Surprised, I shook my head. “No, of course not.”
“I can tell you’re frustrated. But you’ll figure things out.”
“Thanks. I sure hope so.”
Her words of encouragement and faith in me took me aback, since my own parents were still bugging me about what was going on, trying to get me to admit I was out partying every night or something.
“I like your parents,” I told Jordyn in my car.
“They’re good people. Sorry about my dad bugging you.”
“No, it’s fine. At least he wasn’t yelling at me that the team should get rid of me.”
“Jesus. No. He’s just passionate about his team.”
“That’s great. We love fans like that.” Except when they wanted me gone. I swallowed a sigh.
* * *
—
“I hate hospitals.”
“Me too.” I met Jordyn’s eyes and smiled. “So that means we’re really being altruistic, right?”
One corner of her mouth kicked up. “Right.”
It was the Friday after the dinner with her parents. Today, she looked more like her pop star self—black leggings, short black boots with killer heels, a long T-shirt with a glittery logo, and a black leather jacket, with her trademark smoky eyes and red lips in place. Despite the glam style, I could see she was nervous.
I wrapped an arm around her neck, pulled her in and kissed her temple. “It’ll be fine.”
“I know. I’m just…this is hard.”
“It’s not about us, though, hmm? And it’ll be worth it.”
She tilted her head back to gaze up at me, and something shone in her eyes, something beautiful and warm and…almost loving. For a few seconds she didn’t speak, then she said, “You’re right. You are so right. Let’s go.”
We entered the hospital and took the elevator to the fourth floor children’s ward. “Thanks for coming with me,” I said in a low voice as the doors slid open.
She smiled. “I’m happy to. I love this idea.”
We stopped at the nursing station to check in, and all work ceased as nurses, doctors, ward clerks, and orderlies stopped to gape at us.
“Um…r-room f-four-ten,” the nurse stammered, her gaze flicking wildly back and forth between Jordyn and me.
I flashed a smile. “Thanks.”
We walked down the hall past other staff whose heads swiveled to stare, then I knocked on the open door of room four-ten. There were two beds in the room, both occupied by boys who we knew were Ethan and Zach Templeton, ages fourteen and twelve. A woman I assumed to be their mom sat on a chair between their beds.
Ethan and Zach looked up. I held up a hand. “Hi, guys.”
Their mouths dropped open. Their mom’s jaw dropped too.
Ethan and Zach played hockey and had been on their way back to Chicago from a tournament when the van they’d been in crashed. Two of their teammates had died in the accident, and they’d ended up in the hospital with broken bones and some internal injuries. Luckily, they were going to be okay, but it had to be hard for them.
I moved into the room followed by Jordyn, and their eyes expanded to the size of hockey pucks on seeing her.
“Hi,” Jordyn said with an easy smile. “Which of you is Ethan and which of you is Zach?”
One of the boys lifted a hand. “I’m Ethan.”
“Hey, Ethan.” Jordyn walked toward his bed. “I heard you like my music.”
The poor kid. He kept trying to say something but nothing came out.
Jordyn handed him one of the packages she carried. “This is for you. Both of my CDs, signed by me. Also one of my T-shirts and a hat.” She turned to Zach. “I didn’t know what music you like, so this is an iTunes gift card for you. And a T-shirt and hat too.”
Their faces both wore a stunned expression.
“I brought you some stuff too,” I said. “Although I know Jordyn Banks totally outclasses me.”
They both shook their heads in vehement denial although they were clearly mesmerized by Jordyn.
“Signed sticks.” I held them up. “The whole team signed them. And Aces jerseys and hats for you.”
“What is happening?” their mother asked, a smile trembling on her lips. She set her hand to her throat. “I can’t believe this.”
I smiled. “We heard about the accident and thought we’d come visit and maybe cheer you guys up. Being in the hospital sucks.”
“Yeah,” both boys agreed.
“When you get out of the hospital, I’ve got tickets for your whole team to come to an Aces game,” I told them. “You can watch from one of the suites.” I’d gotten team captain Duper in on this. He had a suite where he usually hosted a bunch of kids from a local hospital, and he’d been happy to use the suite for Zach and Ethan’s team for one game.
“Wow!” They exchanged looks, then stared at us again. “Thank you!”
“Would you like to sit?” Mrs. Templeton jumped up. “Here…”
“No, stay there. We’ll grab chairs.” I moved across the room where two more chairs sat, and carried them closer to the beds. Mrs. Templeton sank back down onto her chair, still shaking her head in disbelief.
“I was really sad to hear about the accident,” I said when we were sitting. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
The boys nodded.
“When I told Jordyn I was coming to visit you, she wanted to come too.”
Jordyn gave them a thumbs-up, smiling. “Did you guys know I love hockey?”
“No,” Ethan said. “That’s cool.”
“Hockey’s the best sport in the world,” she said.
“Yeah! It is!”
We sat with them for nearly an hour, talking to them about their injuries and how long they’d be in the hospital and how they probably wouldn’t be able to play hockey until next season, but they would play again. We talked about hockey and school and even their friends who’d died. Then Mrs. Templeton asked if she could take pictures of us with the boys.
“Of course.” We stood, and Jordyn and I took turns posing separately and then together with the boys. Maybe the pictures would end up on social media and people would talk about us, but that didn’t really seem important when these two kids were hurt and grieving. Making them happy, even if just for a little while, was the most important thing.
“I wish I could sing for you,” Jordyn told them. “But maybe you heard I had to have surgery on my vocal cords a while back, and I can’t sing yet.”
“That sucks,” Ethan said.
“It does. My surgery wasn’t nearly as bad as your broken leg, but I know how it feels to not be able to do what you love for a while.”
When we left, there was a crowd of people outside the room who’d been peeking in and listening to us. Jordyn and I smiled at them.
“This is awesome,” one of the nurses said, clasping a chart in front of her. “Thank you for coming. Those kids have been so brave.”
“Well, I hope we brightened their day a bit.”
“They’re in heaven,” she said. “So are we.” She grinned and glanced around at the others. “So impressed with both of you. This is just amazing.”
We signed more autographs and posed for more pictures before leaving the hospital.
Outside, we walked hand in hand through the brisk February air to where I’d parked my car.
Jordyn let out a long breath. “That was good.”
“Not as bad as you thought?”
“I was just worried I wouldn’t know what to say to them.”
“You were perfect. Just…yourself.”
“You were right…it wasn’t about us. And you were so wonderful with them, Chase.”
I shrugged.
“I know you do stuff like that all the time…I’ve seen it in the news. I admire it. And it really helps put your own problems in perspective.”
“Yeah. I like giving back.” The team did a lot of community work, and I’d been to this hospital before a couple of Christmases to visit sick kids. I’d also gone to schools to read to kids, and I did some work with the Aces Foundation and kids who couldn’t afford to play hockey.
Once again, Jordyn gave me that admiring look that made me feel like maybe I was actually doing something worthwhile instead of screwing everything up, and it made my chest expand with fizzy warmth.
Chapter 19
Chase
“It’s an honor to be nominated.”