A Ship in Harbor is Safe

Athena locks the front door, quietly walking through the living room and up the staircase. She stops when she sees the lights from the television in the bedroom. Hesitating slightly, she pushes the door open and walks in.

“Hey,” Sidney says quietly.

“Hey,” Athena says just as quietly, walking into her dark closet and hanging her bag up. Pulling her heels off, she tosses them to the side and strips her clothes off in exchange for just a tank top. She quickly ties her hair back and walks back into the room, climbing on the bed.

Sidney looks over at her, “you alright?”

She shakes her head, “Jordan got admitted.”

“Shit,” Sidney sighs. “Did they say what’s wrong with his hand?”

Athena shakes her head, looking at Sidney. “Not to me. They refused to tell me anything. And they had Jordan so hopped up on pain meds that he wasn’t feeling a thing. He was pretty out of it.”

"Are you going to see him in the morning?"

Athena nods, resting her hands on her stomach. "I felt bad leaving him."

Sidney doesn't turn his head, but looks at Athena out of the corner of his eye.

It doesn't go unnoticed by Athena. "They must've had him on the strongest stuff they could get, Sid. He was almost... I feel bad saying it, but childlike."

"He's gonna be fine, Athena. Trust me."

Athena nods, laying her head down on her pillow.



"Good morning," Athena smiles when Jordan begins to open his eyes.

"What time is it?"

Athena checks her phone, "ten-thirty."

Lazily, Jordan holds his hand out.

"What?"

"Phone?"

Athena smiles, "please?"

"Phone please?" Jordan smirks.

"They put you on a different medication?"

"This one isn't as strong," he says, scrolling down a screen and calling a number, putting the phone to his ear. "Hey, Mom. Is Dad there, too?"

Athena crosses her legs, feeling her foot begin to bounce.

"I'm in the hospital. Got hit in the hand with a puck." He says solemnly. "Right."

Her foot continues to bounce.

"Yeah, they wanna do surgery first thing tomorrow morning, I guess." Jordan says. "Yeah, Athena's here with me."

She puts a smile on her face when Jordan looks at her.

"I know, Mom. Yeah, I'll call you later. I love you guys."

Athena takes the phone back when Jordan hangs up. "Is she okay?"

"She's worried."

"Can't say I blame her."

Jordan nods slowly, "I just really hope they can fix this."

"They're fixing it tomorrow morning," Athena shrugs. "And you're gonna heal up and play again. Don't psych yourself out, Jord."

He rubs his nose, not responding.

The room falls silent for a good period of time.

Jordan speaks first, "what's on your mind?"

"Nothing in particular," Athena shrugs, "why?"

"You just look like you're thinking."

She nods, "I'm always thinking."

"That's... scary," Jordan smirks.

Athena smiles, "tell me about it."

"What are you thinking about?" He picks at the edge of the thin blanket covering him from his stomach to his ankles.

She shrugs, "a lot of things."

"Why won't you tell me?" Jordan whispers, looking up at her with his glossy blue eyes.

"I don't know if you'd like it too much?"

He shrugs, "doesn't mean you can't tell me."

Athena sets her purse in her seat as she stands up, squeezing into the space of the bed on Jordan's left side.

"You can tell me anything," he shrugs, looking over at her as he scoots his body over slightly and moves his left arm around her.

Athena gets comfortable quickly, taking her sandals off and tossing them over by the chair. She turns toward Jordan slightly, laying her legs across his thighs.

"Comfy?" He smirks.

She smiles, nodding and resting her head on his shoulder. "I feel like I'm in high school again," she whispers.

Jordan laughs, "what?"

"Remember that time that I had pneumonia? You stayed with me for the entire two weeks and we would lounge like this. We had masks on, though."

He laughs, "I'm sure there's a picture of that somewhere in that box at my house."

Athena giggles, "I'd bet money on it."

Jordan watches as Athena pulls her phone out of her pocket and unlocks the screen.

She moves her fingers quickly, replying to a text message before locking the screen again.

"Let me guess? Sidney."

"Yeah," she nods.

Silence overtakes them again.

"You really like him, don't you?"

She shrugs, "obviously. I wouldn't have moved here with him if I didn't."

"Why do you like him so much?"

Athena blinks, slowly looking up at Jordan and quickly glancing at his IV drip. "How much medicine did they give you, Jordan?"

"Just answer my question."

She shrugs, "I-I just do."

"But why? Why him?"

Athena stares at her feet, "he's nice to me. When I'm with him, I feel protected and... and loved."



Sidney looks surprised when Athena enters the bedroom.

"What?" She smiles.

He shrugs, "I didn't think you were coming home before I left."

"C'mon, Sid," she says, crossing her arms, "you think I'm not gonna say goodbye before you leave for four days?"

He shrugs, going back to his suitcase. "I dunno; I just figured you wouldn't want to leave Jordan's side. It seems like that’s where you’ve been spending most of your time for the past forty-eight hours."

Athena nearly smirks when Sidney walks into his closet, "is that what this is about?"

"Huh?" Sidney walks out of the closet with a pair of jeans in his hand.

"This... mood you've been in since yesterday. Is this about Jordan?"

Sidney shrugs, not answering her question.

"Sid," Athena says, walking around the bed and shaking her head, "look at me, please."

He shakes his head, "what?"

"Where am I right now?"

"You're blocking me from getting to my suitcase."

"Am I at the hospital?"

"No."

"I'm here. With you."

Sidney's jaw tightens, "you weren't here with me yesterday, until you came crawling into bed around three or four in the morning."

Athena shakes her head, "I wasn't going to leave Jordan alone in the hospital as soon as practice let out, Sidney. They didn't even let me back to see him until, like, six o'clock. And I'm not a shitty friend who's just gonna make sure he's alive and leave him alone in the emergency room. I'm sorry if that's not what you wanna hear, Sid, but if it's any consolation: I would do the same thing, if not more, for you."

"I'd hope so," Sidney nods.

Athena's lips purse before she begins talking quietly, "I don’t expect you to understand...”

Sidney shakes his head.

"The point I'm trying to make, Sid, is that I'm not gonna just leave someone that I care about to lay in a hospital by themselves... I've made that mistake before and I won't do it again."

Something in Sidney's face changes when he sees Athena's eyes water.

Athena slips past Sidney and quickly leaves the master bedroom, descending the staircase and finding a spot on one of the couches in the living room.

She is calmed down when she hears Sidney walking down the staircase, sometime later.

"Are you still too mad at me to give me a kiss goodbye?"

Athena smirks, slowly turning around and resting her elbows on the back of the couch. "I'm not mad at you, Sid."

He leans down, gently kissing Athena's lips and resting his hand on her warm cheek.

Athena smiles when Sidney pulls away.

His voice is nearly a whisper when he speaks, gently running his thumb over Athena's smooth cheek. "I love you."

"I love you, too," Athena whispers back.