Let Me Make It Up To You (Chapter 2)

                                    

                                          
Just as quick as my vision went black, it's back. The pain in my face is unbearable and my eyes water a bit, but I hold the tears back. I pull my hands from my face and stare at the blood covering them. 
                          
"Ev, you need to go with the paramedic." Kayla says, touching my arm. I blink harshly and look over at the medic standing at the end of our row. Everyone is looking at me and I don't hear skates on the ice, so I know all the guys are looking at me too. I carefully stand up and make my way to the paramedic who has his hand held out for me. I take it and look out on the ice. Corey is against the glass watching me, holding his mask in his hand. I smile at him so he knows I'm alright. I can tell he feels absolutely terrible. The medic leads me down the stairs and I trip a few times because I'm a little dizzy. I can hear someone yelling at Crawford as I pass by. They must want to continue the game and he's not listening. We get outside of the rink and the paramedic takes me down the "employees-only" hallway to the locker rooms. He holds the door open for me and I go inside. It smells like guy and the stalls are empty except for suits. A hand touches my back and I turn back and look at the paramedic. 
                          
"You can go ahead and sit right there." He says, pointing to the stall closest to us. I nod and slowly sit down, wiping my hands on my pants. 
                          
"How come you brought me in here?" I ask, looking around at the room. 
                          
"Not really anywhere else I could take you that's private. And I imagine Corey will want to see you." He answers and I nod. 
                          
"So it's obvious you need stitches. But I need to check and see if your nose is broken, so this will hurt." The med says as he pulls on plastic gloves, which is really creepy actually. He kneels down in front of me and starts to touch my nose lightly. The pain isn't too bad so I assume it's not broken. Then he squeezes the bridge of my nose and I whimper, digging my nails in my knees. He squeezes around for a good thirty seconds and it's so hard not to just push his hand away. By this point tears are streaming down my face. Finally, he takes his hand away and stands up, digging in his medical bag. I sigh and run my fingers through my hair, trying not the breakdown. The pain continues to radiate and it hurts a shit ton. Finally, the med turns around, a medical needle and stitching thread in his hand. 
                          
"I can easily feel the break in the center of your nose. There's nothing we can do to help it except wait. And the cut is pretty long so I have to stitch it up quick." He explains, smiling sadly. I nod and shift in my seat, preparing myself. I've had plenty of stitches and staples in my time and I absolutely hate them. He gets the stuff ready and kneels in front of me again. He sticks the needle through my skin and pulls it through to the other side, piercing it. He continues to stitch my nose closed, the feeling of tugging it shut making me wanna be sick. He works quickly and within a minute or two he's knotting the thread and snipping the end off. I cover my mouth and close my eyes, nausea churning in my stomach. I feel the medic dabbing the blood off my face before patting my arm. I open my eyes and look at him. 
                          
"You okay? You don't look so good." He comments. And I nod my head. 
                          
"Yea I'm fine. Just don't do well with stitches." I say, taking a deep breath. I pull my hand from my mouth and sit up straight. 
                          
"That should heal in two weeks max since its not too deep. You can go to the hospital and get them out." The medic says, standing up and grabbing his bag.
                          
"I'm a nurse. Can I just take them out myself?" I ask, looking up at him. 
                          
"If you know how to then be my guest. I'll go find your friend and bring her down here. Will you be alright here by yourself until the guys come?" He asks and I nod. He leaves the room and I'm alone. I lean forward and rest my head in my hands, closing my eyes. My nose is throbbing and I shake my head. That medic was absolutely terrible. He looked younger than me so he obviously doesn't have much experience. What dumbass goes about checking for a fracture by repeatedly and carelessly tapping and poking at the area? It shouldn't take that long to figure it out. He probably broke it even more. I still feel a bit sick as well. I'm so consumed in my misery that I don't hear the Hawks coming into the room. They are screaming and cheering and I lift my head up, squinting at the light. From the looks of it, they won. Toews sees me looking at them and comes over to me. 
                          
"We won if you can't tell," he laughs, "Are you alright?" 
                          
"Oh yea I'm alright. No big deal." I assure, standing up. Toews nods and gives me a pat on the arm before walking away. I straighten my jersey and see Crawford come into the room. He talks to some of the management before he looks over and sees me. His face falls and he hurries over. 
                          
"I am so fucking sorry." He sighs and I laugh. 
                          
"It's really okay. Wasn't your fault." I smile. This must be his stall because he starts putting his stuff away. 
                          
"I feel really terrible. You have to let me make it up to you." Corey sighs, looking at me. 
                          
"And how would you do that?" I tease, the pain in my nose finally fading away. Corey smiles that stupid smile that melts my heart as he thinks. 
                          
"I have a few ideas in mind. Just please wait outside for me and I'll be there as soon as I can." He says and I nod, biting my lip. He smiles that fucking smile again and it makes me want to stab myself. I sigh and leave the locker room, heading down the hallway. Corey's so perfect and I know already I'm going to screw something up. Not like he likes me though, he is a pro hockey player and I'm just a nurse, what would he see in me? I'm nowhere near as pretty as some of the other guys' girlfriends/wives. I get to the end of the hall and I see Kayla leaned against the wall on the phone with someone. I do a wolf-whistle and she looks directly at me, making me laugh. She jumps up from the wall and says something into her phone before putting it away. She runs up to me and grabs my shoulders, looking me over. 
"God are you okay? That was by far the scariest thing I've ever witnessed." Kayla says quickly. 
"Relax, I'm fine." I laugh, pushing her hands from my shoulders. She nods and hands me my purse, which I left behind when I left with the medic. I take it and thank her as she starts digging through her own bag. She pulls out a puck and hands that to me as well. I laugh and cover my mouth. 
                          
"Figured you would kill me if I didn't keep that." She chuckles and I nod. 
                          
"Of course I would've! I need some kind of proof that my favorite player hit me in the face with a puck." I joke and she rolls her eyes. 
                          
"So did you see him?" She asks, leaning against the wall again.
                          
"I did. He said he felt terrible, and I could tell he really did. I could tell when I saw him earlier. He apologized." I explain
                          
"That's it?" Kayla gasps
                          
"No." I say, smiling uncontrollably, "he told me to wait for him and he'd make it up for me." 
                          
"What?!" She squeals and a few people look over at us. 
                          
"Yea. This is the moment I have been waiting for my entire existence." I sigh
                          
"What does 'make it up to you' mean? Like what's the plan?" She asks
                          
"I have no idea. And frankly, I don't care."