Chapter Text
Shane takes a moment to just calm his nerves. He’s heard Ilya’s voice, he knows, completely, for certain, that he’s okay. He’s heard that he’s okay and it makes Shane’s mind finally, finally calm the hell down.
“I miss you,” Ilya whispers into the phone.
Shane leans into the phone and clenches it a little tighter, “I miss you too, so much. I’ll be there soon..”
“You are coming here? The doctor told me I am in Florida, you are very far away.”
“I know,” Shane leans back into his chair, finally able to relax just the smallest amount finally, “I rented a car.”
”Shane, you do not need to drive all the way here, I will be okay. Yuna and David are on flight here, I got text. I saw itwhen I woke up. I will be home in few days, I am sure. We can see each other there.”
Shane scoffs and shakes his head, “No, Ilya, absolutely not. I’m- I need to see you, okay?” He admits, sighing softly, “I really need to see you and I’m already about three hours away, so there’s no use turning back now.”
“Oh, Shane. Are you okay?”
“Hey, I’m supposed to be the one asking you that question. You’re the one who got hurt.”
”Yes, but I scared you, no?”
Shane stays quiet.
”I remember when you got hurt on ice, before I came to the cottage, and I remember being so very scared. So, I cannot imagine how you feel right now. I do not know how I would feel if you had been in plane crash. So, Shane, are you okay?”
Shane’s eyes fill with tears, his emotions overwhelming him, “When I saw your messages,” Shane starts to whisper, kind of not wanting Hayden to hear what he’s saying - he doesn’t want this moment to be between anybody but him and Ilya - letting himself cry as he bites the inside of his cheek, “I was terrified, I was- I don’t know, I thought you were dead, Ilya, and I wasn’t sure how to deal with that. But,” He takes a deep breath and smiles through his tears, “I am okay now, and I’ll be better when I see you.”
”I cannot wait to see you, moya lyubov. Ya tebya lyublyu.”
“I love you too, we’ll be there soon, okay?”
”Okay. I will not be going anywh- Wait one second, we? Who is with you?”
“Oh, Hayden,” Shane answers easily, forgetting that he hadn’t mentioned that already. It causes Hayden to look over for a moment until Hayden realizes that the only reason Shane said his name was as an answer to a question on the phone.
“Ugh,” Ilya grunts and Shane can quite literally hear the way he’s rolling his eyes, ”Why is he coming, I do not want to see Hayden Pike.”
Shane laughs softly because, well, at least he knows it’s definitely Ilya on the other line, “Mom just didn’t want me doing this drive alone.”
”So the answer was Hayden Pike?”
“Mhm.”
”Boring.”
Shane scoffs without any malice but, rather, in an amused way, “He’s not boring and it’s been nice to have him with me.”
”Fine, fine,” Ilya clicks his tongue, ”I suppose I am glad that he has been here for you then and- He gets cut off by, what Shane assumed to be, the door of his hospital room opening and Shane hears another voice for a few moments before Ilya’s voice seems to get closer to the microphone as he says, ”There is nurse in here to do things, I have to hang up.”
“Okay,” Shane whispers, his heart dropping because he wants, more than anything, to just talk to Ilya for the rest of this drive but he knows that that’s implausible. Ilya needs rest and the nurses and doctors have to do their jobs. So, as much as Shane doesn’t like it, he lets it happen, “I’ll see you soon, I love you.”
”Ya tebya lyublyu.”
Then, Shane hangs up and drops his phone onto his lap, looking out onto the road.
“That was good, yeah?” Hayden asks, taking a glance over to Shane before bringing his eyes back to the road.
Shane nods, “Really good. I needed to hear his voice.”
“I’m sure,” Hayden says softly.
The rest of the trip is fairly quiet, neither of them say much and Shane even manages to sleep for about an hour. They stop for food when they’re almost there, Shane doesn’t eat much because he doesn’t have much of an appetite, but Hayden gets him to eat something, which he knows is necessary.
Shane barely even wants to wait for Hayden to park the car when they get to the hospital, he has half the mind to jump out while it’s still moving and, while he knows he’d be fine because it’s going very slow, he knows that’s not the wisest decision.
So, rather impatiently, he waits for Hayden to find a parking spot and pull into it. He even has the willpower to stay in his seat for 2 minutes before going inside to ask Hayden, “You’re still okay with picking up my parents from the airport, right? I know you’ve done a lot of driving, so I can order them a ride if you’d pre-”
“Take a breath, dude,” Hayden reaches over the middle console to pat Shane on the shoulder, “I can go get them, it’s not a problem. Now can we please go inside so that you can see Rozanov and I can stretch my legs?”
Shane doesn’t even give that a verbal answer, he just gets out of the car and follows the signs that lead him to the entrance. Hayden is following behind him and when they make it into the hospital, they go up to some sort of nurse’s station or something - Shane isn’t quite sure, he’s normally in the hospital as the patient, so this is a bit of a different experience - and wait for the woman who’s standing there to get off the phone.
Eventually she does and brings her attention to them, a bright smile on her face, “Good morning! How can I help you two?”
“I need to see Ilya Rozanov,” Shane answers quickly and quietly, still having that underlying feeling of embarrassment when saying his name out loud in any kind of personal matter.
The nurse nods, knowingly, “I had assumed you guys were here for one of the hockey players, considering…” She trails off but gestures to Shane and Hayden as a whole, indicating she knows who they are.
It doesn’t bode well for Shane, he was really hoping he just wouldn’t be recognized but, well, apparently you can find a fan of hockey anywhere.
Luckily, she doesn’t seem to make any sort of big deal out of it, just types a few things on the computer in front of her and then smiles back up at Shane, “Alright, if I could just get both of your IDs, please? Then I can go ahead and get you those visitor passes!”
“Yeah, great, yeah,” Shane nods, reaching into his pocket to grab his wallet, quickly pulling his ID out of it and handing it over to the nurse.
He looks over to Hayden who’s patting at his pockets with no luck, “Shit,” He mumbles, “I think I left mine in the car.”
Shane’s about to say something but then Hayden continues on, “Y’know what, it’s fine, I’ll just go get your parents from the airport and come back with my ID, okay? They’re about to land anyway, aren’t they?”
Shane looks up at the clock on the wall and nods, “In 15 minutes, yeah.”
“I should get started to the airport then, uhm, you’ll be fine by yourself, right? You’re not gonna go cause trouble or something and-”
Shane fights back a laugh and a roll of his eyes, “I’m not one of your kids, Hayden.”
“Right, shit, sorry,” He squeezes his eyes shut and opens them back up, “I will back,” He points both of his pointer fingers at Shane while walking backward.
“Watch where you’re going, Mr. Pike!” The nurse shouts toward him.
This causes Hayden to turn around and pay attention to where he’s walking.
“Thank you, Hayden,” Shane waves to him and then turns back to the nurse, who still has his ID.
It doesn’t take her long to look at it and verify it. Then, she pulls out a sticker and writes his name on it before handing it to him, “Please put that in an easily visible spot.”
Shane nods, taking the back off of this sticker and sticking it onto the top left of his shirt, just about over his heart.
“Awesome,” The nurse clasps her hands together in something of a clap and then takes them back apart to type something on her keyboard, “Alright, Ilya Rozanov is going to be in room 1221.”
Shane’s laughter is completely unexpected and improper in this circumstance but he simply can’t hold it back. It comes out before he even registers the need to laugh.
He covers his mouth and tries to will the laughter to go away, attempting to apologize to the nurse, “Sorry, I’m sorry, it’s just, like, an inside joke,” He tries to lie.
Or, well, is it even really a lie? It is an inside joke of some sort, it’s just, like, what are the odds?
Like, he obviously doesn’t remember the number of every single hotel room he and Ilya have hooked up in, that would absurd, so what are the odds that the hospital room he’s in right now is the same number as one of the hotel room numbers he does remember.
(The only reason he remembers the number is because of also remembering being mortified at the thought of Scott Hunter right next door.)
So, genuinely, what even are the odds of this happening?
Shane doesn’t even know but he does know that he needs to take a deep breath and calm himself.
The nurse just laughs and nods politely, “Alright, well, just go on down that hallway and follow the signs, you should find room 1221 in no time. If you have any trouble, there should be plenty of staff on your way who can help point you in the correct direction.”
Shane presses his lips tightly together to hold back his laughter as he forces out a smile and says, “Thank you.”
He very quickly walks away from her, no longer wanting to make a fool of himself. Thankfully, he manages to successfully follow the signs without needing to stop and ask for help. At least he has that much going for him.
He slips into the room quickly, shutting the door behind him.
When he sees Ilya, he feels like all of the oxygen is extracted from his body and he opens his mouth, desperately trying to gain some of it back.
There’s a bandage on his head and smaller cuts and scrapes on his face. He’s got wires and an IV connected to him and Shane’s a little bit afraid to do anything in fear of doing something wrong, so he just speaks, whispering, “Hi.”
“Hello,” Ilya looks like he’s trying his best not to cry, Shane knows that face all too well these days. It breaks his heart and he starts to walk forward to comfort him when he catches a glimpse of the room number again.
Then, Shane laughs.
He breaks down into a full belly laughter, he can’t contain himself, and it definitely gets him a strange look from Ilya. Ilya’s eyebrows furrow together and he tries to sit up a bit, rather unsuccessfully, which causes Shane to lunge forward, still full laughter, trying to talk through it, “No, no, don’t sit up, you have to- I can’t breathe oh my god- you have to rest-”
“What is this laughing for? Nothing is funny. Nobody told joke, Hollander, why are you…” He gestures to Shane’s entire self, referencing the fact that he can’t hold in his laughter.
“Do-” He laughs some more, making his way closer to Ilya’s side and taking a deep breath, “Do you know what room number you're in?”
“Yes, of course I do?” Ilya raises his eyebrows, unamused, “1-2-2-1, what is funny about 1-2-2-1? Hm?”
That sobers Shane right up, his eyes widening, “You don’t remember?”
“Remember what, Shane?”
Shane takes a deep breath and chuckles out a little bit more laughter before taking in Ilya some more, “Okay, well, first of all, I’m so glad you’re okay, Ilya, I was-”
“I know,” Ilya nods, holding his hand outward to Shane, who hesitates to grab it out of habit, “It is very private room, Shane, will you please just hold your injured boyfriend’s hand?”
“Yes, yeah, no yeah, of course,” Shane shakes his head and nods all in the same motion, moving forward to be right next to Ilya, grabbing his hand confidently. He brings it up to his mouth and kisses at the bruised knuckles, whispering, “I love you,” He kisses again, “Ya tebya lyublyu,” Another kiss, “I love you.”
“Okay, okay,” Ilya pulls his hand away from Shane’s mouth but doesn’t let their hands part, “I love you too, okay? It is enough sap for one morning already, yes?”
“Never,” Shane disagrees, sneaking one more kiss down to Ilya’s knuckles and then sneaking a quick one to his lips, which Ilya chases after, “I’ve been going crazy these last 15 hours.”
“I am okay, see?” Ilya says with that usual confidence in his voice, staring down at himself then back up at Shane as a gesture, “Still perfect, even while wounded.”
Shane laughs, shaking his head, “You’re an asshole.”
“Yes, yes, we have established that many, many years ago,” Ilya leans back in his bed again, “now, tell me, what is so funny you were not able to breathe.”
“Oh!” Shane buries his face in his hand for a moment and then takes a deep breath, “Okay, so, the All-Star game in 2011? Remember it?”
“You expect me to remember something from decade ago?” Ilya raises his eyebrows in that way he does whenever he’s not really asking a question but, rather, making a statement in the form of a question, “I have head injury! Concussion, Shane. I do not remember decade-ago All-Star game. Is too long ago and I am pretty sure I would not remember it even if I did not have head injury.”
Shane looks up to the roof and just half laughs and half whines. He takes a deep breath and then looks back down at Ilya’s face, “Okay, well, we hooked up in your hotel room that year and the room number was 1221.”
“Oh my god, Shane, do you remember every number of every hotel room we have ever hooked up in?” Ilya looks genuinely concerned for Shane’s mental health at the moment and Shane wouldn’t be able to blame him if what he were saying were true, “Because that is a lot of numbers. You do not need to remember those, you know? They are-”
“Okay, shut up,” Shane cuts him off, “I don’t remember every hotel room number we’ve ever hooked up in. This one was different, okay? It was the All-Star game where you beat the shot accuracy record, then I beat you right afterward, is this ringing any bells? The room was right next door to Scott Hunter and-”
Ilya lets out a big, boisterous laugh and then winces, “Oh my god, Shane, oh it hurts,” He throws his head backward and whines dramatically, “It hurts so much, do not make me laugh like that.”
Shane’s face drops from amusement and moves his free hand to Ilya’s shoulder, trying to help stabilize him, “Are you okay? Do you need me to get a doctor?”
“No, no,” Ilya shakes his head quickly, “I am being dramatic, I am fine, do not worry.”
Shane is skeptical and is definitely worrying but he decides against going to get a doctor.
“I just cannot believe that that is such core memory for you,” Ilya squeezes at Shane’s hand, “I remember thinking you were actually being chased that day, I was worried paparazzi or someone was about to come through the door right behind you or something. Only to find you were worried about Scott Hunter next door.”
Shane hangs his head down , staring at the floor, “I know, I know. This isn’t even the point of my story. I just-” He takes a deep breath and picks his head back up, “The nurse I spoke to to get my visitors pass mentioned the room number to me and I ended up laughing a lot and she was definitely confused. And concerned probably. I think I humiliated myself.”
Ilya laughs again, “Oh dear, oh god, what did I say about making me laugh, Hollander, oh fuck,” He uses his free hand to press against his stomach, “It actually hurts this time, okay? No more laughter, no more jokes, no more funny. You go grab chair and sit next to me, I want to be with you right now.”
Shane can’t help but smile and immediately follow Ilya’s request, happy that he even makes the request so easily, happy that he’s so honest about his feelings, about just wanting to be with Shane right now.
It makes Shane’s heart feel so, so full.