Be With Someone...

“Are you sure-,” Sidney began, only to be cut off by Janine.

“I’m positive, Crosby!” she threw her hands in the air. “You wrist is fine! Now if you don’t get out of my office right now, I’ll kill and then you won’t be able to get your gold medal at all!”

Sidney put his hands up in defeat and exited the locker room. It was true, he had been on high alert for the past few weeks for any sign that his body might not be ready to play and he had been troubling Janine with his worries instead of the team doctor.

Entering the locker room, he found his wife talking with his teammates.

“Hey,” he smiled as he wrapped and arm around her waist and placed a kiss on her head.

“Hi,” she grinned and continued her conversation with Max.

Kris stood off to the side and watched Sidney and Rory. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t a little bit jealous of the relationships some of the guys on the team had. Marc had Vero and despite the length of their engagement, everyone knew they were going to say ‘I do.’ Eventually. Then there was Jordan. Jordan had Heather. And if he could get a girl to stick around, then anyone could.

Of course, at the center of it all, there was Rory and Sidney. They were perfect for each other, that’s what everyone said. Rory had known Sidney before he was Sid the Kid, before he was the face of the NHL. She had been there through a whole hell of a lot and had even managed to let Sidney back in.

“Janine!” the captain’s wife called out. “Come here!”

“What’s up?” she asked as she rubbed her temples. “Oh, hey, Rory.”

“You want to grab lunch? It’ll be last chance we have before Sid and I leave for Vancouver,” Rory said.

“Yeah,” Janine nodded, not bothering to acknowledge the boys in the room. “I’ll grab my stuff.”

Watching Janine exit the room, Rory’s brow furrowed.

“You okay there, Ror?” Jordan asked.

“No, I’m not,” Rory shook her head.

“What’s wrong?” Sidney tugged her closer.

“It’s not me,” she assured them. “It’s Janine.”

Max tilted his head. “She seems okay.”

“She’s not,” Rory countered. “She’s just a really actress.”

Kris knew that much. But the distress in Rory’s voice and in her eyes was enough to get Kris to listen.

Rory took a deep breath and stepped away from her husband. “Janine’s like family to you guys, right?” There was a sound of acknowledgement from the crowded room. “Promise me that over the next few weeks, you’ll take care of her and watch out for her? It’s getting close to their birthday and… I don’t want what happened before to happen again.”

“What happened?” Vero’s voice was quiet.

“I felt so awful once I realized what was happening,” Rory shuddered. “She got sick, lost weight; it was so, so bad. I was so caught up in my own little world that I didn’t notice.” She took a shaky breath and wiped a tear. “Promise me you’ll look out for her and make sure she doesn’t do anything stupid.”

“Janine’s a big girl though,” Jordan countered. “Why do you need us to babysit her?”

“Because I already lost her brother and I won’t lose her!” Rory burst staring the tall blonde down. “Don’t ever question that, Staal. I still blame myself for what happened and I’m sure as hell going to make sure that I don’t lose all I have left of Ryan.”

“Hey, Ror,” Janine’s voice came from the hall. “Where were you thinking of go-,” she stopped when she saw Rory’s tear-stained face. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” Rory straightened up. “Talbo did something stupid and I laughed really hard, that’s all. Come on,” she linked arms with her cousin. “I was thinking Primanti’s…”