Broken Glass, Broken Hearts, Broken Staal

I spent the rest of the evening in the training room watching Eric sleep. A few of the players came in to visit him but they only stayed for a few minutes. The medical staff had him on heavy pain killers so he was out cold for most of the night. They decided to keep him over night to make sure there wasn’t any head trauma along with his arm injury.

I signed some papers from the staff so Eric could leave the medical room he was in. after I signed the papers I walked back into the room and stood by the door watching Eric struggle to put his shirt on. I walked into the room and helped pull his shirt over his hurt arm and down over his back. He smiled a little smile as I helped him grab his personal possessions. As we walked out of the building Eric grabbed all his possessions from me and jumped into the driver seat. Walking towards the drivers side I smirked and threw the door open.

“What do you think you are doing?” I asked leaning against the door frame.

“Well I was planning on driving you home then driving myself to my own house.” Eric calmly stated turning the car on so it purred as it idled in the drive way.

“Sorry to burst your bubble but I’m driving you to your house then Cam will be picking me up. You can’t drive anywhere and you are supposed to not walk even cause of your slight concussion. Who lives with you anyways?” I asked as Eric got out of the drivers seat and walked over to the passenger’s side and got in.

“Well I used to live with Jussi Jokinen but he lives with his girlfriend now so I have the apartment to myself now.” He spoke fiddling with the cast on his arm. I sighed inwardly as I turned the car down my street. Eric turned around in his seat and looked down the road we should have been going down.

“Where are we going? My house is that way.” He pointed with his good arm down the other road. I shook my head and kept driving.

“Well look like you have to stay with me until other arrangements can be made. Doctor said you need help and can’t stay alone. With your concussion and your arm after all. So you don’t have a choice. We’ll go to your apartment later and grab your items. But till then you are going to lie down and get some rest.” I drove the car into the driveway as he nodded his head.

I threw the car into park and we both got out. I grabbed some bags from the trunk while he grabbed his equipment and we walked inside the apartment. He set his bags down by the floor and stared around the room. Everything flashed back to me suddenly and I bet it did to him too.

“Danielle look…” he started walking towards me. I lifted my head up and felt the tears slide down my face. I just wiped them off my face and walked by him towards the kitchen. I heard footsteps behind me so I knew he was following me but I didn’t slow down to talk.

I kept walking until I reached the kitchen and stopped to make dinner. In the fridge I pulled out chicken, shredded cheese, milk. I then grabbed pasta from the cabinet and started making chicken mac and cheese, Eric’s favorite.

I started putting all the ingredients together and I could feel Eric stare burning through my skin. I did my best to ignore him and concentrated on cooking the meal. He sighed and shuffled away leaving me by myself in the kitchen to finish cooking.

As I finished cooking it in the oven I called Eric out to the kitchen to eat. I heard him shuffle to the kitchen. He threw me a small smile before sitting down at the table exactly where he used to sit before we split. Grabbing the mac and cheese from the over I walked over to the table and set it down on the hot pad.

“You remembered! Mac and cheese with chicken has always been my favorite!” Eric exclaimed, a broad smile across his face. I nodded and sat down as we put the food on our plates and began to eat.

The entire dinner was awkward. We didn’t speak a word to each other the entire meal. As we finished I grabbed the plates and put them into the sink, I’d wash them later. It was getting late and I was exhausted so I sauntered into the living room and reclined on the couch.

“Go to bed your beat.” Eric said shuffling into the room, “I don’t mind sleeping on the couch.” I sighed and jumped off the couch and ran into my room. I threw my pillow and blanket onto the couch and jumped onto it snuggling into the blanket.

“Stubborn as always…” he huffed, stalking into the bedroom.