I Can Be Your Hero

I stared at Patrick in amazement. How could one human being eat so much? I thought as I watched Patrick wolf down another waffle. It had been three days since he had gotten home from the road trip, and all he seemed to do was eat…and drink. Although I hadn’t caught him in the act yet, the pile of booze bottles in the recycling bin never seemed to stop growing. Despite his obvious alcohol issue, Patrick was incredibly friendly and was never drunk.

“So I was thinking,” Patrick said after swallowing roughly, “that you’d maybe like to come to practice today…it’s an optional and most of the guys bring their wives or whatever, so I thought it’d be fun for you…you haven’t been out since I’ve been here,” he finished before guzzling down another glass of water. I bit my lip and looked down at the plate sitting in front of me.

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” I said finally, and Patrick frowned slightly.

“Why not? You need to go outside sometime,” he said, looking at me with a confused look on his face.

“I just want to lay low for a little while before I head to something so…public,” I mumbled, and Patrick furrowed his eyebrows.

Patrick’s Point of View

Elizabeth was reluctant to leave the house, and I was having trouble figuring out why when it suddenly dawned on me.

“You know, the practice is closed to the public and nobody other than the people we want in can get in, right?” I said after a few minutes, and she looked up from her plate.

“It is?” she asked, something almost hopeful forming in her big green eyes.

“Yeah, just the Hawks and friends,” I said with a smile, and Elizabeth grinned broadly; her first real smile in the three days that I had been with her.

“Well…I mean…I guess it’d be okay then, right?” she said, and I nodded, a smile forming on my own face. She immediately started darting around the apartment, beginning to clean up the mess from making breakfast and humming to herself. She seemed to be getting more and more comfortable every day, and I felt like I had finally done something right for once. I couldn’t help but notice the hand shaped bruises around her wrist and arm, or how she winced if she moved too quickly. It had become very apparent that Damien had done quite a few numbers on Elizabeth, and that her body hated him for it.

Elizabeth’s Point of View

I bit my lip nervously, glancing around quickly whenever I thought I heard a door open or someone walk behind me. I was jumpy, and anxious, but I was also glad to be out of Patrick’s apartment. Patrick skated by and waved, smiling warmly, before he dashed off to tackle Jon to the ice.

Patrick was an anomaly to me. He was a womanizing, borderline alcoholic with a party boy reputation and a record for beating up cabbies, but he was also genuine, sweet, and cared about a perfect stranger. He had welcomed me into him home, and had shown me more caring in the past few days than Damien had shown me in six years. My bruises and wrist were healing, but I felt like Patrick’s warm personality was helping to heal my nerves too.

Watching the Blackhawks practice made my mood all that much better. The guys were a riot, goofing off and throwing each other around, and at one point Patrick and Jonathan Toews even started singing to the coach, drawing riotous laughter from the small crowd gathered at the rink. I sat next to Abby, Patrick Sharp’s wife, and their beautiful baby girl Madelyn. Abby was a sweetheart, and Madelyn was an absolute angel the entire practice. By the time the guys were told to leave the ice, I was in high spirits, and walked towards the hallway where all of the WAGs and friends were heading to wait for the guys. However, I was grabbed by the wrist and a hand clapped over my mouth as I walked down the hall, stifling my screams. I saw a door slam shut in front of me and I struggled to break away from whoever had grabbed me, but the strong arms around me were holding me too tightly for me to break free. I was finally tossed against the wall and I crumpled to the ground, a sob escaping my throat as I looked up and saw Damien standing over me, murder in his eyes.

“How the hell did you get in here?” I squeaked, and he smiled darkly at me.

“Babe, didn’t you forget I got a second job working in maintenance for the Blackhawks?” he jeered, and I backed up into the corner and tried to make myself as small as possible. Damien pulled off his belt slowly and I began to shake.

“Now, I’m going to teach you what happens when you try to run away,” he growled, raising the piece of leather. I squeezed my eyes shut tight and threw my arms up to protect my face. The leather snapped against the exposed skin of my arms and I screamed in pain, but Damien simply raised the belt again to hit me. I thought that the agonizing beating would never end, but then the door crashed open, and Damien was thrown against the wall by the time I opened my eyes. Through my tears I saw Patrick pinning Damien against the wall, rage written all over his face.

“How did you get in here?” he screamed, shaking Damien roughly.

“I work here!” Damien bellowed back, and Patrick slammed him against the wall again.

“Come on, let’s get out of here,” I heard a gentle voice say, and I looked up and saw myself staring into the warm, chocolaty eyes of Jonathan Toews. He helped me up and ushered me out of the room as Patrick held Damien back. Damien continued to scream threats, but I wasn’t able to hear them as I was whisked into the locker room. A few of the guys looked at me strangely, but when they saw the angry welts forming on my arms, face, and neck, their curious glances softened and they kept to themselves.

The police came about twenty minutes later, and I explained everything that had happened since I began dating Damien as I iced the welts on my arms. The police took pictures of the welts, and once the locker room had cleared out they took pictures of the bruises and cuts running up and down my sides and legs. They assured me that Damien would be kept in prison until he went to trial, and that if he was bailed out that I would be notified immediately. Once the whole ordeal was over, I simply began to cry. I was terrified of what would happen next, but as I felt two strong arms wrap themselves around me and took in the scent of sandalwood and musk, I calmed slightly and buried my face into Patrick’s shoulder until I stopped crying.