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Dmitry Savchenko stared at the menu in French- he understood parts of it- but not enough. Not nearly enough to feel confident in what he wanted to order. He glanced over at Jake and let out a sigh. He was going to have to ask him to translate it for him. It was enough to have to work through translating things from English to Russian in his head- the little bit of French he knew had disappeared in the last year.
He looked at the other former and current MLH players gathered around this table- they were all in Toronto for the Irina Foundation camp that they’d just wrapped up. Many of them were going to be travelling to Ottawa next week for the final camp of the summer before pre-season started. They looked so happy and relaxed to be here. He just felt the concern of a menu that he didn’t understand and seeing a number of shellfish dishes come out of the kitchen.
“You okay?” Jake leaned close to him and he kept trying to decipher the menu before giving up on it and looking at Jake. “Dishes with no shellfish?”
“Yeah. Can you tell them that…ugh…no…oh what is word?”
“Cross-contamination?”
“Yes- that. And mystery ingredients.”
“Yeah- I got you. Is fish broth questionable too?”
“Yes. Sometime use shellfish parts.”
“Does anyone else know?”
He shook his head. The team doctor knew, but he was normally able to avoid food that would be an issue and communicate clearly enough that the allergy could be deadly. He checked his pocket and let out a sigh at feeling the epipen there. He’d be fine. It had been years since he’d had any accidental exposure and he trusted that Kova could find something that wouldn’t cause him problems. It was restaurants that he’d learned not to trust over the years.
“Picky eater too?” Rozanov whispered as he leaned closer to Dima and he just shook his head. He wasn’t picky. He just liked not having to stab himself in the thigh and then go to the nearest ER- especially when his boyfriend’s condo was less than five minutes away and this was the beginning of a couple of days to themselves. He imagined anaphylactic shock would most definitely kill any chances at sex tonight.
“Allergies.”
“Plural? D- what else aside from shellfish?”
“Just shellfish. There’s multiple types, yes?”
“Yeah. I hate this.”
He gave Kova a look and saw the sheepish look on his face. He understood what he meant, understood that there was an underlying worry that Kova faced whenever they went out to eat. Most of the time he prepped himself enough ahead of time- but this week had been crazy and he’d had no chance to research menus like he should. He hated that this was something he was placing on Kova when he should have had it on himself.
“The chicken dishes look the safest- I’d avoid anything with rice though- a lot of it has fish stock in other parts of the menu. There’s a chicken pasta dish that doesn’t look like it would have any issues.”
“Can you ask?”
“Yeah- yeah I got you.”
****************
Kova gave him a quick kiss as they started walking back to his apartment. It had been a great week. As the others fanned out to head back to their various hotels he realized that one of the defensemen was headed the same way as them…Price…something Price. His throat tickled and he absentmindedly scratched at it. It was probably just from the summer fires.
He settled next to Kova, taking his hand. He didn’t miss that this was the first time he really felt like they could walk around Toronto like a normal couple. He saw the smile on Kova’s face and leaned forward to steal another kiss- this time sweeping his tongue into Kova’s mouth. God- his apartment felt like it was too far away.
“I love that this feels normal- that we can do what everyone else can.”
“I know, Kova.”
A wheeze. A cough. Fuck. FUCK. He tried to pull in a deep breath. What the fuck? Neither of them had eaten anything that might cause this- Kova had even stayed away from anything that looked like it might have shellfish. He tried to pull in a full breath again and shook his head as Kova leaned down in front of him. His hands started to feel numb as he fumbled for the epipen. Fuck. He felt his knees go out, but he didn’t hit the ground. Someone stopped him and then he felt the pain in his thigh- someone had stabbed him with his epipen. Thank goodness.
“Dima…D…come on- stay with us.”
****************
He woke up in the hospital- Kova slumped over him obviously asleep and the man he thought was Price seated in another. He was wide awake.
“I got in touch with Hollander- he called your mom. Apparently she’s visiting with Gagnon’s parents down at Niagara Falls- the doctors want to keep you overnight- make sure there aren’t any follow on reactions.”
“Fuck. Neither of us…I heard him check, double check…”
“Hollander is also calling the restaurant- probably to pass on whatever Rozanov was yelling about. I don’t think that we’ll be going back there any time soon. Have you had any updated allergy testing since you moved?”
“No. Probably should. There was nothing with shellfish. We ate same thing.”
He rubbed the top of Kova’s head- the one thing he could reach- and closed his eyes. The fear pulsed through him. He’d been so careful- he was always careful. Kova had asked in French and English to make sure that they understood the risks. It still wasn’t enough. There was always the risk that it wouldn’t be enough and he didn’t want Kova to feel guilty about this. It wasn’t his fault.
“Price, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Thanks coming with us. It’s a lot and it’s more if you- care.”
“Yeah- care. If that’s what the kids are calling love nowadays. Hollander or Rozanov said they’d be showing up soon. Something about your mother never letting you do anything with them again if they didn’t come sit with you.”
“I fucking hate this.”
“Yeah- kid. We all do. It was a good thing he knew where your EpiPen was- you went down fast.”
Kova rubbed his face against the scratchy hospital blanket and he grimaced. This was the second time in less than a year that Kova had stayed next to him when he was in the hospital. He hated it. He fucking hated it.
“You’re awake.”
“Da."
“That was fucking terrifying, Dima. I…you…I want to just bring food with us everywhere so that this can never happen again.”
He smiled- it was weak but he hoped that it was enough. He could already feel himself wanting to slip back under, but he tried to stay conscious. He wanted to stay conscious long enough to help Kova understand.
“Been years, Kova. Normally chef listens- sometimes they don’t. Tonight was bad night. Let’s not let one bad night ruin it for us.”
“I…uh…okay.”
He nodded to himself and then let the exhaustion overtake him. The adrenaline from the epipen was nothing compared to the harsh crash that he had afterwards. Now Kova knew. He knew it wasn’t his fault and he could go back to sleep in peace.