Together is Where We are Meant to Be

Chapter 8

His mom ended up staying for three days. I only saw her once more and all she did was apologize which got old really fast. I tried to work at all the times she came over and I found great comfort in my office down at the Arena. Even the grounds crew knew that they did not want to come and clean my office until after I was out of it.

When she headed back to Montreal, I started to bring work home to complete it in the comfort of the couch. I liked to be closer to Micah now that he was injured; it was a relaxation thing for me you could say. Slowly, his head started to hurt less and less, so he tried to pick some things up around the house. He went back to building that stupid bookcase that has been sitting in the corner of the living room unfinished for six months. I still got a kick over him trying to understand the directions. He was terrible at putting anything together that came with directions.

It took eighteen days for Micah to stop taking the pain pills. It was a total of twenty one days when the doctor cleared him to do some training. He was not cleared for contact, but everything was in the hands of the team trainer. Micah was so excited because he felt really lazy with no exercise and I knew that this would kick him back into gear. He was excited and so was I.

The night he came home after his first training session, he was ecstatic. He rambled on and on about how well he did considering it had been three weeks since he even picked up any weight or did any training. I guess the trainer had spoken to Coach about it and on Micah's way out of the Arena, Coach told him that he wanted him to play by the end of next week. It made me a little wary, considering that it was a much more serious concussion than most think it was, but because he was a little out of shape. You can't do nothing for three weeks and expect to be full-force by the end of ten days.

"It's great, isn't it, babe?"

"Huh, yeah, you are right. It sounds amazing for you to go back that fast! I can't believe Coach actually stopped to say that to you," I reassured him that I just wanted what he wanted when I knew it might not be the best idea. But I wasn't the trainer or the doctor, so I have no say. Micah would just think that I did not want him to play for some twisted reason, but I love to watch him play. He is so graceful on the ice. All I want for him is to be able to play, but at 100% and nothing less.

I made him his favorite meal for dinner and he ate it quickly before asking if I wanted to go out for a night on the town. I denied the offer but encouraged him to go with the guys from the team. He changed clothes and headed out half an hour later planning on meeting the guys with girlfriends or families at home. Not that I would have minded if he went out with the single guys. He is a big boy who I trust with my heart. He would never do anything to hurt it.

I did not wait up for him after I finished editing my photos. I slept peacefully in his bed, wanting to be surrounded by his scent which helped me fall asleep when he wasn't there to hold me. But I did know the exact moment he joined me because his breath stunk like alcohol and overly so. I have never smelled anything this disgusting unless I was at a bar being hit on by the drunk on a stool next to me. I had to turn myself to face away from him, but he didn't notice because he had already fallen asleep and I knew that because his breathing was no longer labored, but even. I fell asleep not long after listening to his light snoring.

The next morning, I found Micah getting acquainted with the toilet bowl. He looked horrible. I didn't say anything because I didn't have anything nice to say.

With the team having an off-day, I had scheduled two appointments for new clients to photograph. I was meeting both at places they had chosen for their shoots. I left Micah a note of my schedule for the day and what leftovers he could heat up for lunch and the timing before gathering my equipment and heading out to the first location.