These Open Arms Can Pull Us Through
These Open Arms Can Pull Us Through
Lying beside you
Here in the dark
Feeling your heartbeat with mine
Softly you whisper
You're so sincere
How could our love be so blind
We sailed on together
We drifted apart
And here you are
By my side
Patrick Eaves lay in his bed, watching his wife sleep. He should have been asleep hours ago since he had an important hockey game tomorrow. Babcock was going to rip him a new ass if he didn’t show up rested and ready to work, but he could care less at this point. This was much more important.
Patrick and Courtney had been married for seven years. They were high school sweethearts, and had been inseparable since the moment they first met at Shattuck-Saint Mary’s. He had attended Shattuck’s to play hockey and she to play soccer. After they graduated, she agreed to follow him to Boston College. He had proposed right before they graduated from Shattuck’s. They had gotten married three short months later, saying “I do” in front of their immediate families in a beach ceremony at sunset in Hawaii.
They decided to wait to have children. There was no rush for either of them since they were both so young. They wanted to have a couple years to themselves before they added to their family. Courtney was also focused on earning her Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work, while Patrick was trying to make into the NHL.
Patrick had finally made it, joining the Ottawa Senators in 2005. Unfortunately, he had spent much of the 2007-2008 season injured with a bum shoulder, and the Senators ended up trading him to the Carolina Hurricanes. His shoulder problems continued into the next season, and he was eventually traded to the Boston Bruins. He thought his dream was over when the Bruins then placed him on waivers to buy him out. That August, Patrick had happily signed a one-year deal with the Detroit Red Wings. Sure it was a drastic pay cut from his previous contract, but it was a chance for him to go out there and prove that he belonged in this league.
While he was busy trying to get his professional life back on track, his personal life was anything but happy. He and Courtney weren’t having problems per se. Two years ago they had decided that they finally wanted to have a baby. After months of trying with no results though, they were frustrated. A visit to her obstetrician-gynecologist left Courtney in tears. The doctor told her that she had endometriosis, which usually affects fertility in women.
After undergoing surgery to remove the growths and in-vitro fertilization, Patrick and Courtney were ecstatic when they discovered that she was pregnant. They started preparing the nursery and going baby shopping pretty much right after they left the doctor’s office, even though their little bundle of joy wasn’t due until March 13, 2010.
Living without you
Living alone
This empty house seems so cold
Wanting to hold you
Wanting you near
How much I wanted you home
But now that you've come back
Turned night into day
I need you to stay
When Patrick opened the door six hours ago to find her standing on the other side, he thought he was imagining things. For the past month, all he had been doing was eating, sleeping, and playing hockey. He had declined every request from the guys to go hang out after practices and games (from which he arrived as late as he could without being late and left as quickly as possible). He wanted to make sure that he was home when she came back, if she came back.
On November 29, when Courtney was about five months along, things had changed drastically. She had been on her way home from work when another car had spun out on the ice, hitting her and causing both vehicles to roll multiple times. Courtney had smacked her head against the window while her car was rolling. When the car stopped rolling, it was upside down, so it took longer for the emergency crew to get her out of the vehicle.
When Patrick got to the hospital, Courtney was still unconscious. After she came to, the doctors had informed them that, despite the hospital’s best efforts, they were unable to save the baby. The news had devastated them, with Courtney taking it particularly hard. She was released from the hospital a few days later, and even though he would have rather been at home taking care of her, Patrick had to get back to practice.
He was surprised to come home to her packing a suitcase when he came home from practice the day after she was released. He listened with tears in his eyes as she tried to explain that just needed some space so she could clear her head and try to get over what had happened. Patrick tried telling her that what happened wasn’t her fault, it was something that just happened, and he didn’t blame her for any of it. He wanted to walk over there an unpack everything. He wanted to yell at her for running when he was hurting just as much as she was. After all, the baby was his too.
Ultimately though, he knew that that would only make things worse. While it was the last thing he wanted to do, he knew that he needed to let her go wherever she was heading. He knew Courtney. If he would have talked her out of it tonight, she would have just left tomorrow. He also knew that she wouldn’t do anything stupid. She was probably headed to her mom’s house, so he knew she would be in good hands.
That had been over a month ago though. He had expected her to go away for a couple of days, but then days turned into weeks. He had all but given up hope of her ever coming back when he opened the door to see her standing there. He was speechless. He had a million questions running through his mind, but he couldn’t think of the right one to ask. So instead, he simply opened his arms, tearing up when she finally fell into them, neither of them saying anything.
Patrick knew that while Courtney had come back, they definitely weren’t one hundred percent back to the way things were before the accident. In fact, he knew that things were never going to be that way again. But, Courtney had come back home, and that’s what gave Patrick the hope that they would get through it together, coming out stronger than ever.
So now I come to you
With open arms
Nothing to hide
Believe what I say
So here I am
With open arms
Hoping you'll see
What your love means to me
Open arms
Here in the dark
Feeling your heartbeat with mine
Softly you whisper
You're so sincere
How could our love be so blind
We sailed on together
We drifted apart
And here you are
By my side
Patrick Eaves lay in his bed, watching his wife sleep. He should have been asleep hours ago since he had an important hockey game tomorrow. Babcock was going to rip him a new ass if he didn’t show up rested and ready to work, but he could care less at this point. This was much more important.
Patrick and Courtney had been married for seven years. They were high school sweethearts, and had been inseparable since the moment they first met at Shattuck-Saint Mary’s. He had attended Shattuck’s to play hockey and she to play soccer. After they graduated, she agreed to follow him to Boston College. He had proposed right before they graduated from Shattuck’s. They had gotten married three short months later, saying “I do” in front of their immediate families in a beach ceremony at sunset in Hawaii.
They decided to wait to have children. There was no rush for either of them since they were both so young. They wanted to have a couple years to themselves before they added to their family. Courtney was also focused on earning her Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work, while Patrick was trying to make into the NHL.
Patrick had finally made it, joining the Ottawa Senators in 2005. Unfortunately, he had spent much of the 2007-2008 season injured with a bum shoulder, and the Senators ended up trading him to the Carolina Hurricanes. His shoulder problems continued into the next season, and he was eventually traded to the Boston Bruins. He thought his dream was over when the Bruins then placed him on waivers to buy him out. That August, Patrick had happily signed a one-year deal with the Detroit Red Wings. Sure it was a drastic pay cut from his previous contract, but it was a chance for him to go out there and prove that he belonged in this league.
While he was busy trying to get his professional life back on track, his personal life was anything but happy. He and Courtney weren’t having problems per se. Two years ago they had decided that they finally wanted to have a baby. After months of trying with no results though, they were frustrated. A visit to her obstetrician-gynecologist left Courtney in tears. The doctor told her that she had endometriosis, which usually affects fertility in women.
After undergoing surgery to remove the growths and in-vitro fertilization, Patrick and Courtney were ecstatic when they discovered that she was pregnant. They started preparing the nursery and going baby shopping pretty much right after they left the doctor’s office, even though their little bundle of joy wasn’t due until March 13, 2010.
Living without you
Living alone
This empty house seems so cold
Wanting to hold you
Wanting you near
How much I wanted you home
But now that you've come back
Turned night into day
I need you to stay
When Patrick opened the door six hours ago to find her standing on the other side, he thought he was imagining things. For the past month, all he had been doing was eating, sleeping, and playing hockey. He had declined every request from the guys to go hang out after practices and games (from which he arrived as late as he could without being late and left as quickly as possible). He wanted to make sure that he was home when she came back, if she came back.
On November 29, when Courtney was about five months along, things had changed drastically. She had been on her way home from work when another car had spun out on the ice, hitting her and causing both vehicles to roll multiple times. Courtney had smacked her head against the window while her car was rolling. When the car stopped rolling, it was upside down, so it took longer for the emergency crew to get her out of the vehicle.
When Patrick got to the hospital, Courtney was still unconscious. After she came to, the doctors had informed them that, despite the hospital’s best efforts, they were unable to save the baby. The news had devastated them, with Courtney taking it particularly hard. She was released from the hospital a few days later, and even though he would have rather been at home taking care of her, Patrick had to get back to practice.
He was surprised to come home to her packing a suitcase when he came home from practice the day after she was released. He listened with tears in his eyes as she tried to explain that just needed some space so she could clear her head and try to get over what had happened. Patrick tried telling her that what happened wasn’t her fault, it was something that just happened, and he didn’t blame her for any of it. He wanted to walk over there an unpack everything. He wanted to yell at her for running when he was hurting just as much as she was. After all, the baby was his too.
Ultimately though, he knew that that would only make things worse. While it was the last thing he wanted to do, he knew that he needed to let her go wherever she was heading. He knew Courtney. If he would have talked her out of it tonight, she would have just left tomorrow. He also knew that she wouldn’t do anything stupid. She was probably headed to her mom’s house, so he knew she would be in good hands.
That had been over a month ago though. He had expected her to go away for a couple of days, but then days turned into weeks. He had all but given up hope of her ever coming back when he opened the door to see her standing there. He was speechless. He had a million questions running through his mind, but he couldn’t think of the right one to ask. So instead, he simply opened his arms, tearing up when she finally fell into them, neither of them saying anything.
Patrick knew that while Courtney had come back, they definitely weren’t one hundred percent back to the way things were before the accident. In fact, he knew that things were never going to be that way again. But, Courtney had come back home, and that’s what gave Patrick the hope that they would get through it together, coming out stronger than ever.
So now I come to you
With open arms
Nothing to hide
Believe what I say
So here I am
With open arms
Hoping you'll see
What your love means to me
Open arms
♠ ♠ ♠
Story title credit: Clay Aiken's “These Open Arms”