A New Life

-Sean-
“So how did the shrink visit go?” Brayden asks as we’re leaving the showers and changing into our clothes.
“Um. It went... okay? I guess.” I say.
He raises an eyebrow at me.

“Okay, it went good and bad. Good because I finally know what’s going on inside Charlie’s mind. And the doctor knows. And now the two of us can both start helping her.”
“And bad?”
“Bad because I finally know what’s going inside Charlie’s mind. It’s... It’s so bad. It’s heartbreaking. It-” I sigh. “It’s worse than I thought.”

He moves closer towards me, lowering his voice.

“Will she be okay?” He asks.
“I’m not sure.” I admit. “She’s not even excited about it. She’s so scared that something is going to happen and she’ll lose them.”
“Is that a legitimate concern?” He asks.
I press my lips together.
“The farther along we get, the more of a concern it becomes. And the bigger she gets, the more of a concern it becomes. Right now, it’s not that big of a deal. Right now we’re fine. But in the last couple of months, we’ll see how it goes. She’s probably going to be told to stay on bed rest until the end by our next appointment. Definitely by the one after that. The more active she is, the more stress gets put on her uterus.”

He takes a second to pull on his shirt and hoodie, thinking about what I’ve said.

“So how does bed rest work?” He asks.
“She just has to stay in bed all the time. She can get up and go to the bathroom alone, and she can lay on the couch. But I think that’s about it.”
“Damn.” He thinks for a little. “So you’re gonna have to learn how to cook!”
We both laugh as I’m shaking my head.

I throw on my hoodie, which smells like Charlie, and give his shoulder a shove as I make my way out to my car. Not surprising, I’m the first out of practice. I really just want to get home to my wife, though. I throw my bag into my trunk and turn to get into my car.

My blood runs cold and I stop immediately in my tracks. She’s leaning against my driver’s side door, giving me that familiar smirk.

“Sean. How nice to see you.” She purrs.
“Why are you here?” I growl.
“I told you both you weren’t done with me.” She says.
“We have a restraining order that you’re breaking right now.”
“Oh, hun. Don’t you know I don’t give a shit about that kind of thing by now?”
“What do you want?” I ask, hoping like hell that the usual security guard will round the corner at any point now. He has to know we’re out of practice. He has to show up.

She pushes herself off of my car, taking a couple steps towards me. I’m not afraid of her, though. I stand exactly where I am, unwavering.

“I want my life back.” She says. “You and that slut ruined me.”
“Don’t you dare call my wife a slut.” I growl, taking a step forward towards her.
“She’s a slut and you know it. But that’s not the point. I’m here for revenge. Against the two most horrible people in my life.”

My eyes widen and I take half a step backwards before I see the knife in her hand. The afternoon sun glints off of it and before I can process what’s going on, it’s being propelled towards me. I shift to the side, but my reflexes aren’t quick enough. I don’t feel it hit me, but I feel the warm spread of blood along my side.

I hear a loud laugh that I recognize as Hartsy’s and breathe a short sigh of relief. Help is on it’s way.

Her hand pulls back and she moves again towards me. This time I realize it and stick my hand out, grabbing her wrist just in time to stop it. I grip her wrist as tightly as I can and twist it, so she drops the knife on the ground. I kick it away quickly.

I hear a shout and look over, seeing a couple of my teammates heading towards me. I realize my mistake as soon as her fist connects with my jaw. My vision instantly goes blurry and I double over, dropping to my knees on the pavement. I hear more shouts and the sound of feet hitting the pavement. Someone yells for someone else to “stop her” but I can’t figure out who.

“Shit, someone go get doc.” I hear. “He’s bleeding.”
I groan. It’s the only thing I can do.
“Hold on, Couts.”

I open my eyes and see my captain staring at me, worry in his face.

“Who the hell was that? And why the hell are you bleeding?” He asks.

I try my hardest to respond to her, but suddenly I’m having a hard time remembering anything. I can’t seem to remember who she was, and what she wanted. I know she wasn’t a stranger. I know she wanted something specific. But who was she?

Another couple pairs of footsteps come running over and I hear someone curse. A deep voice commands someone else to call for an ambulance. I feel a sharp pain shoot through my side where an older man is now holding a towel to it. What happened?

“He got stabbed.” Someone says, answering my unspoken question. “I found this a couple yards away.”

The familiar redhead is holding a knife in his hand, with blood on it. I’m assuming it’s my blood.

Blood is a funny color. It’s a lot darker than you’d think it would be.

“Couts, you have to talk to us. Tell us what happened.” The older man says. “Who was she? What did she want?”

“I- I don’t remember.” I croak. I’m starting to feel dizzy and my eyes close shut.

“No, no, no. Don’t close your eyes. Stay awake, okay?” He says.
“Okay.” I respond.
“Tell me what you do remember.” He says.
“I-I don’t know.”
“Where are you?” He asks.
“Um...” I think for a second, looking around. “Practice?”
“Good.”
“I can’t remember anyone’s names.” I admit.
“You- no one?” He asks, his eyes wide.

I start to shake my head, but stop almost immediately. The movement makes me dizzy and I feel like I’m going to throw up. I squeeze my eyes shut as tight as they can, fighting off the urge to empty my stomach. I hear someone come up to us.

“Security caught her. They called the police.” The familiar voice says. “I called Charlie and told her what happened. Told her that the ambulance is on it’s way and to meet us there. Janine is on her way to pick her up now.”

Charlie. My heart leaps at the sound of her name. She’s-she’s really important. My girlfriend maybe? But for the love of me, I can’t remember. I can’t even picture her.

“Who was that woman?” The old man asks.
“His mother in law.” The familiar voice responds.