Boston Garden High School

When the teachers arrived back at school, they immediately took David to the teacher's lounge so he could see what he'd done there.
"Oh my god, I had sex here?" David blushed after noticing the condom.
"Yeah and there's lipstick all over your chest too." Greg pointed out.
"Oh!" David exclaimed. "Soupy, what does it say?"
"'Thanks for last night'. That's what it looks like anyway bud." David groaned and almost sat down on the couch.
"Dude, I wouldn't sit there if I were you-you pissed there last night. Your jeans are still pretty wet." Johnny said pulling David back.
"So, how much did you have last night?" Brad asked, cutting open Jordan's CVS plastic bag.
"I don't know. My head hurts real bad. And my mouth burns, so thanks for that one, Z." David said, rubbing his forehead.
Zdeno grinned from ear to ear. "Don't mention it, buddy."
Brad had taped the plastic bag to a chair and was now leading David to sit down on it. "Sit here. Man, we're gonna have to pay to have that cleaned."
"I hope you don't mind me saying this, David... You reek of piss." Greg said and laughed.
"We're going to our classes now, I'm taking care of your class, so don't worry." Chris said, putting his hand on David's shoulder. "And just so you know, there's a note in your back pocket." Chris said gagging as he ran out of the room.
David pulled the note out of his pocket and read it. "Who's Roxie Sugarbelle?" David asked, but by now everyone had left the staff lounge.
***
After work, Zdeno and Brad high fived each other.
"Man, that was so easy!" Brad laughed.
"No shit!" Zdeno shouted. "That was probably the greatest thing we've ever accomplished!"
"I know." Brad said thoughtfully. "You wanna come over to my house tonight, watch the game? It's De La Rosa versus Tilman."
"Nah, I'm going to see the Red Sox play the Royals over the weekend."
"The weekend... But they're away that weekend..." Brad trailed off. "Oh my god you're going to Kansas City! He practically shouted. "Be careful! They'll have you!"
Zdeno laughed. "Bradley Marchand, I'm 6 foot 9, in case you hadn't noticed. I'm a lot taller than most."
"What about Tatiana? And Elliz?"
"I can look after them. What kind of husband or father would I be if I didn't protect them?"
Brad looked skeptical. "If you're sure buddy. You should have got tickets to the weekend after next, the Yankees are at Fenway."
"Oh, I did." Zdeno said, smirking as he got into his car. "See you tomorrow, Marchy."
"Yeah." Brad said shocked. "Tomorrow."

Zdeno drove home and as he did, he received a text from his wife which read 'Patrice hovorí, že je to v "nemilosti". Opýtal sa, či by mohol zostať tu.'. (Patrice says he's in the 'doghouse'. Asked if he could stay here.) He shook his head in disbelief. Well, actually he COULD believe it, especially thinking of the stories he heard of what happened last night.
He heard how Patrice clogged one of the toilets at McGreeveys-though he frequents there so often it was bound to happen sooner or later. He heard how Milan was wearing bandages because he badly grazed his hands the three times he fell over. He heard about how Torey threw himself in the middle of the road. And he witnessed firsthand how drunk David was, to the point of passing out. Only now he was finally going home and he was still over the limit. He hadn't heard any stories of Patrice besides him clogging the toilet though. Thinking about it made him wonder why his wife-probably temporarily-threw him out. Then he started thinking about something else.
***
Flashback:
"Sir, what was that?" A pupil asked upon hearing a loud crashing the hallway.
"I don't know, James, I'll check it out now." Zdeno said, moving away from the whiteboard where he was showing long division and long multiplication. He opened the door and saw Andrew Ference from the class opposite look at him and a crowd of students gathered around what looked like an accident scene. Zdeno, using his height to his advantage, saw Tim Thomas panicking slightly and kicking something.
"Alright kids! Break it up! Move it!" Andrew shouted as he squeezed though the crowd of students. All color drained from his face when he saw what everyone was crowded around. "Z!" He yelled. "You better get up here! You NEED to see this!" His voice was shaking. Zdeno pushed through the students and saw Patrice lying on the floor, face down.
"Bergy?" He said gently. No answer. "Bergy?" He said more firmly. No answer. "Bergy?" He said slightly more panicked. Still no answer. "Patrice, stop fooling around." He said through gritted teeth. Still no answer. "Patrice?!" He practically shouted. Math teacher PJ Axelsson emerged from his room.
"What's going on here?" He asked and noticed Patrice lying on the floor. "Oh shit." He exclaimed.
"Damn right, 'oh shit'. PJ, what do I do?" Zdeno said, now on the verge of tears.
"Mouth to mouth. It's the only way."
"Okay, Ferry, call an ambulance..."
"Already on it, Z."
"Tim, PJ, help me turn Bergy. He might have hurt his spine or something." Zdeno said and held Patrice's head still.
"Alright kids, show's over! Back to class! Now!" PJ barked. The kids all slunk back to their classrooms. "What do we do, Z?"
"Tim, go to Bergy's left side. When I say 'turn', PJ, you push Patrice to to the left and Tim, you pull. Then, we'll gently lower him down because we don't want to hurt him any more than he is."
PJ and Tim followed Zdeno's instructions and turned Patrice on his back. They gasped in horror when they saw his face was all bloody.
"Uh, Z... I don't think he's breathing." Tim said. Zdeno desperately checked for a pulse and found one. He also found Tim was right, Patrice wasn't breathing.
"Ferry! Ambulance!" He shouted.
"Here in five. We're only about five minutes away from Mass General, aren't we?" Andrew said, uncertainly.
"Absolutely." Zdeno began CPR, which he carried on until the paramedics arrived. The students all piled out of their class to see who was going to hospital. There was shock when it was found to be fourth year French teacher Patrice Bergeron who was taken to hospital on a stretcher with a neck brace on.
Everyone talked about it that lunch period in the teacher's lounge, but Zdeno didn't want to. They annoyed him and pestered him to tell them what happened, but he refused. Tim, Andrew and PJ refused too. Marc led speculations that Zdeno lost it and smacked Patrice on his face, causing him to fall back and hit his head, but Tim, Andrew and PJ told him he was being stupid.
***
Present time:
Zdeno emerged from his trance and noticed his car was upside down. He unbuckled his seatbelt and crawled out of the driver's side window. Concerned onlookers watched him struggle to get out. One ran up to him.
"Sir, I've called an ambulance, are you okay?"
"I think so... My neck and shoulder hurt." Zdeno felt something dripping down his face so he touched it and looked at it. It was blood. "I think I might need stitches. How long was I out?"
"I've been here about ten minutes. We've been really worried."
"What's your name?" Zdeno asked, rubbing his sore neck.
"Regina."
"I'm Zdeno."
"What?"
"Most people call me Z. Ow. Seriem na to všetko." Zdeno cursed out in Slovak and grabbed his neck. "That really hurts!"
"I don't think you should be moving around until the ambulance comes..." Regina said, helping Zdeno to sit down. "You might have seriously hurt yourself and you might not know it."
"Trust me, I'd know." The sound of sirens wailing interrupted their talking and an ambulance parked nearby. Zdeno was examined by paramedics who put him in a neck brace and took him to Mass General.
***
Flashback:
Zdeno and Andrew went to Mass General after work.
"Ferry, I'm scared."
"You're 6 foot 9. What have you got to be scared of?"
"That Bergy's dead."
Andrew looked up at Zdeno's face. "Z, that's not happening."
"What if..."
"He's gonna be alright, Z. Don't worry." Andrew rested his arm on the reception desk. "Hi, we're here to see Patrice Bergeron-what's his last name? Cleary! Patrice Bergeron-Cleary."
"Wait here just one moment please, sirs." The secretary got up from her desk and talked to a passing nurse. The secretary then sat back down at her desk. "Okay, Nurse Becky will take you to your friend."
"Why can't you just give us his ward or room number and we find it ourselves." Andrew suggested.
"No... No that won't be necessary." She said, smiling awkwardly.
"Follow me, sirs." The nurse said and Andrew and Zdeno followed her down the hallway. "My name is Becky, what're yours?"
"I'm Andrew and this is Zdeno, we're schoolteachers."
"How nice." After a few minutes of silent walking and an elevator ride, they arrived at a door. "Please sanitize your hands before entering."
Andrew pumped the sanitizing gel onto his hands and rubbed it it. "Whoa, whoa, whoa-intensive care unit? Becky, we're here to see Patrice Bergeron-Cleary, you know... French Canadian, long brown hair, 6 foot 4, schoolteacher, 22 years old..."
"And that's who I'm taking you to see." Nurse Becky said nicely, putting her hand on Andrew's arm.
"How bad is it?" Andrew asked as they walked through the ICU.
Nurse Becky gave a guilty smile and gestured to a room. "He's in the end bed." She said, directing them to Patrice. They weren't prepared for what they saw. Patrice was unconscious and attached to a lot of different machines and IVs. He also had stitches in his face, along the bridge of his nose and wore a neck brace.
"We're keeping him in a coma, he's seriously injured his skull. We think there might even be some brain damage..." And that was it. Zdeno left the room quicker than he arrived. It was all too much for him to take. As soon as he got out of the ICU he began crying and hyperventilating and then... Blackness.
***
Present time:
"Zdeno! Ach môj bože! Ste v poriadku? Nerob to, aby ma znova!" Zdeno looked and saw his wife, Tatiana, by the side of his hospital bed. (Zdeno! Oh my god! Are you alright? Don't do this to me again).
"Cítim sa v pohode, ale myslím, že by mohol mať zlomený väz." Zdeno said sheepishly (I feel alright, but they think I may have broken my neck).
"Čo?!" Tatiana put her hand over her mouth when she realized she shouted (What?!) "Môžete cítiť ruky a nohy?" She asked quieter (Can you feel your arms and legs?)
"Áno." Zdeno answered (Yes). "Tatiana, budem mať zlomený väz, nie som ochrnutý." He said which made him and his wife both chuckle (Tatiana, I might have a broken neck, I'm not quadriplegic).
"Ja by som stále ťa milujem." She said quietly (I would still love you).
"Ja viem." Zdeno whispered as he stroked Tatiana's hand (I know). "Ja by som ešte rád, či to bol ty." (I'd still love you if it were you.) Zdeno grabbed Tatiana's hand and squeezed it in his. "A keby to bolo Elliz, je samozrejmé." (And if it were Elliz, it goes without saying).
"Nenúť ma znovu strach o teba, Zdeno Chara." Tatiana said, equally squeezing Zdeno's hand (Don't make me worry sick about you again, Zdeno Chara).
"Ja nie." He whispered as Tatiana leaned down to kiss him (I won't).