Status: drip feed updates slower than an IV.

Master of Timing

times like these.

The first thing she heard was the shouting. It was coming from everywhere, all around her, but she couldn't make out any words. Everything was muffled and distorted—except for the ringing in her ears, which was constant and irritating like nails on a chalkboard. That, along with the shouting and sounds of pounding that she couldn't identify, made her want to cover her ears and pretend it wasn't happening.
 
The next thing she knew was that she was stuck. She literally could not move. Blinking her eyes open, it didn't take long to figure out why. Her seat had somehow been shoved forward, leaving her tightly wedged between it and the steering wheel, which she was slumped over with the top edge of the wheel pressed to her forehead.
 
Lyndsey knew she shouldn't move. She knew she should wait for help, wait until there were people to pull her from the car safely, but knowing that wasn't enough when all she wanted to do was get out. She wanted to move, she wanted fresh air, she wanted the noise and static and pain that she knew hadn't hit her yet to just stop. She needed to breathe. She needed out. 
 
Fingers wrapping around the steering wheel, she pushed herself back just enough to lift her head. Pain exploded in her brain, so intense that she had to stop, her own voice reaching her ears as she cried out. Breathing faster, tears of pain and frustrating welling behind her eyes and tightening her throat, she clenched her teeth—damn it, even that hurt—and dropped her head back down to close her eyes. She'd try again in a minute.
 
"Ma'am?"
 
Something was touching the side of her neck. Fingers, checking for a pulse. She could feel her heart pounding in her ears, hard, too fast it almost hurt and she wanted to tell whoever was touching her to make the pain stop but when she opened her eyes, she saw nothing but yellow.
 
Firemen, she realized. They were working to get her out. As the cool morning air hit her, she closed her eyes to the chaos, ignored the face peering at her through the broken window. She tried to make herself breathe but the pain in her head and her chest was too heavy and she couldn't breathe and all she wanted to do was throw up. She wished she didn't want to throw up. She really wished she was still unconscious.  
 
"Ma'am? Ma'am, can you hear me?" Fingers brushing her hair away from her face, there was a brief moment of silence and then, "Oh fu—Lyndsey?"
 
She knew that voice. Lyndsey opened her eyes and blinked. Her vision was double but she knew that face.
 
"Sara?" A paramedic who she frequently saw coming through her ER with patients, and who always stopped to chat and catch up if they both had a few extra minutes. She'd always been one of her favourites; with a wicked sense of humour, a foul mouth to match but a lisp that most people found adorable, Lyndsey always wondered how someone could look so gorgeous and put together even when shit was hitting the fan. But now Sara's face was full of shock and concern as she bent and reached inside the car. 
 
"Lyndsey, it's okay," Sara was saying, like she was trying to reassure both of them. 
 
"Out." Lyndsey's voice sounded strange, even to her ears, and she focused on all four of Sara's pretty green eyes. "I need—Sara, I need out."
 
"I know, I know, you will be. The boys are working on it, but right now I need to—"
 
"Please." Her grip tightening painfully around the wheel, she tried to take a deep breath and couldn't. "I need—I can’t—“
 
"You'll be okay."
 
"No, no, I feel sick—"
 
"No, you don't. You're just fine, just take some big deep breaths for me. Can you do that?"
 
Lyndsey nodded, following Sara's coaching and pulling in a slow, deep breath through her nose before letting it out through her mouth. In and out, again and again until the nausea and panic ebbed just a little. 
 
"Better?" Sara waited for her to nod before she continued, "Good. Just a few more minutes, okay? What I need to do now is put this collar around your neck, Lyndsey, and I need you to stay completely still for me. You can do that." 
 
Cervical collar. Because having another reason to feel like she couldn't move or breathe was so welcome. She didn't want it. She wanted to get out of the car and if they'd just let her, she'd be fine. Why couldn't they—
 
Stop. Breathe.
 
She knew she needed the collar. She knew it was necessary to keep her neck straight and protect any injuries in her spine, so she clenched her eyes and jaw and forced herself to stay silent when the movement jarred her aching head. 
 
After one more brush of her hair and promise that she'd be out soon, Sara stepped back to let the firemen do their job. 
 
Lyndsey had no idea how these situations were supposed to work. She'd never seen someone be extricated from a car before but thought it went pretty quick and smooth, all things considered, and soon found herself on a board and being carefully lowered to a stretcher. 
 
She knew she was on a spine board. She could feel the stiff, unforgiving plastic beneath her body, curled her fingers over the edges as she felt the slow trickle of something wet down the side of her face. She'd forgotten about the blood. 
 
"Hi gorgeous." 
 
Tony was grinning down at her, his big bald head blocking the sun from her eyes. He was big; nearly six four and built like a brick house, Lyndsey often wondered if he had to get his uniform specially tailored to fit his burly frame. Add that to his rough, tenor's voice and the tattoos that coloured his arms and the sides of his neck, it was a wonder he didn't have every single patient that made it to the back of his truck in a terrified stupor. That being said, she knew he was a teddy bear under all that and loved seeing his no-nonsense face light up when talking about his two little girls. 
 
She wanted to smile at him. She wanted to say hi, to thank him because shouldn't she thank him for being there? She liked him and wanted him to know and opened her dry lips to speak.
 
"I'm bleeding."
 
"I can see that." His smile was gentle. It made her want to cry. "We'll get you fixed up but right now we need to see your back."
 
She kept quiet while he and two firemen carefully rolled her to her side, another holding her head steady so Sara could assess her back and ask the necessary questions. Yes, she lost consciousness but she didn't know how long. Yes, she had pain everywhere. She kept her eyes open for the light and followed it, squeezed Sara's fingers tight as she could, moved her feet. It went on and on and now she knew what it felt like to be on the other side and it fucking sucked.
 
They secured her to the board with belts over her knees, hips and the last one over her chest, a few inches below her armpits. That one made her wince, a sound of pain escaping her before she could stop it.
 
They were ready to go. Lyndsey waved one hand and thanked the men who wished her good luck and then Tony and Sara were lifting her stretcher into the back of the ambulance and under the overhead lights. They were bright, too bright and she closed her eyes. 
 
"So." 
 
Hearing Sara's voice, she cracked her eyes open and glanced to the right. She couldn't see her, the collar kept her from turning her head even a hair, but she felt the blood pressure cuff being wrapped around her upper arm and waited for Sara to continue. 
 
"Can you tell me what happened?"
 
While Tony started an IV to her left arm, she told them what she remembered—which wasn't much. She couldn't even guess how long she'd been unconscious for. Tony assumed it hadn't been for too long considering the accident had happened a couple blocks away from one of the stations, though it would have taken them at least a few minutes to get there. 
 
"You've got an impressive scratch, I'll say that much." Tony teased, leaning over to better inspect the left side of her forehead. Whistling, he shook his head before disappearing from her sight altogether to sit back down and finish securing her IV with tape. "You'll have a few stitches, for sure."
 
Oh good. Scarring on her stupid face. Just what she needed.
 
"You said you were going for breakfast?"
 
"Hash browns," she mumbled, sighing before her eyes shot open with a gasp that ended with a groan of pain.
 
"Hey hey, take it easy," Tony coached, one hand on her shoulder to keep her steady. "What's the problem?"
 
Claire. Claire and Brent were expecting her back any minute, maybe they'd even tried to call her, she didn't know how long she'd been gone and her cell phone...oh God. Oh god oh God oh God.
 
Sidney.
 
“My phone,” She panicked, trying to move her hands, even though she knew it was useless against the restraints from the spine board. “Sara-”

“Where?” Sara was already feeling down the sides of her legs, but no. It wasn’t in her pockets.

“It’s in my car, I need- I was on a call.” She cut herself off before she started to really hyperventilate, the tight band across her chest digging into her skin through her shirt tightly. Tony’s gentle voice to her left calmed her slightly, but only just. “Please, I- he’ll worry-”

“We’ll let the guys know, okay? They’re still at the scene, the police will probably bring all the possessions to the hospital.”

Lyndsey knew that would probably be the case, but it didn’t make her feel any better about the situation. Her head was aching, the bright lights in the back of the ambulance doing nothing against the heavy pounding in her skull, each thump in time with her rapidly increasing heartbeat. She knew she couldn’t ask to get up, or for the straps to be loosened, and she didn’t even realise she was crying until Sara’s gloved hand was wiping her cheek.

“Everything hurts,” She whimpered, closing her eyes tightly from how pathetic she sounded.

“I know it does, sweetie. I’m going to put this mask on you for a minute or so, okay? It’s got the good stuff in it, that pain should ease up soon.” The plastic was placed over her nose, Sara instructing her to just breath normally while she monitored her blood pressure. Tony had started driving - Lyndsey didn’t even notice him get out the back of the ambulance and close the doors - so the bumps in the road jolted her slightly. She tried not to groan.

Sara was right - the happy gas was doing its best working through her system. She felt like she’d only taken one blink before the doors of the van were opening and she was being wheeled out on the gurney. She’d never had an opportunity to look at the roof of the ER before.

“What have we got?”

The speed at which the medical team was moving her bed through made the lights above her blur together, so Lyndsey just shut her eyes completely, the rolling motion making that nauseous feeling return.

“Restrained driver in an mvc, airbag didn't deploy. Positive head injury with loss of consciousness, unknown amount of time-”

“Jesus Christ.” That made her eyes open. It was general protocol that you didn’t interrupt when the incoming paramedic was letting the ER team know what had happened. Then - “Lyndsey, what the hell.”

“Where should-”

“Trauma, room three. Go.”

The bed turned, Lyndsey recognised that she was being moved away from the triage area to a private room. Great. At least there was actual walls and door to block out any noise she’d make if they made her move.

Sara continued. “Looks like her head took the brunt of the wheel, then the window. Obvious laceration to forehead, no c spine tenderness but collar is on for precaution. Narcs on board for pain control. Bp 147/92, heart rate 145.”

“On my count. One, two, three.”

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t keep the loud gasp that erupted from her chest quiet, the left side of her torso screaming out in pain as they moved the spine board from the ambulance gurney to the bed in the trauma room. People were buzzing around her, all voices that she knew but for the life of her couldn’t match up to their faces. She felt dizzy.

“She was complaining of minor pain on her left side, so X rays might be needed.”

“It’s not minor,” She muttered, trying to keep her voice steady.

Sara brushed her bangs back off her forehead, avoiding the cut that was still slightly bleeding above her left eye. “You hang tight, okay? I’ll let the desk know to bring your things to you.”

“I’ll keep an eye out.”

Jackie's voice came through the chaos a moment before her face appeared above Lyndsey's. She looked both alarmed and worried at the same time but still she smiled, all motherly and reassuring as she brushed her hair away from her bloody forehead with a gloved hand. Lyndsey didn't know if it was the gentle action or the pain from being transferred from the EMS stretcher to the hospital's but dumb tears slid out the corners of her eyes and down her temples.



"Oh sweetie, you're gonna be just fine," Jackie murmured, brushing the tears away. "Let's have a look and then you and I will have a chat, okay?" 



"Okay but Jackie, my-"



"I guess I need to start believing my nurses when they say one of our girls is being rolled in. Miss Lyndsey, let's see what you've done to yourself."
 


Aaron Malcolm was one of the younger ER physicians, mid 30's with a young family of his own. He treated the other doctors and nurses more like friends than coworkers while still maintaining a professional, no nonsense front. It was his sarcastic sense of humour that made Lyndsey like him from the beginning and hearing it even now was somehow comforting.



They went through the same assessment process that she'd assisted with dozens and dozens times. The doctor pressed his hands to her hips, squeezing to assess for any dislocations or fractures in her pelvis. Then the nurses turned her to her side, something called a "log roll" because each person placed their hands on one side of her body in a hand over hand way and rolled her without making her move even an inch on her own, another person placed their hands on either side of her head and neck to protect her spine while the doctor prodded all along her back for signs of pain, tenderness or numbness. The whole thing was damn uncomfortable but nothing seemed too alarming.
 


Jackie checked her pupils and her vision. Lyndsey saw four fingers in front of her face but guessed when her friend said nothing that she was wrong. She answered the questions put to her; her full name and birthday, where she was, but she couldn't remember the exact date--she didn't always know that though, so she didn't know if she should be worried or not. She couldn't remember what happened exactly when she'd been hit or even immediately after and wondered out loud if anyone had called her mom.

“I heard Sara saying she’d used her cell to call someone,” A voice from down near her feet piped up. Lyndsey couldn’t see.

She also didn’t remember Sara being on her phone. She had been pretty good at making sure Lyndsey wasn’t losing her mind.

Assuring her that someone would call her family in a few minutes, Aaron started listing off orders for tests. "I want a head CT and full upper body X-rays, all on c-spine. Someone call radiology, I want her down there ASAP."

"Already done." When had Danny shown up?

"Jackie, I've left the orders on the counter for you. I'll see you soon," Aaron added that last part to Lyndsey, and she felt him squeeze her ankle before the heavy trauma room door swung open and closed.

After a few more moments the room went silent. Lyndsey thought that they'd all left her alone in the room until someone took her hand.

"It's just you and me," Jackie assured her, smiling down at her once more. "How's the head?"

"Exploding. And I have to pee."

“Well, if you really need to go, I’m sure there’s some intern around here somewhere I can make clean the sheets.”

Lyndsey tried to laugh, the groaned when it sent shooting pain through her rib cage. She still couldn’t move her arms.

“Okay, don’t make the patient laugh. Nursing 101.”

She could see Jackie smirk and shake her head, setting her clip board aside before putting her hands on her hips.

"Aaron gave some orders for meds for your headache but you're probably nauseated too." She waited for an answer but when Lyndsey stayed quiet with her eyes closed, Jackie squeezed her fingers. "What do you need?"

"I need Sidney." The words were out before she even thought about it and just like that, she was crying. Helpless ugly crying because she couldn't raise her hands to cover her face, with tears running down her cheeks and gasping breaths. Just to add insult to injury she was so damn cold she couldn't stop shivering and it did nothing to help her aching muscles.
 
She was in shock.

The words tumbled out of her mouth, most of them running into each other to create some complete jumbled mess that even she couldn’t understand. Everything had been taken care of so quickly, yet she felt like it had only been 2 minutes since she was on the phone, her stomach rumbling at the thought of breakfast. His voice sounded so soothing, that sleepy, deep tone it took when he was tired or had just woken up. She wanted to hear it then, wanted him there even if it was just to hold her hand. He could make her feel so much better, she knew it.



Jackie spread a warm blanket over Lyndsey, tucking the ends gently around her shoulders. "Do you have your cell phone?"

"No, it's somewhere in my car. Probably shattered to shit." She tried to laugh but it came out like a half squeaked sob and she squeezed her eyes shut, silently willing herself to get it together. She was doing nothing but embarrassing herself—not that Jackie cared about her emotions and Lyndsey knew it was all shock but still. She was a bloody mess.



"Well do you remember his number?"



"No." Still she thought about it, frowning as she tried to pull his number from her memory. It made her brain hurt. "No, I can't remember."
 
Humming in thought, Jackie rubbed her hand. "I guess we'll just have to wait until you get your phone back. Or until you remember."
 
"No, Jackie, you don't understand. He—I was talking to him."
 
"When?"
 
"In the car. I was driving, I had the call on speaker through the car, you know how that works, and when I was hit he—I think. I think he heard."
 
"Oh my God."



"I don't know what he heard but I think..." Had she imagined hearing his voice before blacking out? Maybe she had. Her own memory clearly couldn't be trusted just then. Maybe he hadn't heard anything at all, maybe the call had been cut off and she'd just imagined hearing his voice saying her name because she'd hit her head too hard. But if he had heard...Her anxiety rose again and she gripped Jackie's fingers. "Oh my God, Jackie, he—"

The door swung open suddenly, Jackie looking away from her and giving whoever it was her ‘everything is fine’ smile. Lyndsey recognised it as the one she gave to family members. Which-

“Oh, Lyndsey.”

“Mom?” She looked around - a pointless exercise when all she could see was the ceiling - but then suddenly Lorraine’s face was above hers, a worrying frown upon her features. “Mom,” She sobbed, closing her eyes and breathing in when Lorraine bent down to kiss her forehead gently, letting her know that she was okay, she was going to be okay.

“I’m sorry about the car.”

Lorraine shushed her, squeezing her fingers in one hand, petting her hair back with the other. “Don’t think about that. Take a few breaths.”

Once Lyndsey had, she heard the door open again. Jackie wasn’t next to her so she didn’t have any clue who it might be.

"So this is where the party is."
 
Lyndsey didn't recognize the voice at first. Well, she did but she couldn't place it until Sara's face appeared above hers, her long brown ponytail falling over her shoulder until she brushed it back.
 
"What are you doing here?"
 
Still smiling, Sara frowned slightly. "You don't remember seeing me earlier?"
 
"I do." Vaguely. "But why are you back?"
 
"I told you that Tony and I were going to go back to your car to see if we could find your things. Don't you remember?"
 
"I...No, I don't."
 
"That's normal," Jackie cut in when Lorraine started to ask more questions. "Most people with concussions will have some lapses in memory. There's no reason to worry right now."
 
"As luck would have it," Sara continued cheerfully. "One of the officers had just pulled your wallet and your cell phone from inside when we got there. No luck on your keys yet though, someone will get in touch with you about those later."
 
"You have my cell phone?" Oh thank God.
 
"I do. It looks okay, a couple cracks on the screen but nothing major. It died about five minutes ago but before that it was going off nonstop. Someone was really trying to get hold of you."
 
She knew without a doubt it was Sidney. Which meant he had obviously heard something and was freaking out.
 
“I’ll go plug it in for a bit,” Jackie offered, smiling when Lyndsey gave her a thumbs up. “Give it half an hour or so.”

“Lyndsey? Oh my God!”

That voice she’d know anywhere. It took all of two seconds before Claire was above her, hair tied back messily, but not looking as dead as she had been when Lyndsey had left her in the bathtub. That felt like a lifetime ago.

“Your mom called - hi Lorraine, oh God - and they were putting your car on the back of the tow truck when I drove by, and I just - I’m sorry,” She sniffled, wiping under her eyes. “I shouldn’t have made you-”

“Dude,” Lyndsey groaned, trying her best to not shake her head. The spine board was more painful at that point than her head. “It was an accident. Please, my head hurts so bad right now-”

“Oh my God, of course. I’ll just…” Claire made a motion to zip her lips, stepping back a little and reaching over to squeeze Lorraine’s hand that was holding Lyndsey’s.

“Well,” Jackie opened the door, appearing above Lyndsey once again. “You’ll have fun reading all those messages, clearly. It buzzed for a good two minutes before I remembered your code to turn it completely silent. The girls at the desk would’ve killed you if it kept going off like that.”
 
"Of course the stupid thing is dead," Lyndsey grumbled. "The universe hates me."
 
Jackie chuckled. "It should be charged enough for you to use it by the time you get back from radiology. If not, we'll just grab his number and you can borrow mine. No big deal."
 
"Are you talking about Sidney?" Claire asked.
 
"She was on the phone with him when the accident happened," Jackie murmured, making a sound of agreement when Claire cussed. Loudly.
 
"I need to call him."
 
"Shouldn't you be worrying about yourself right now?" That was Lorraine, the question light and hesitant but immediately bringing tension.

“I am,” Lyndsey retorted, quiet but strong. “I was on the phone with him when that car hit me.”

“You were using your phone?!”

“No, Mom.” Lyndsey groaned, wishing more than ever she could move her arms, even if it was to just get her Mom to let go of her hand. “I was using the bluetooth.”

She didn’t miss the way her mom huffed, muttering something under her breath. She didn’t have the strength to deal with it. Her head was still throbbing, the pain relief from inside the ambulance wearing off. Her side was really beginning to ache, and every part of her that was touching the spine board was screaming for relief. Especially since Lyndsey knew just how comfortable the bed underneath the board was, in comparison.

She drifted for the next hour or so. Claire and her Mom had quiet conversations while she managed to close her eyes against the sounds of the room and the harshness of the lights. She couldn’t have been out for more than a few minutes at a time, and as much as she wanted to kill Jackie, she knew why she kept waking Lyndsey up. If she was concussed, sleep was the worst thing for her.

The X rays and CT scan were all done in the one hit, but she knew the results wouldn’t be back straight away. Especially if radiology was busy. So the only thing she could do was wait. Wait for results. Wait for a doctor. Wait to finally be able to use the bathroom.

She kind of hoped that she was going to be given the chance to eat something as well. The tequila wasn’t going to be cooperative for that much longer.

While she waited, Aaron came back to let her know that she should probably get comfortable for the day, that he wasn’t going to let her go home until he was one hundred percent certain she was okay. Claire volunteered to go get her some clothes, even though Lyndsey kind of wished it was her Mom that went, just so that she’d have something else to do besides worry about her only daughter lying on a hospital bed.

*


“Hello?”

He gave it a few more seconds, but eventually Sidney pulled the phone away from his face, frowning when he saw that the call had disconnected. He hadn’t heard anything from her after she had told him she was getting food and wondered if maybe her battery had died or the bluetooth in her phone had cut out. He sent her a quick text to say that he was going to go back to sleep but that he’d try and call her on the bus to the game.

Waking up from his nap didn't make the unease in his stomach feel any better. Lyndsey still wasn't answering her phone, but he didn't want to leave a voicemail just in case he was over reacting and making himself look like an idiot.

It didn't stop him from being distracted, however. It took him a few minutes of walking around his hotel room gathering what he'd need for the game to realise that his shoes were on the wrong feet.  He needed to get it together: they were playing the Rangers and Sidney knew he needed to be on his game in order to lead his team to come out with two points. There was no way he was going back to Pittsburgh without the W.

Despite his aloofness, he was the first one besides management in the lobby, waiting by the conference rooms until he was told the bus was ready to pick them up. He was too busy frowning at his phone, willing Lyndsey to contact him back, to notice Pascal walk up to him. He jumped when Duper slapped him on the back.

"Whoa," Pascal muttered, in lieu of an apology. "You don't need to put the focus face on just yet, Cap."

Sid lifted one side of his face into a half smile, clicking his phone to the black screen before sliding it into the breast pocket of his jacket, leaning back against the wall, fiddling with his ever present water bottle.

Pascal frowned, looked around to check no one was coming to join the conversation and leant forward, quietly to ask "Is everything okay?"

Sidney nodded once, sighing a little before looking up from the view of his feet, trying for stoic and probably missing by a mile. Next to Flower, Duper probably knew him the best. Regardless of what is said about men not being able to read emotions, Sidney knew he was an open book.

"Alright," Pascal sighed, leaning back against the wall. "You just sit there and stew, then."

Sidney rolled his eyes, checking his phone again even though he knew he hadn't felt it vibrate. The bus was pulling into the valet bay, the few coaching staff and management getting their things together to jump on board. Sid started to move away, but pascal's hand on his arm made him stop.

"You ready for tonight?"

It wasn't the question he thought he was going to be asked, but Sidney took the lead for what it was: a change of topic, something pascal knew for sure wasn't the reason the captain was all dark and stormy before a regular season game against the better of the New York teams.

"As long as we keep them off the power play, we should be alright."

"Well," Duper thumped him on the shoulder, bending down to pick up his backpack. "Chanel all of this into a goal or two, eh?" He tapped his temple and left his captain with a nod, wrestling a Oli into a noogie as he fought to step through the bus doors first. Sidney made to check his phone once more, but catching a questioning raised eyebrow from Tanger, he ignored it, getting his mind game ready.

Everything was probably fine. Lyndsey could wait.

*


"He's reading you man, I'm telling ya."

"Fucking King," He spat, throwing the Gatorade bottle he was drinking out of back in front of him. Kessel reached behind him to chat to a trainer and the next thing Sidney knew, there was whiteboard pushed into his line of vision. 

"We'll get it. Just get the puck to me at the next face off and we'll get it. Five hole, backhand." Phil's eyes were bright, flicking between the man in front of him, the game on the ice and the board in his hands. "Yeah?"

"Be at the blue line," Sidney answered, reaching for his gloves when his helmet was tapped, his name called out to signal he was next over the boards at the line change. They were in the second half of the third period. Even though the Penguins held the one goal lead, he wouldn't settle until the final buzzer rang or at least an insurance goal was scored.

In a perfect world, everything Phil said would have worked out fine. He was at the blue line and Sid did get him the puck but that was about as good it was going to get.

The next thing he knew, he was being slammed head first into the boards, someone tripped over his skates trying to tangle someone else up in a fight and Kunitz was in front of his face, trying to get his attention.

"I'm good, I'm good," he grumbled, pushing down on his hands to get up. There was still 7 minutes left. He didn't feel hurt, just a little winded and a bit disorientated. Which would happen to anyone had they been shoved into a immovable object.

“C’mon man, I’ll help you back.”

"No, I'm fine," he insisted, pushing away from the Chris’ helping hand and heading towards the bench. Mike was already leaning over the board with his hand up, leaning down to speak in his ear once Sidney was close enough. "Coach-"

"Back to the rooms, Cros. You know the drill."

There was someone pulling at his arm, another patting him encouragingly on the back. He gave up, waiting until he was walking down the tunnel to throw his stick against the wall. The anger coursing through him came out of nowhere but he didn't want to try and justify it. He had no idea who had hit him. It didn't even matter at that point, he just wanted to be out on the ice. 

He sat through the concussion checks, watching the game on the TV in the trainers room while they poked and prodded and eventually decided that he was fine but wasn't going to return to the game. He stood up off the table to pace back and forth as the clock wound down to zero, angry at himself for not being able to be happy that they'd just won, for letting petty things get in his way of having a good time. It was the last game of a road trip, he was going home and getting out of the city he didn't have a taste for- even if he was playing the Islanders at CONSOL in less than 24 hours.

"Fuckin' right boys!" Kuni threw the locker room doors open with a shout, the resounding cheers from Sidney's team mates reaching his ears as he haphazardly threw his elbow pads into his duffel under his stall. "How's that for ya, Cappy?"

"Nice work on that rebound there, nice work." Sid ignored the jostling of his shoulders from Chris' arm wrapped around them, accepting the pats on the head from those around him once they saw that he was okay. The locker room was loud- everyone in a rush to pack their gear away and get back to the hotel so that they could head to plane and get back home. Murray got the helmet, claps coming from everyone in the room, some giving a standing ovation to their saviour between the pipes. He accepted it with a bashful grin and wave, nodding his head once at Sidney, who managed a grin back.

"So, that fix your panties?"

"Huh?"

Pascal hit him with his soaked under armour before tossing it into his duffel, stinking and gross. "Whaddya mean 'huh'. The stick that was up your ass at the hotel."

"I didn't have..." Sidney trailed off, nearly falling over in his skates as he reached for the top shelf of his visitor room locker, swiping up his phone. 

He had a message.

He actually had a few messages.

"Fucking finally."

Pascal laughed at him. "Awwwh, Cappy's missed his girlfriend," he teased, his laughter falling away when he saw the look of shock of his friends' face. "Sid?"

He stared at his phone, the words on the screen making his heart race. He took a step back, tripping over the handle to his duffle but catching himself when Duper and Oli reached out to grab him, a trainer turning around to watch the commotion.

What's the matter?” Pascal immediately switched the French, Marc-Andre looking over his shoulder, Kris stepping closer to pay attention as well.

"Lyndsey's been in a car accident," he rushed, already calling her cell and pushing his team mates away, ignoring their voices when they yelled out to him.

He knew that something was wrong. He hadn't been able to shake the feeling all day.

He had to find somewhere quiet. 

Sidney?

"Lyndsey! Jesus, are you okay?" He was half stripped of his gear, hockey shorts to his skates covering the lower part of his body but he didn't care. "I fucking knew something had happened this morning. What's going on? Are you at the hospital?" Sidney paced up and down, looking back to the locker room to see Duper ushering half of the team back inside. Sidney already knew the flight home was going to be painful.

Uhm, hi. This isn't actually Lyndsey,” a foreign voice spoke back to him, making him stop pacing.

"Who is this?"

My name is Jackie, I work with Lyndsey.”

Jackie. He knew of the name. So at least it was someone that Lyndsey trusted. Hopefully someone he could get straight answers from. "What's going on, is she okay?"

By that point, Coach had come out of the room and was making his way down the hall, the look of concern evident on his face. Sidney shook his head slightly and continued to pace back and forth, his skates making a dull 'thud, thud, thud' against the rubber mat in the hall.

She's got a few bumps and bruises and we're waiting on results from a CT scan-

"A CT scan?" He panicked, Mike resting her hand on Sidney's shoulder in alarm. "How- how bad of an accident was it?" Any kind of scans were never good, he was one to know. And if someone else besides Lyndsey was answering her phone, that must have meant that she was really hurt. He felt sick to his stomach, feeling beside him for a chair or something to sit down on.

"Sid, talk to me here," Mike chimed in, helping lower his captain so that he could sit on the ground. A trainer was walking over, but Sidney just waved him off - it wasn't the hit that was making him feel like he was on a roller coaster.

"Can I talk to her?" He spoke into the phone, taking the cup of gatorade that appeared out of no where. Sidney glanced up quickly; he could see the equipment managers starting to move hockey bags out onto the trolley, some of the boys already done with the gear, well and truly into showering and getting their suits back on. Sid could feel himself getting cold. He hadn't grabbed a shirt to put on before he picked up his phone, and the hallway wasn't doing his bare chest any favours. When Jackie told him to wait a minute, she was going to see what she could do, he pulled the phone away from his ear to speak to his coach. "Mike, sorry. I'm fine," He turned to the trainer, pushing a intrusive hand away from his neck. "Really, it's- my girlfriend, she's been in an accident and I-"

"You're seeing someone?" Mike interrupted with surprise, completely ignoring the more important part of the sentence.

"I- yeah. It's, that's not-" He huffed, checking to see if Jackie had managed to put Lyndsey on, but all he could hear was general hospital noises, nothing of substance. "I'll just... Let me see if I can talk to her," He implored, completely understanding why he couldn't hold everyone up. "She's- it's complicated, but she doesn't live in Pittsburgh, I can't go see her-"

Mike waved his hand and nodded, standing up from where he was crouching down next to Sid. "Okay, do what you've gotta do. I'll hold the bus for an extra five minutes or so."

"Thank you," Sidney uttered, hearing Jackie call out his name through the receiver. "Yeah, hi. I'm here."

Okay, you and I both know that she won't listen to me when I say she can only talk to you for 2 minutes, so I need you to be the adult for this conversation, okay? She's got some pretty strong pain meds going through her system, and she's already pretty emotional as it is, so just…” Sidney heard the woman sigh on the other end of the line but found himself nodding, regardless of the fact that she couldn't see him. “She knows there's not much you can do from your side of things but she's worried about you being worried about her, so if you could calm her down; her Mom would appreciate it. Okay?

"Yeah," He cleared his throat. "Yeah, of course. I just want to make sure she's okay."

Okay then. I'm going into her room, hang on a second.” Sidney took a deep breath and looked up when he heard voices, pushing himself to standing when he saw Kris walking over with clothes, telling him to get changed and that he'd wait for his gear to take back to pack away for him. Sidney really did have the best teammates imaginable, no question. He turned around to find he had been resting on a door to a training room, thankful for the 'Exit' sign light above his head that he didn't have to try and find a light switch as he hurriedly tugged at his skate laces.

Hello?

Her voice sounded small, and in pain, and it made him stop completely, the lace falling from his fingers as he stood up to his full height and readjusted the phone against his ear. "Hi baby, are you feeling okay?" He wasn't sure why he hadn't expected it, but the instant he heard her voice wobble and try to say that she was okay through her tears, he frowned at the carpet. Jackie had asked him to calm her down, but the first thing he says just made her cry.  He felt like an asshole. "No, no Lynds, don't do this okay? It's fine, don't get yourself all worked up over nothing."

He heard her sniffle as he stripped the rest of his gear off as quickly as possible, kicking his shorts and pads to the side as he slid his sweats on one handed. He pressed the speaker button so that he could put his shirt on properly and gather everything off the ground, handing it out the door that Tanger was holding open, taking the clothes with a smile and a quick nod before disappearing altogether. Sidney sighed, taking a few steps so that he could sit down on a massage table, running his fingers through his sweaty hair.

I just, I don't know how it happened- and, I- you were on the phone and I knew you had a game but my phone died so, so I coul-couldn't let you know anything-

Sidney cut her off, stopping that panic attack before it could really happen. "Lyndsey, stop. That is completely irrelevant, kay? Don't even think about the game or me or whatever. Who's with you?"

My mom's here and Jackie an- and Claire,” She hiccuped, putting him to ease a little, glad that someone was with her if he couldn't be.

Which he knew was ridiculous; of course she had a support network there, her entire family and life was in Edmonton. He felt stupid for hoping that someone could be there if he couldn't be. "Good," He murmured, knowing that he had to get going, the plane wasn't going to wait just for him, and it was unfair to keep his teammates waiting when they wanted to go home as much as he wanted to fly to Alberta. He clenched his fists in anger, swinging the door open to find the hallway was much busier than what he expected. A few of the guys looked at him with concern, but he brushed past them to head back to the locker room.

I’m sorry- I didn't... I made you worry.

"Don't." He tried to be as forceful with the one word as he could, while still trying to make it sound like he cared. "You just focus on feeling better, alright? I've gotta go, but make sure you do everything that the doctors tell you and you let me know when I can call you again, okay? But only once you know for sure that everything is fine."

I want you here,” She replied, so quiet he almost couldn't hear her. He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath before letting her know that he wished he could be there too. He made her promise not to do anything unless Jackie said it was okay, and by then he really had to make moves, hanging up regretfully, telling her that he'd be there if she needed anything. He pushed the door open, heading straight for his stall to start loading up his cell charger and extra things he needed to take back to the hotel into his pockets. His suit was on a hanger, which he just picked up to hang over his arm. He'd deal with it when he had his suitcase.

"Crosby, you good?"

"Yeah," He answered gruffly, nodding at Coach before sliding socks on his feet so that he could put his sneakers on. "Yeah, I'll be right out."

He could feel someone sit next to him, a quick glance to his right telling him it was Marc-Andre, waiting patiently with his hands clasped in his lap. He quietly asked 'Are you okay?' before accepting Sidney's head shake for what it was, waiting for his captain to be done before he helped him up, sliding his own bag over his shoulder before he picked up the hanger carrying Sidney's suit. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Sidney really didn't, not even with one of his oldest friends, because what was the point? His girlfriend was lying in a hospital bed after what sounded like a pretty serious car accident, and he had to go back to Pittsburgh so that he could play a hockey game. Sometimes, things really didn't make sense. And he didn't want to get angry at hockey, at nothing, for no reason. So he shook his head again, not resisting when Flower put an arm around his shoulder, walking the both of them out of the locker room and back down the hallway towards the bus. "Just try and get some sleep on the plane," Flower suggested, quietly into his ear. "I'll fend of the herd."

Sounded like a plan.
♠ ♠ ♠
we now return to your regular scheduled programing.

thanks lyndsey for basically the entire hospital scene. don't worry, there's more to come.

it's been a while that we've checked in on the sidney side of things. and i feel so terrible for making him have such a hard time in this chapter. bring on the summer chapters, full of goodness and cuddles and some beneath the sheets fun times ;)

i totally understand if you don't want to leave any love. i wouldn't either after 84 years between posts.

peace out brussell sprouts xx.