September 24, 2013

The crowd roars, their cheers, whoops, and ear-deafening applause intensify. The clear sound sends chills down Alexander's body, spiking his adrenaline and causing his hair to stand up all over his body. His blood was pumping and he could feel his heartbeat in every part of his body. These moments were the ones he lived for, the screams of fans standing on their feet, the smooth feeling of the skate upon the ice, and the sweat falling down his face. This was what he worked so hard for all those years. His skates skidded around the ice where he could see the teams in their entirety, all the skids and cracks he could almost make out like a map of his world in his head If he could stay long enough. He kept moving forward on the ice keeping an eye on his goal and the opponents, the score was 1-0 in the semifinal match of the preseason national tournament. His team hasn't been in the championship in years, that was his goal and his dream, one more time.

He risks a glance to the back and registers that his best friend Sebastian has managed to steal the puck away from their opponent and that is when the game is on. His vision begins to sharpen and he hears nothing but silence, but his heartbeat like before is getting louder and louder like a drummer playing his drums. He felt like at any moment his heart would burst out of his chest.

Sebastian sees Alexander move and sends the puck his way and in an instance, Alexander flips the switch. Raucous cheering fills his ears when the puck lands in front of the stick. He moves forward quickly, sprinting and gliding at an almost inhuman pace like he used to, the hard surface crushing underneath his blades creating another scratch towards the goal is that is within reach, as it becomes closer his vision narrows, his head calculating every angle that he can make the perfect shot. Corner? Too hard, mostly with under a minute to play. Diagonally? Too risky. The only way he could sink it would be straight through and aim it right between the goalie's legs. As soon as he figures that out, Alexander inhales before he pulls his stick back. When he exhales he strikes out, the stick pushing the puck with all his might, It goes forward, his eyes on the goal, and then—

— everything goes black

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"Alexander? Are you awake? Alex?"

The voice is coming from somewhere next to him, but he can't pinpoint exactly where it is coming from. Since right now, he couldn't even pinpoint what was up and down or left to right.

"Alex?"

He may not know where the sound was coming from but one thing for sure is that the voice, no doubt, belongs to his baby brother Kyle. The only person allowed to call him by his nickname, "Alex".

"C'mon Al, open them up. You're moving your eyes under those crusty eyelids." Now that voice....was easy for him to pinpoint, they belonged to his idiotic best friend and teammate Sebastian. Or what he likes to call him in public "Annoyer-in-Chief" because no matter where he goes, Sebastian always has a way of annoying him in some way or another.

He groans because apparently, that's the only sound that he's able to make. His eyelids feel heavy and he can't lift them, no matter how hard he tries they feel like they have a lock that only with time would unlock. Alex's mouth feels like it's been stuffed full of cotton, it's dry and his tongue appears to be a bit too big for his mouth, and it doesn't want to know how much worse his face looks.

"Alex!" Kyle, or at least he thinks it's him, says, a sigh of relief leaving his lips. "God, you scared the hell out of me...even worse than the last time."

He wants to respond back and say something sarcastic to let him know that he is alright. He opens his eyes and looks at his baby brother who is concerned, but instead of doing all of that, he could feel his entire body getting heavier and heavier, as if someone laid out a weight on top of him. He drifted into unconsciousness once more.

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The next day he wakes up, Kyle and Sebastian are still by his side. Alexander can easily tell since he can hear Kyle's voice speaking softly to someone who was definitely not Sebastian as he could hear his snores a mile away. Kyle had to be on the phone he had to guess, as if he focused closely he could hear another voice muffled.

As soon as his eyes allowed him he slowly opened his eyes and blinked once or twice. He hoped not to make a noise to alarm the boys waiting on him as he didn't feel like talking yet. Which would have worked if he remembered he was in a hospital where the lights always blind you or burn your eyes out. He could feel the beams of the light pierce his eyeballs, making his head hurt in the process, and let's out a soft groan. Yet, all he thought in his head was that if he could move his hands and fingers, they would be halfway to digging his own eyeballs out so he could no longer see the light.

"He's awake, I need to go, Yeah just schedule him in for Friday. Bye." Kyle finishes the call, smacking Sebastian on the leg in the process. Sebastian lets out a groan and rubs his eyes, "What was that for?"

"Alex is awake." Kyle replies.

Before Alexander has a chance to Blink they both come to his side, Kyle holding his hand, "Hey man...How are you feeling?"

Alexander smacks his lips a few times, the dryness preventing him from saying anything, and damn he was so fucking thirsty when he thought about it. He tries to push something out of his lips but everything feels like sandpaper, yet he manages to croak out, "Thir-Thirst—"

"Here man." Sebastian's strong arms help him sit up, while Kyle grabs a glass of water and pushes the button for a nurse to come in soon as Alexander is awake. The glass of water has a straw sticking out of it, Kyle shoves it in his face putting the straw in Alexander's chapped lips. 

A straw... A fucking Straw.

Alexander cocks his eyebrow to give Kyle a stink-eye as if he was asking him, 'Seriously?'

Kyle doesn't give him a response and rolls his eyes, shoving the straw between his lips, "Maybe you could remove the straw if you can show me you can drink without slobbering all over yourself."

Sebastian looks at Kyle his eyebrows and nose scrunches, his head sightly sideways, "Huh? Did he say something and I didn't hear it?" He motions towards Alexander, who is still propped up on Sebastian's arm for the time being.  Kyle shakes his head and replies, "No, I just know a smartass look when I see one."

Alexander's lips part, just a little where the straw could fit in, in the back of his head he doubts that he can even drink it without spilling half of it down his front with a damn straw.

He takes a slow sip, the water finally touching his lips making the straw worth it. It felt refreshing, and he could finally feel his throat turn from a rocky road to a smooth blacktop, yet swallowing does hurt still. It was refreshing and that is all that mattered to him.

"So, how do you feel?"

"L-like a damn truck ran me over," Alexander manages to squeeze out of his throat before getting another drink, he looks up to see Sebastian still holding him up, his eye a dark purple, and his nose had a cut on the bridge, "Y-you look like shit too."

Sebastian's eyes look down at Alexander with a grin, "Still prettier than what you look like Grandpa."

Kyle laughs at Sebastian's response, "Dipshit here attacked Mcleod after what he did to you...which honestly is almost worse than being hit by a truck. But, Sebastian is suspended for 4 games."

Alexander looks at Kyle, "W...what..." he starts and then trails off. His throat feels like he swallowed a glass, but what he loves about Kyle is that he knows exactly what he is thinking.

"Mcleod plunged his stick to your side with full force once you hit the puck, his goal was to stop you regardless of the consequences. Afterward, he tackled you and started to hit you, even after when you were out." Kyle finishes, his knuckles white as he holds a fist. "He has been suspended indefinitely and they're investigating the incident. "

"Shit."

"Doc said you broke your shoulder during the incident, good note you will be good as new," Kyle said with a soft smile.

"How long?" Now, Alexander doesn't particularly ask this question but he needs the answer, the Olympics are coming up soon and he wants to be there.  The silent stretches, he grits his teeth and asks one more time, "How long, Kyle?"

"The minimum is two months, can take up to six. Depends on how quick-"

"-fuck." Alexander lets his head hit Sebastian's arm, he forgot he was still holding him up but he didn't care. He wished he hit Sebastian's arm hard enough to knock him out of this nightmare.

"Yeah, but that's good, right? You can make a hell of a comeback!" Sebastian says, his voice with a boyish glee while he patted Alexander's back.

No. He can't. Alexander isn't his team favorite anymore, hasn't been for almost a season. Plus, he is in his late twenties and most players retire when they turn thirty-one since the sport is so hard on your body. At the end of the day, there are always new guys coming in who are better and younger than him. Alexander almost literally has no time left in the hockey league and now it feels like all his hard work is slipping through his fingertips for an injury....just like the last time.

Fuck.