I Moustache You a Question

“We don’t have a face mask, are you okay without one?” Neal had asked.

Dani had merely rolled her shoulders and nodded, “Of course I’ll be okay.”

Famous last words.

As her and Marc sat in the Emergency Department waiting room she knew where she went wrong. They had decided to host the end-of-the-season barbecue. Marc manned the grill taking any opportunity to sport the ‘be nice to me or I’ll poison your food’ apron Dani had gotten him for Christmas. Dani played perfect hostess, mingling with the other wives and entertaining the kids with magic tricks and several games of ‘kick the can’.

It was Neal whom had brought out the hockey sticks and challenged the guys to a friendly game of street hockey. Marc took the bait and set the net up in front of the garage. It was Dani’s competitive streak that won out when he nominated her as goalie so that he could play defense.

“No need to worry Dani. We’ll go easy on you,” Dupuis called out, earning a few chuckles.

“I’d have reason to worry if you actually shot on net Duper,” Dani chirped, strapping a pad around her knee. A chorus of drawn out “Oh-s!” erupted mixing with the occasional whistle. Pascal just smiled.

Marc flashed an ear-splitting grin in her direction. “That’s my girl,” he winked.

Sid and Sutter took to the face-off and the game was on. Halfway through was when it happened. It was an errant slap shot that had deflected up off Sid’s stick. It flew upwards and hit Dani smack dab on the bridge of her nose. A distinctive crack was heard by all and play stopped immediately. Wide eyes watched her nose start to bleed.

It was who Marc ran up to her first. “Come sit down,” he urged.

Dani gripped her nose. Blood trickled through her fingers. “No, I’m fine,” she answered.

“It looks broken,” Marc spoke softly, concern etched upon his face.

“I said, I’m fine,” Dani repeated, “I can finish the game.”
Marc let out an exasperated sigh, “But you’re bleeding everywhere.”

“Grab my purse, I’m pretty sure I’ve got tampons in there.”

Off in the background she could hear Neal say, “You can’t be serious,” followed by an impressed chuckle.

However, Marc did run for her purse and sure enough there were several tampons inside. Dani grabbed two and shoved them up either nostril.

“That’s one strong gal you got there Flower,” Dupuis said, patting Marc’s back.

Marc eyed her. She gave him an affirmative nod for the game to continue. “She’s just as feisty,” he retorted.

It didn’t take long after that for the game to end. It ended on a high note with Jussi Jokinen scoring the game-winning goal. Almost instantly, Marc had the goalie pads off Dani and was ushering her into the car.

They arrived to a packed hospital. After waiting three hours Dani couldn’t stop herself from resting her head upon Marc’s shoulder and drifting to sleep. She awoke in what felt mere minutes to Marc’s giggles.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

“Nothing,” he snorted.

Dani reached up and touched the tampon strings that were once hanging freely from her nose. They were now tied into a bow that Marc fashioned into a moustache.

“I had a little photo shoot while you were asleep –I hope you don’t mind,” he spoke cheekily.

“You didn’t!” Dani groaned.

Marc flashed her the screen of his phone. Sure enough a picture of her passed out against his shoulder blazed upon the screen. “I made it my background,” he gushed, failing to dampen the growing smile on his face.

She reached for the phone but he quickly withdrew it. She blew out an exaggerated breath and the intertwined strings fluttered. Then she lunged forward. “Delete it!” she gasped, fighting him.

“Stop it,” Marc grunted, pushing her away, “You may give yourself another nosebleed and I’m all out of tampons!”

Dani bit her lip but that couldn’t stop the giggles bubbling from her mouth. Marc joined in and once they got started it was difficult for them to stop. They continued to laugh until their sides burned and there was no other sound coming from their mouths but the shaky gasps of breath they took.

Marc was the first to recover. “I love you,” he told her, “broken nose and all.”

“Even with my tampon string moustache?” she asked.

He pecked her lips, “Especially with your tampon string moustache.”

Dani rested her head on Marc’s shoulder. “I love you too, you goofball,” she chuckled.