Chapter Text
It has been 12 hours since the start of Montreal Metros and Boston Raiders game and since then, Yuna has not gotten any minute of sleep. She has definitely been awake longer than 12 hours as both David and her were coming from Ottawa to Montreal early yesterday morning, wanting to see the action in person rather than on screen.
She has been staying awake with the help of three cups of coffee and a huge bucket of fear and worry. She has no choice, she does not think she can get any rest until she has seen Shane open his eyes, telling her himself that he is okay.
The doctor said Shane is stable, and that they have performed everything they could, and that he will be awake soon.
It is not like he is in a coma. He is resting. He is recovering.
Yuna believes the doctor, yes, but seeing her own son went down on ice with a sickening loud thud and then proceed to remain unmoving, has been a nightmare that keeps on replaying endlessly whenever she closes her eyes. So, yes, she will stay awake. She will stay awake until Shane opens his eyes and says something to replace this endless loop of a nightmare.
She looks down, staring at David’s fingers that are currently resting on her knee. He has been asleep for few hours now, but his hand never moves away. The light, grounding touch helps Yuna not to spiral and she really appreciates it.
It is morning time now and she can feel the private room warm up slightly. It was so cold last night but she does not know if the cold is because of the weather, the room temperature or the fear that stays inside her, never leaving. She wonders if Shane feels hot and uncomfortable under the hospital blanket.
Her eyes move from David’s grounding touch on her leg to the bed, to— Oh. She moves instantly, getting up on her feet, at the sight of Shane’s twitchy fingers, hurrying to stand beside his bed. “Shane? Honey, are you awake?”
Shane blinks. Slow movement but he is awake. Finally. Yuna feels her own body shakes, all the pent-up negative energy seeping out.
“Mom?”
“Yes, it’s me.” Yuna quickly taps on the small button at the side of Shane’s bed, alerting the nurse on duty that he is awake.
She hears more than she sees David waking up from his sleep, bit of rustle here and there before he stands beside her, small breath of relief escaping him.
“Mom, where am I? What happened?” Shane asks again.
He sounds panicked, scared. Alarmed.
Yuna prays the nurse to come quickly, to provide Shane with some answers, to offer him comfort, to help him understand what is happening. She does not think she can repeat what happened the night before, she does not have it in her to verbalize the nightmare.
After they wheel him out from the operating room and into this private inpatient room, the nurse said Shane is okay, he will be asleep for a while as they give him good amount of medicine to lessen the pain. It is supposed to make him bit of loopy once he is awake and not, well, panic or scared.
But Shane looks scared, and panics, and not at all loopy as he squirms around, one hand moving up to touch the brace that they put around his collarbone while his other arm is resting inside a sling.
“You are in a hospital, honey. Do you remember what happened?”
“No? What happened? Why am I here?” Shane asks again, his tone raising and fear palpable in his voice.
“Okay, Shane. Calm down. The nurse will be here shortly, okay?”
Yuna is not sure if Shane is focusing on what she says but thankfully, she hears someone coming in.
Finally.
She glances at the door and sees a middle-aged woman walking in, taking the clipboard that is placed at the foot of Shane’s bed with her as she inches closer, standing beside the heartbeat monitor that is placed on his right
The nurse takes note of the number on the monitor before introducing herself. “Hi, Shane. I’m Dana, and I am the nurse in charge of you. How are you feeling?”
“My head hurts,” Shane groans, free hand pressing on his temple as he tries to take a good look at the nurse.
“You had a concussion, love. You were hit on the ice; there was a collision between you and another player,” Dana explains, gently prying Shane’s hand off his head. She takes a good look at his eyes, taking out a small flashlight from her pocket as she inspects him.
“On ice? Another player? What player? Why was I on ice?” Shane says, sounding more confused than ever. All the tension, panic and stress that were evident in his tone disappears at once.
“Oh, God,” Yuna whispers.
“What is this thing on my collarbone? What happened?” Shane asks again.
Dana repeats, “You were on the ice last night for your hockey game. Do you remember anything from the game?” She keeps her tiny flashlight back in her front pocket, this time taking out a small pager-like device, possibly alerting the doctor in charge.
“Hockey game? I play hockey?” Shane repeats, feeling bewildered as if this a new information and not at all a fact that has been true for almost his entire life.
“Oh, God. David.” Yuna looks at David, various worse possible scenarios going inside her mind.
“Okay, Shane, what do you remember? Do you know who you are?”
“Well, yes? I am Shane Hollander,” Shane answers.
“Okay, good. Anything else? What year is it?”
“Um, 2017? It is April now, isn’t it?”
Dana nods, “Yes, correct. Good job. Do you know which city are you in right now?”
Shane tries, hoping he doesn’t sound as unsure as he currently feels, “Um, Montreal?”
“Yes. Do you know why you are in Montreal?” Dana glances at the heartbeat monitor, noticing that Shane’s heartbeat slowly going down back to a more acceptable pace.
Shane purses his lips, shaking his head. “I don’t know. I don’t remember.”
“Do you know who the current US President is?” Dana tries.
“I’m Canadian, does that matters to me?”
Dana smiles sheepishly, “Um, probably not. What else do you remember or know, at least?”
“Well, I know that these two are my parents. Yuna and David.” Shane looking at his parents pointedly, nodding his head in satisfaction as Yuna offers him a smile as confirmation that he is correct.
“Oh, thank God, he remembers us.”
Yuna feels the tension slowly leaving her body. For a second, Yuna thought of worse possible scenario where Shane forgets her, forgets David. Has no memories of their family. Forgets how Yuna likes to tie up his skates for him every time before he goes on ice when he was 8 years old, forgets how David likes to pack him a snack every time he leaves for skate practice. Forget all the warmness, laughter and happiness that he gives to both David and Yuna ever since he was born.
“Oh, I remember one more thing!” Shane exclaims, small grin adorning his face now.
“Yes?”
“I remember hearing my boyfriend’s panic voice before I went unconscious and then, here I am,” Shane answers, voice sounding more casual than he was a few moments ago.
Seems like noticing he is in a hospital is more of a reason to panic than letting everyone know he has a boyfriend.
Oh, God. A boyfriend.
Yuna feels lightheaded upon hearing this new information. A boyfriend? Since when? Who? Her son is queer?
“You remember whose panic voice?” David repeats. She feels David winces a little bit and realizes that she has been gripping on his wrist tightly.
Yuna does not know which one is more surprising: Shane is in a relationship or that Shane is in a relationship with a man. David and her have a feeling that Shane might be inching away from heterosexuality, they have talked about this possibility before, but she is not sure that she prefers to know it right now when Shane seems like he has no memory of last night’s game.
No, he even seems like he has no clue or knows anything about playing hockey, or the fact that he is the best player in the league (she ignores the fact that maybe he is sharing that title with one other player, this is not the time).
Shane eyes blink rapidly and he looks around the room, just now realizing that there are only four people in this room, himself included. “My boyfriend! Ilya! Why is he not here?”
“Your boyfriend is who now?” Yuna thinks that if she passes out right now, this is the right place. This hospital probably has an extra bed to accommodate her.