Getting Back Up

"Did you call Brad to set up a time for him to meet Tyler?" Scott asked as he sat down on the bench to put on his skates, trying to hold the phone to his ear with his shoulder.

Two days following their dinner together he had to leave for a Flyers' road trip. Currently he was in Florida, playing the Tampa Bay Lightening in a few hours and tomorrow they would be in Sunrise, Florida to play the Panthers. He hated that he had to leave Rebecca, especially since she's dealing with the Brad situation. He called her at least once a day, and texted her even more. He couldn't wait until he would be home to wrap his arms around her.

"Not yet. Tyler said he needed a few days to process everything," she responded.

"I'm sure he'll be fine. How are you holding up?" he asked.

"I'm alright. I miss you though," she admitted.

"I miss you too," Scott said in a hushed tone so his teammates wouldn't hear him, "But we'll be home on Tuesday after we play Monday in Raleigh."

"That long? How will I ever manage?" Rebecca said sarcastically.

"You'll just have to have yourself committed until I get back," Scott joked.

"I won't miss you that much," she chided him.

"That hurts. I'm wounded," he said trying to sound as pathetic as possible, "I think you should watch the game tonight to make it up to me."

"Tyler informed me that we are now going to have to watch every game from now on. He thinks we'll bring you good luck."

"I told you he was smart. You are good luck," Scott said. "Alright babe, I gotta finish getting ready for warmups. Is it alright if I call you when I get back to the hotel after the game tonight?"

"Sure, if you're not going to be too tired," she responded.

"I'll never be too tired to talk to you," Scott admitted.

"Well I'll talk to you later. Good luck tonight," Rebecca said as she hung up the phone.

"So...things progressingly nicely with Rebecca?" Claude asked and winked at Scott.

"Things are good. She's amazing. But I'm worried about her. Her ex just showed up from out of nowhere wanting to see her and Tyler." Scott told him that Brad had cancer and wanted to make amends for leaving Rebecca all those years ago.

"Wow. That's crazy. What is she going to do?" Claude asked.

"We convinced Tyler to meet his father so he wouldn't regret it once he's gone," Scott paused, "poor kid didn't want to have anything to do with him. And I can't say that I don't blame him."

"Yeah, that's gotta be tough," Claude said as he finished lacing his skates. "I'm sure everything will be fine though. As well as it can be anyway."

"Hopefully," Scott said as he stood up to head out to the ice. "You ready for this?"

"Yep," Claude said as he crossed the room, smacking his shoulder pads.

The Flyers played a hard sixty minutes, storming back from a 2-0 deficit to win the game 3-2. Claude, Brayden and Scott had all scored in the last half of the game. The locker room was electric as their winning theme song "Knock, Knock" blasted from the ipod docked in Zac Rinaldo's stall.

"We're gonna go out and get some drinks, you in?" Brayden asked Scott.

"Nah, I wanna check in with Rebecca before she goes to bed," Scott said.

"That didn't take long. Already whipped," Brayden laughed and pounded fists with Zac.

"And your woman is where exactly?" Scott shot back as he pounded fists with Kimmo.

The locker room erupted with laughter. The men finished getting dressed, took part in their post-game interviews, and made their way back to the hotel. The younger players went to the hotel bar to grab a quick drink and the veterans went to their rooms.

Scott called Rebecca.

******************************************************

"She's not going to call. It's been four days."

"Give it time. She'll call."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because. She's always been a very trusting person. I told her about the attacks and the cancer. I know she'll convince him to see me."

"I still don't see how you think you're going to convince them to take you back."

"We've been over this. She convinces Tyler to see me, we spend months together and bond, the whole time I'm making her fall in love with me."

"She's not going to fall for it. Plus, she's probably hated you for the last fifteen years. I don't think you've got a shot."

"You didn't see her when I told her...she was undeniably upset. That makes me think there's still something there, even if its one-tenth of what it was fifteen years ago, it'll be enough for me to work with."

"You've lost your mind. All this for a kid you couldn't be bothered with when he was born."

"I didn't have a choice. They made me give him up. They never wanted me with her, and when she got pregnant it only got worse. They threatened to take the money away if I married her. I was young, and only concerned with living the way I had been accustommed. How was I going to support them without the money?"

"People do it every day. You were just selfish. You're still selfish. Otherwise you wouldn't be disrupting their lives like this. Especially by using cancer for their sympathy. Of all the things you've done over the years, this is the worst one of all. How do you think she won't find out?"

"I told her I was here for treatments. After I've gotten her back, I'll make a miraculous recovery. It'll be perfect."