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“He’s fine.” David whispered to her, like it’s meant to be comfort.
“And how the hell would you know that? Are you psychic? Are you clairvoyant now?” She snaps back and David clearly bites his tongue not to laugh.
“The nurse sounded sure.”
“Well, I’m not. Not until I see him. I’ll make that decision.” David huffs a laugh, it’s been a long hour and a half drive.
“We’ll be there soon.”
“Our baby is alone in a hospital and you aren’t ready to lose your mind?”
“Our baby is in his twenties.”
“Our baby is hurt! In case you forgot!” She reminds him, looking out her window.
“I didn’t. I know.” David reaches for her hand and she doesn’t brush him off.
“Just, he’s so scared of hospitals and being alone. Remember when he broke his arm? He has to sit on my lap to get it cast. He was seventeen. You expect me not to worry!”
“Don’t put words into my mouth. I didn’t say I wasn’t worried. I’m just saying I’m pretty sure our six foot hockey player will be okay in the two hours it’s taking us to get there.”
“He went into surgery without us there. They couldn’t wait? Is it worse than they’re telling us?”
“I doubt it is.”
“He’s scared of needles, David. What if he’s scared! We know he is, but what if it’s worse than we can guess?”
“It’ll be okay, I’m sure the nurses were very nice. People are always scared of needles.” His voice was calming, she took another Xanax, pretending this was potentially a dream.
“Why didn’t Hayden go with him?”
“Mid game?” Yuna makes a noise of disagreement.
“Or after!”
“Well, it ended rather recently, and he called when he got off the ice. He knows we are going to be with him. Don’t act like you’d want him to leave the game.” She hates when he’s right, it used to be a joke when Shane was little. Daddy is never right, it was funny, up until Shane disagreed that David was his father in public. Then they had to reel that back in.
“He was just so limp.” She whispers, the thought of how he laid on their television is haunting her, “we’re not listening to him ever again. We’re always going to games here on out.” She laughs some.
“Hey, we can’t be too overbearing.” There’s no heat behind his words. They finally pull into the parcade.
“Oh thank god.” She whispers in relief.
“They said it’d be a short surgery.” David reminds her.
“Then we can be inside for when he wakes up.” She’s already unbuckling, looking at David with a pointed look. They’re doing valet parking, he isn’t saving those ten dollars today.
“Fine. Fine.” David agrees, telling the man something, but Yuna is gone. She’s already in the doors to avoid the crisp Canadian night air. She can’t imagine what she looks like, she definitely cried in the car for a while. Anyone here can judge her, her baby is hurt. When he touches her upper back she takes that as her sign to go up to where the nurse on the phone said he’d be.
The waiting room already looks dull, the color green would send Shane over the edge. He’d be telling her about why it’s too loud of a color to be so muted and dull. She sees David speaking to the nurse and she sits down, almost collapses in exhaustion. When she finally looks up at the other seats in the room she’s shocked it’s not empty. A single man sits across from her, sunglasses on and hood up. He’s wearing socks and sandals and she briefly wants to smile because Shane can’t stand when other players do that.
As she takes him in she realizes she knows him. That’s Ilya Rozanov. He can’t hide his sheer size nor his head of curls. He looks visibly distraught, trying to seem unbothered and unnoticeable. When David sits next to her she expects him to say something to Rozanov, instead he huffs a laugh.
“He’s doing okay. They’ll bring him here after recovery.”
“He’s out?”
“Fifteen minutes ago, they’re trying to rush the process a little bit because of, you know.”
“But he’s out of the operating room?”
“Yeah, just got out of the OR. It went well, they placed the plate on the collarbone.”
“He’ll be able to play again?” It would be his first question when he woke up. She had zero doubt.
“Yes, he’ll be fine.” She takes a deep breath, relief flooding her for the first time since they got the call from his coach.
“He is okay?” Rozanov asks and Yuna feels bad how she jumps.
“Sounds it.” David looks confused, but more than likely just responding his own relief. She doesn’t know why he’s spying right now, what he gets out of sitting in the corner.
“Why are you here? I don’t know what your teams wants from you-” Rozanov raises his hand, effectively cutting her off.
“I just wanted to know he was okay.” He sounds rough, like he’s been crying. She tries to see his face, but he’s looking down and not moving.
“How about you stay with us until we can see him, hmm?” She asks softly, hoping he doesn’t just run away.
“Is not my place.” He gets up and she stands too, holding his arm.
“You care, sit with us. It’s okay.” His father just died, she watched it on espn. He saw Shane hit the boards and looked terrifying, poor thing probably could only think of his father.
“No. If he is okay, then I will leave.” His voice is rough and suddenly she thinks they’re seventeen again and she can hear his father yelling at him in Russian. She had ushered Shane away from it quickly, not wanting him to see if it got violent. She should have stepped in then, but now she can.
“No, sit. Sit with us, it was a scary hit.” She drags him to their side of the waiting room and David is gawking at her.
“Rozanov.” He says firmly. Yuna watches his Rozanov’s head shifts about, like he’s looking around. He won’t take off his sunglasses and he’s bouncing his leg. He’s nervous, she reaches over and squeezes his hand.
“It’s okay. You don’t have to hide from us if you want to take off the sunglasses.” She whispers to him.
“No. I am okay.”
“You know Shane once physically ripped the sunglasses off of my face inside because I was quote: embarrassing him.” David says laughing, not even looking at Rozanov.
“No, it’s because you wouldn’t stop saying kachow and you were wearing Jonathan’s sunglasses.” Yuna reminds him.
“Kachow?” Rozanov sounds confused.
“You know! From cars! Kachow!” He makes Rozanov laugh with her at least.
“It’s from a movie, our nephew Jonathan was really into it. Shane wanted to die of embarrassment the second David here put on the cars themed sunglasses.”
“Rozanov, do me a favor, when you get in there tell him kachow.”
“Um, no, I should not go in.”
“Come on, for one kachow!” Yuna couldn’t help but smile.
“No, is okay. I just needed to know he was okay.” The anxiety is still bleeding off of Rozanov despite David acting goofy.
“You’re no fun. Come on, just one. I’ll even teach you how to say it right.” Rozanov now looked scared at the threat.
“I am okay.”
“I’ll say it to him.” She says.
“It’s not the same. For, he hated that.”
“It was the entire vacation! And he was in that awkward teenage stage! He wanted to crawl under a rock the entire time.”
“What about you Rozanov? Family vacations were hell for you too?” She doesn’t need to see past the sunglasses to see the panic in his eyes. She smacks David a bit.
“We did not vacation frequently.”
“Never too late to start.” She smacks David’s leg harder now, staring into his soul. They’re suddenly pulled back to reality when a bed is being rolled past them.
“Shane.” She whispers, standing up.
“You can follow me.” The nurse is saying and Shane looks over and lights up.
“Mama!” He has an out of it giggle and she doesn’t even realize she’s dragging Rozanov with her until they’re in the room.
“You guys can get near him, I’ll be back shortly.” The nurse says as she leaves.
“Oh baby.” She drops Rozanov’s hand to rush to him, he wears a big smile.
“Let me borrow your glasses.” She hears David trying to get the sunglasses.
“I got hurt.” Shane tells her.
“I know you did. But you’re okay.”
“Did he come?” Shane is staring at her.
“Who? Dad’s there.” She looks back and Rozanov has lost the fight with David. Oh, the poor thing still had shiny eyes from tears.
“Ilya!” Shane says it loudly, it shocks everyone in the room.
“Hollander.” He nods stiffly. David doesn’t rush to do his stupid joke, he comes over gently. When he places his hand in Shane’s hair Yuna realizes Shane won’t stop smiling at Rozanov.
“Rozanov was worried, pretty hard hit there kid.” David says softly.
“Ilya!” Shane is reaching out now for Rozanov who looks panicked.
“I wanted to make sure you were okay.” He won’t get near the bed despite Shane’s insistence.
“You’re going to hurt yourself.” Yuna warns, attempting to keep him sitting back.
“Ilya! Ilya!” Shane is just getting louder and she’s ready to tell Rozanov that he needs to get closer before Shane makes it the entire floor’s problem.
“Shh. Shh.” Rozanov shushes him and approaches the bed.
“You’re so far away.” Shane complains still reaching for the man.
“I just had to make sure you’re okay Hollander.” He still sounds worried despite the fact he’s looking at him.
“I’m okay. I’m okay right mama?” Shane asks her.
“Yes, they said you’ll be alright.” She reassures him.
“See? I’m okay.” Shane has a dopey smile.
“Okay, I’ll tell the team then. I’m glad you are okay Hollander.” He turns to leave and she thinks Shane is about to burst into tears or a tantrum, maybe both considering his facial expression mirrors that of her son at four years old.
“How about you stay, for a little bit.” Yuna says before she can really think.
“Yeah, he’ll stay Shane. You’ll stay.” David adds firmer to the man.
“Stay?” Shane asks, he has watery eyes. She doesn’t care if they’re rivals, that they hate each other, if this man walks out she will go out there and drag him back in by his hair.
“He’ll stay. Hey, Shane, look.” David says, clearly trying to distract Shane quickly.
“What?” Oh god he has the sunglasses on.
“Kachow!”
“Dad! Ugh. So embarrassing. He’s so embarrassing, Ilya.” Shane hides his face for a moment, clearly giggling. Hell, even Rozanov looks amused at her husband.
“He seems funny.”
“No! Don’t tell him that! He just gets worse!” Shane proclaims.
“He’s not wrong, David just makes more jokes if you laugh.”
“Ilya, Ilya.” It’s long and drawn out now, Yuna lets go of his raised hand and looks at Rozanov expectantly.
“Think he wants you.” She tells him, his wide eyes can’t even seem to focus. He comes towards her son anyway, slipping his hand into Shane’s.
“Better.” He’s moving his mouth weird.
“Are you okay?” She asks from the foot of the bed.
“Kiss. Kiss.” He’s asking Rozanov for a kiss.
“Oh, Hollander. Um…” Rozanov looks uncomfortable and concerned as it’s asked again.
“Don’t be mean!”
“I’m not being mean.”
“Mama! Ilya is being mean!” David’s mouth is hanging open as he looks over at her, she knows she wears the same expression.
“No, he’s not. You can’t demand someone gives you a kiss? What the hell am I saying?” She is trying to comprehend what the hell is going on.
“You can when it’s your boyfriend. Kiss. Kiss me! I’m hurt you have to.” Rozanov clearly is mortified, David now looks beyond shocked and Yuna feels like a bass.
“Shane, we aren’t boyfriends.” Rozanov chokes out.
“Not yet, was gonna ask you at the cottage.”
“Shane, I need you to rest. You need to rest.”
“I was gonna ask you. I’m only mad at Marlow for fucking up tonight.” Shane whines.
“No, rest, it’s time to rest.” Rozanov desperately wants her son to stop talking.
“Will you come to my cottage this summer?” Her mind feels like static, her mouth is hanging open, her son barely lets them come. They live fifteen minutes away. She hears Shane say something about two weeks, but her lie about a Swedish princess was too much of a time waste? Well, considering how Rozanov is looking at her son she guesses it probably would be.
“Maybe. Maybe. Okay? Rest now.”
“No. Say yes. You still haven’t kissed me.” Shane is going to never speak to them again once he remembers what he’s babbled on about. Rozanov gives in, quickly ducking his head down to kiss him ever so briefly.
“Will you close your eyes now?” Rozanov sounds so gentle with him. Yuna has a soft smile, her baby is in love.
“No. If I do you’ll leave.” Shane barely has his eyes open.
“I’ll stay. Is okay. Rest.” Shane puckers his lips again and Rozanov indulges him quickly.
“Night night. Mama don’t let him leave.” He requests of her and she laughs a little.
“I won’t.” After he closes his eyes Rozanov groans, covering his own with his free hand.
“We can explain.” He says immediately. Yuna drags a chair over for him to sit and she sits next to him. David on the other side.
“Can you?” He asks.
“Probably not. No.” Rozanov concedes.
“How about, when Shane isn’t off in the clouds, we sit down for dinner?” Yuna offers, Rozanov is nodding already.
“Yes. That is good idea.” He agrees.
“It’s settled then. If you want to sleep too you can Rozanov.” Yuna isn’t sure if she should call him Ilya, but since Shane first said his name she noticed how his frame physically relaxed.
“I won’t. But thank you.” Rozanov smiles, still looking at Shane. Comfortable silence blankets the room, questions about everything can wait. For now, Yuna is just happy her son is okay.