All I Can Do

The next morning Jonathan woke up to a nagging poking feeling in his lower back. Quietly, he opened his eyes, staring straight into the sunlight pouring in from the window. Squinting, he turned himself around and jumped when he saw five bodies in the room surrounding him. Adam Burish being the one with the poking finger.

“Whoa, easy bud,” he snickered, stepping back a few steps.

Jonathan rolled his eyes, adjusting his pillows and not bothering to sit up. In the room were some of his greatest friends, along with family. His mother and father were sitting to his side while Adam, Patrick Sharp, and Versteeg were standing in front of him.

“Oh baby,” His mother cried, leaning forward and taking his head in her hands, giving him a kiss to the forehead, “We were so worried, never do that again! We flew here so fast we should get that gold medal of yours.”

Jonathan grinned, she was some woman, “You wish Ma, but I’m fine, I promise. How are you dad?”

His father could only nod; holding back tears himself, fighting against it. He was the leader, the chief of the family and he would be strong for the entire room. Jonathan shut his eyes and took in a breath while his friends spoke to him about stuff that really didn’t seem important enough.

He had one place to be today, all day, and he knew where it was. Even if he got dismissed, he’d be up here every morning just to be there if she woke up- to apologize. He loved his family and friends, but he felt this was more important. He was okay, she wasn’t.

“Kaner’s bragging about his scars- he owes you,” Versteeg pointed out, earning a laugh, “He’ll be using that one with the ladies.”

Burish scoffed, “What ladies? Kane’s got no ladies.”

Jonathan smirked, re-opening his eyes. The joke would be much funnier if Kaner was in the room. Nevertheless, ragging on his was always a good way to pass time. Hey, at least he wasn’t the butt of the jokes right now.

The conversation went for another half hour. The nurse, who he figured out was named Barbara, was the one to save him. She came in, glasses on the tip of her nose like usual, and informed everyone that Jon needed tests done- just a few blood samples and x-rays on his bones. It got them out and he had an excuse to leave.

As Barbara examined his arm, which was definitely fractured from the various movements over the last few days, he cleared his throat, trying to approach the subject in a subtle way. He saw the faintest of grins on her lips as she pressed a finger near his elbow.

“Mr. Toew’s, after this you’ll be on your way down there,” she said, without being asked, “The family’s going to go out to eat and that’ll be your timeslot for the day.”

Jonathan smiled graciously as she let go of his arm, “I feel like I owe them something... but I don’t know what.”

Barbara shrugged, writing something down on her clipboard. Then she shuffled over to his legs to check if everything was okay and that the cuts from the accident were healing correctly.

“Perhaps an apology?” she said, not bothering to look up, “You’ve been professing your guilt for that last two days, maybe an apology would settle your head.”

Jonathan nodded, but he wasn’t sure if that’s what it was. He felt like even that wouldn’t do it, he owed them so much stuff. Anything they wanted really, he would give it to them. If they wanted a car, he’d buy it for them. He just needed them to know that he had their backs from now on; he almost took their girl from them.

He let out a heavy sigh and rubbed his face, feeling the rubble beneath his fingertips, “Man, I can’t sleep in this place.”

Barbara laughed, moving on to his other leg, “It’s a hospital Mr. Toews, not the happiest place on earth.”

He agreed quickly, “Right. Better then a coffin I guess, eh?”

Barbara glanced up from beneath her glasses and gave him a warning look. He apologized quickly, but didn’t ignore the smile he saw on her face. It was funny, even he’d admit it. Damn, this hospital was giving him a sense of humour. You won’t hear that every day, not about Captain Serious.

“Well,” she said, patting his bed sheets, “You’re all set to go, Mr. Toews!”

He shuffled upward, “So I can see her now?”

Barbara was already getting the wheelchair, pulling it to his bedside, “You have an hour today. I’ll come back and get you.”

He got himself into the chair and let her wheel him, all of the while thinking about Farren Walker and the fact that as he was healing, she was still in critical condition and there was nothing fair about that.