Ice Might Be Nice

We woke up a little bit later to a phone ringing. Marc tried to get up and grab it but the room swam as I heard him curse and sit back down. “I’ll get it.” I found the phone quickly and answered it on my way back to the couch. “Staal Residence, this is Krys.”

“Krys? I don’t have a brother named Krys. Who are you and what have you done with Marc?” I mentally thanked my Penguin loving sister for knowing which voice this was, Marc's brother Jordan.

“I’m almost to the couch, I’m one of the Rangers trainers. I’ll let him tell you what happened.” I flipped the phone to Marc who just grinned. I shook my head and went exploring while he talked to Jordan. I found the kitchen and then the time, we’d slept for over an hour. I decided that lunch was in order so I poked around Marc’s fridge and such. Looking through I found that he had the makings for a good meal in about a half hour. I began humming to myself as I started making the mock risotto, it would take the longest.

By this time I had also begun the pan for the chicken and was slowly working on the salad that would go oh so well with this. I was in no way paying attention to the rest of the house while I did so. I added more broth to the mock risotto, gave it a good stir, picked up the spoon and that’s when my humming transformed into what I often do while cooking, full out singing.

Don't try to take me to a Disco
You'll never even get me out on the floor
In 10 minutes I'll be late for the door
I like that old time rock and roll

I did a little turn before checking the rice again and adding more broth, never noticing that I was no longer alone. The other pan was now ready for the chicken so after another stir I added that. That’s when I heard a chuckle behind me, realized what I was doing and blushed _so_ hard. “No that was Krys, uh… looks like she’s making lunch. No you _can’t_ come up for lunch. Because you’re over an hour _flight_ time away, not to mention actually getting to the airport there and getting here, you’d never make it. No, mom dropped _you_ on your head as a kid. Whatever, I’ll be fine. Tell them Krys, I’ll be fine it’s just a temporary thing.”

Put in the spotlight of a family disagreement, I sighed and put a professional face on. “It’s not uncommon for side effects from the local, they don’t last more than a day, two on the absolute outside.” I said a bit louder than I would have if I had been on the phone.

“See I told you. No you do _not_ have to call mom and tell her I’m hurt again, it’s nothing. No I won’t, whoa.” I stopped my stirring when I heard that and turned to look at him. Marc was swaying a little too much for my liking. I turned the burned down and went and made him sit down.

“Give me the phone.” I said, motioning for it. He handed it over and I put it up to my ear. “Listen I know you might _want_ to know every little detail of how he is, but trust me he’s in good hands and doesn’t need anyone else to help. Now, let him get over this without bugging him anymore, got it?”

That’s when I heard the echo of speakerphone and a hushed tone from the other end. Then one of them spoke up. “Um, you _do_ know about his concussion right?” I rolled my eyes.

“What kind of trainer would I be if I didn’t? This is a _completely_ different thing; he will be fine. I’m here as a precaution only. Once he’s fine I can go home.” I, by this time had walked back into the kitchen and continued making lunch.

A woman, who sounded really concerned, then spoke up. “So it’s really nothing to worry about? As much as the boys chirp at each other we all really do care.”

“He’ll be fine, a little dizzy and his vision isn’t liking him much but the Doc has already ruled out concussion and he passed the tests. It’s a matter of letting the local wear off and making sure everything subsides as it should.” I flipped the chicken and stirred some more.

The same woman let out a relieved sigh. “Thank you for helping him. He’s _almost_ as stubborn as my husband. I’d love to meet you when the Rangers come to Raleigh this year. Always nice to know those taking care of the ones you love.”

I thought about the schedule for a minute as I worked. “If I remember right that’s in mid to late October but I’d have to check to know for sure.”

“That sounds right. I’m Tanya by the way. Please don’t let Marc push himself too hard he can be bad about that.” Her attention was taken briefly. “Eric wants to talk to you. Don’t let him bully you.”

As the phone was passed I heard him exclaim to her. “I’m not gonna bully her. Hi, don’t believe her I’m not going to bully you. I just wanna know if mom should be called and told anything.”

I sighed. “No, not unless _Marc_ thinks she should be called. He really will be fine.” Marc and I shared rolled eyes. I knew the joys of having a loving but sometimes ridiculous family as well. “He wouldn’t have come home if it was something more serious. Now if you’ll excuse me I have lunch to finish.” I handed the phone back over the counter to Marc and turned back to the stove.

He made his way back into the living room as I finished up lunch. Timing was everything. As the mock risotto was finishing, I made the dressing for the salad. The chicken was also almost done which meant that my growling tummy would stop in a few minutes. As the timing came together in a great lunch, Marc came back into the kitchen area without the phone. “That smells incredible.” He sat down and I served him easily. “Sorry about my family. They,” he paused and then continued. “They worry a lot.”

I smiled. “Don’t worry about it, mine do too.” Lunch was mostly quiet filled with much eating and such. Once I had the kitchen cleaned up Marc asked me a question.

“You said your family worries too, what about? You’re pretty safe compared to us.” We had moved back to the couch where he rested his head carefully.

“New York is not known as the world’s safest city. I’m from a small town in Indiana; we don’t have a lot of crime. Add in that I don’t really know anyone but the team and not really even them yet. They worry, Lyss less than anyone else, but still.” I was facing him on the couch; it seemed only nice.

“Who’s Lyss?” He asked turning his head to look at me. He looked kind of pathetic to be honest, trying not to move too much for fear of falling over or worse.

“My twin sister. She’s a cosmetologist, does hair at Parlor on Avenue B between East 6th and 7th. We live together too, hard to part us some days.” Yeah we fought but what siblings didn’t, we had each other’s back and that’s what mattered.

“So there are two of you walking around the city, good to know. Any other siblings?” He moved so that he could look at me and still rest his head, it was kind of cute.

I smiled. “We have 2 older brothers, and I do mean older. Aaron is 12 years older and Clay is 8. Even with their own families they still butt into our lives at times.”

“You do know who my brothers are right?” I nodded. “Oh good, I can tell you that’s not a fun conversation to have, especially now. All I heard all summer was how the three of them were going to run roughshod all over the Rangers.” He sighed. “I think my vision is clearing up. Your face isn’t blurry anymore. Still feel dizzy though.”

“That’s a good start though. Do you need anything else done while I’m here? I feel like I’ve gotten out of all the scut work I normally would be doing.” I kind of laughed. Normally I would have to do the laundry and make sure we were ready for the next day before I could leave.

“Not really, I haven’t been here but a couple days. What _do_ trainers do when we aren’t there? I’ve always wondered that.”

“What Trainers do or what the EQ guys do? You should know what they do; you see them a lot more often. I’m learning the ropes and how to make everything work so that means I have a lot of overlap right now. I make sure the medical rooms are stocked with what we need to take care of you guys before during and after anytime you’re there, practice or games. Not to mention we’re there for on ice issues too. My job right now is to make sure that you don’t have any other issues come up and that the ones you do have go away. I’m sure Jim will call for an update.” Marc’s phone rang again.

I made myself scarce while he was on the phone, I probably didn’t need to but I didn’t know him that well yet. I was looking at the family photos he had hanging up when he called out. “Krys, someone called mom can you talk to her?” I chuckled and went to take the phone and for the second, or was it third, time today I explained that he wasn’t in any danger and he’s be 100% fine.

What felt like hours later I was able to get off the phone with her as my cell was ringing. Sure enough it was Jim. I filled him in on the progress so far, it wasn’t much but it was there. He asked me to stick with Marc until either I needed to go home or his symptoms subsided and told me that if that meant I came in with Marc tomorrow it was ok too.

I called Lyss really quick letting her know that I might not be home tonight and not to worry I was technically working. She tried to press me for details but I wouldn’t tell her, I wouldn’t be allowed to until he was 100% again. She was disappointed and told me to be careful.

After all the calls were said and done we watched a couple movies, I could tell his vision was clearing up but I didn’t know yet if his balance was back or not. I decided not to test it just yet. He did insist on ordering in for dinner, which meant more movies to watch. At 11 pm both of us were yawning. “What time do you have to be out there?”

I yawned and knew I wasn’t going home tonight. “I’m normally there between 7 and 8 to try and get a workout in before you guys get there but I can go in when you do, Jim said so.”

He stood and then clutched the couch for a second. “I can handle 8 o’clock, you might be driving again though. I’m hoping this clears up over night.” I got up and helped him towards what I thought was his room. “You can crash in there,” he said as we passed a second room. “I’ll wake you when my alarm goes off.” We were outside his room now.

“Sounds good. You gonna be ok or…” I was cut off gently.

“I can make it to bed from here. Thanks for everything. I’ll have to tell Jim you handled everything, including my mom, like a pro.” He unsteadily toddled into his room and closed the door. I turned from where I was and went to tidy up the living room before racking out. I also wanted to make sure the door was locked.

Once in bed I thought about how nice it had been to just be able to sit and talk with someone besides Lyss. It took me a long time to drift off to sleep but once I did, it was dreamless.