Precaution

We met up with the team in the locker room after the game, the atmosphere changing from one of anxiety and excitement to sheer joy and exhilaration. I had ignored Dereks outpour of text messages, wishing that I could turn my phone off and that for once, I didn’t have to be on call. After the boys showered and changed and the media went away, I sat down next to Sid on the bench while Lucy was off chatting away with Marc and Kris. I ignored the continuous buzzing of the phone, watching Craig Adams adorable son run circles around the giant penguin logo in the middle of the room.

“I think your phone is going off.” Sid finally said with a grin after what felt like the hundredth buzz. I sat my bag far away from me and shrugged. “Unimportant messages. They can wait till tomorrow.” Or never, I wanted to add, but remained light and content. I was still determined to have the best night ever. But suddenly, the light buzz of my phone turned into the angry, heavy buzz of my pager. “Crap.” I mumbled and reached inside my bag, fishing out the black pager. “That’s the hospital, I have to go. Black ice is apparently all over downtown and we’ve gotten six traumas in the last hour. “ I said, frowning at Sid. He got up before I could make a move to Lucy and put his hand on my arm kindly. “Here, I’ll drive you to the hospital. I can take Lucy home too if you’re stuck at work.” I smiled and nodded, sliding the pager back into my purse.

We walked out of the locker room and down an elaborate hallway, passed the equipment storage rooms and laundry facilities and out to the players parking lot where Sidneys Range Rover was parked. As we pushed through the heavy doors, I heard a familiar voice in the distance. It was Derek, standing near his car with his blackberry pressed to his ear. He looked even better in person, his 6’2 frame in dark washed true religions, black button down and leather dress shoes. He wore a long black coat that seemed to only accentuate his broad shoulders and muscular build, something I was suddenly very aware of. But I didn’t notice him until it was too late and we were half way to Sid’s car by then. I grabbed his hand and turned around quickly. “Lets just wait inside for awhile. It’s too cold to go any further.” I said quietly, moving quickly towards the double doors.

“Hey babe, I’ll call you back.” I heard Derek say before moving towards the building and me.

“Violet?” I could hear Derek’s voice call out my name in the distance and I could feel Sid no longer following me. “Hey, I think this guy knows you.” Sid called to me, walking towards me to try to catch up.

“Nope! Not me.” I said, feeling Sid’s hand on my arm to stop me. I wanted to run through those doors but I turned around to face him instead, seeing Derek sprint up to us. “Vi, hey.” He said upon approach and my eyes immediately fell down to the ground. This was the first time seeing him after he left me there, alone in some ridiculous dress in an even more ridiculous church and in front of what felt like all of Palo Alto. But instead of feeling anger and resentment, I felt ashamed. Like I did something wrong, like I had run away from him because of something I did.

Derek reached out to touch my arm, but I snatched it away. I could tell that Sid was uncomfortable but curious all at the same time as he shifted and looked at his phone. “Look Violet, I just came here to try to talk to you. To try to make you come home. I know what I did was wrong but ..you’ve got to give me another chance here. We all make mistakes.”

I didn’t answer but instead turned to face Sid. “Hey, Sid, thanks for the offer, but you don’t have to stand out here and wait. I can just take the bus.” I said, making a move forward to go, but Derek stopped me. At this point, I’ve had about enough. Something finally burst and I stopped feeling like a kicked puppy around its master.

“Listen Derek, I don’t have time to hear you whine and bitch about how swell it would be in Palo Alto if I was there with you. I’m not. I’m in Pittsburgh. And right now, there are six pile-up traumas in the ER bleeding half to death because of this fucking ice and all that’s standing in the way of me saving their lives is you. So get out of my way and leave. You’re an expert at that, right?” I barked at him coldly, pushing him away with Sidney following after. He looked relieved to be out of that situation.

But Derek wasn’t. He was relentless, sprinting back up towards me. “Violet I just want to talk. I’ll drive you to the hospital and say everything I have to say on the way there. It takes like three minutes to get there and then you won’t see me ever again. “ He pleaded, sticking his blackberry in his pocket. I shook my head and swallowed hard, clenching my teeth as I turned to face him. “Fine. Then you’re on the next flight back to California.” I looked over at Sid and my expression softened. I didn’t want him to think of me as this uptight monster, someone that I had probably turned into in a matter of seconds. “Thanks again Sid. I’ll talk to you later, great game.” He grinned and waved me off, watching as I stepped into Derek’s black Aston Martin reluctantly. He slammed the door shut and looked at me, as if though I was going to say something deep and meaningful to him now that Sidney was gone.

“Drive.” I said, pointing at the ignition.