Chapter 106

Sorry this has taken so long but I've had little to inspire me lately. Enjoy!





I've decided...reality bites!
We've been back in the Burgh for a whopping three weeks and I have seen Sid for a total of 4 hours. He was bombarded with media and personal appearances; three times as many as last season and training camp was kicking the shit out of him.
I was just as swamped at the hospital. While I was living a fantasy for the entire month of August, families from across the states were living a nightmare; one I was all too familiar with.

I have a confession to make. I have fallen madly in love with someone else.
His name was Sam Bradley and he was charming and witty; strong and bold; evil and innocent. He laughed at all my lame jokes and made my entire body ache from laughing at his. He listened attentively when I endlessly rambled and knew exactly what to say and when to say it; more importantly, he knew when to say nothing at all. His eyes were the most brilliant shade of emerald I had ever seen and when he batted those thick dark lashes at you...instant swoon. His hair was the colour of pure dark chocolate and was just long enough to form perfect ringlets at the nape of his neck. Too bad in a few short weeks they would start falling out.
Sam was my newest patient; he was a six foot, high school quarter back from Savannah, Georgia; the perfect southern gentleman. And the accent didn't hurt either!

"So how come I had to come to this god forsaken hell hole of a city to find a Georgia peach?" he asked me one day while I was drawing his blood.
"Easy Romeo, I'm spoken for."
"Well I don't see no ring. No ring means free game."
"Seriously?" I raised my eyebrow at him. "Who do you think you're playing with little boy?"
He broke out out into the most infectious laughter I had ever heard.
"Come on, you are like so hot; smokin' hot! You can't blame a guy for trying."
"You are relentless Sammy. It's a good thing you're cute," I chuckled.
He leapt out of bed screaming "Touchdown!" and doing that goofy end zone dance thing.
"She loves me, ooh yeah, I'm the man, ooh yeah!"
I couldn't help but shake my head and laugh.
"Sammy get your butt back in this bed right now before you pull all your lines out," I said trying to be stern.
He winced in pain trying to get back in bed.
"See, you can't do that crazy shit anymore. You have to be more careful."
"I am a finely tuned athletic machine. I have played with a sprained ankle; I've played with a torn calf muscle and 3 cracked ribs. Cancer is not going to kick my ass!"
"Oh my sweet boy, I love and admire your fighting spirit," I said while pulling his blankets up over him.
"Don't! Not you. I can't handle that pitiful I feel sorry for you look. Not from you."
I ran my fingers through his luscious curls. "I promise I will never look at you like anything but a star struck fan," I whispered in his ear.
"That's why I love you nurse Jones."
"Ugh, please don't call me that. It's so...formal. Bekah will do just fine."
"So, Bekah...how's your football team? Steelers any good?"
"I have no idea, I'm a Cowboys fan."
"They haven't been the same since Aikman retired," we both said in unison, then laughed hysterically.
"If you tell me you like Nascar and hockey I will declare my undying love for you right now."
"I adored Dale Earnhardt may he rest in peace and love Tony Stewart. Hockey is kind of a passion of mine. I am a Pens girl all the way."
"Hallelujah, hallelujah! God has created the perfect woman! Marry me Bekah Jones!"
"Stop screwing around and let me do my job please."
He settled down a little and let me continue what I needed to do.
"So the Pens huh? I will never admit that I said this cause I'd get the shit kicked out of me but I am a big fan of Crosby's. That guy is amazing."
"I'm a fan too and don't worry, your secret is safe with me."
"Ever go to any games?"
"I have season tickets."
"Are you freakin' serious?"
"Hey mister, watch your mouth."
"Sorry. Have you ever met any of them, the Pens I mean?"
"One or two."
"Who?"
"I've met Mario before and Max Talbot."
"Talbot, that guy's an animal. He cracks me up."
"You have no idea," I said shaking my head. "Now enough with the questions. You need to rest. I'll be back in a bit to check on you okay? Do you need anything before I go?"
"You could kiss me goodbye?"
"Relentless," I said giving a kiss on top of his head.
"Hey, think I'll get to meet any of the Pens?"
I smiled at him. "You never know when you'll see a penguin waddling by."





Max was spending every free minute he had with us. I knew he was trying to fill up his time because he was still hurting, and as much as I loved having him there to listen to me bitch about my day, I wished it was Sid.
It was the night before the start of the regular season. The Pens started out at home and Sid managed to find a few hours to squeeze me in. Snuggled up on the couch trying to watch a movie, it was the time I had been so desperately craving.

"You remember me telling you about that patient of mine Sam?" I asked him.
"Sam? Doesn't ring a bell."
"The football kid from Georgia who is secretly a hockey fan?"
"Sorry babe."
"Well, he's 16 and just the most amazing kid you'll ever meet. He's already being scouted by every major college in the country and he's a real sweetheart. Anyways, we were talking about Pittsburgh's sports teams and he happened to mention he was a big Pens fan and a big fan of yours, so I was hoping... maybe...you'd have few minutes to stop by and meet him, maybe spend a few minutes with him?"
"You know all that stuff goes through the public relations department. You could check with Gina, see when and if I'm available."
"Are you kidding? I'm talking about ten minutes here; just pop in and say hi, shoot the shit for a few minutes and make the kid's day."
"I can't promise anything. You know better than anyone how jammed my schedule is and now that the season is starting, it's going to get worse. I'd be happy to do it Beks, but it will have to go through the department. I can't just show up at a hospital."
"Yes you can, you've popped in just to say hi or have a cup of coffee with me?"
"That's different. I'm hidden when I do that."
"Forget about it, just pretend I didn't ask," I said putting my head back down in his lap.
"Now you're mad."
"I'm not mad; just...disappointed."
"I'm sorry, I just can't make that kind of promise right now."
"I said forget about it okay. It's late and I'm beat; I'm sure you need to get home to bed too. Why don't we call it a night?"
He looked at me with those sad puppy dog eyes.
"I'm not leaving if you're mad at me."
"I told you I'm not mad."
"Yes you are."
"Sid, I am not going to argue about this, just get going okay? I'll see you tomorrow night after the game."
I walked him to the door and kissed him goodnight.
"I love you," he stressed before opening the door.
"I love you too. Good luck tomorrow night."

When he was gone I plunked myself down on the couch.
'Get used to it,' I told myself. 'This is just the beginning.'
Even though I knew it was going to be this way, it still made me angry. It was one thing to not have the time to spend with me, but I was only asking him for a lousy ten minutes to make the day of a kid who probably wouldn't make it to his next birthday and that burned my ass!
Without even thinking about it, I picked up the phone and dialed.
the voice on the other end was gruff and a little groggy.
"Can you come over?" I asked.
"Be there in ten."
"Thanks Maxie."