Piece by Piece

Sidney stood in the kitchen with Kris, beers in their hands. They laughed as they watched their sons running around the living room, child-size hockey sticks in their hands. Even at 5 and 7, they were both so much like their fathers. Cole was announcing every move he made, Alex following him all the way. Even with all of the drama going on with Rachel, Sidney had to admit that together they had an amazing child. He wouldn’t trade Cole for anything.

Kris cleared his throat and took another swig of his beer, turning towards Sidney. He knew bringing up Rachel would be awkward, but he also knew that Sid would go crazy (and potentially lose focus in their games) if he didn’t talk it out with someone.

“So, how are things with Rachel?”

Sidney sighed and chugged the rest of his beer, placing the empty bottle on the counter.

“Well, you know how Rachel is,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. “You should have seen her when we were in the attorney’s office. She couldn’t wait to get out of there.”

Kris nodded, waiting for him to go on.

“Honestly, if we didn’t have Cole, she’d probably be happy to never see me again. But now she’s stuck with me,” he said with a chuckle, trying to play it off as a joke. But even he couldn’t be fooled.

Kris looked at him with a crooked smile before saying, “Well, what are you going to do about it?”

This time Sidney laughed out loud before responding, “Now you sound like Cole. He practically lectured me on the drive here about how I should fight for her.”

Kris laughed but then became more serious.

“Well, he’s a smart kid. You should fight for her, Sid. You love her, don’t you?”

“Of course, I do. She’s the love of my life.”

“Then why would you let her go without a fight?”

Sidney didn’t have a response. He hadn’t responded to Cole and he couldn’t think of what to say to Kris. They were both right. He needed to at least try to fight for Rachel. He owed her a fight.

They continued to watch Alex and Cole, sipping on beer and discussing their upcoming games. In the silences, Sidney thought about how he was going to convince Rachel to give him one more chance.

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Rachel stopped running and began to catch her breath, using her towel to wipe the sweat off of her forehead. She stood at the edge of the Allegheny River, watching boats sail by and watching the traffic across the water. She sat down on the concrete, legs crossed, and started to stretch. Being an ER nurse was draining, to say the least. She worked long shifts, and each moment outside of the hospital was precious. Not that she didn’t love the job, she did. But she knew that if she had chosen a different career path, she would have never met Sidney. She would have never been in Pittsburgh. It was frustrating how one random decision could have so much power over life.

She was a New York City girl. She lived and breathed Manhattan growing up. Instead of school buses, she rode the subway. Instead of a backyard, she had a balcony. She went through prep school before going to New York University, where she found her love for biology, and eventually, her desire to be a PA. She attended Johns Hopkins for her master’s degree, and when it came time to do clinical rotations, she found herself in the city of bridges. And she never left.

Rachel ran a hand down the smooth material of her charcoal leggings, her light yellow tank top glued to her chest. For a minute, she ignored everything going on around her and tried to forget about all the drama in her life. The only thing she cared about right now was listening to her exhaled breaths and feeling her heart beating in her chest.

She checked her watch and saw that she had only about an hour and a half until she had to be at the hospital. Rachel stood up off of the ground and started to run again, making her way to one of the many bridges in the city. They didn’t call it the city of bridges for nothing. The air was crisp and Rachel loved running over the bridges, seeing the water, running alongside the traffic. It was exciting and relieving. However, as she ran on the path on the bridge, all she could think about was her beginning in Pittsburgh and how the famous Sidney Crosby came into her life.

She had just graduated and had accepted a position in the emergency room at UPMC. She was loving every second of the fast-paced job. It was a pretty quiet night in the emergency room when they got a call that a high profile patient was coming in. Rachel’s best friend at work, Brittany, moved close to her and whispered.

“I heard that it’s one of the Penguins.”

Rachel had a confused look on her face, furrowing her brows as she looked back at Brittany.

“A penguin? What?”

Brittany laughed out loud, getting an angry look from Rachel.

“Seriously, Rach? Do you pay attention to anything that isn’t related to medicine?”

Rachel’s cheeks grew red and she murmured something that sounded like a yes.

“Well, could you fill me in so I don’t embarrass myself again?”

Brittany smiled and affectionately threw her arm around Rachel.

“Listen, Rach. If you’re going to survive in Pittsburgh, you have to get used to a couple of things. We love brunch, pierogies, bridges, and sports. The Penguins are our hockey team.”

Rachel nodded, a look on her face that made it seem like she was making a mental note to remember this.

“Hockey, got it.”

Brittany went to explain some more, but was interrupted by the alarm going off, indicating that the incoming ambulance had arrived. EMTs and people in suits piled into the ER, all crowding around a stretcher. As the people began to disperse, the nurses could see who was occupying the stretcher. Hushed squeals could be heard from the staff standing around.

They were all standing still, no one moving towards the stretcher. Rachel moved towards Brittany, whose mouth was wide open.

“What is it? Why is everyone freaking out?”

Brittany started mumbling incoherently, and Rachel grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her lightly.

“Britt!”

Brittany shook her head and looked at Rachel.

“Right. That’s Sidney Crosby. He’s the captain of the Pens. He’s like, the best player in the entire NHL.”

Rachel watched as nurses still held back from helping, clearly starstruck. She knew she had to make a quick decision and ran over to where the EMTs were. She grabbed a flashlight from her pocket and lifted Sidney’s eyelids, turning to the EMT in charge.

“Concussion?”

The EMT nodded and filled her in.

“Bodychecked into the boards, he’s been in and out of consciousness.”

Rachel nodded and added notes to the chart.

“We’re going to need a neuro consult, and at least a CAT scan.”

She turned around and saw her coworkers staring at her. Rachel sighed and flipped Sidney’s chart closed. Crossing her arms as she looked at the dumbfounded nurses.

“Can I get some help here? I know you’re all in love with the NHL star, but do you really want to be the ones responsible for possible brain damage?”

The nurses ran over, assisting Rachel by paging the Head of Neurology and taking Sidney away for the CAT scan. Before he was pulled away, Sidney reached out for Rachel.

“I owe you for helping me out here.”

Without taking it to heart, Rachel laughed and put her hands in her pockets.

“Alright, that’s the concussion talking. I’ll see you after the scan.”

Sidney got rolled away and Rachel couldn’t help but smile. Even she couldn’t deny that he was nice to look at.

Rachel stopped outside of her house and checked her watch again. An hour until she was back in that very spot, the place where her life changed forever. She sighed and ran inside, getting into the shower to wash away the sweat. If only memories could be washed away, too.