Gamma

Tyler woke up and was confused. He had no idea where he was and why he couldn’t move his leg. “Hey there,” an unfamiliar voice said and he looked over to see a nurse in her late twenties smiling at him. “How are you feeling?”

He tried to think back to what had happened. Suddenly it came rushing back to mind. Savannah going after Conway. Conway shooting at her. Tyler falling and feeling his leg in agony.

He looked down and saw his leg wrapped up in bandages. Fuck. He’d needed surgery on his leg.

He vaguely remembered Savannah saying goodbye as they put him in the ambulance. He looked up at the nurse, whose eyes quickly darted away from his chest. “Is my girlfriend here?” he asked.

She seemed startled by the question. “Uh, I don’t know. I can check. What’s her name?”

“Savannah Decker,” he replied.

“I’ll go check and bring her back if she is,” the nurse obliged.

Tyler sat there waiting. He wasn’t sure if she had come to the hospital or had stayed at work. He wouldn’t be surprised if she was interrogating Conway right now.

He smiled when he saw her walking in behind the nurse. Savannah’s pace picked up when she saw Tyler in the hospital bed and she passed the nurse. “I’ll go get your discharge papers together,” she said to Tyler, who was only half listening as he stared at Savannah. She’d definitely seen better days. “Would you like anything to eat or drink?” the nurse continued from the doorway.

“Uh sure. Whatever you have,” Tyler replied. He reached his hand out for Savannah to come closer to him. The nurse nodded and left the two of them alone. “I wasn’t sure if you’d be at work,” he told her.

“I had to make sure your surgery went well,” she told him. “I’m so so sorry, Tyler,” she said sincerely. He could tell she really was taking this personally. “I never wanted you to get hurt.”

He could see the emotions on her face, something she didn’t show very often. He grabbed her hand. “Now you know how I feel,” he said half-jokingly. “I’m glad you’re here.” His voice still sounded groggy, not quite recovered from anesthesia.

“I was worried. I needed to see you after surgery,” she said.

He squeezed her hand. He could tell she was still worried, a feeling he bet was newer for her. She was used to being fearless. “You know you’re going to have to take care of me now,” he teased.

She smiled at him. “I’m sure there’s already a line of women outside ready to be Tyler Seguin’s nurse,” she retorted.

“You’re the only one I want helping me into bed,” he told her with a sexy grin. She rolled her eyes and he could tell she wasn’t in the mood for flirty banter. “Did you catch Conway?” he changed subjects.

Savannah nodded her head. “Liam took him into the station. I’m gonna go there later and do some questioning.”

“You can go,” he told her. He knew it must have been killing her to be at the hospital and not at the station. But it also meant a lot to him that she was there when he woke up from surgery. He saw her hesitate. “Go,” he urged. “I promise, it’s okay. I can ask that nurse of mine for a ride home,” he joked.

Savannah frowned. “Alex will take you home,” she stated. He looked at her curiously. “Alex and Jamie are out in the waiting room,” she explained.

He wasn’t surprised Alex already knew. And he didn’t really want to know what Jamie would say to him for getting in the middle and ending up injured. He’d avoid talking to him right now.

“Maybe Alex can give me a sponge bath. You know, since she’s seen me naked already,” he joked.

“First you hit on Shea and now Alex. When will you learn not every woman wants you,” she retorted.

He grabbed her wrist. “Except you,” he reminded her. He had a devilish look in his eyes but knew she was focused on other things. “Go to work,” he told her. “Get Conway behind bars and get this drug dealing shit out of the league.”

She nodded her head. “I’ll try my best,” she said.

She was about to cross the room when Tyler reached out for her wrist. “Savannah,” he called, and she turned around. “I love you.”

She stared at him for a moment. “No ‘be careful’?”

He looked her in the eyes. “I know you know that already,” he replied.

She gave him a small smile and started towards the door again. Just as she reached it, she turned around. “Tyler,” she called out his name. He glanced up at her. “I love you, too. And I’ll be back at home tonight to give you your bath. Don’t make any jokes in front of Jamie or he’ll kill you for hitting on his fiancée.”

It took Tyler a few moments to process her words, and she was already down the hallway. “Fiancée!?” he said to no one.

The nurse, who he finally learned was named Julie, walked back in. “Where is your girlfriend?” she asked, a little too eagerly.

“She had to go to work,” he said plainly.

“Well you need an adult to drive you home and watch over you the next twenty-four hours, making sure you’re taking your pain meds properly and are doing overall well after surgery,” she explained. “I get off of work in an hour if you need someone,” she added with a wink. Tyler was unsure if she was trying to be funny or flirty. He didn’t appreciate either. He just wanted to go home.

“My friend Alex Dayton is in the waiting room. Can you get her? She’ll be my adult,” he told her.

Julie’s smile faded slightly but she nodded her head and headed towards the waiting room. Tyler waited impatiently for them to get back, and he soon saw Jamie coming back with Alex.

“Dude, you finally popped the question!?” Tyler blurted out.

Jamie laughed while shaking his head. “Leave it to you to get out of surgery and be your normal pain in the ass,” he joked. “I was hoping you’d be one that anesthesia causes you to be so loopy and saying dumb stuff I could send the guys,” Jamie admitted.

Tyler shook his head. “Nope, totally coherent,” he said emphatically. “So I hear your fiancée is taking me home?” he asked, looking over at Alex. It wasn’t hard to see the large diamond on her finger, and Tyler was proud of Jamie.

“Better watch it, Segs, I’ll be calling Van and telling her to come get you,” Alex warned.

Tyler ignored her and grabbed her hand. “Looks like Cap did a good job,” he commented.

He noticed Alex blush. She never did like all the attention on her. “Yeah, he did a good job,” she smiled, looking over at Jamie. She suddenly seemed to remember that Tyler was coming out of surgery and she returned the attention to him. “But what the hell, Segs? You got yourself so hurt you needed surgery?” she questioned him as if he intentionally broke his leg.

“It’s a long story,” Tyler sighed. He looked over at Jamie. “Okay, get it over with.”

“Get what over with?” Jamie asked.

“The yelling and screaming and telling me I’m an idiot for getting injured before the season started.”

Jamie stared at him. “You know, usually I would say all that. But I know you only got injured because you were trying to help Savannah. And you were helping Savannah because there’s some drug thing going on in the organization. So I can’t fault you for why it happened,” Jamie told him.

Tyler was shocked. Apparently the captain had gone soft after proposing. “What is Nill and Coach gonna say?” he asked. He knew he would get in trouble for having an out of season injury like this that cost him surgery. The organization didn’t stand for dumb stuff like this, and he’d likely be paying a big fine.

Jamie sighed. “Not sure after they find out these kids are doing drugs. Do we know if Tremblay is the only one?”

Tyler shrugged. “Probably not,” he admitted. “I’m sure Savannah is questioning Conway right now about that.”

Suddenly Julie walked in the room, interrupting them. “So which one of you is going to be the adult watching over this man for the next twenty-four hours?” she asked, looking between Jamie and Alex.

“I am,” Alex raised her hand.

“We both are,” Jamie corrected her.

“Hey! Savannah said Alex would watch over me. I want her helping me with my baths, not you,” Tyler told Jamie, who promptly swatted him in the shoulder.

“Watch out, next time it’s gonna be your leg,” Jamie threatened.

Tyler frowned and then looked at Alex. “Tell your fiancé to stop being an asshole,” he crossed his arms over his chest.

Alex laughed. “Jamie, stop being mean.” She then looked over at Julie, who looked amused at the whole scene unfolding in front of her. Tyler had no doubt she would be going home and telling all her friends she had worked with Tyler Seguin and met Jamie Benn. “I will be going back home with Tyler,” she told Julie.

Julie nodded. “Okay, there’s a few things I need to go over with you before you leave then,” she said. Alex agreed as Julie started reading directly off the piece of paper with take home instructions. Meanwhile, Tyler spaced out, hoping Savannah’s interrogation was going smoothly.