Chapter Ten; Temps va lent

Hey guys,
I'm sad to say that this will be my last update for a while. I'm leaving next week for U.S. Air Force basic training which means that I will be unable to get to a computer for eight and a half weeks. I know this seems like forever for you guys but just think how ling it's going to be for me; waking up a four am everyday, doing countless push-ups, sit-ups, running mile after mile. The next time that I will be able to update will be once I get to technical school, but the exact that that I can update is unknown. I hope that you can all bare with me, your support is greatly appreciated and expect an update in either late January or early February.
Thank you all so much,
Miriya.

***

Chapter Ten

Game time finally came and Kailey smiled when Marc stood strong in net. The rest of team played well in front of him and they brought home a win. When the final buzzer rang Marc was shown on the screen and as he removed his helmet a slight smile could be seen on his face. This caused Kailey to smile again, still not a full smile but enough to show that she was truly happy with her best friend's accomplishment. "He's smiling V, he's smiling."

The TV was kept on after the game but just so there was some noise other than the monitors and silence. Kailey listened to the interview and even recognized the voice but none of what the man said sunk in as she again turned to Vero, searching for any sign of life.

Marc must have been the first one to shower and leave the parking lot because he returned to the dreary hospital room just after eleven o'clock. "Hey," Kailey said standing from her chair. "Good game. I saw the smile at the end." She wrapped her arms around the tall, muscular but slender goalie.

"I hoped you would," he returned the hug. "It felt good to be back out there with the guys."

"I'm glad. Well I have school and a game tomorrow so I won't be able to get here. Will you be okay til Wednesday?" She asked concern in her eyes.

"I'll be fine, some of the guys said they would stop over." He reluctantly released her from his arms. "Good luck tomorrow."

"Thanks Marc, I'm gonna need it. Try to get some sleep okay?"

Marc nodded before saying, "You too."

A gentle kiss was placed on his cheek before Kailey left the room and he returned to his seat next to the bed. Taking Vero's hand in his again he kissed it and proceeded to tell her about the game. He knew that she couldn't hear him and that Kailey had probably told her what had happened throughout the game but wanted something to seem normal. Throughout the season when she had been in Canada he would call her following each game, just as he did with Kailey, and they had talked about what happened. Marc wanted that again, to be able to hear her speak, to see the gleam in her eye when he walked into the room, to hold her in his arms and tell her how much he loved her.

Kailey found her car and after clearing the windshield she just sat in the driver's seat for a moment. She could only imagine how hard this was on Marc, to have the women he loved so helpless, lifeless. There was nothing else that she could do for him, she was there at the hospital with him every chance she got, but she wished that there was something more.

These thoughts quickly brought her to her love, Jared. Pulling her cell phone from her pocket she pressed and held two. "Hello," someone said groggily on the other end.

"Hey baby, did I wake you?"

"No," he said clearing his throat. "You okay?"

"Physically yes, emotionally no. These past few days have taken such a toll on me. I know we have school tomorrow but I'm stressed and most probably won't be able to sleep anyway, can you come over?"

"Of course, are you home?"

"I'll be there soon, I'm leaving the hospital."

"I'll be waiting."

When Kailey pulled into her drive-way she found Jared waiting on the front porch. Putting her keys in her pocket she took his hand and led him to the backyard. Snow covered the concrete which would make it harder to shoot but Kailey didn't care, she needed to relieve stress and this was the only way that she could think of with her mind as clouded as it was. The wind blew, swirling snow at their feet but Kailey didn't care how cold it was.

She picked her stick up and stick handled a pink ball for a few seconds before launching it towards the net. Snow had built up on the back of the net since he hadn't used it in a few days and when the ball hit the twine a puff of snow fell to the ground. Normally this would make Kailey smile, but not tonight. After a few more slap shots, just from Kailey, Jared just stood by and watched, he felt that it was safer that way, she couldn't hold back anymore.

Tears began to fall, freezing on her cheeks but she didn't care. Jared pulled her against him and sat down on the cold, wet ground, bringing her onto his lap. Her stick fell from her hand and she buried her face in his chest. She normally wasn't an emotional person but she just couldn't hold it in anymore. Normally she would just release all of her emotions in the form of slap shots, but this was too much. The situation not only affected her directly because Vero was her friend but Marc was so hurt by this, inflicting more pain on Kailey.

"What if she doesn't wake up?" She asked finally lifting her head.

"Then Amy, you and I will be there for Marc. Right now though let's try to think happy, okay?" Kailey nodded and wiped the tears from her eyes. "Let's get you warmed up."

Once they had made it inside and Kailey changed into her pajamas Jared instructed her to lay down on the couch. Returning to the family room he had two blankets in hand which he used to cover Kailey bringing a slight smirk to her face. She set the alarm on her cell phone for later that morning, which seemed all too soon. Jared went to lie on the other side of the large wrap-around couch but Kailey was forced to say no. "Please."

Understanding her completely he lie down next to her, wrapping his arm around her, for both protection and warmth, after all she was still chilled. Jared fell asleep before she did, but when she was finally warm and couldn't keep her eyes open any longer sleep finally overtook her.

***

As she had expected, morning came too soon. School seemed ten times longer than normal, even longer than it had the day before. Hamlet was still being discussed in English Lit, something that again she paid no attention too. In the rest of her class mid-terms were being reviewed for and she tried her hardest to pay attention, but she found herself drifting in and out. She managed to stay awake the whole day, which was something she had strived for, but she hoped that she would be able to say the same about later that night, her game.

Taking the ice for warm-ups she felt okay, the cold air helped to wake her up a bit. She was out for the opening face-off even though she had tried to convince her coach to give her less ice time. Bob had told her that the only way she would be given less ice time was if she completely sucked. Kailey didn't plan on flat out sucking but there was no way she was going to be playing at her normal pace, she was not even close to being one hundred percent.

Things started out slow, but when it came to keeping the puck in the other team's zone she was as good as ever. The physical part of her game though was not up to par. She only attempted two checks that night and both ended up with her slamming into the boards instead of the opposing players, something that rarely happened. Another time she got laid out behind her own net and that's when she really woke up. Prying herself from the ice she shook off the hit and played well for the rest of the game.

***

The rest of the week was the same, Marc sat at the hospital, Kailey went to school, hockey practice, and then the hospital. Friday morning she drove from hockey practice to school. There was no practice after school so she planned to go straight to the hospital. Classes drug on as they had all week and Kailey couldn't wait for the final bell to ring.

When it came to English Lit Kailey was paying more attention than she had for the rest of the week and was glad that she was when the teacher directed a question at her. "Ms. Schwartz."

"Yes," she said looking up from the table. She had actually been paying attention and even with all of the stress she had been keeping up with her homework to include her reading for this class.

"What is Hamlet talking about in the 'To be or not to be' soliloquy?"

"Whether or not to kill himself," Kailey said weakly.

"Very good," the teacher said, partly shocked since she had paid any attention in class all week.

After school she said good-bye to Jared and quickly made her way to the hospital. It had been a week since the accident and a long week at that. It was the first week back after Christmas break and all of the teachers at Kailey's school had begun to review for mid-terms.

"Hey," Kailey asked walking into Vero's room behind Marc. "Anything."

"No," he said without looking away form Vero. He and Kailey sat in silence until around six o'clock when out of no where the heart monitor flat lined. The sound alerted nurses and doctors, Marc and Kailey were pushed to the hallway, and the doctors did everything in their power. "Time of death, six-oh-three," a doctor said looking at the clock on the wall.

When the room was empty again Marc slowly returned, Kailey just a step behind him. He took Vero's lifeless hand in his one last time and the tears he was fighting to hold back finally spilled over. "I love you," he said barely audible. "I love you." He repeated this over and over again until he fell to his knees. Her hand slipped from his, his hair fell to his face, but he didn't care about anything at that moment, he had lost everything.

Kailey sat down next to him and pulled him into a hug, she too was crying. She knew that there was nothing she could do now to make things better, Marc had just lost the women he loved and she had lost a good friend.