Use Somebody

Abigail was on her way to her therapist's office. Jordan was driving and singing softly to the song on the radio as she sat quietly in the passenger seat, wearing the same black dress she wore to every meeting. She certainly had a lot to talk about with Dr. Oaks since the last time she saw her. And although she had overcome a lot, she now faced a huge decision.
What was she going to do once the summer was over?

She fiddled with her hands for a while before she started talking with Dr. Oaks. She was nervous as to what sort of advice she would give her about her current situation. She didn't want to hear anything that would set her back.

"So how have you been Abigail?" Dr. Oaks asked carefully, poising her pen above her notebook.

"I've been good, actually," she admitted with a small shrug.

"Oh? How so?" She continued with her questioning.

"I told Jordan about my, uh," Abigail's eyes darted around the room and her head sped up. She hated saying the word out loud; it just brought her back to that night.

"It's okay to say it Abigail," Dr. Oaks assured her.

"About my rape," she said quietly.

"And how did he react?"

"He was sweet. He told me he'd never let anyone hurt me like that again. And that he'd never hurt me like that either."

"Sounds like this boy really cares for you Abigail."

"He does," Abigail agreed. "We're sort of...together."

"That's good," Dr. Oaks nodded. "It's good that you can trust someone of the opposite sex in that way. And it's good that he can be there for you and understand what you're going through. Healing alone would be a much more hard and grueling process than it will be to heal with someone you care for."

Abigail chewed on her bottom lip as she listened to Dr. Oaks words. She knew she was right; dealing with things with Jordan by her side would be much easier than it would be to handle them alone. Only problem with this was that once Jordan had to go back to Pittsburgh for training camp.

"You seem very uncomfortable Abigail," Dr. Oaks observed. "Are you not letting me know something?"

"Well you see," Abigail began slowly. "Jordan plays hockey."

"Oh I know," the therapist chuckled lightly. "You can't live in Thunder Bay and not know who the Staal brothers are."

"Well then you'll know he lives in Pittsburgh. And I live in New York. What am I supposed to do once summer’s over? I can't imagine picking everything up an moving, we've only just met. But then again, I can't imagine being so far away from him. He's always been around. I've gotten used to it. And yeah, I have Marc back in New York and I can tell him anything, but it's different with Jordan," Abigail ranted. She let every thought on her mind roll off her tongue and even though that didn't fix anything, she felt slightly better when she had finished speaking.

"I think you should talk with Jordan about what you should do. Long distance relationships can work much better these days with technology and all. But perhaps moving in would help you more. I can't give you the correct answer because I'm not sure where you feel that you would be better off. All I can do is give you the advice to talk with Jordan about things. Tell him everything you just told me- from what you've told me he's a great listener."

"I'm just nervous," she admitted, rubbing her small hands together as she stared down at them.

"About?" Dr. Oaks prompted.

"That he won't think I'm worth it," she mumbled under her breath.

"And why do you think that?"

"Who wants to be around some broken girl? He's a professional hockey player and I'm sure he could have any girl he wanted. Why would he waste his time trying to put me back together?"

"Because he likes you," Dr. Oaks pointed out simply. Abigail sent her a hesitant look, letting her know she didn't believe her therapist. "Everything you've told me about him makes it clear that he cares for you a great deal. He wants to put you back together, Abigail. He wouldn't put forth all this effort to make you feel better if he didn't."

After another few minutes of talk Abigail walked out of the small office and into the waiting room where Jordan was sitting in a chair reading an issue of OK magazine. When he heard the door shut his eyes snapped up and he smiled once he saw Abigail. He put the magazine down quickly and shot out of the chair, placing his hand on the small of her back and bringing her into him as he placed a small kiss on her lips.

"How was it?" He asked her softly.

"Good," she nodded. "But uhm," she said uneasily, her eyes darting around the room. "We need to talk."

There were four words every man hated to hear leaving a woman's lips more than anything they would be we need to talk. And as soon as Jordan Staal heard them leave Abigail's pouty pink lips he felt his heart drop into his stomach.