HOCKEY IMAGINES [ UNEDITED ]

#190 - Jake Virtanen - #18 Vancouver Canucks

I never knew what the saying 'throwing yourself into your work' truly meant until I did it after everything that happened between Jake and me. We were together for three and a half years. We were happy, we were in love, and then one day he came home and decided to break my heart. It was weird, it was so unexpected. I knew our jobs weren't ideal for our relationship but we made it work. Jake was playing professional ice hockey, I was studying to become a nurse. Our jobs took us away from each other for long periods of time, but whenever we were together again everything was right and whole, and all those weeks apart never seemed to matter. Jake did use that as an example to why he broke up with me, he said that he didn't have the time to devote himself to me and wanted me to be with someone who was always there. Little did he know that he was the one I want to be with, he was the man I wanted to marry and start a family with.

I tried everything to make him stay with me, to at least reconsider the idea of us breaking up. I cried and begged but nothing seemed to change his mind. It was as if he had already made his mind up before breaking up with me, I wanted to know how long he had been thinking about ending things between us, but he never gave me the chance. A week later and he moved out of our shared apartment, and that's when I threw myself into my work. I did everything I could to take my mind off Jake, I never wanted to remember him because he broke my heart. Eight months later and I'm still focusing on my nursing rather than be hung up on him. I still find myself thinking about him time and time again, I shouldn't because we're no longer together but somewhere in me still loves him. I still feel love for the man who shattered my heart.

I sit down at the table beside Emma, a co-worker of mine, and pop open my salad for lunch. We begin talking about our shift so far until Clara comes up and sits at our table with her own lunch.

"Did you guys hear who's here?" She asks setting her lunch on the table.

I shake my head. "No."

"I heard it was a professional hockey player, that's all." Emma addresses. I say nothing as I chew on a piece of lettuce, my thoughts on who it is that could be here, it could be anyone and not Jake. I don't think he'd ever come to this hospital, not when he knows that I work here plus I don't think I could deal with seeing him face to face. I know it has been eight months since we broke up but everything is still so raw considering we had been together for nearly four years.

I finish off my salad before throwing my juice bottle in the recycling, I bid Emma and Clara goodbye before walking over to the front desk to see where I am going next for my shift.

"He-" I start but stop when Karen, the head nurse, rushes off to a code blue. I pick up my file and look at where I am going to next, I see the patients name and freeze when I read who's name it is. It is Jake. He is the hockey player, Jake is here and I am the nurse sent to re-stitch his arm. I look around for someone to switch patients with, but no one is around. I sigh and fix myself, I guess I have to go patch up his arm and the quicker I do it, the quicker he can go away and we'll never see each other again.

I walk off in the direction of the room he is in and stop when I see the door open, I peak my head around the door to see Jake lying on the bed scrolling through his phone. I step back out and compose myself in a professional manner before walking into the room. But the second he looks at me, I crumble and fail. All those memories of us being together flood my memories, the good and the bad.

"Uh." Is all that leaves me when we make eye contact. Did our first post break up interaction have to be in the hospital where I work? Did it really have to be me stitching up his arm? Of all the places we could have met, it has to be here.

I clear my throat and recompose myself in a professional manner. "I'm here to stitch up your arm."

"Oh." Is all Jake says to my words. I grab the stuff I need to clean his arm and walk over to where he sits, I gesture for him to show me his arm and he does willingly.