42- Victories

                                    

                                          
Saturday starts off pretty boring in my opinion. I had two days to convince Dr. Lombardi to let me go to the hockey game but as of yesterday during my session with her, she'd still said that it's a very slim possibility so I don't have my hopes up anymore. They shouldn't have ever been up considering the fact that the proposition was pretty insane even for me. I'm still optimistic on the fact that I'll get to go to another game in the future, just not today.

                          
So I spend my Saturday just like I spend every other day. I called Niles to wish him luck today for his game and then I called my dad to catch up with things back home and then I played some board games with Renée, Mia, and Desiree before deciding that I wanted to start reading one of the books that I had bought at the store because I'd been so busy with Mia and Renée that I haven't gotten a chance to start them. When Johnny came to visit, I was a little worried about Renée, so I didn't want to leave to go read when I was worried about how she was going to take that but it's been a few days and she seems to be completely fine and Mia thinks so too. I know that it could be an act on her part but there's not much I can do to make her feel better if she doesn't look like anything is wrong. 
                          
After lunch, I curl up in one of those big chairs and dive into the story that I'm holding on my fingertips. I barely even move for the next few hours as I fall into the story but I'm interrupted just a little bit before dinner when Sophie approaches me with a broad smile on her face. 
                          
"Hey, Ana," She chirps. "Do you still want to go to the game tonight?"
                          
I almost drop my book at the abrupt proposition. "I... I thought that Dr. Lombardi said no."
                          
"She was still thinking about it," She reminds me. "But she gave me the go ahead to take you out so do you still want to go?"
                          
"Yes. Of course I do, completely," I say quickly, completely surprised that this is even happening. I was completely content with spending the rest of my boring weekend just reading and laying around like a potato but this certainly puts a twist on things. "Do I have time to get ready?"
                          
Sophie nods with a small laugh. "Yeah, I'll meet you in the visitor's room in twenty minutes and we can go, alright?"
                          
I nod eagerly before jumping out of the seat and wrapping my arms around the petit blonde in an act of pure excitement. "Thank you so much, Sophie," I say before I hurry away from her to go put my book away in my room and then get to Dr. Lombardi's office to get my clothes and everything. 
                          
"You're really letting me do this?" I ask Dr. Lombardi as she hands me the clothes. 
                          
She nods reluctantly. "I am. I trust that you can handle yourself. I'm trusting you here, Ana."
                          
"Awesome. I've totally got this," I assure her eagerly as I give her a quick goodbye wave and then I'm hurrying towards the bathroom. "Thank you so much, Dr. Lombardi."
                          
I meet Sophie in the visitor's room just in time wearing my jeans and black shirt with my panic pills tucked snugly in my pocket but I'm fairly sure that I won't have to use them. Sophie is dressed in regular people clothing too, instead of her usual white nurse scrubs, which is as weird as seeing Johnny dressed in normal clothes the other day because I'm so used to seeing them in their scrubs. I really think that I can handle this. It's going to be crowded and loud and rowdy but I really think that I've grown up so much in the past few months and although I might feel that shiver of fear fall down my spine, I'll be able to handle it. 
                          
"Does Niles know that I'm coming?" I ask Sophie as we're driving down the road. 
                          
"Nope," She sighs. "It was a pretty last minute decision and he was already in practice before I could tell him. But you'll be able to see him after the game. Since you're with me, you aren't on the two hour restriction so you can come back to the house afterwards because they usually have a celebratory dinner or something if they win. If you're feeling up to it, of course."