in a while. As the team skated out on the ice to congratulate one another, I felt the burning of Sidney's glare. He did not take his eyes of of us the whole time they were out on the ice. He even made it a point to skate by the glass where we were sitting. I avoided making eye contact with him again. I couldn't handle it. I knew if I looked into his eyes again, I'd lose it. I turned to Scott to tell him we needed to leave and he wrapped me in yet another bear hug. As we began to separate, he gave me a peck on the cheek and said, "I don't know how I could ever thank you for tonight Bekah. It has truly been one of the best nights in my entire life, certainly the best I've had in a long time."
"Well you deserve it! And no thanks are needed. It's thanks enough just knowing you had a good time. You ready to go?"
"Not really, but I suppose we should."
As we made our way out of the aisle to the stairs I couldn't help myself. As Scott slipped his arm around my shoulder, I turned back towards the ice. He was still there, still watching me. At that moment I couldn't tell which was colder, the temperature of the ice or the icy cold glare shooting out of those hazel eyes that once looked at me with such warmth.