"I'll see you in a few days." Jack tells Elyssa, almost reassuring her.
"Yep." She smiles, letting him know she's okay. Jack has a few minutes before he has to be in the lobby to get on the bus. He wraps his arms around Elyssas shoulders, bringing her into him. She buries her face into his chest, just staying there for a second.
"Alright." Elyssa mumbles under her breath as she leans slightly away from Jack. He presses a kiss to the top of her head before breaking from the hug and heading for the door.
"Play good. Be safe. I love you!" Elyssa calls as he opens the door to leave her hotel room.
"I love you" Jack responds with a smile as he steps into the hall.
Elyssa and Megan make their way to the airport. Both girls sleep on the 6 hour flight to New Jersey.
"Can I just sleep here?" Megan asks as the girls enter Elyssa and Jacks apartment.
"Yeah." Elyssa closes the door, dropping her bags.
"What time is it?" Megan asks, leaning against the kitchen island.
"10:30" Elyssa reads from her phone, "bed?"
"Bed." Megan agrees, exhausted. The girls trudge into Elyssa and jacks bedroom, flopping into bed.
"Other side." Elyssa tells Megan.
"Girl thats your side." Megan gestures to the side of the bed Elyssa normally sleeps on.
"Yeah but I wanna sleep on jacks side." Elyssa argues. Megan sighs and switches sides. Elyssa makes herself comfortable in jacks side of the bed, finding his lingering scent comforting.
The next day Megan wakes up to faint music from the kitchen and living room. She exits the bedroom, seeing Elyssa cleaning the kitchen.
"Good morning." She breathes.
"Good morning." Elyssa smiles.
"Do you have plans for the day?" Megan asks, sitting at the island.
"No. I kinda just want to clean up around here and be lazy." Elyssa shrugs.
"Sounds good to me. Just tell me what to do." Megan agrees.
"Can you actually strip the bed and do that laundry?"
"Yep." Megan gets up, headed to do what Elyssa asked. The girls spend the day cleaning up and laying around on their phones.
That night, Elyssa and Megan sat in the living room of Jack and Elyssas apartment, watching the devils vs the kings. It was late in New Jersey because of the time difference from the west coast to the east coast. The best friends sat on the couch, intensely focused on the game. Elyssa has one of jacks devils sweatshirts on, the long sleeve covering her hand that was nervously by her mouth. It was early in the third period and the game was tied, 2-2. Jack had the puck in the Devils offensive zone by the boards. He was looking around, trying to find the best available option. One of the kings big defensemen skates quickly behind Jack, cross checking him hard.
"Fuck" Elyssa cringes.
Jack is knocked to the ground, landing awkwardly after trying to catch himself with his hands. Elyssas eyebrows furrow as she waits for a penalty to be called. She watches Jack lay face down on the ice.
"Get up" she mutters under her breath. He brings his hands up to his face, resting his head on them as he still stays on the ice. Elyssas leg bounces, anxious to know what happened to her husband. Soon enough, the trainer is on the ice and crouched down to talk to Jack. After a minute or so, Jack gets up and skates to the devils bench. The camera follows him off the ice, showing his pain stricken face. Elyssa cringed, knowing that he's played through minor injuries and pain before, and that if he's willingly getting off the ice, it's not good. She grabs her phone, texting Jack, despite knowing that he won't see it right away.
Lyss
Are you okay?
Lyss
Please call me when you can
"Is he answering?" Megan asks, her eyes going back and forth between the game and elyssa.
"Not yet." Elyssa huffs, putting down her phone.
Jack gets taken to the training room. He carefully removes his jersey and pads, leaving him in his grey undershirt. He clenched his jaw, trying to deal with the pain. The trainer moves around jacks arm and shoulder in different ways, asking what hurts and how each position feels. They decide to put ice on it for now.
"Is there anything you need?" The trainer asks Jack as he lays on a table with ice on his shoulder.
"Could I get my phone please?" Jack asks. Someone leaves and quickly returns with jacks phone.
Jack presses on Elyssas contact, bringing his phone up to his ear. It only rings once before she answers.
"What happened? Are you okay?" She asks frantically. He feels himself relax a bit after hearing her voice.
"I'm alright. I just landed awkwardly." He tries not to laugh at her.
"You didn't look alright." Elyssa challenges his statement.
"It hurts like hell but I'm not gonna die. Coach already told me I'm not playing anymore tonight. Or else I'd be out there." He jokes. Elyssas shoulders relax, happy to hear him being himself. She chuckles lightly.
"Did they tell you what it is?" She asks, more at ease now.
"No. Think it's just a strain or something." He tells her, trying to stay positive.
"Nothings torn?" Elyssa wants clarification.
"Probably not." He verifies. "How was your day?" Jacks changes the subject, trying to keep his wife from worrying.
