Midwest Aftermath

It all started with one simple sentence, uttered by the woman he'd fallen so deeply in love with around four years ago.

"I think we should start seeing other people."

The words jumbled around in his head for what seemed like a millennia, and still, he couldn't wrap his head around what his now ex-girlfriend said. The words she said undoubtedly formed a comprehensive sentence; what she meant was clear enough, but it was seemingly impossible for Patrick to come to terms with the fact that she said it to him. He searched around in his brain for some reason, any reason, why she would say such a thing. Everything was going so well for the two of them; friends, family and even strangers told them that they were a "cute" couple and, since about a year ago, he always thought she'd be the one he'd marry. Unfortunately for him, that theory was proved wrong in less than five seconds.

Though he was completely shocked, he still managed to keep a cool composure and thought positively about the situation at hand. He thought maybe they could still be friends or keep in touch with one another. This was another theory shot down, as the love of his life moved away from the Chicago area for good, leaving no evidence of her existence aside from Patrick's impeccable memory of her. This began to wreak proverbial warfare on his mind and, eventually, the young hockey prodigy found himself caught between a rock and a bad place.

He never wanted this to happen, of course, but he had loved that woman with every ounce of his being, and despite telling himself over and over that it was stupid to let the break-up affect him as such, he still slowly continued on his path to self-destruction. For awhile, he battled depression, then alcoholism and even found himself becoming a hermit, only leaving his sanctuary of a home when he absolutely had to, and even then, he'd foolishly make up excuses to stay home. After all, it was the off season, and most practices were optional.

After weeks of ignoring his appearance and taking good care to avoid mirrors at all costs, he finally caught a glimpse of what he had become. All in all, it was frightening and naturally, the athlete was slightly disgusted with himself, repulsed, even. He was no longer himself, but merely a shadow of what he used to be. His skin was no longer tanned, but rather a pale, almost deathly white; his hair was unkempt; his facial hair, left untouched for more than a fortnight. Under his eyes were bags that visually represented the countless nights of insomnia through which he suffered as well as the nights he stayed up long after the sun rose over the horizon only to waste his life away. His disheveled appearance personified extreme psychological distress.

Things weren't supposed to work out this way.

He'd worked so hard to get where he was prior to this incident, and he purposefully tore it back down in a matter of two weeks. And for what, a woman who no longer had interest in him or his well-being?

It didn't make any sense.

He'd never been so impulsive; in fact, he'd always been the level-headed guru among his friends and teammates.

Her absence drove him towards the edge, and eventually off. He needed to see her again, or find a way to get over her. It took him a mere five minutes to realize that the latter would be much more likely to occur.

So, he showered, decided to shave off the facial hair that made him look like he was ten or fifteen years older than he actually was, change his clothes for the first time in a few days. Three simple tasks somehow made him feel infinitely better. Converting to the hermit lifestyle certainly wasn't a good way to come to terms with a break-up.

Patrick desperately needed some sleep, as the last time he got any amount of sleep was over two days earlier, but instead went to the library to check out a book, just to keep his mind off of things for awhile. No one he knew read books religiously, or at all, for that matter, so the public library was the perfect place to go to circumvent his familiars and avoid possible hinderingly awkward conversation prefaced by the phrase "hey man, where have you been?" A conversation about his reckless self-destruction was the last thing he was itching to have.

Patrick found that slowly, he was able to work his way back into his normal life. Growing bored of the library, he opted for the mall for his daily trip to get out of his stuffy apartment. It wasn't soon before long that he found the strength to face his teammates' inevitable questioning and went to one of the summer's optional practices.

His friends' questions were more like a criminal interrogation. It was unbearably annoying at first but somehow, Patrick got used to their endless pestering. He actually found their questioning somewhat comforting, as it showed that they were genuinely worried about his state of mental health.

There was no doubting Patrick was still upset about his relationship status; however, for the time being, he was willing to put up with the fact that he was single. He still had his friends. After all, his girlfriend wasn’t the only one who had the profound ability to keep him sane.