Authors: Elizabeth Moynihan
“Why does everything have to be so bright and white in a hospital?” Dani questioned grumpily, closing her eyes against the bright glare from the overhead lights, her stomach rolling at the antiseptic smell that filled the air. The quiet group of five sat in the waiting room, tensely awaiting word from Dr. Chen as to the extent of Sergei’s injuries.
“They need to be able to see to do their work, Dani,” Jordan answered quietly, surprising herself that she sounded so calm, when inside she wanted to scream the walls down and personally deal with Andrew Manning. Nobody had the right to touch her family!
“Fine, put bright lights in the exam rooms, but knock the lights down to a bearable level in the waiting areas,” Dani argued.
“Danielle,” Aleksei’s deep voice intoned, casting her a look that clearly said
enough
.
The waiting was always the worst. The memory of so many years before, when Aleksei and Dee and Whittaker had sat in another hospital waiting area, wondering if Jordan would survive the crash that had nearly killed both she and Aleksei came back strongly, almost as if repeating itself. The four sent each other understanding looks, and prayed; Dani squirmed impatiently.
“I’m going to go check with the nurse’s station and see if they can tell me anything,” Aleksei murmured, the need to get up and move around overwhelming. Anxiety welled up inside of him, and brought back all the horrendous memories of waiting in Jordan’s hospital room, beside her bed, praying she’d open her eyes and come back to him. Memories he thought he’d dealt with and put away and suddenly found still crowded his soul.
Jordan looked up into her husband’s pale face, saw the myriad of emotions that filled his ebony eyes, felt the fear and helplessness that emanated from his tall form and smiled in understanding. “Okay. I’ll be here,” she stated calmly, kissed him softly and watched him stand and head for the nurse’s station.
“So, where’s your barracuda, Dani?” Whittaker growled.
“Hush, Frank,” Dee demanded, enjoying his grunt of pain as she punched him in the shoulder. “We don’t need you stirring up trouble just for the sake of something to do.” Dee stood up, grabbed Dani’s hand and pulled her to her feet. “Come on, let’s go find us something to drink.”
“Bring me back something,” Whittaker called after their retreating forms, only to receive scathing glances that clearly stated hell had a better chance of freezing over than he did of getting something to drink.
Jordan watched the interchange between Frank and Dee and shook her head in exasperation. How these two had survived together after so many years was a mystery and yet she couldn’t imagine them ever being anything but together. “She’s mad.”
Whittaker’s shoulders lifted in an easy shrug. “It’s not the first time, and, I’m pretty certain, it won’t be the last. She’ll get over it.”
“That’s not the point.”
“That’s exactly the point. I gave her something else to focus on instead of the God-awful silence of wondering if Sergei will ever step foot on the ice again. I’d rather have her pissed off at me, and calling me names, than thinking negative thoughts,” Whittaker explained. Tiredly, he ran his hands through his thinning hair.
“So with Dee occupied, you can devote your time to worrying about all of us instead?” Jordan asked softly.
“Something like that,” Frank replied sheepishly.
“Frank, we’re family, we share all things–good and bad.”
“Tonight wasn’t supposed to be like this,” Whittaker whispered huskily, his eyes filling with tears as he looked into Jordan’s face. “I promised you I would keep Sergei and Chloe safe and I failed you. It’s my fault Sergei may never skate again.”
Jordan’s green eyes blinked in surprise. “You don’t honestly believe that, do you?”
Whittaker’s sorrow-filled eyes told her he did.
Jordan slipped to her knees on the floor before Whittaker, and took his face in her hands. Her green eyes darkened to the deep green of a forest and her voice held conviction and compassion and belief. “Frank Whittaker, I don’t ever want to hear such a comment slip from your mouth again. Do you understand me? After all you have done for my beloved Aleksei, my children, Dee, I will never in a million years believe that you had anything to do with Sergei getting hurt tonight. Andrew was filled with hatred and intent on doing harm; there was nothing you could have done to stop him,” Jordan stated in a soft voice, tinged with steel.
“Chloe stopped him,” he murmured brokenly, still having difficulty believing the vision she had presented standing over Andrew, her skate blade resting on his neck, contemplating cutting his throat open after he had injured Sergei.
“I think it was Chloe’s destiny to stop Andrew; she was probably the only one who could. But that doesn’t reflect badly on you; you are part of what gave her the strength and courage to finally stand up to him,” Jordan offered, wiping the tears from his cheeks.
Whittaker snorted in disbelief. “What have I done for Chloe? How could I be a part of what she’s become?”
“Frank, you can be so obtuse,” Jordan laughed softly. “You’ve shown her patience, compassion, humor; you’ve shown her it’s okay to make mistakes and to laugh at yourself. You’ve shown her no one’s perfect and that anybody, who thinks they are, is an idiot. You’ve allowed her to express opinions, offer suggestions, and even point out the few mistakes you’ve made, all without once telling her she was a moron and didn’t know what she was talking about. She’s bloomed under your care, Frank. How can you believe you’ve had nothing to do with her turning into a butterfly?”
“Sergei did his share to help her bloom,” Frank mumbled, embarrassment turning his cheeks rosy.
Jordan rolled her eyes. “Sergei did more than his share to make her bloom. But the two of you, together, brought Chloe out of the darkness and into the light, you’ve allowed her to shine in a way that none of us will ever be able to thank you for. If you could have seen them from the stands, the way we did, felt the way the crowd took them in, and literally absorbed them, you would have been amazed! It was as if they were encased in a golden glow, immortal, and a gift to be cherished for only those few moments. But the strangest thing was the feeling of joy, and freedom and, glory they shared.”
“Really?”
Jordan nodded her head. “Frank, even if Sergei and Chloe never step foot on the ice again as a team, this program will go down in history as one of the most magical programs ever skated. Everyone in this arena will remember this program their entire lives; it touched everyone in a profound way and will never be forgotten. You were part of creating that magic. Take pride in knowing that.”
“Really?”
“Really!” Jordan agreed.
“Well, hell,” Frank mumbled with a watery smile.
Dr. Chen found a frustrated Aleksei at the nurse’s station, and reassured him of his son’s condition as she walked him back to the waiting area, and Jordan and Whittaker.
“Sergei’s a very lucky young man. The initial wound to his thigh was superficial and other than leaving a scar, shouldn’t cause him any trouble,” Dr. Chen offered. “As to the second thigh wound,”
“The stabbing,” Jordan stated with a frown.
“Yes. The penetrating wound is about five inches deep, but very narrow. Thankfully, Mr. Manning used a slim Stiletto blade, without a serrated edge. Believe it or not, that substantially reduced the amount of damage.”
“Remind me to send him a thank you note for his consideration,” Aleksei stated flatly.
“So how much damage did his ‘slim Stiletto’ knife do?” Jordan asked quietly.
“Astonishingly enough, mostly tissue damage only. The knife slightly nicked his thigh muscle, but not enough to warrant surgical repair. It missed all main blood vessels, and there is no bone damage according to the x-ray of Sergei’s leg. Basically, it’s not much more than a deep puncture wound that’s not going to heal overnight and will likely cause him a more than a bit of discomfort for several weeks. The worst of it will be keeping him from skating.”
“And his shoulder?” Whittaker asked.
“A shallow puncture wound, another small scar, but no muscle damage. All in all, Sergei’s guardian angels were more than a little busy tonight.” Dr. Chen stated, smiling as the group of three hugged each other and sighed in relief.
“How’s Chloe?” Jordan asked, brushing away tears of relief, and happily slipping into her husband’s arms.
Dr. Chen rolled her eyes, and heaved a sigh. “That’s one very stubborn, very determined young woman. She refused to leave your son’s side while we took care of him, and talked to him the whole time; I’ve never heard a person jabber on like that before in my life.”
Jordan cast Aleksei a knowing smile, remembering how her doctor had said the same thing of Aleksei.
“Chloe did relent though and at least leave the room for thirty seconds when we took x-rays of Sergei’s legs. Then, it was right back to his side,” Dr. Chen commented.
“Have you had a chance to look at her arm?” Jordan asked.
“Nothing but a scratch that should leave no scar at all. Sergei was complaining about the fact that out of four possible scars due to this incident, he was going to wind up with three of them. He found this highly unfair and voiced his displeasure. Chloe told him it would simply add to his macho persona and that seemed to pacify him,” the doctor finished laughingly.
“The girl should go into politics!” Whittaker exclaimed.
“Perhaps, but right now, they’re busy looking forward to their next competition,” Dr. Chen stated with a broad smile.
“Well it’s a good God damn thing! Maybe next time, they’ll show us a great program,” Whittaker exclaimed excitedly, rambling on and on about what the pair needed practice with, how to improve the program, changes in lifts and throws.
Jordan and Aleksei’s smiles grew wider as they listened to Frank’s words, sighing in relief as they felt their world right itself and knew Sergei and Chloe were going to be fine. It was only icing on the cake that they would skate again. Granted, there was so much more to life than skating. It was just that so much of their life had revolved around skating, it was impossible to envision their life without it. Thankfully, they wouldn’t have to!
“I don’t understand why I have to stay here overnight,” Sergei grumbled in disgust as a large intern assisted him from the gurney onto the hospital bed and snapped the side rail into place with a loud click.
“Because your reputation for not doing what you’re told precedes you and they want to give your leg at least a few hours rest before you’re up skating around on it,” Chloe stated with a sweet smile, blowing him a kiss when he scowled at her.
“I have no such reputation; you must be confusing me with my father,” Sergei argued, trying to settle into a comfortable position and finding it difficult when his right shoulder and left leg throbbed painfully each time he moved.
“Nice try, Rocmanov. I happen to know of your proclivity for doing exactly the opposite of what you’ve been told to do with regards to your skating and injuries,” Chloe scolded, doing her best to plump up the flat hospital pillows and stack them behind Sergei.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Sergei countered stubbornly, offering a quiet
thank you
when Chloe helped him get settled reasonably comfortably against the pillows.
“Well, let’s see?” Chloe stated, climbing carefully onto the foot of the bed, her legs hanging over the end. “I know for a fact you skated with a stress fracture in your leg two years ago; something your parents still don’t know about,” she offered confidently.
“Says who?”
“Says Dani. That and the fact you only took second place, when you’d been taking first in every competition up until then. After watching the videotapes, of the competition, it would take an idiot not to see you were skating injured. I still don’t know how your parents, especially your mother, missed it.”
“It was shortly before their Christmas Pageant benefit for AIDS, they had enough things to worry about. They weren’t able to go to the competition that time, so they sent Dani in their stead,” Sergei explained with a careless shrug.
“Well, Dani shouldn’t have let you skate. She’s not stupid, she would have known the risks involved.” Chloe insisted, playing with the blanket at his feet.
“Believe me, she did her best to convince me otherwise. But it’s not as if Dani had any real power to stop me from doing what I wanted to do. And I wanted to skate.” Sergei offered in defense of his sister.
“What about the risk? You could have really screwed your leg up. Then where would you have been?” Chloe pressed.
Sergei scratched his chin, contemplating her question, an angry light burning deep in his dark eyes. “Oh, let me think, probably in the same damn place you were tonight, skating on a foot that could either hold or fall apart, and perhaps end your career,” he growled.
Chloe flushed in embarrassment. “You’re right, but it didn’t.”
“You got lucky!” Sergei fired angrily.
“I got lucky when I got you,” Chloe answered softly, her blue eyes shining brightly.
“Don’t change the subject!”
“I’m not. I’m telling you I realize how lucky I am, to be alive, to have you, to have the chance to skate again. I won’t ever take for granted again the belief that tomorrow’s a given and I’ll be able to skate forever, or to be with you, or all the rest of the people that I care about. Each day we have is a gift, something to be cherished. I’ll never be so greedy as to expect I’ll have what I have at this moment forever.”