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Sequel: Bring Me To Life ›
We Found Love
Chapter One-Home Again
I sat in front of the player’s entrance to the Consol Energy Center and my heart thundered in my chest. I hadn’t set foot…or wheel…in the arena in months. Sidney paused when he noticed my hesitation and gave me a reassuring smile. I swallowed roughly before pushing my wheelchair forward. The atmosphere was electrifying, and the realization that I belonged there struck me full force. A smile spread across my face, and for the first time in months I forgot that I was paralyzed. I was excited; the Penguins were playing for the Stanley Cup again. My only regret as I headed towards the locker room was that I couldn’t be on the ice. The second I rolled into the locker room, the room burst into screams of elation.
“EMILY!” I heard Jordan scream before I was buried in a pile of bodies. Everyone was hugging me and patting my head and flipping out all at once and the fact that they had missed me so much brought tears to my eyes.
“I missed you guys!” I choked out as they all gave me my space. A few guys laughed, but Marc Andre simply shook his head.
“Then you should ‘ave come and seen us you little shit!” he teased, pulling on his pads. I flipped him off before wheeling myself over to my unoccupied stall and pushing myself out of my chair and onto my seat. Something cold and unsettling formed in my stomach as I saw Jack’s stall was now occupied by Tyler Kennedy. Regret formed in my chest; I hadn’t spoken to him since the accident. I sent him a text before Dan walked into the locker room.
“What was all the screaming about a few minutes ago?” he asked, not realizing that I was in the locker room. Grinning from ear to ear, Jordan pointed to my stall.
“Heya Coach. Long time no see,” I smiled, waving. Dan’s jaw dropped, but he burst into a grin as well and immediately walked over to slap me on the shoulder.
“You’re not kidding. What the hell kid? Are we not good enough for you or something?” he teased.
“I uh…I’m really sorry guys. I’ve been so wrapped up in being miserable that I forgot I have a great team...no, a great family…that has been trying to reach out to me. I kept away from hockey because thinking about it hurt. It wasn’t until I got a text from…from a big fan of mine…that I realized I was handling this whole thing the wrong way. So I hope you guys’ll forgive me, and I wanted to come in here and let you know that I’ll be screaming louder than any fan out there tonight for you,” I said, explaining in as few words as possible my past few months of seclusion. The guys began to cheer and clap once again, and I didn’t need anything else to tell me that I was home.
Sidney’s Point of View
Seeing Emily so happy made my heart purr. I had tried my hardest over the past few months to make her realize everything that she was missing out on, and while I hadn’t made her come to that realization, it was a relief to see her this happy. I laced up my skates and began to get ready for the game as usual, but my spirits were a lot higher than they had been in the past few months. Hearing Emily chirp with the guys from her stall made the locker room seem so much more full of life, and I realized that I had missed having Emily around. We may have lived in the same house, but up until the past few days, Emily and I had hardly talked. Now she was beginning to act like her old self again, and I was flooded with relief. Now I could concentrate on winning this game. We have to win this for her I thought, and I was startled by the thought. I had never really wanted to win a game for a specific person before. It had always been to make my parents proud, to make the fans happy, but never for a particular person. But as I heard Emily laugh, I knew that the thought wasn’t wrong. I didn’t know exactly what was going to happen between us if anything, but I knew that we had been destined to meet.
Once Emily left the locker room to head to the team box, I gathered the team around the Penguin on the floor, although we were all careful not to step on it.
“Alright guys…we’ve worked hard to get here, and we’re going to show those Rangers that we belong in the playoffs just as much, if not more, than they do. Now let’s get out there and win this game…for the fans, for our families, and most of all, for Emily,” I said.
“For Emily!” the guys screamed, and we got into line to rush out onto the ice.
“EMILY!” I heard Jordan scream before I was buried in a pile of bodies. Everyone was hugging me and patting my head and flipping out all at once and the fact that they had missed me so much brought tears to my eyes.
“I missed you guys!” I choked out as they all gave me my space. A few guys laughed, but Marc Andre simply shook his head.
“Then you should ‘ave come and seen us you little shit!” he teased, pulling on his pads. I flipped him off before wheeling myself over to my unoccupied stall and pushing myself out of my chair and onto my seat. Something cold and unsettling formed in my stomach as I saw Jack’s stall was now occupied by Tyler Kennedy. Regret formed in my chest; I hadn’t spoken to him since the accident. I sent him a text before Dan walked into the locker room.
“What was all the screaming about a few minutes ago?” he asked, not realizing that I was in the locker room. Grinning from ear to ear, Jordan pointed to my stall.
“Heya Coach. Long time no see,” I smiled, waving. Dan’s jaw dropped, but he burst into a grin as well and immediately walked over to slap me on the shoulder.
“You’re not kidding. What the hell kid? Are we not good enough for you or something?” he teased.
“I uh…I’m really sorry guys. I’ve been so wrapped up in being miserable that I forgot I have a great team...no, a great family…that has been trying to reach out to me. I kept away from hockey because thinking about it hurt. It wasn’t until I got a text from…from a big fan of mine…that I realized I was handling this whole thing the wrong way. So I hope you guys’ll forgive me, and I wanted to come in here and let you know that I’ll be screaming louder than any fan out there tonight for you,” I said, explaining in as few words as possible my past few months of seclusion. The guys began to cheer and clap once again, and I didn’t need anything else to tell me that I was home.
Sidney’s Point of View
Seeing Emily so happy made my heart purr. I had tried my hardest over the past few months to make her realize everything that she was missing out on, and while I hadn’t made her come to that realization, it was a relief to see her this happy. I laced up my skates and began to get ready for the game as usual, but my spirits were a lot higher than they had been in the past few months. Hearing Emily chirp with the guys from her stall made the locker room seem so much more full of life, and I realized that I had missed having Emily around. We may have lived in the same house, but up until the past few days, Emily and I had hardly talked. Now she was beginning to act like her old self again, and I was flooded with relief. Now I could concentrate on winning this game. We have to win this for her I thought, and I was startled by the thought. I had never really wanted to win a game for a specific person before. It had always been to make my parents proud, to make the fans happy, but never for a particular person. But as I heard Emily laugh, I knew that the thought wasn’t wrong. I didn’t know exactly what was going to happen between us if anything, but I knew that we had been destined to meet.
Once Emily left the locker room to head to the team box, I gathered the team around the Penguin on the floor, although we were all careful not to step on it.
“Alright guys…we’ve worked hard to get here, and we’re going to show those Rangers that we belong in the playoffs just as much, if not more, than they do. Now let’s get out there and win this game…for the fans, for our families, and most of all, for Emily,” I said.
“For Emily!” the guys screamed, and we got into line to rush out onto the ice.
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The first chapter in the next part of She Makes Me Wanna...enjoy :)