Chapter Seven

Denise

“The last round was with the strong dose of chemo.” I look at Evie’s mom, Janet, as she watches her daughter sleeping.

“She just misses home,” Janet says, and I believe her. Her father and older brother are up in Boston where they live. Her father is working two jobs just to make the insurance payment, and her brother is pretty high in the hockey club. “Darryl is trying to get here this weekend, but he isn’t sure he can swing it. They FaceTimed tonight, and it was mostly just tears. All she wanted was for him to give her a hug.”

“If you need anything, you let me know,” I tell her and walk out of the room. Grabbing my phone out of my white lab coat, I text Steve.

Evie isn’t doing well today. I’ll keep you posted.

I don’t know if he will answer or not, especially since it’s his day off and Olivier just got back.

“Did you see who just dropped by?” Mallory asks me, and I just shake my head.

“Jack. He brought flowers to cheer us up,” she says, walking away. I can’t help but smile when I finally spot them coming down the hallway. “Dr. Denise.” I hear being yelled. I smile at him as he runs toward me, and I scoop him up in my arms.

“Well, hello there, Jumping Jack. What brings you in today?” I smile as I look into his blue eyes that are just like his father’s. I turn to watch Zack walk to us, and I have to take literally a second to catch my breath. He is hands down the hottest man I’ve ever met. The minute he turned around at Max’s house, my stomach flipped, and then I found out about Jack, and my heart broke for him. Watching him walk to me with a genuine smile on his face is causing my heart to race a bit. Oh, fuck that shit—it’s racing a lot.

“Hey there,” he says, and I smile at him and thank the lord that I wore my good jeans today instead of the ones that Steve calls ratty.

No, today I went with my dark blue, skintight ones; they feel like leggings, and I love them. I should have left my hair down, but it was getting in the way, so I tied it up on the top of my head. Some strands falling loose at the sides.

“Hey there yourself.” I look at him and the flowers in his hands. “What is all that?”

“Jack thought we could cheer people up, so we brought flowers,” he tells me, and I turn and look at this sweet, sweet boy.

“Well, aren’t you the sweetest little boy ever.”

“And strong,” he reminds me as his hand twirls in my hair.

I lean in and whisper to him, “The strongest I have ever met.” He just nods at me, then turns to look at his father.

“I want to give her the orange ones,” he tells him. Zack looks down and grabs the fullest orange one of all. Zack hands it to me, but Jack grabs it instead. “I bought these for you.” He smiles at me, and I have to blink away the tears.

“Those are the most beautiful flowers I have ever seen,” I tell him, and he beams with pride. “Thank you so much for bringing them to me; they just brightened my day.”

“We don’t want to get in the way,” Zack says, and I put Jack down.

“You would never be in the way when you come with cheer.” I smile at them. “We should get together sometime next week when you’re available to discuss a couple of things.” I smile at Zack.

“I’ll text you my schedule, and we can work around it,” he says, then looks down at Jack. “We should get going if you want us to pick up those steaks,” Zack tells him, and he just nods.

“Have a great night, you two,” I say. Turning around, I go to the nurses’ station and see Mallory there.

“I see you saw Jack.” She takes off her glasses, and they hang around her neck on her golden chain.

“I did,” I tell her, and then Suzanne, another nurse, joins us.

“Who is that fine tall glass of milk?” Suzanne says as I giggle, writing notes.

“That would be Dr. Denise’s new patient,” Mallory tells her while she fills out her own charts. “Jumping Jack and Zaza zoom Zack.”

I laugh at her nickname for Zack. My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I take it out to see it’s a text from Vivienne.

Are you going to the game tomorrow?

You betcha!

D’accord okay, she answers, shenanigans after.

That sounds like a plan.

She sends me back a thumbs-up emoji, and I put my phone away.

“I don’t know about you two,” Suzanne says, “but I would not kick him out of my bed.” I laugh even harder. She is close to fifty, happily married to Harry for the past thirty years, and her youngest just got married.

“Oh, I hear you,” Mallory adds. “He can leave his shoes under my bed any day.” She smiles and turns to walk away.

“How are you two happily married?” I ask them, and they both look at each other and then back at me.

“We don’t act on it.” Mallory shrugs.

“Yeah, it just plays in our mind,” Suzanne says. “What do they call it again? Spank Bank.”

“I’m going to google that,” Mallory says, and I push off from the desk and laugh at them.

“Ladies, I’m going to check on Evie before I leave, and then I’m off. Call me if anything changes,” I tell them, and they both nod at me.

Walking into the room, I find Janet sitting in the middle of the bed rocking her daughter in her arms.

“She just had a bit of chicken broth and then said she was too tired,” she tells me, and I see the despair in her eyes.

Reaching out, I grab her hand. “We’ll do everything we can,” I tell her, and she just nods while a tear escapes her eyes.

I walk out, blinking my own tears away while I say goodbye to everyone and make my way home. I don’t turn the lights on once I get home. The moonlight shining in provides just enough light for me to undress and crawl into bed.

My dreams haunt me all night—blue eyes, matching blue eyes. I sleep for eight straight hours, but I still wake feeling like I am dragging my ass.

I start the coffee, then pick up my phone and call the hospital right away to check on Evie. Her vitals are the same, and she isn’t that tired today. Her appetite is also back, which is a great start. I text Steve, who is on duty all weekend long, asking him to keep me posted.

I clean up the loft, which really is just dusting since I’m barely home anyway. I’ll be on rotation for the next seven days starting Monday, so I finally do my laundry too.

The phone ringing has me stopping to answer it, and I see it’s Allison.

“Hey, we are going to the game tonight. Do you want me to swing by and get you?” she asks me.

“I would love that.” I smile. “Are you bringing Alex?” I ask her.

“Yes, my parents are coming also, so if anything, we can pass her around.”

“Just don’t let her see Max, and it will be okay.”

“Ugh, I swear she knows when he’s around. She can be good all day, and the minute she senses he’s close, the whining starts.”

I laugh, thinking she’s exaggerating, but I know my niece, and she is so in love with my brother it’s no joke. “So what time should I be ready?” I ask her, walking into my closet and grabbing my jeans.

“I should be there in about thirty minutes. Is that okay?” she asks me.

“I’ll be ready,” I tell her and hang up. I have to jump twice to get my tight jeans on. I grab a black Stingers t-shirt with Horton on the back and my black leather jacket with a ticket green plaid scarf. Putting the jacket and the scarf on the bed, I walk to the bathroom to curl the ends of my hair. It’s gotten so long it’s almost at my waist, but because I keep it tied up most of the time, I don’t realize it.

I spray on my perfume and apply just a touch of mascara and pink lip gloss before my phone buzzes, and I see that Aly is downstairs. I grab my jacket and scarf, then slide my phone in my back pocket and toss my purse over my shoulder. I lock the door and run outside to the waiting white Range Rover that Aly is driving. Opening the back door first, I see my Alex.

“Well hello, my favorite girl,” I say as she gives me a smile that makes her eyes close, showing me her four teeth. I bend down and kiss her neck, taking in the smell of baby. “Best smell ever,” I say. Walking around, I open the other back door, leaning in to see Michael.

“Well, if isn’t my favorite nephew,” I tell him as he giggles, waiting for me to lean in and kiss him. I cover his face with kisses as he giggles and pretends to tell me to stop.

Finally opening the front passenger seat, I get in and turn to Aly. “Well, if it isn’t my favorite sister-in-law,” I tell her, leaning in to kiss her cheek as she laughs and waits for me to buckle in.

“You look amazing,” she says as she pulls out of the parking lot.

“Is that where you and Daddy fell in love?” Michael asks, pointing at the loft building.

“It is,” Aly answers.

He returns his attention to the movie playing in front of him. “Are we excited to see Daddy play?” I ask, turning around, and that sets off Alex.

“Dada, dada, dada.” She smiles, looking out the window for him.

“There she goes,” Aly says. We make it to the arena in record time and park in the players’ parking lot. The valet guy comes to get the keys.

“Mrs. Horton.” He smiles at her.

“Ricardo,” she says, “so nice to see you. How is the family?”

I get out and open the back door, unbuckling Alex.

“Hi, beautiful.” She waves her hands in the air as I pick her up, propping her on my hip while I lean in and grab her diaper bag.

She is wearing little jeans and a Horton jersey, her blond hair in pigtails, curling down.

Allison walks around the car to come join us while she holds Michael’s hand, and I see he’s dressed in jeans also with a Horton jersey. “Let’s go,” Allison says. When we walk in, she smiles at everyone she knows, and I wave to the ones I’ve come to know over the years. While I take Alex and go roaming around the arena, I hear my name being yelled.

“Dr. Denise.” I turn to see Jack and Sarah. Jack is dressed in jeans and a team jersey. A team beanie hat covers his head as he pulls Sarah’s hand toward me.

“Hello, handsome,” I say to him as approaches me, and I bend to hug him. “Are you here to watch the game?” I ask him, smiling.

“Yeah, Daddy plays defense,” he tells me, and then he put his hands up. “He’s the biggest.”

“Is he now?” I ask him and then turn to smile at Sarah. “Is this your first hockey game?” I ask her, and she nods.

“I’m excited to see what all the fuss is about.” I throw my head back and laugh.

“You haven’t seen a hockey game? It really is the best sport there is,” I tell her and then hear Jack shout with glee.

“Michael is here,” he says, and Michael runs to us, and they jump up together while Allison makes her way to us. Alex finally leans out of my arms for her mother.

“Sarah,” I say, turning to look at Allison, “this is my sister-in-law, Allison. This is Jack’s nurse.”

“So nice to meet you,” she says and then looks around. “I think I’m going to head up to the lodge so I can put her down and let her explore a bit.” She looks at Michael. “Do you want to come with me?”

“Can Jack come with us?” he asks his mother, and Allison just smiles at him.

“Of course, he can.” She tilts her head to the side. “Come on, let’s go.”

“We can have pizza.” I hear Michael tell him while they walk, and then Jack turns around, looking for me, holding out his hand for me. I look at Sarah, who just smiles. I walk ahead to them, and he grabs my hand as we walk up the stairs to the lodge.

“Come on, and I’ll show you where we can sit,” Michael tells Jack, and I look over at Sarah.

“You can relax a bit. I’ll go and take care of them. Give you a break.”

“Oh, that’s okay,” she tells me, and I just flick my wrist.

Walking to the outside of the lodge where the seats are, Michael and Jack sit down and start pointing at things when the players from Toronto come out, and the fans start booing.

“Do you guys want to go down and see the warm-up?” I ask them. Jack doesn’t know what I’m talking about, so he looks at Michael.

“We get to go see our dads skate and practice,” he says, and Jack looks over at me.

“Can I really go?” he asks, and I have the hardest time not taking his face in my hands and kissing his cheeks. “Momma never let me go down with all the fans because it was too loud.”

“Well, she isn’t here, so let’s go and bang that glass,” I tell them and tell Sarah who is talking to Allison now that I am bringing the boys down to the glass.

They both hold my hand as we walk down the steps to the glass. “That’s my uncle Matthew.” Michael points at him as he skates to the glass and hits it with the blade of his stick, and the boys crack up laughing. Max gets there right after Matthew, and Michael yells his name.

“Daddy.” Michael’s jumping up and down, and then I see him, the blue eyes I dreamed of, the blue eyes I could honestly get lost in.

“Daddy,” Jack says and jumps up and down, slapping the glass. He puts his glove on the glass over his face and then looks up. When he sees me smiling at him, he puts up his hand to wave hi to me. Max pushes him on his shoulder and tells him to stop looking at his sister.

He just shakes his head and skates off, and the boys watch them warm up. After everything is done, Matthew comes over to the glass and tosses two pucks over. The boys grab them and shoot their hands up in the air cheering. “Okay how about we get some pizza?” I ask them, and we walk up the steps to the lodge. Once inside, I make a plate for each of them and have them sit down with their pizzas on their lap.

I sit behind them as they make fun of the different things on the boards. “Thank you for taking him down to the glass,” Sarah says as she takes the seat next to me.

“It was my pleasure. They had so much fun,” I tell her, and she just looks ahead. I hear squeals coming from inside the lodge and turn to see that Allison’s parents have arrived.

Her mother, Parker, grabs Alex and cuddles her to her chest. “It shows that her f-a-t-h-e-r isn’t here.” She spells out his name; otherwise, Alex might start again. While Allison just laughs, Parker looks at the seats and shakes her hand at me. “Hello, Denise. You look so beautiful with your hair down.”

“Thank you,” I tell her and then lean down. “Michael, Grandma is here.”

He turns around and yells at her, “Grandma, I’m sitting with Jack and we’re eating pizza.”

She laughs at him. “Okay, love.”

Cooper, who is Allison’s father in all sense of the word, comes to us and leans down to kiss my cheek. “Hello, Denise,” he says and then walks around to sit next to Michael. “Is that my boy?” he asks and then looks past him at Jack. “And who are you?”

“I’m Jack,” he says proudly. “My daddy is a defenseman, and he’s strong,” he says, and Cooper laughs.

“Well, Jack, I’m Cooper. Michael’s grandpop.” He puts his hand out, and Jack does the same thing, shaking it.

The teams now skate onto the ice, and everyone gets to their feet and starts cheering. The JumboTron shows Max on the screen, and it’s enough for Alex who is standing up on Parker’s lap while she claps to call, “Dada.”

“That’s my dad,” Michael says to Jack, who’s just watching the big JumboTron, and then Zack’s picture appears, and he jumps up.

“That’s my dad,” he tells everyone, and you have no choice but to fall in love with him.

The puck drops, and it’s a slow game during the first period, but then when the second starts, it’s like Toronto is ready to win. They score first, a slip of a tip in making Mark smack his hockey stick on the ice.

It takes twenty-five seconds for us to come back and score, tying it. With Matthew slipping it past the goalie after a pass from Max. Sometime during the second period, Michael comes to sit on Parker’s lap next to me and puts his head on her shoulder. Jack comes also, looking at him. I open my arms, and he walks to me and jumps in my lap. He puts his head on my chest, and I lean my cheek down on the top of his head.

“Tired?” I ask him, and he tries to say no but yawns instead. He reaches out and grabs a curl around his finger, twirling it between his fingers. Sarah comes over and asks me if I want her to take him, but I look down at him, his legs draped over mine, my arms over him, cocooning him into me. His fingers never stop twirling my hair. I watch the game, and I have to say it’s the most content I’ve been in forever.