Long Live
And force us into goodbye
It had been a week after the new year's and Emma wasn't feeling good. There were several home games which pleased both Emma and Sidney because he could take care of her. After the pizza boy incident, he didn't feel comfortable leaving her home alone. Now he brought Sammy from Canada to live with him and he brought a german shepherd to watch after Emma when he was away.
"Vero is gonna come and watch the game with you, okay?" Sidney whispered to Emma as he helped her walk downstairs to the couch.
"She doesn't have to. I'm a big girl Sid." Emma said getting relaxed into the couch. Her and Sidney both knew that her time was almost up. The cancer had spread so fast that it was decided they would take her off of chemotherapy. They were just gonna let cancer run it's course.
"I'll be back sooner than you know it." Sidney mumbled into Emma's forehead kissing her goodbye. He never wanted to be away from Emma for a second, he wanted to spend all his time with her. He even started to believe that hockey was a waste of time. It took so much time away from Emma, away from the people he loved.
After the game Sidney only did one interview and it was a short one. The news broke out that Emma has cancer and because of that Sidney was able to tell the media that he could only do one interview a game. As soon as that interview was done he would go straight home to make sure that Emma was okay. Sidney didn't even care about the team right now, he cared about his friend.
It was January 11th and the boys were to play a game at Washington Dc, this was going to be the first away game of the year. Emma didn't show any signs of improving over the last few days, in fact she seemed worse because of all the drugs that were coming out of her body. Some nights she had bad cases of the chills or couldn't hold her food down.
"Vero, if anything happens at all call this number immediately. I don't care if I'm in the middle of the game, just call this number." Sidney said handing Vero, Mario's number. Once Mario would get the call, he would call Pat down at the ice to pull Sidney and fly him back to Pittsburg.
Sidney said his goodbye to Emma and was on his way to the airport. He felt like something was wrong, something was telling Sidney not to go on this flight. But he had no choice, he signed a contract and his team needed him to be there. Of course they all understood the circumstances that Sidney was in and even commemorated him for even being there. Guys would constantly say that they would purposely get hurt so they wouldn't have to be away from their loved one.
As the game went on Sidney always made sure could keep Pat in his vision. He didn't stray far from the bench just in case something happened. Just as Sidney made a rush attempt at the goal and missed he saw Letang appear besides him. "Home. Now." Was all Letang said and Sidney immediately felt like he had the wind knocked out of him.
"Vero called freaking out, the dogs were howling at the bathroom door. Apparently she knocked out and fell pretty hard. They're trying to resuscitate Emma right now." Mario explained everything as Sidney was throwing off his gear and leaving in his old t-shirt and compressions. He didn't care how he looked like or what he smelt like, he needed to see Emma.
"Vero said they just left the house and are on their way to the hospital. She'll survive Sid. She's the strongest person I know." Mario hugged Sidney just before he got in the awaiting car to leave.
After the hour flight of not knowing whats going on Sidney was raced to the hospital by another awaiting car. In the ER waiting room he saw Vero siting on a chair looking hopeless. "Vero, what's going on?! Where's Emma? Can we see her now? Is she okay? What happened? Is she alive?" Sidney fired questions at defenseless Vero.
"They're running all sorts of test on her right now. She should be back from her MRI in about 5 minutes and then they're gonna check her into a room. They want her to stay her for awhile." Vero calmly said to Sidney. Both of them knew, she wasn't going to last much longer if they wanted her to stay for awhile.
"Mr. Crosby, she's been asking for you." A nurse said walking into the waiting room to find a sleeping Vero and nervous Sidney. Sidney had just called Dr. Brown, Emma's doctor for him to come down to Pittsburg immediately to check on Emma.
Walking into the room Sidney didn't know what to expect, he was hoping to find Emma well and joking like how she always was. He wanted so badly the old Emma Hill who would play hockey with him or have eating contest with him. As he slowly opened the door he could hear Sports Center on and all the machines quietly beeping every few seconds. "Why did you leave early?" Was the very first thing out of Emma's mouth.
She looked pale and weak a sight that Sidney wasn't used to yet. She looked worse than usually and it scared Sidney to his very core. "I had to come and see you. You're more important that a stupid game of hockey." Sidney whispered crawling into the bed with Emma. Sure it was some small hospital bed but somehow they fit like a puzzle piece.
"I can't believe THE Sidney Crosby just said that." Emma whispered her voice sounding hoarse. Sidney knew she was tired and whispered their goodnights before Emma fell asleep. Sidney held onto her not wanting to ever let go of her. He didn't know how much longer they would have together so he wanted to cherish every single second.
All night the nurses would come in to check up on Emma and her vitals making sure everything was okay. With them coming in so often Sidney barely got any rest, it would seem that as soon as he closed his eyes a nurse would walk in waking him back up. Getting fed up with it, Sidney decided to head downstairs to the cafeteria to get a cup of coffee. It was early in the morning and visiting hours had just started. "Dr. Brown!" Sidney shouted across the cafeteria to see the doctor in just his golf shorts and shirt. "How is she?" Sidney asked hoping the doctor would give him a good answer.
"She isn't going to make it until the end of the day Sidney. Her organs are slowly shutting down." Dr. Brown solemnly said looking at Sidney. Sidney couldn't even process that kind of information in his head right now. He didn't know what to do or how to feel, suddenly everything went numb inside of him. His best friend was going to die today and there was nothing he could do. He couldn't hold her to make everything better, he couldn't pay for all of this to go away. The only thing he could do was watch and love her.
"I have to see her now." Sidney stated bounding to the elevator. And in the elevator with no one there with him he pressed the stop button. With the elevator coming to a violent stop Sidney cried. He had never cried so hard in his life, he never cried so hard when they won the Stanley Cup or when the had lost in the playoffs. Sidney never felt these kind of emotions before, sadness, loneliness and pain. "Is everything alright in there, Sir?" A voice boomed into the elevator.
Sidney couldn't even get out words for he was crying too hard to communicate. All he did was nod his head and press the button letting the elevator take him to see Emma. Wiping away the snot and the tears Sidney walked out of the elevator and into her room.
"Hey." Sidney whispered looking at Emma. She was pale as paper and cold as ice. Yet she had this peaceful glow to her, like she knew what was coming and prepared for this exact moment. "The things I would give up to have you spend the rest of your life with me." Sidney muttered pulling up a chair next to Emma's bed.
"Don't talk like that Sid." Emma slowly said squeezing Sidney's hand. To Sidney it felt like a light grab but in Emma's eyes she was holding on this hand for dear life. She didn't want to leave him, she didn't want to die. "I'm scared Sidney. I prepared for this moment knowing that it was going to happen. But a part of me is stills scared." Emma said as her heart monitor started to beep slower and slower.
"I love you Em. Meet you in the middle?" Sidney asked as tears started to fall down his cheek. It was always a joke about meeting in the middle for the two of them. The girls and boys locker rooms were always on the opposite end of the arena so they'd meet in the middle. Even till the day Emma attended Sidney's games at the Consol center, they would meet in the middle of the arena. It was a tradition, a habit for them something familiar.
"I love you just as much Sid. Take your time, enjoy life. Keep me waiting as long as possible." Emma voice drifting off as her hand went limp.
The next part was all a blur to Sidney as nurses and doctors rushed into the room and pushed Sidney out. As they were trying to bring her back there was nothing they could do and they knew it. Walking dow the hallway and to the elevator revealed the entire Penguins team holding balloons and stuffed animals. One look at Sidney and a shriek from Vero made everyone realize that Emma was gone.
"Vero is gonna come and watch the game with you, okay?" Sidney whispered to Emma as he helped her walk downstairs to the couch.
"She doesn't have to. I'm a big girl Sid." Emma said getting relaxed into the couch. Her and Sidney both knew that her time was almost up. The cancer had spread so fast that it was decided they would take her off of chemotherapy. They were just gonna let cancer run it's course.
"I'll be back sooner than you know it." Sidney mumbled into Emma's forehead kissing her goodbye. He never wanted to be away from Emma for a second, he wanted to spend all his time with her. He even started to believe that hockey was a waste of time. It took so much time away from Emma, away from the people he loved.
After the game Sidney only did one interview and it was a short one. The news broke out that Emma has cancer and because of that Sidney was able to tell the media that he could only do one interview a game. As soon as that interview was done he would go straight home to make sure that Emma was okay. Sidney didn't even care about the team right now, he cared about his friend.
It was January 11th and the boys were to play a game at Washington Dc, this was going to be the first away game of the year. Emma didn't show any signs of improving over the last few days, in fact she seemed worse because of all the drugs that were coming out of her body. Some nights she had bad cases of the chills or couldn't hold her food down.
"Vero, if anything happens at all call this number immediately. I don't care if I'm in the middle of the game, just call this number." Sidney said handing Vero, Mario's number. Once Mario would get the call, he would call Pat down at the ice to pull Sidney and fly him back to Pittsburg.
Sidney said his goodbye to Emma and was on his way to the airport. He felt like something was wrong, something was telling Sidney not to go on this flight. But he had no choice, he signed a contract and his team needed him to be there. Of course they all understood the circumstances that Sidney was in and even commemorated him for even being there. Guys would constantly say that they would purposely get hurt so they wouldn't have to be away from their loved one.
As the game went on Sidney always made sure could keep Pat in his vision. He didn't stray far from the bench just in case something happened. Just as Sidney made a rush attempt at the goal and missed he saw Letang appear besides him. "Home. Now." Was all Letang said and Sidney immediately felt like he had the wind knocked out of him.
"Vero called freaking out, the dogs were howling at the bathroom door. Apparently she knocked out and fell pretty hard. They're trying to resuscitate Emma right now." Mario explained everything as Sidney was throwing off his gear and leaving in his old t-shirt and compressions. He didn't care how he looked like or what he smelt like, he needed to see Emma.
"Vero said they just left the house and are on their way to the hospital. She'll survive Sid. She's the strongest person I know." Mario hugged Sidney just before he got in the awaiting car to leave.
After the hour flight of not knowing whats going on Sidney was raced to the hospital by another awaiting car. In the ER waiting room he saw Vero siting on a chair looking hopeless. "Vero, what's going on?! Where's Emma? Can we see her now? Is she okay? What happened? Is she alive?" Sidney fired questions at defenseless Vero.
"They're running all sorts of test on her right now. She should be back from her MRI in about 5 minutes and then they're gonna check her into a room. They want her to stay her for awhile." Vero calmly said to Sidney. Both of them knew, she wasn't going to last much longer if they wanted her to stay for awhile.
"Mr. Crosby, she's been asking for you." A nurse said walking into the waiting room to find a sleeping Vero and nervous Sidney. Sidney had just called Dr. Brown, Emma's doctor for him to come down to Pittsburg immediately to check on Emma.
Walking into the room Sidney didn't know what to expect, he was hoping to find Emma well and joking like how she always was. He wanted so badly the old Emma Hill who would play hockey with him or have eating contest with him. As he slowly opened the door he could hear Sports Center on and all the machines quietly beeping every few seconds. "Why did you leave early?" Was the very first thing out of Emma's mouth.
She looked pale and weak a sight that Sidney wasn't used to yet. She looked worse than usually and it scared Sidney to his very core. "I had to come and see you. You're more important that a stupid game of hockey." Sidney whispered crawling into the bed with Emma. Sure it was some small hospital bed but somehow they fit like a puzzle piece.
"I can't believe THE Sidney Crosby just said that." Emma whispered her voice sounding hoarse. Sidney knew she was tired and whispered their goodnights before Emma fell asleep. Sidney held onto her not wanting to ever let go of her. He didn't know how much longer they would have together so he wanted to cherish every single second.
All night the nurses would come in to check up on Emma and her vitals making sure everything was okay. With them coming in so often Sidney barely got any rest, it would seem that as soon as he closed his eyes a nurse would walk in waking him back up. Getting fed up with it, Sidney decided to head downstairs to the cafeteria to get a cup of coffee. It was early in the morning and visiting hours had just started. "Dr. Brown!" Sidney shouted across the cafeteria to see the doctor in just his golf shorts and shirt. "How is she?" Sidney asked hoping the doctor would give him a good answer.
"She isn't going to make it until the end of the day Sidney. Her organs are slowly shutting down." Dr. Brown solemnly said looking at Sidney. Sidney couldn't even process that kind of information in his head right now. He didn't know what to do or how to feel, suddenly everything went numb inside of him. His best friend was going to die today and there was nothing he could do. He couldn't hold her to make everything better, he couldn't pay for all of this to go away. The only thing he could do was watch and love her.
"I have to see her now." Sidney stated bounding to the elevator. And in the elevator with no one there with him he pressed the stop button. With the elevator coming to a violent stop Sidney cried. He had never cried so hard in his life, he never cried so hard when they won the Stanley Cup or when the had lost in the playoffs. Sidney never felt these kind of emotions before, sadness, loneliness and pain. "Is everything alright in there, Sir?" A voice boomed into the elevator.
Sidney couldn't even get out words for he was crying too hard to communicate. All he did was nod his head and press the button letting the elevator take him to see Emma. Wiping away the snot and the tears Sidney walked out of the elevator and into her room.
"Hey." Sidney whispered looking at Emma. She was pale as paper and cold as ice. Yet she had this peaceful glow to her, like she knew what was coming and prepared for this exact moment. "The things I would give up to have you spend the rest of your life with me." Sidney muttered pulling up a chair next to Emma's bed.
"Don't talk like that Sid." Emma slowly said squeezing Sidney's hand. To Sidney it felt like a light grab but in Emma's eyes she was holding on this hand for dear life. She didn't want to leave him, she didn't want to die. "I'm scared Sidney. I prepared for this moment knowing that it was going to happen. But a part of me is stills scared." Emma said as her heart monitor started to beep slower and slower.
"I love you Em. Meet you in the middle?" Sidney asked as tears started to fall down his cheek. It was always a joke about meeting in the middle for the two of them. The girls and boys locker rooms were always on the opposite end of the arena so they'd meet in the middle. Even till the day Emma attended Sidney's games at the Consol center, they would meet in the middle of the arena. It was a tradition, a habit for them something familiar.
"I love you just as much Sid. Take your time, enjoy life. Keep me waiting as long as possible." Emma voice drifting off as her hand went limp.
The next part was all a blur to Sidney as nurses and doctors rushed into the room and pushed Sidney out. As they were trying to bring her back there was nothing they could do and they knew it. Walking dow the hallway and to the elevator revealed the entire Penguins team holding balloons and stuffed animals. One look at Sidney and a shriek from Vero made everyone realize that Emma was gone.
♠ ♠ ♠
Thank you for all of the wonderful comments! Please keep the comments coming! There will only be one more chapter after this one. Well I might make an epilogue but if I did then it'd probably be a really corny epilogue and I don't know if I want that.Check out my other stories:
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