God Bless the Broken Road

**Eric’s POV**

I knew something wasn’t right when I went to the locker room during the first intermission and there wasn’t a single congratulatory texts from Mackenzie waiting for me. She always sent me a text wishing me good luck before a game, during a game especially if I got a goal or an assist, and then she’d text me after the game. I didn’t let it get to me though, I needed to focus on the game because this team was giving us a run for our money. When I was back on the ice, I tried to not think about the lack of texts, but it was nagging at me. I don’t normally worry about her, but the fact that she didn’t do something that she made sure to do every game was bothering me.

“ERIC!” I heard my name being called. “Your line, NOW!” Coach Maurice yelled

I had to shake Mackenzie out of my head, I needed a clear head.

By second intermission, I was worried. I sent her a text asking her if she was okay, but never got a response before we had to get back on the ice to finish the game. I finished the game with two goals and an assist and the team walked away with two points. The first thing I did was check my phone to see if Mackenzie had responded, but instead of a text from Mackenzie I had one from not one, but all three of my brothers and they were all talking about the same thing. Mackenzie.

I opened Marc’s first since his was sent first.

you need to talk to Kenz when you get home. She needs you. Great game btw.

She needs me? She told me her therapy session was tough, but was it really that bad? It must be bad if all my brothers were texting me about her. I opened Jordan’s next.

How’s Kenzie doing? Jay says she’s a mess

Mackenzie’s a mess? Now I was really worried. I quickly responded to Jordan’s text before reading Jared’s.

Call me when you get the chance. Mackenzie had a rough evening.

I ran a hand through my sweat soaked hair. Mackenzie had a rough evening and needed me. Her session with Dr. Jackson must have really been hard. I quickly showered and changed then grabbed my phone and went into the hallway, dialing Jared’s number.

“Hey E, good game.” He answered.

“Thanks. So what’s going on with Mackenzie? All three of you sent me a text about her.”

I heard Jared sigh. “I’m not really sure what’s going on with her. Twice tonight she broke down, Eric I haven’t seen her cry this hard in a while. It has me worried.”

“Did this start after she came home from Dr. Jackson’s office?”

“Yeah and she wouldn’t talk to me about it. She called Marc…or Marc called her not really sure, but she was talking to him and then she snapped at him. Next thing I knew she’s sobbing uncontrollably, clutching your pillow.”

My heart broke just hearing this, clearly Mackenzie needed me and she did ask me to call her tonight. “You said she yelled at Marc, about what?”

“You.”

“Me? Why?”

“Not really sure. She said that she understood that you traveled for a living and she was okay with that, but that’s all I heard before she started sobbing.” He sighed again. “I suggested to her that she takes a little vacation, I think she needs it.”

I sighed, “We’ll talk about it when I get home. I’ll see for myself. Is she there?”

“She was asleep, let me go see.”

“No, if she’s asleep let her sleep. I’ll just talk to her in the morning. Just keep an eye on her for me. I’ll be home later tonight.”

“Alright, see ya then.”

“Okay.”

I leaned against the wall, I had every right to worry about Mackenzie. I thought she was getting better, that therapy was helping. Maybe I was wrong. I jumped when I heard the door to the locker room slam

“Hey, Eric is everything okay?” Cam asked coming up to me.

I sighed. “Yeah everything’s fine I guess.”

Cam raised an eyebrow “You guess? That doesn’t sound too sure. What’s bothering you?”

“According to my brother, Mackenzie had a rough day today. I knew something wasn’t really right.” I mumbled to myself.

“Rough how?”

I looked at my best friend on the team, I could tell him about Mackenzie. “Mackenzie has been seeing a therapist since the All Star Games and she has her good days and then she has days where therapy was the worst option ever. Apparently today was one of those days and I wasn’t there for her. She needs me according to my brothers.” I sighed and was shocked when I felt tears burning my eyes.

Cam placed a comforting hand on my shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “Everything will be fine Eric, Mackenzie is a strong girl. Sure she’ll need you from time to time, but what women doesn’t need her man?” He chuckled but then got serious again. “May I ask, why is Kenz seeing a therapist?”

“She was having a really hard time coping with the loss of her parents. It was heartbreaking and scary seeing her like that. I all but begged her to consider therapy.”

“You did the right thing. Like I said, everything will be fine. We have the day off tomorrow, spend it with her. Be there for her and talk to her.”

“Thanks Cam and you played hard tonight.”

“Thanks Captain.” He smiled.

Soon the rest of the team began filing out of the locker room and we all made our way to the bus that was taking us to the airport. I just wanted to get home as soon as possible and see if Mackenzie was really okay. I just wanted to hold my fiancée after she had a tough day. Once we were on the plane, I sat in the back away from everyone not really wanting to talk to anyone. Cam gave me a nod of realization before taking our normal seats. I laid my head on the cool window and closed my eyes, praying the flight be a quick one.

When I woke up, we were landing at Raleigh International and I couldn’t have been happier. I quickly exited the plane said goodbye to the team and crew before climbing into the car. The drive home was quick since it was almost three in the morning so there was little traffic. When I pulled into the driveway, the house was dark except for a light coming from the kitchen.

I quietly entered the house just in case someone left it on. I wasn’t shocked to see Mackenzie sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of tea in her hands. Molly stirred in her crate as I walked past her, but was quite. Mackenzie looked up from her mug and I noticed her eyes were puffy and red. Her eyes filled with tears as she looked at me and a tiny sob racked her body. I quickly pulled her up and into my arms where she sobbed harder than I have ever seen her sob. I ran my hand down her back trying my hardest to calm her down.

“It’s okay Mackenzie, everything will be okay. I’m here now. I’m here. It’ll be okay, I promise.” I finally gave into the tears that I had been fighting all night.

Slowly she calmed down and I led her to the bedroom and laid her down. I quickly slipped out of my suit pants and placed them on the chair in the corner and soon added my jacket with it before slipping into bed. Automatically I wrapped my arms around Mackenzie, who was already fast asleep. If what I saw was just a little bit of how her day went, then she had way more than a rough day. I sighed and tightened my arms around her, placing a kiss to her temple.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t here.” I whispered, before slipping to sleep.