Break Myself

Natalia ran into the hospital, with Summer and Olivia chasing after her. She stopped at the front desk, out of breath. “Can I help you?” the woman asked, looking up at Natalia and her disheveled appearance.

“I’m looking for Marty Havlat,” she finally got out, putting her hands on her desk as she tried to get oxygen into her lungs.

“I’m sorry. He’s not allowed any outside visitors. Only family,” the woman replied, with a small smile on her lips.

“I’m his girlfriend,” Natalia told her.

“I’m sure you are,” the woman said, clearly not believing her. “But, if you’re not family, I’m afraid I can’t let you in,” she stated.

“You don’t understand,” Natalia cried. “I need to see him. He left the ice unconscious. I just need to see that he’s alright. I need to know that he’s alright,” she said, about ready to break down in front of everyone.

“I’m sorry,” the woman repeated with no empathy in her voice whatsoever.

“Come on,” Olivia said, putting her arm around Natalia. “She’s obviously not going to let you in, so let’s just go.”

Natalia did as Olivia asked, but as soon as she was out of earshot of the woman, she turned on Olivia. “You want me to just go?” she questioned, not knowing what was coming over her. “Damn it, Olivia, Marty’s in there right now, and I don’t even know if he’s alive right now! Are you telling me that if that was Jon in there, that you wouldn’t be doing everything in your power to get them to let you in there?” she asked, her voice rising so she was nearly screaming at her in the end.

“I understand, but she’s not going to let you in there,” Olivia stated calmly, understanding that Natalia was just taking all of her anger out on her, and it wasn’t anything personal.

“And, what about you?” Natalia asked, turning to look at Summer. “You wouldn’t be screaming at every single nurse to let you inside if it was Pat?” she questioned.

“Nat,” Summer began.

“No!” Natalia yelled. “You know that you’d be doing the same damn thing!”

All of a sudden, she felt a hand on her shoulder, and she whipped her head around to see Patrick Sharp standing there. “What’s going on?” he asked her.

“I don’t know,” Natalia said, suddenly feeling extremely vulnerable, not knowing what was going on with Marty. “They won’t tell me anything or let me go in there since I’m not his family.”

“You practically are,” Patrick told her. “Let me talk to them and see if I can figure anything out,” he said, walking over to the desk.

Natalia turned around towards Summer and Olivia. “I’m sorry,” she said quickly. “I’m sorry for what I said to you, and for yelling at you, and for…”

“Natalia,” Summer interrupted. “We forgive you, not that you need forgiven. We understand where you’re coming from and why you’re acting the way you are. We’d be doing the same thing if it were Pat or Jon in there.”

“Thanks,” Natalia said, pulling them into a group hug. She once again felt a hand on her shoulder, and she turned around to see Patrick standing there. “So?” she asked hopefully.

“Come on,” he told her, taking her hand and leading her to the elevator. “The team doc was over there, and I explained your situation, and he convinced them to let you go see him. He said he’s awake and he’s doing fine,” he told her as he pushed the button for the eighth floor.

“Thank you!” Natalia cried, wrapping him in a hug. “Thank you so much.”

“No problem,” he said, giving her a small smile as he put his hand on the small of her back, leading her off of the elevator and down the hallway. He stopped in front of the first room on the right, and looked down at her. “Here you go,” he said, letting her walk in.

Natalia walked to the side of the bed, seeing that Marty was sleeping. She didn’t want to wake him, so she simply grabbed his hand, holding it. His eyes slowly opened and he looked over at Natalia, smiling. “Nat,” he spoke.

“Oh my God, Marty,” she whispered. “Thank God you’re okay,” she cried. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine,” he assured her.

“I don’t believe you,” Natalia said as the doctor walked in the room.

“Well, then, let’s ask the doctor,” Marty told her.

“How’s he doing?” Natalia asked, looking up at the doctor.

“Well, he seems to be doing just fine. He lost consciousness on the ice, but he regained it in the ambulance on the way here. His vitals are fine, and everything seems well,” the doctor replied.

“What are the chances I’ll get back on the ice this season?” Marty asked, and Natalia glared at him. “What?” he questioned.

“Is that the only thing you’re worried about?” Natalia asked him, raising her eyebrow. “Getting back on the ice?”

“It’s my job,” Marty told her.

“Okay,” Natalia sighed, looking back at the doctor, waiting on him to answer Marty’s question.

“Well, you probably won’t be getting back on the ice soon. You may be able to make it back sometime during the playoffs. But, you suffered a pretty severe concussion. And, this isn’t something we’re going to take lightly. We’re going to make sure you are one hundred percent healthy before you go back out onto the ice. Because if you go out there too soon, you could get hurt more than you already are,” the doctor explained.

“I understand,” Marty said, nodding his head.

“In the meantime, I just want you to go home and get some rest,” the doctor said. He looked down at Natalia. “Can you make sure he does that?” he asked her.

“Of course,” she said, nodding her head.

“Okay, well, we’re going to keep you for observation through the night. And, since I’m sure you’re not going to want to leave, I’ll tell the nurses to get you a pillow and blanket for the night,” he said, smiling at Natalia.

“Thank you,” she told him as he left. She looked back up at Marty. “You scared me so much tonight. I told you I had a bad feeling,” she said.

“I know, and I’m sorry. But, really, that was a bizarre situation tonight. You really had nothing to be worried about,” Marty told her.

“Of course I’m going to be worried, Marty. I love you,” she stated without thinking. Suddenly, her eyes went wide as she realized what she had just said.

Marty simply smiled at her. “I love you, too,” he said, leaning forward and kissing her. “But, we’ve really got to get you to worry about me less.”

“That’s never going to happen.”