Find the Horizon

The doctors had packed Katie’s body with ice for four straight days in order to keep her fever, and the pneumonia, from progressing. On Sunday May 3rd, her counts started to rise. She had been passed out for the majority of the time they had iced her body, and on Monday, she woke up.

“It’s Monday at three o’clock in the morning,” she told the camera. “It’s the 4th technically, I guess. I guess in my fever-induced delirium, I managed to miss Game One of the Pittsburgh-Washington series. Is it wrong that it’s the thing I’m the most disappointed about?”

She stopped and chuckled to herself. “I got a few text messages from Sidney while I was out and I just got the chance to reply. Apparently he gets nervous when he doesn’t get answers right away because his texts sounding kind of frantic. Either way, it’s nice to know that someone cares about you and wants to make sure you’re healthy and back on track.”

Katie took in a deep breath, her chest not hurting as much anymore.

“It’s funny to think, I almost died. Having come back from that, you start to wonder if you should accept the fact that you’re sick and that any moment you could go. You start to ask yourself...what if I did die? Should I prepare for it, or by accepting it as an inevitability, do I make myself more vulnerable to the disease? I don’t know. But...I don’t think I’m going to prepare for it. I’m not going to make a will, or remind myself that today could be my last day. I’m going to focus on the future. And in the future, in exactly...sixteen hours, the Penguins are going to play Game Two against the Capitals. So...I’ll see you at centre ice.”

* * * * *

After the Game Two loss against Washington, Sidney wanted nothing more but to go home. He knew that he and the guys had to take care of business back at Mellon and that he had to be ready for Ovechkin and his dreadnaught assault in Game Three.

Both games in Washington had been close, practically cutting it right down to the wire. The Capitals had the edge, but just barely. Sidney knew not to panic. He and his team could still win it.

He came back to Pittsburgh feeling rejuvenated. His first thought when the plane landed back at the airport was Katie. But he made a promise to her and himself that he would focus on hockey and on the playoffs. He had gotten a bit frantic earlier in the week when he texted her numerous times and she never answered. He assumed the worst had happened with the pneumonia and almost went into panic mode. He was about to call the hospital when a text came through from Katie before Game Two.

Not dead! Promise. Just woke up from a mini-coma. Fever’s gone down. Good luck in Game Two, I won’t miss it this time!

Even though Pittsburgh lost the game, Sidney felt better knowing that, at least, she was okay. He even got a hat trick that night. But at the same time, so did Ovechkin.

After the game had ended, Sidney got another text from Katie.

Hey there, Mad Hatter. Don’t sweat about tonight’s game. Git ‘er done at Mellon! For me :)

Sidney made a promise to himself that he would.

On Wednesday May 6th, the Penguins and the Capitals met in Mellon Arena for Game Three. Things didn’t start well with a goal by Ovechkin in the first two minutes of the first period, but Ruslan Fedotenko came in to score one to make it a tie in the second period. Then in the third, Evgeni Malkin scored on the power play to give the Penguins a late lead, Sidney assisting. But Backstrom got his own power play goal on Fleury with less than three to go. The game went into overtime.

Eleven and a half minutes into overtime, Sidney took a face off in the Capitals’ zone and passed the puck to Mark Eaton. He passed it on to Kris Letang, who fired off a shot that deflected off the goalie and into the net. Relief and elation washed over the crowd in Pittsburgh once they realized that the Capitals didn’t have a chokehold on the series just yet.

After the game, Sidney dealt with the press. He showered and changed, then checked his phone to see if Katie had texted him again. She had.

Proud of you guys! Way to take out the trash. Tell Tanger congrats for me, even though he doesn’t know who I am. All you need to do now is get ‘em in Game Four and it’ll be a whole new series!

Kris came over and glanced at Sidney’s phone. “Who are you texting?” he asked. “And why do I see my name there?”

“Oh,” Sidney said meekly. “It’s just this girl that I know. She wanted to congratulate you on the winning OT goal tonight.”

Kris raised an eyebrow at the young superstar. “Are you sure that’s all? Who is this girl, anyway?”

Bill walked by and gave Sidney a pat on the shoulder. “Kid’s in love!”

Sidney opened his mouth to protest, but then realized that by denying it, it would only make it worse. A smirk rose on Kris’ face and he gave Sidney a pat on the back as well.

“Lucky lady. Do we get to meet her anytime soon?”

Sidney wavered. “I don’t think it’d be such a good idea. Not right away, anyway. Besides, she’s not even my girlfriend.”

“Ah, forbidden love?”

“In a way.”

“What,” Max called, approaching him and Kris. “Does she live in a tower, secluded from the rest of the world and have to lower her long hair down from the window to let people in?”

“Uh, well,” Sidney tried to word it properly. “She doesn’t really have hair...anymore...”

Kris narrowed his eyes in confusion. “What do you mean?”

He sighed, deciding to just tell them. “She’s a cancer patient.”

Kris and Max exchanged looks, their eyes widening substantially.

“Wow,” Max finally said. “Well...how is she doing?”

“She’s doing well,” Sidney said. “She contracted pneumonia, but I think she’s better now. She still has to go through radiation and more chemo.”

“Tell her that we wish her the best,” Kris said with a smile. “And that when we win the Cup, we’ll bring it to her hospital room so she can share in the moment.”

“Will do,” Sidney grinned. “But let’s just try to make it through this series first.”