nhl imagines

last dance, mitch marner

tw: sickness (cancer), death

You were tied to a sentence. A life sentence. A life constricted to a hospital bed, connected to tubes, monitors, and everything above. You could feel yourself deteriorating, the life slowing leaving your body and it scared you, it scared you so much. You didn't want to leave, you had so much life left to live, but that wasn't in store for you.

You had six months left to live; you were told that six months ago. Every day was just another miracle, another day of breathing. It wasn't living, but it was breathing. It was more time with the people that you loved and more time preparing them.

"Please take care of him," You softly told your mother-in-law. "I don't know how he will handle this long term," You whispered, staring at your husband with tearful eyes. Not only did you feel the life draining from yourself, but you felt the life draining from Mitch too. He only smiled for you now, a false comfort smile that is paired with wet eyes.

Every day that passed he felt more and more disconnected, his soulmate was leaving him behind, and he didn't know what to do, so he just lived for you. He just wanted to be there for you, he didn't want to picture what would happen when you left, so he didn't. He wasn't ready for that, he didn't know if he would ever be ready for that.

Your mother-in-law, Bonnie, released a quiet sob with a quick nod. "Of course, we will sweetheart, don't you worry about that," She tried to comfort you, but it didn't really work. You felt responsible for his pain, he knew that you had cancer when you started dating, but it wasn't life-threatening then. It would've gotten better, but now he spent his entire days in the hospital preparing for your death and watching you fade away.

You tiredly shrugged, "He's the love of my life, I have to worry about him," You sadly smiled.

Bonnie covered her mouth and turned her head so you wouldn't see her cry. The air was different today, everybody could tell. Your lungs felt a little bit heavier, and your eyes felt a little bit droopier. Everybody knew what was happening. She placed a kiss on your forehead and brushed the hair out of your face, "I know, I know," She cooed, wrapping her arm around your shoulders. "You're such a beautiful soul, my sweet girl, so beautiful."

You smiled at her and then moved your eyes to meet Mitch's sad vacant gaze. His empty eyes that only held pain and sadness and it was all your fault. His eyes used to be so bright, they used to shine when you were with him, but now they hold nothing but grief and anguish. "I love you," You mouthed to him.

His lips quirked up, "I love you so much," He mouthed back to you. His mother must have seen your interaction because you felt more tears drip onto your head. She squeezed your shoulders gently and kissed your hair before standing up. She peeked up at the monitors that you couldn't see and quickly looked away.

You had been through a long and tiring life, so you signed a do not resuscitate waiver. The beeping had been put on silence for your last days. You didn't want to be reminded of your slow heartbeat every second, so you could only assume by her facial expression that the end was near.

She quickly covered up her expression and looked over to Mitch, "We'll leave you two alone, text me if you need anything please," She said.

He shook his head, "Please go home, you've been here as much as I have."

Her face wasn't showing any emotion, but her eyes were flooding with emotion. "We are staying here," She firmly said. There was an awkward silence in the room, nobody wanted to utter the situation. If anybody said it, then it would be real, and nobody wanted that.

He barely nodded his head, his eyes distant, "Okay," He whispered before pulling her into a hug and leading her out of the room.

She turned back to you, one last time, "Thank you," She nodded at you. That was all that needed to be said. You gave her the greatest gift of all, a happy son. An Earth-shattering-happy-son and that was all that mattered to her.