‹ Prequel: Chances Taken
Sequel: The Three C's

Chances Risked

Chapter Twenty Seven

-Maggie-
I felt stupid for doing it, I knew I shouldn’t be doing it, but I couldn’t help myself. When I got back to my parents’ house after the funeral, after the dinner with some close family and friends, I walked to my parents’ liquor cabinet, grabbed the first bottle that I could, it was some vodka, I opened the lid and tipped the bottle back, feeling the burning sensation go down my throat as the clear liquid slowly disappeared from the bottle.

I walked upstairs towards my old room, the same room that I was staying in during my time in Texas. I walked into the room and saw Jazz, Bella and Stan lying around the room, I walked right past them and headed towards my suitcase, changing into shorts and a grey V-neck shirt and then headed for the balcony door in my room. I opened it and then walked out onto the wood, turning to my side and seeing the low drop on the roof. I climbed up and then turned around and sat on the hard tiled roof. This was something I did was I was upset or after a tough loss, most of the time Mike would come out and join me, guess he couldn’t do that anymore.

I stared out at the landscape in front of me, my room faced the front yard, so from where I was sitting, I would be able to tell who was coming or going. I opened the bottle again and poured some of the hard liquor down my throat. I pulled my knees up to my chest and leaned my chin on my knees.

‘…Why did you leave me, Mikey?...’

-Sidney-
After the funeral, I decided that I was going to check up on my teammate, Jordan, James and a few others wanted to go with me, but I told them to let me handle this on my own. I didn’t know if Kane was there or not, but I just needed to go and see her, she was my friend. I pulled up to her house and walked towards her house, I knocked on the door and it opened to reveal Kane.

“Didn’t know if you’d be here or not,” I said and he nodded his head.

“I don’t think she’s here,” he said and I looked at him confused, “I can’t find her.”

“Oh, her parents here?” I asked and he nodded his head.

“I’m gunna try back later, they said that she might have gone for a walk,” he said and I nodded my head and watched as he walked out of the house and headed for his car. I walked into the house and saw Maggie’s parents in the kitchen.

“Sidney,” Mrs. Marshall gave me a small smiled, “Patrick was just here, I don’t know where she is,” she said and I nodded my head.

“You looking for Maggie?” I heard and turned to see Nick walking in, I nodded my head and he sighed, “Try the roof.”

“The roof?! Nicky, she shouldn’t be there!” Mrs. Marshall said and Nick sighed.

“Mom, you know she always went there with Mike after a loss,” he said and I looked at him.

“How do I get there?” I asked and he nodded his head.

“Don’t fall!” Mrs. Marshall said and I nodded my head and followed Nick through the house, up the stairs and towards a bedroom.

He opened the door and I saw Maggie’s dogs in the room and saw the balcony door opened, “Go through there and she should be on the roof.”

“Thanks,” I said and then closed the door, walked into the room, being sure to pet each of the dogs and headed outside, “Maggie?”

“Yeah,” I heard, it was barely a whisper, I was surprised that I heard it. I turned my head and saw Maggie sitting on the roof, I look at her and saw her in shorts and a t-shirt, she was holding her knees, she had a slight blush on her face and I saw the almost empty bottle of vodka in her hand. I sighed and climbed onto the roof and plopped down next to Maggie and took the bottle, “You shouldn’t be drinking, Mags.”

“Yeah well, I shouldn’t have had to burry my brother today,” she snapped, slurring her words.
I sighed and looked at her to see her glaring at the ground, “I know you’re hurting Maggie, but the team-“

“I don’t care about the team Sidney,” she said and I just watched her, “The team, the league, Kokorin- None of it.”

“You’re just angry-“

“No Sid- No! I’m not angry,” she sat up and looked at me, “I’m pissed, Kokorin murdered my brother on the ice and the fuckin’ league isn’t going to do a damn thing about it because they find that it wasn’t done on purpose,” she said and I sighed, “That fuckin’ prick is going to get away with what he did to my brother, what he put me through, what he put this team through- So no, I’m not angry, I’m livid!”

“He might not have been my brother by blood, Maggie- But he was still my teammate, my brother, he was still part of my family! Just like you’re part of my family,” I said and she looked down, “Maggie, I know you’re hurting- I know, trust me I do, but you can’t turn to alcohol, you just can’t.”

“Yeah well, when you figure out how to stop the damn flashbacks, then let me know,” she said and snatched the bottle back, “Can’t be at the rink, can’t be on the ice, can’t even watch it on TV. Every time I close my eyes to sleep- Everything is just replaying over, and over, and over, and-“

I pulled her into me and hugged her. She dropped the bottle and I watched it slid down the roof and onto the balcony. I laid my head on top of hers and started to hear her cry against my chest. I rubbed her back and kissed her head, I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to feel all of her pain, but I was able to feel a small part of it.

-Kane-
I was back at the hotel room, lying on my bed waiting to hear from Maggie. Jon was sitting on his bed just looking at me, wondering why I wasn’t out trying to look for her, and to be honest, I was wondering why too. I heard my phone going off on the nightstand and grabbed it quickly to see Maggie calling me.

“Maggie!”

“No,” I head, sounded like Crosby, “It’s Crosby,” he said and I sighed, “I found Mags,” he said and I stood up, “You might want to come over.”

“I’m on my way,” I said quickly and started to grab my shoes and shirt, “Give me a few.”

“All right,” I hung up the phone and then headed out of the room, down to the parking lot, got in the rental car and drove to Maggie’s parents’ house. Her father answered the door and nodded his head towards me before moving out of the way and letting me in, “Maggie?”

“Kane,” I heard and saw Crosby, he nudged his head for me to follow him and I nodded my head and followed him up the stairs and towards a room. I walked in and saw Maggie passed out on the bed, “She drank herself to sleep.”

“What?” I asked confused and Crosby handed me a bottle of vodka that had a few drops left inside of it, “Maggie did this?”

“Yeah, I found her on the roof and she was pretty bad,” he said and I sighed and looked towards Maggie, “I’ll take it that you’ll cover it from here.”

“Yeah, thanks,” I said and then watched as Crosby nodded his head and then turned around and headed out of the room. I sighed and looked towards Maggie, placing the almost empty bottle on the dresser and then walked over towards the bed and sat down in front of her, “Aw, Maggie.”

I kicked off my sneakers and walked into her bathroom, looking through her cabinets for pain pills, but couldn’t find any. I sighed and walked out of the room and headed downstairs to see her parents in the living room.

“Is she all right?” Mrs. Marshall asked and I sighed.

“Uh, yeah, she’s just sleeping. Do you have pain pills?” I asked and she nodded her head and then got up and disappeared for a few minutes.

“Here some water too,” Mrs. Marshall said as she appeared again with a bottle of Advil and three bottles of water, “I’m assuming that she’ll need it when she wakes up.”

“Uh,” I looked at her awkwardly.

“Don’t worry Patrick, I know my daughter,” she said and I sighed and nodded my head.

I walked back up the stairs with the water and pills and headed into the room. I placed the stuff on the nightstand next to Maggie and then climbed into bed with her. I came up behind her and pushed my chest into her back and wrapped my arms around her. I kissed her head and then listened to her breathing.

‘…With all that alcohol, she’s probably gunna get sick in the morning…’ I thought and then looked towards her attached bathroom and sighed, wondering when she was going to wake up, ‘…I hope she doesn’t keep doing this…’ I thought, not wanting Maggie to turn into an alcoholic.

-Sidney-
I sighed as I walked out of the elevator on our floor and ran my hand through my hair. I heard my name and turned to see some guys walking down the hall.

“Hey, we’re goin’ for some food,” Marc said and I looked at him and nodded my head, “You all right?”

“Yeah,” I said and they looked at me.

“How’s Maggie doing?” James asked and I sighed.

“Honestly,” I said and they nodded their heads, “We’ve gotta figure out new plays because I don’t think she’s coming back this season.”

“That bad?” Pascal asked and I sighed and nodded my head.

“I don’t want to push her since she’s going through this, but we’ll have to do something to make sure she comes back for next season.”

“That might be easier said than done,” Marc said and I nodded my head.

“You have no idea.”