Chapter Nine; Jours longs et nuits sans sommeil

Marc sat in shock, he didn’t know what to do, and he stopped breathing for a moment. He had to get to the hospital but he was in no condition to get there under his own power. Without even thinking he picked his phone back up and dialed.

“Hey Marc what’s up?”

“All I know is that Vero was in an accident and I don’t think I’m in a good state of mind to be driving right now. Can you please come pick me up?” His voice was not his usual high pitched voice; he was frantic, worried, and anything but happy.

“Oh my god sweetheart I’m on my way out the door now, I’ll be there in ten minutes tops.” The line went dead; Kailey grabbed her keys and ran to the car. As quickly as she could she started the car, pulled out of the driveway and made it to Marc’s apartment building in six minutes. He was waiting outside and quickly got into the car saying, “Thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome,” Kailey threw the car into drive and started off towards the hospital. She pulled Marc’s hand onto the gear shift to try to give him some comfort but they worry that was evident was the same on Kailey’s. They arrived at the hospital as quickly as possible, the roads were still icy as snow fell in large flakes from the sky, and Kailey didn’t want to get into an accident of her own. Marc ran into the hospital as Kailey parked the car.

He found out all that the front desk could tell him, which wasn’t much. He made his way down a long hall to her room where he was met just outside her room by a doctor who filled him in on her injuries; it was quite a long list. Soon Kay was by his side. “She’s in critical and in a coma,” Marc said, his voice cracking as the tears he was holding back finally spilled over.

“I’m so sorry,” was all Kailey could bring herself to say as she too held back tears. She pulled him into a hug and when she loosened her grip she looked up into his brown eyes that were glazed over by tears and asked, “Are you ready to see her?”

He nodded, wiping the tears from his eyes with the sleeve of his jacket and they entered the room. The sight that awaited them was not something that either of them had every wanted to see, it was something that one would see in a movie. It looked nothing like Marc’s best friend and girlfriend. Her beautiful face was covered in scratches and deep cuts that must have come from the broken glass of the windshield Her long brown hair was pulled to one side and covered with a white bandage which was covering a spot on the side of her head that must of have been a deep cut. Her flawless body which normally sported a very ‘in’ outfit now modeled a white hospital gown along with various bandages and casts.

“Oh my god,” she said quietly. “Marc, I’m so sorry.” She hugged him again before he pulled a chair up to the bed of the women he loved. He sat down to notice that somehow, miraculously neither of her hands had been injured in the accident. He took them in his own and he couldn’t hold back anymore. Tears spilled over once again and he placed a kiss on her right hand, he rested his head on the bed and continued to cry.

Kailey placed a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him but she felt a tear fall to her cheek as well. She had become close with Vero since their first meeting in October and knowing how much Marc loved her only made it worse for Kailey. She looked through her tears to her friend and wished that there was something she could do to make Marc feel better. Kailey didn’t say anything until a nurse came about an hour after they had arrived. “I’m sorry honey but you’re not family so you can’t say in the room.”

Kailey nodded and placed a hand on Marc’s shoulder, “Goodnight Marc.” She made her way out into the hallway and down to the waiting room. Finding an empty row of chairs she tried to make herself comfortable. Using her hoodie as a pillow wasn’t an option, she didn’t want to take it off because the hospital was cold and it was being used as a blanket. Lying on her stomach with her arms crossed under her head she eventually fell asleep.

The next morning Kailey awoke to see that she wasn’t the only one in the waiting room and ran to her car and then the bathroom to fix herself up. She always kept a brush and deodorant in the glove compartment. Looking half way presentable she made her way to Vero’s room where Marc was still sleeping, holding Vero’s hands in his own. It was by no means a deep sleep, Kailey placed a hand on his back causing him to stir and life his head; not letting go of his beloved’s hands. “You stayed?” He tried to smile but smile expression didn’t change.

“Yeah sweetheart I stayed and I called into work to tell them that I couldn’t come in.”
“I should call coach and tell him there’s no way I can play tonight. Can you stay here til I get back?” She nodded, Marc got up out of his car, but not before placing a kiss on Vero’s hand, and left the room. “Hey coach there’s no way I can play tonight,” he went on to explain what had happened to Vero, or at least what he knew, which wasn’t much, and her condition.

“I wish you the best Marc, Salmon will play tonight. Let me know if you can play, okay?” Edzo said.

He finished talking to his coach and made his way back to the room. He and Kailey both sat in silence for most of the day, nurse and doctors came in periodically to cheek Vero’s condition, which hadn’t changed. They left at meal time only to bring the food back to the room; someone was always by her side. Marc and Kailey watched the game together that night and when it was coming to an end so were visiting hours. “I’ve gotta get going Marc, I have practice in the morning but as soon as it’s over I’ll be back here. Is there anything I can get for you?”

“Just some clothes,” he said pulling his key from his pocket and placing it in Kailey’s hand. “Thank you Kailey this really means a lot to me.”

“You’re welcome sweetheart,” she looked up to the TV one last time to see the score of the Rangers four and the Penguins one. “Try to get some rest.” Marc nodded and Kailey kissed his cheek gently before leaving.

Kailey and Marc both had a hard time sleeping that night; their thoughts were only of Vero. Kailey tossed and turned until her alarm went off, she had to get up for practice. She arrived at the rink before anyone else, this was the norm and today some time on the ice alone was what she needed. Throwing her bag down in the locker room she sat at her stall and put her gear on more slowly than usual. Finally taking the ice the cold air hit her face and put some life back into her. She slowly took one lap around the ice and went to lean against the bench. “Hey baby, you look tired,” Jared said taking his mask off. He sat it on the boards and pulled her into a hug.

“I couldn’t sleep last night; I couldn’t stop thinking about her.”

“How is she? How’s Marc holding up?”

Kailey explained everything just before the coach blew his whistle and everyone met at center ice. Practice woke her up, especially the check she took from Amy along the end boards. After shedding all of her gear she went to Marc’s apartment. Seeing various things of Vero’s throughout the apartment was like a kick to the stomach for Kailey. Pulling a few outfits from Marc’s dresser as quickly as possible Kailey left the apartment. She wasn’t sure how much or what she even grabbed until she made it out to the car. A few shirts, two pairs of jeans, a couple pairs of boxers and some socks. She had no idea how long Marc would be staying at the hospital and if he were to play a game he could come back to the apartment and grab a suit for himself and get cleaned up.

When Kailey returned to the hospital Marc sat still holding Vero’s hand but watching something on TV to try to take his mind from the pain. “Hey sweetheart, here’s your stuff.”

“Thanks,” he let go of Vero’s hand to take the bag and made his way to the bathroom. His hair had started to get oily and had been sticking up all over the place but Kay felt that it was best to not say anything. She heard the water turn on and knew that he was taking a much needed shower. It wasn’t a long shower but the warm water relived Marc of some stress.

When he returned to the room he wore a new outfit but sat right back down in the chair next to the bed and took Vero’s hand in his once again. He and Kay sat mostly in silence until the end of visiting hours when once again Kailey had to leave.

“I’ve gotta get going sweetheart, I have school and hockey practice but as soon as I’m done I’ll be here. Four-thirty okay?”

“Mhm, thank you again, you have no idea how much this means to me.”

“No problem, anything for a friend. I know you have to play tomorrow; it’ll be good for you to get some fresh air and be at the rink. As usual she kissed Marc’s cheek softly before leaving.

She had trouble sleeping again that night and morning came quickly. She rolled out of bed and got ready for practice that was before school. Practice seemed like it went on forever; Kailey was tired and worried therefore she was dragging her feet the whole hour.

“Hey Kay, you okay?” Aaron, a kid in her Bio II class asked.

“Just tired.”

“Hey babe,” Jared said from behind and wrapping his arms around her. “You feeling any better than at practice this morning?”

“No, if anything I’m more tired than I was. I’m the top defenseman and I’m slacking.”

“Do you think that’s how coach sees it?” Kailey sat silently. “No,” Jared said. “He knows what’s going on and how hard it is for you. You’ll get through this and you’ll get your game back.” He kissed her cheek.

“Technically I’m not off my game since I haven’t played since this happened.” She tried to force a smile but her expression didn’t change.

“Kailey everything will be fine. Are you going to practice or straight to the hospital after school?”

“Don’t worry I’ll be at practice, I have to get myself back into the right mindset.” With that the bell rang and it was the last period of the day, English Lit. Kailey sat in class, her mind wandering from the class discussion of Hamlet to her best friend who sat at the hospital with the girl he loved. She was so helpless as she lie lifelessly in the hospital bed but Marc was there with her almost every minute of every day, hoping that she would wake up.

The bell rang to end the day and pulled Kailey from her thoughts. She was the first to arrive at practice and before she went to the locker room to suit up she grabbed her work schedule. Glancing down at the paper she saw that she wasn’t working for the next week and for the first time since she had started working there she was very grateful for this.

She geared and hit the ice before the rest of the team. She hadn’t put her helmet on and placing it down on the ice she lie down on the ice next to it, her face pressed against it an attempt to wake herself up.

When practice ended at four Kailey quickly showered and was off to the hospital. Since she had been there every day since Friday no one asked questions as she made her way to Vero’s room. Marc was ready to go when she arrived, all but his suit. “Thank you so much for sitting with her during the game. I’ll see you as soon as I can; I worked it out with the nurse so that you can stay with her until I get back.”

“Okay sweetheart have a good game. Try not to think about this okay, focus on the game.”

“No promises but I’ll try, the boys need me.” He gave Kailey a hug before leaving and held her in his arms before leaving.

Kailey sat down next to the bed, where Marc had been sitting and though she knew that she couldn’t be heard she began to talk to Vero. “Hey V, I know you can’t hear me but I want you to know that I really care about you. It hurts to see you like this, you’re one of my best friends and you don’t deserve this.

“These last few days have been so hard for Marc. He’s been here every day since the accident; I don’t think he leaves this chair. I know that he tries to hide it but he cries every day. He loves you more than anything in the world, you can see it when he so much as looks at you. He would always smile when he talked to you on the phone, even after a loss you could bring a smile to his face. I miss that smile. I promise that if you end up leaving us we will both be complete wrecks. We’ll cry for days V, I don’t want that, we both need you. If it is your time though, if God is calling you home then I will be right here for Marc, by his side, I will doing everything I can to help him though it.

“Enough of that though. He didn’t go to morning skate today but he’s playing tonight. I told him not to think about this for a while, you and me, to focus on the game. I think it’s what’s best for him. He’s been in this room for days just staring at you, crying and holding your hand as if his life depended on it, he needs something to take his mind off of it even if it is just for a few hours. He hasn’t let the hospital since you first got here Friday night; he sits by your side all day and when he manages to get some sleep at night he’s still holding your hand.

“I’m going to watch the game with you, I hope that’s okay. I just want to see how he does in his first game back. He’s supposed to be leaving for the World Junior Championship but he’s not going, he wants to be here when you wake up. And I’m going to be right here with him.”