Break Noses, Not Hearts • andrei svechnikov

V

Before the morning skate back home at PNC Arena, I had the unfortunate reality of doing my job and evaluating Andrei for his progress on his broken nose and concussion, which meant I had to arrive at the rink early.

I got out of my car, an iced caramel latte from Starbucks in my hand, and grabbed my backpack before tossing it over my shoulder.

Not long later, Andrei pulled into the parking lot in his sleek, shiny blue Malibu and in the parking spot next to where my car was parked.

So I wasn't the real bitch that I can be, I patiently waited outside of my car for Andrei to step out so we could walk into the arena together.

"Isn't it a little cold to be wearing shorts and a T-shirt?" I asked him as he stepped out of his car and opened the door behind the driver's seat to grab his hockey bag.

He glanced up at me and rolled his eyes. "Maybe for you," he giggled, tossing the bag over his shoulders, "this is warm compared to Russia."

He shut the back door and locked his car. We began walking to one of the back entrances to the arena, usually for the players, coaches, and other personnel that had permission to enter.

As we were walking side-by-side to the entrance, I felt Andrei's fingers slip between mine and he curled his fingers in between the openings of each finger.

I looked at him, eyes nearly widening as he was smiling back at me.

"Andrei...," I said as we were stopped in the middle of the parking lot, "we shouldn't be holding hands. Somebody could be watching."

Andrei glanced over his shoulder, then back at me. "Nobody's here yet. It's just you and I, and I haven't seen you in forever," he responded as his smile faded into more of a neutral expression.

I slipped up a small smile. "It's been a week and a half, Andrei," I told him, just in case he didn't know how long I was actually gone for.

"Yeah, a week and a half that went by without you," he said with a brief frown.

I stuck out my bottom lip. "Awh," I answered as I smiled again and curled my fingers against his, "I missed you too, Drei. Hopefully you'll be back on the ice for tonight against the Wild."

He chuckled as we continued walking to the entrance. "Tell me about it. It's boring sitting at my house doing nothing," he said.

I giggled as we approached the entrance and we let go of holding hands. Andrei opened the door for me, and I entered the building.

We headed down the hall and into one of the evaluation rooms.

Andrei set his hockey bag next to him on the bench and sat down. Meanwhile, on the other hand, I had set my backpack on the counter and went through my things for a thorough examination of his nose and concussion.

After putting on some blue latex gloves, I grabbed my necessary tools and walked over to the bench, setting the stuff down next to Andrei. I grabbed the little flashlight so I could see into his eyes for any updates on his vision from the concussion he suffered.

I put my hand on his forehead and tilted his head back. I put the light into his eyes, of course straining from the bright light into his deep, dark brown eyes.

"Have you noticed anything getting better?" I asked him as I turned the light off and set it back down with my other equipment.

He shrugged. "I mean, my nose isn't purple anymore. Plus there's no more bump," he said as he pointed to my nose.

I nodded my head, then gently put my fingers on the bridge of his nose. "It looks a lot better than when I left for the road trip," I told him. "You're a fast healer,"