Chapter Text
The second night was rough. Spending 24 hours in bed had already made Ilya restless and achy; now he was regaining sensation in his legs. It would have been more exciting if that sensation had been just about anything other than an intense numbness. Instead, it felt like his legs had fallen asleep, but he had no ability to wake them up. Feeling was there, in some capacity, but he still had no control below his waist.
Historically, Ilya hated taking medication. Over-the-counter pain meds? Only when he was miserable. But anything stronger brought up feelings he would rather not confront, especially not right now. However, by 4 am, he was desperate for sleep and to escape the feeling in his legs. He was willing to accept the muscle relaxant they had given him the night before - it felt safest in his mind. It's job was to help his body relax, not to numb or mask anything. Nor was it meant to put him to sleep; it just happened to make it easier. Shane knew all of this, of course, even without Ilya verbalizing it. So he sat with his husband, holding his hand and rubbing his cheek, until he was finally asleep. Then Shane pushed his chair against the bedside, so Ilya could find him if he was awake first.
Shane woke around 10 am. He was relieved to hear Ilya snoring softly next to him. As he started to sit up, he realized they were not alone.
“Hey, baby. Good morning.” Yuna spoke softly so she wouldn’t wake Ilya.
“Heeey. Good morning, guys.” Shane stretched and wiped the sleep from his eyes.
“The nurse said it was a rough night. Did you two get any sleep?” David handed his son a coffee and kissed the top of his head.
“Not a lot, no. I think it was about 4:30 before Ilya finally fell asleep… dozed here and there before that, but he was too uncomfortable to actually sleep until we got him to take some meds.”
“Well… I guess that could be a good sign? I feel so bad for him, though. Hard to get better when you can’t actually rest. I hope you weren’t up much longer after he fell asleep; you were already running on empty when we left last night.” Yuna was trying, but failing, to hide how worried she was.
“No, once I got him to sleep, I was pretty much out like a light… So, where did you guys end up staying last night? I don’t think we talked about it with all of the chaos.”
“Jackie insisted we stay with them. The kids were so cute this morning. They were delighted to have surprise breakfast guests, and your dad made pancakes for them. Oh! We’ve got a change of clothes for you. I washed the clothes from your suitcases, and I brought your toiletry bag.”
“You guys are the best.” Shane had never been so happy to hear that he had sweatpants and body wash. His normal hygiene habits had obviously dropped to the bottom of his list as far as priorities go, but he’d be lying if he said feeling so gross wasn’t making everything harder. “Mind if I shower? I won’t take long.”
“Take your time. We’re here if he wakes up.” David took over Shane’s seat, knowing his son might actually relax in the shower a little bit more if someone was sitting beside Ilya.
At 11:30, they decided it was time to wake Ilya. He clearly needed the rest, but he also really needed to eat. They were also approaching the 40-hour mark, and the next few hours would be essential in understanding the path forward. Shane leaned over the bed, one hand rubbing Ilya’s cheek, the other absent-mindedly placed on his thigh. “Pora prosypat’sya, moy lyubimiy.”
It’s time to wake up, my love
“Mmmm… Dobroye utro.”
Good morning.
“How are you feeling? Sorry, we couldn’t let you sleep any longer.”
“It is okay. I feel good. Legs feel better I think.” Ilya stretched his arms and, without realizing it, shifted his legs. Shane inhaled as tears welled in his eyes. “What is wrong? Hey, hey… why do you look like you are going to cry?” Ilya reached up to grab Shane’s face.
“You just moved my hand.”
“What? No, I didn’t. Is still on my face where you put it.”
Shane moved his hand from Ilya’s cheek to his hair, tangling his fingers in the golden curls. “Not this hand. My other one.” Then he lightly squeezed his husband’s thigh.
Ilya’s eyes widened, then he moved his leg again. It wasn’t much, but it was on purpose. He pulled Shane’s forehead against his own as they both broke into giggles; Shane was no longer able to hold back his tears. Across the room, David was behind Yuna, arms wrapped around her in a hug as she also failed to hold back her tears of joy.
Ilya very excitedly showed off his ‘party trick’ to the neurologist a short while later. He also used it to successfully argue that he should be allowed to recline in bed. He was hoping to lose the cervical collar, but agreed to wait until 6 pm. The doctor wanted a follow-up MRI and for most of the numbness to be gone first. The back brace would have to wait until tomorrow out of an abundance of caution.
With a 1:30 puck drop, there was no morning skate for Montreal or New York today. Hayden arrived in the locker room about 2 hours before the game, headphones on. He was in no mood to talk to anyone.
JJ and Patrice were already there, sitting by their lockers. JJ waved to Hayden and waited for him to pull his headphones to the side. “How’s he doing?”
“Better.”
“Good! Making progress, yeah? How’s Shane?”
“You should ask Shane.”
“We didn’t want to bug him… seemed like they were juggling a lot already. Didn’t want to be overwhelming.” It was Drapeau who spoke this time.
“His husband is in the hospital, hoping to escape a life-altering, career-ending injury while they’re two hours from home. Everything is overwhelming. Distance doesn’t help.” And with that, Hayden put his headphones back on and made his way to the gym.
“We uh… we fucked up, didn’t we?”
“Oui. Should have been there yesterday.”
Things had not ended well last season. Neither man was kind to Shane after he tripped in their final game of the playoffs. JJ and Shane had made repairs, but their friendship was certainly not the same since. Drapeau had gotten to a point of at least being cordial with Shane. He didn’t receive an invitation to the wedding, but they had the occasional texts back and forth. All of that suddenly felt in jeopardy.
“After the game?”
“After the game.”