Deserved to be Alive

Andrew showed up at half past noon, relieving Adele of her watch. The second she stepped into the elevator down to the cafeteria, she could not wait to get back and be with Hanna. Adele chose a chicken salad and a soda. It was only after being at the register did Adele realize she had left her wallet up in the room.

“I'm so sorry about this. I'll just come back down for this later.” Adele left her tray by the register but was stopped before she got a chance to walk away.

“It not problem, I pay.”

There it was, that broken English that made her knees go weak. Adele slowly turned on her heel and looked up into the deep brown eyes of Evgeni. He pulled out his wallet and payed for both meals, ignoring the constant protest that came from Adele. She took her tray of food and began walking towards an empty table by the large window, the irresistible Russian hot on her trail.

They sat across from each other, eating in silence. Adele leaned back in her seat pulling her knees to her chest. She stared out the window, watching people come and go through the emergency room doors.

“What on mind?” The thick Russian accent broke the silence.

Adele sighed, “Well for starters, I'm trying to figure out why you're here.”

Evgeni smiled, “I come to visit Hanna, hope gets better soon.”

“Thanks Evgeni, that means a lot to me. I really hope she gets better soon too.”

“What else on mind, Adele?”

She giggled softly at Evgeni's attempt at her name, “I'm just worried about Hanna. I feel so guilty I wasn't there for her when she needed me.”

Evgeni cocked his head to the side, he did not understand. From what he understood, Adele was there for Hanna every step of the way. “I feel like I failed her.” she continued, “I knew she was sick, but I just ignored it. I went on living my life. When I went to Russia with my coach, things got worse. She needed me with her and I ignored all the signs.”

It was not until she had finished explaining to Evgeni how she felt that Adele realized she was crying. Evgeni stood up and pulled the petite woman before him onto his lap. She buried her face into his toned chest, creating small moist spots on his thin t-shirt from her salty tears.

“Not your fault.” He said slowly, making sure all his words came out correctly, “You not able to stop Hanna getting sick.”

Evgeni placed a soft delicate kiss on top of Adele's forehead. She cracked a tiny smile, the skin his lips just touched bursting with a tingling sensation. It felt like something she had never felt before. He got up and threw away both of their empty meal trays and stood in front of Adele. Evgeni knelt before her, wiping away her tears with his calloused thumb. The roughness of his skin against her soft rosy cheek sent chills down her spine.

Adele grasped his monstrous hand and linked their fingers together, slowly making their way back to the elevator. She was so grateful to have an amazing person like Evgeni come and visit Hanna. She would have never expected a famous athlete, let alone a hockey player, come and visit someone at a Children's hospital when it was with the rest of the team.