I'll Be There

I was running late, of that I was sure. I fell asleep at the hospital with Toby because he was up all night. The nurses had finally told him the great news that the Pittsburgh Penguins would be visiting him for their Christmas visit, and, of course, he wouldn't shut up about it and demanded that I stay with him all night so he could tell me all the things him and his idols would do together. It was 2 a.m. before Toby finally fell asleep and I had to be up at 6:30 to leave the hospital in time to make it to my last final before graduation.

Instead of sleeping, I opted to pull an all-nighter and go talk to the nurses at the nurses station. I have become good friends with some of them, which is to be expected when you spend everyday for a whole year at the hospital. Toby had made friends with the nurses as well. Many of them loved his positive attitude and silliness. Hannah is one of the nurses that I had become really good friends with. She and I are both 23 and go to the same college, although she is studying nursing and I have opted for Radio and Television, and we moved into an apartment together a few months ago, after realizing that we both spend most of our time at the hospital so what was the point of having an apartment. She was working a double shift tonight and would be there when the Penguins arrived to meet the kids. We talked at the nurses station for an hour before she had to comfort a child that had woken up. When she came back, we started talking about the upcoming days activities and how excited we were.

"I have to be honest, Ands, I would be lying if I said I wasn't expecting to get at least one phone number or date tomorrow," Hannah told me.

"I would expect nothing less from you, Han. I'm so excited for Toby, though. He deserves it, he has been through so much in the past year," I said with a hint of sadness in my voice.

"Yeah," Hannah said, "Have you heard from your parents since they called on Toby's birthday?"

"Nope, haven't heard from them in 6 months. They even stopped sending money, if we hadn't moved in together, I would be worrying about paying the rent, but working at Diesel two nights a week gives me just enough for rent and the tips I get are just enough for groceries. It would just be nice if my parents would pitch in once in a while, or at least let me have custody of Toby so he could be on my healthcare instead of taking handouts from everyone to pay for the bills," I complained.

"I know its tough Ands, but-" Hannah was cut off by Toby calling for me from his room.

"I'll be right back, probably just needs a drink," I told Hannah as I walked into Toby's room. "Hey, what's wrong, Bubba?"

"You left me." He pouted, "I wanted you to sleep with me tonight."

I sighed, knowing that if I got into bed with him, I would fall asleep and wouldn't be pleasant in the morning, but got in bed with him anyways, careful not to hit any IV's.

I woke up in the morning to Hannah shaking my shoulder, telling me it was 6:30 already and if I didn't leave now, I would be late. I hadn't changed before getting into bed with Toby, hoping not to fall asleep. I didn't have time to change, but my clothes didn't look dirty so I decided to just wear them again and I would come back and change in Toby's adjoined bathroom before the Pittsburgh Penguins showed up for the visit.

It was almost 7 when I was pulling out of the hospital parking lot and I had an hour to get to campus and to my class to take my final at 8. The professor was giving us three hours to complete the final, but I knew I would need less than two to finish and then I would be back on my way to the hospital and I would have 30 minutes to shower and get dressed before the team showed up. It was the perfect plan, but I hadn't planned on falling asleep halfway through the test and being woken up but the chair next to me scraping across the floor and finding out that I had 30 minutes left to finish 45 multiple choice questions. I rushed through the questions, skimming them and choosing the first answer that looked right. I ran out of the building and got to my car right at 11, the same time the Pittsburgh Penguins were scheduled to arrive at the hospital.

So, that's where I was now, running late, getting a text from Hannah every 5 minutes telling me that Toby was asking for me and telling me to hurry up. I was 10 minutes from UPMC when Hannah called me, freaking out because Toby was hysterically crying because he didn't have his jersey for Marc-Andre Fleury to sign because I had taken it home to be washed. I took a quick U-turn and ran back to the apartment, grabbed Toby's jersey from the hanger where it was drying, and rushing through traffic, back to the hospital.

When I got there, an expensive looking car was parked in my usual spot and there were no other spots except for at the back of the parking lot. Just my fucking luck, I thought. I ran through the parking lot, skipping the elevators because Toby's room was closer to the stairs and I knew I could get there faster than if I took the elevator.

I got to the third floor in 2 minutes and, as I was running to Toby's room, a brick wall suddenly appeared in front of my, causing me to crash into it and fall to the floor.

"Excuse you," I grumbled under my breath.

"What was that?" a deep voice said and I looked up into the eyes of none other than 'The Real Deal' James Neal.

"Uh... Nothing," I said, not believing that I had just insulted possibly one of the greatest hockey players in the NHL, "Just trying to get this to someone," I said holding up Toby's jersey and quickly rushing off to Toby's room before I embarrassed myself further.

"Andy!" Toby screamed once I got to his room.

"Hey, Bubba, look what I brought," I said to him, holding up his small jersey. He greedily took it from my hands and put it on real fast.

I looked over to Hannah, who was sitting in the chair next to Toby's bed, playing the Playstation 3 that I had taken four extra shifts at Diesel to pay for, for his birthday. Hannah had bought him NHL 13 to go with it, considering I didn't have the extra forty bucks to buy it. It was the only game he had, but he didn't seem to care since it was his favorite. I had rented him games before but he never cared much for them so I stopped bothering.

"Hey, Han, I'm going to go change my clothes real quick and wash up the best I can." I told her and walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind me. I put my hair up and got in the shower, rinsing off quickly, then got out and dressed in black leggings and a Penguins t-shirt, before walking back out into the room, just as someone knocked on the door. I started walking to open it when Toby jumped out of his bed screaming, "I'll get it!"

I stood behind Toby as he opened the door to 6 big, burly hockey players. He stood there in awe, not moving, meaning not even opening the door any more than was enough for him to stand in. I picked him up and put him on my hip and opened the door farther.

"Hi," I said, "Come on in."

The guys started to file in and I took the moment to see who was here to see my little brother. Sidney led the guys and following behind him were Chris Kunitz, Pascal Dupuis, Evgeni Malkin, Marc- Andre Fleury, and last through the door was none other than James Neal.

I blushed a little when I saw him and quickly turned to the over 5 players that were awkwardly standing in the middle of Toby's hospital room. I nudged Toby in the side with my fingers which caused him to flinch from his ticklishness.

"Toby, sweetheart, say hi to the guys." I encouraged him.

"H-hi," Toby stuttered out.

"Hi there, Toby," Sidney Crosby said, stepping forward, "We heard you are a big fan of us so we came to say high and bring you some Christmas presents."

That's when I noticed the poorly wrapped presents that the guys were each holding. Evgeni had the biggest one and it looked to be about the size of a remote control car of some sort. I was glad the guys had brought presents because I knew I wouldn't have the money to buy Toby much this year. I had bought him one gift and it was one that I knew he really wanted, and I worked and extra night just to be able to buy it. It would probably be the only thing Toby would get from me this year.

I sat Toby on the bed and he started to relax and talk to the guys more. He started to get nervous and I knew what was going through his mind, so I asked for him, "Hey, Marc, would you mind signing my brother's jersey? He made me run home to get it just so you could sign it and it would break my heart if he didn't get it signed."

The guys started laughing as I gave Marc-Andre the puppy dog eyes and he gave Toby a big smile and pulled out a sharpie,

"I'd love to sign the little guy's jersey," Marc said, then looked over his shoulder at the other guys who were huddled around the Playstation, playing NHL 13, "I guess we know who the favorite is."

Toby turned around so that Marc could sign his jersey, once he was done, Toby turned around and threw his arms around Marc's neck, hugging him. "Thanks," Toby whispered in Marc-Andre's ear, then went back to playing NHL 13 with the guys.

There were only two controllers, so they were taking turns playing against Toby and Toby won each time. I knew the guys weren't just letting him win, too, because they would get really upset when they lost to him.

"Damn, Kid," James said, "You are really good at this game."

Toby just shrugged and I said, "When you are stuck in a room all day and this is the only thing you have to do, you get pretty good at it."

The guys all turned to me, giving me looks of sympathy, all except James, who was giving me a look that I couldn't quite recognize. I quickly looked away, feeling slightly uncomfortable under his stare and all the guys turned their attention back to Toby.

"So, Kid, do you know any other players on this game other than us?" Chris Kunitz asked Toby.

"Yeah, what 'bout Ovechkin, or Seguin?" Evgeni chimed in.

"Fuck Ovechkin," Toby said, causing me to gasp and the guys to bust out laughing.

"Toby, watch your mouth!" I scolded, while trying to hold back from laughing.

"What? Hannah said it," He defended and I glared at Hannah.

"I only said it once, I swear!" Hannah said, holding her hands in front of her in a defensive way.

"I like this kid," Sidney Crosby said.

"Well," Pascal said, "We gotta go soon, how about we open some presents?"

"Yeah!" Toby yelled and the guys set their gifts in front of Toby on his bed.

The first one he opened was from Sidney, it was a signed miniature hockey stick. Next was Evgeni's and it was, in fact, a remote control monster truck. Pascal, Chris, and Marc-Andre all gave him random toys. The last gift he had to open was from James Neal, it was in the shape of a video game, and that made me nervous. If James got Toby the one gift I had worked hard to buy, I would be extremely upset, and to my misfortune, it was the one thing that I had already purchased, wrapped, and place under the Christmas tree for the one day a year that Toby was allowed to come home.

I was blind with rage. Why? Why couldn't he buy Toby some other game, why did it have to be NHL 14? God fucking damn rich guy. I hate him. I hate James Neal.

I stormed out of the room and into the hall so Toby wouldn't see me upset, not that he would have noticed because, of course, he was too infatuated with the new game. James followed me into the hall with a concerned look on his face.

"Is everything okay?" He asked.

"NO! Everything is not okay. You took the one thing that I was excited about, away from me. I worked overtime just to buy Toby that fucking game and then you come walking in here and give it to him like its no big deal. Well, let me tell you something, James Neal," I sneered his name, "Your prick of a self can leave. I worked hard for that and if you just think you can act like its no big deal, then you have another thing-" I was cut off by James' sudden outburst.

"Go out with me," he said.

"Excuse me?" I asked, caught off guard.

"I said, 'Go out with me', like on a date..."