Frozen (I Need to Be Thawed)

I returned to my apartment the next day and I was startled how lonely I felt. Normally when people returned home, they felt safe and secure… ‘Like I did with Alex Burrows.’ I hit myself in the head, so I could stop thinking about him.

I set my box of stuff from Carey Price’s house down next to my couch by the window. Then, I walked to my room, gathered a change of clothes, and went to the bathroom to shower.

The warm water felt good on my skin. I remembered how Burrows wrapped his arms around me to keep me warm. I shrugged the thought off and finished my shower.

Fully clothed, I walked outside on my balcony and leaned against the rails. My neighbor, Jesus, was on his balcony as well. I saw him messing with something in his hands, but the rail was in the way to see what. After a half a minute, he chucked a snowball at me.

The ball of cold, white fluff smacked against my shoulder. I laughed, and made a snowball as well, and threw it back. I hit him in his face. I ducked as he threw another snowball at me. As I was lying on the balcony, my phone started to vibrate. I pulled it out of my pocket and answered, as I snowball zoomed in between the posts, in front of my face, “Hello?”

“Hey, Mac. It’s Alexandre Burrows. Remember me?” He chuckled at the thought of me forgetting.

I peeked over the edge of the rail of my balcony, and showed Jesus my phone, indicating I was on the phone. He dropped the snowball he was packing in his hand, and frowned.
“Alexandre? Aren’t you suppose to be at practice or something?”

“I just got home from it. The whole time, I was thinking about you, so the boys gave me a hard time. I couldn’t take it anymore. They got me thinking about you more and more at practice, that by the time I got home, I HAD to hear your voice. I was so anxious to do it before, because I thought for sure you were going to block me or something.” He sounded pretty nervous.

“Anxious? What would you be anxious about, Almighty Canuck?”

“Well, after I started to call you, I thought about seeing you again. So I took a look at the next time Canucks and Canadiens were going against each other, and it’s in two weeks. Then, we are back in Montreal in almost a month.” He started sounding excited.

I walked back inside and checked my own hockey schedule. “Well….I don’t start participating in games and practices again for two and a half weeks…I can talk to Carey and see if he could talk to his coach about me being on the plane with them there.”

I could imagine him smiling on the other line, “Perfect. I get to see you soon, and hopefully, if you have a game the same day I’m back in Montreal, I get to see you play for real.”

I chuckled, “Yeah. We’ll get to see each other soon.” I looked at the time, it was just after noon. “Hey, I have to go. There’s an adult open hockey at 1, and I need to gear up.”

Alex sighed, “Bye, Mac. I’ll see you in two weeks.” He hung up.

Two weeks. I’m actually excited to see a Vancouver Canuck. What have I gotten into?

I grabbed my keys and left my house and went to the ice rink.

It only took me a half hour to get geared up, so with 15 minutes to spare, I got on the ice early. A couple other guys were on the ice as well.

I heard one guy comment to another, “We better watch out. We’re going against a girl goalie.”

That comment pissed me off. As a different guy took a shot at me, I made SURE the rebound popped out and hit the rude guy in the back of the helmet.

He turned and glared at me, I returned his glare. He skated to me, “You have a problem, miss?”

“Oh no. I’m just trying to get used to these big pad things. I’ve never done this before, so please, go easy on me.” I tried sounding as innocent as possible and it worked.

“Alright, Miss. Just don’t hurt yourself.”

“You either big boy.” I whispered.

The other goalie got on the ice. What was funny about him was that his helmet had the same design as Adam Shane, my crazy ex. I peered through my helmet as the goaltender took his helmet off to squirt water in his mouth. It WAS Adam Shane. What the hell was he doing here?

He was really horrible at goalie. He used to be great though. We ended up kicking the other team’s ass, 12-0. Turns out, the guy that was making fun of me because I’m a girl goalie, is new on my team. His name was Wayne. He seemed glad to know that I was going to be on his team.

As I had finished getting dressed and putting Burrows’ hat on, Adam barged into the locker room, screaming. “WHAT THE FUCK, MARISSA? WHAT HAPPENED TO THE “I hate playing open hockey with losers’ GIRL I USED TO KNOW? THE HOT STUCK UP BITCH YOU USED TO BE? NOW YOU’RE JUST A CANUCK LOVING WHORE. TELL ME WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED.” He threw one of the chairs at me; it connected to the side of my head, knocking me out.

----------------Carey’s p.o.v-------------------

Today is Wednesday……Mac should be here…..

Every Wednesday after my practice, I went to watch Mac play open hockey. I saw her get off the ice and go into the locker room. After ten minutes I saw someone else go in. So I headed towards the locker room.

As I opened the door, I saw some freak guy throw a chair at Mac, knocking her out. I tackled the guy to the floor, restraining him. Another guy came in to help me. He told me his name was Wayne. I threw the asshole at him, and immediately went to Mac’s side. I called her name, “Marrisa. Marrissa, wake up.” I reached in her pocket, and took out her cell phone. I dialed 911.

The operator picked up,

“911 quelle est votre situation d’urgence?” (911 what’s you emergency?)

"Bonjour, mon ami juste a frappé à la tête avec une chaise par certains ex petit ami. Elle est inconsciente, mais elle est respirer." (Hello, my friend was hit on the head by her crazy ex boyfriend; she is unconscious, but still breathing)

"Où est votre position?" (What’s your position?)

"Je suis à la patinoire extérieure du bassin Bonsecours, au Vieux-Montréal." (I’m at the Outdoor rink, Bassin Bonsecours in Old Montreal.)

"Est le gars qui a jeté le président encore là?" (Is the attacker still there?)

"Oui, il est retenu." (Yeas, he’s restrained)

"Nous enverrons un ambulancier vous tout de suite." (We’ll send a paramedic right away)

"Merci"(Thank you) I hung up.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen her so helpless looking. I glared at the man pinned to the floor. “Why the fuck did you do that? You could have killed her!”

He scowled. “She’s a stupid whore. Fucking that Alexandre Burrows guy. I saw the way she looked at him the other night at the hockey game. She’s nothing but a puck bunny. Just a hockey whore. Why are you wasting so much effort protecting her?”

I spat at him. “I’m her best friend. It’s what I do. I protect her from worthless shits like you.”

Wayne pushed the ex’s face into the matted floor, “Quiet you. I’ve heard enough. The police will deal with you when they get here.”

I heard muffled profanity coming from the man.

After a couple more minutes, the paramedics arrived, and the police handcuffed the man, whose name I found out, was Adam Shane. He was going to be put away in United States for a couple years for violating a restraining order, and for aggravated battery. Mac won’t have to deal with him anytime soon.

I heard Mac groan, and then complain, “I feel like I got hit in the head….”

I laughed, “You kinda did.”

She sat up, even though the paramedics told her not too. She shook her head, “I feel fine. I have no weird substances coming from my ears, I’m not internally bleeding, sure I have a headache, but nothing severe….I remember everything…”

The paramedics backed off, one male approached me, “It looks like she’ll be alright. If she still has a headache tomorrow, bring her in, and we’ll check for symptoms of a concussion.”

I sighed, “Good. I think I’d have to break that guys arms if she was hurt.” I walked away from the paramedic, and took Mac’s gear in my hand, “C’mon. I’m staying at your place, so I can keep an eye on that head of yours.”

She nodded, “Fine.” She paused for a moment before asking, “Hey, Carey?”

“Yeah?”

“Can I come with you guys to Vancouver in a couple weeks?” She asked, trying not to keep eye contact, it was cute. She was so embarrassed asking.

“Fine with me. But I have to talk to my coach. It’s his decision. Why do you wanna go to Vancouver? It couldn’t be that there is someone there you want to see is it?” I nudged her side with my elbow.

She blushed a deep red. “Someone there wants to see me, and it’s hard to say no to him. That’s all.”

I dropped the matter. It was definitely Burrows that was calling her to Vancouver. He was bugging me about seeing her since he left. I had actually already talked to Jacques Martin, my coach, about it. I was just waiting for her to ask…buuuutttt, she doesn’t need to know that yet.
Mac’s p.o.v

Carey put my stuff in my car. Man, this was like Déjà vu. I hugged him, and drove home. He was going to go home, grab some clothes, tell Pyatt where he was staying, then come back.

As soon as I got home, and comfortable on my coach with an ice pack on my head, I figured I should call Burrows. He answered on the second ring.

“Mac? Is everything alright?” He asked as soon as he picked up.

“Well….it is now.” I started off.

“What do you mean by ‘it is now’? What happened?” Damn. He sounded worried.

“Well… the guy I was telling you about the other day is, or was, here in Montreal. He was at the Open Hockey that I went to. After the game, he came into the locker room, and went crazy.” I explained.

“Are you okay? Did he hurt you? I swear to god Mac, if he hurt you…” Wow…he’s more protective than Carey. I didn’t know that as possible.

“He threw a chair at me. Price told me that Adam said I was a whore, and that me and you were screwing each other.” My head hurt. Not from a headache, as I found out. It was the huge, ugly bruise forming over my temple, where stitches were also inserted. I made a face, “But he did leave his mark.”

I heard Alex swear, and then shuffle around, “Alex, what are you doing?”

“Putting my clothes on. I just got out of the shower, so I’m naked. Then, I’ll be getting on the next plane out of here, and pummel that guy into the second Tuesday of next week.”

“Alex, I can handle it. I also met a teammate of mine while I was there. His name is Wayne. He restrained Adam Shane while Carey checked on me. Adam has been arrested. I don’t think we’ll have to worry about him anymore.”

Burrows wasn’t satisfied. “I dunno, Mac. I feel like I need to break every bone in this guy’s body. He hurt you. He doesn’t deserve to get away with it.”

I laughed. I could imagine Burrows breaking some bones in Adam Shane’s body. I felt the same way. Adam Shane should be hurt like he hurt me, but that is not how it works. I reassured Alex, “Don’t worry. I’ll be fine, and as for Adam, he’s going to be put away for at least 5 years.”

He still wasn’t convinced, but he let it go, “You stay safe, okay? I don’t want to see a single bruise on you from a guy that hit you…outside of hockey of course.”

“Rodger that, Captain. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Yes, I’ll talk to you later.” He hung up.

Two weeks. I’m not sure how I made my whole life not knowing him. But now that I have, two weeks is too long. Damn that Carey Price. He made me fall in love with a Vancouver Canuck. Alexandre Burrows to be exact.