God Bless The Broken Road (Jonathan Toews)

Helping Hand (Part One)

Jonathan

For a week straight Samuel has been at our house. Sometimes he sleeps here, sometimes we take him home. It really depends on the situation. It's hard to watch sometimes because you know he's only here because he doesn't want to go home, but it's honestly great having him around. He kind of takes care of himself and is teaching Jackson to do the same. That's impressive for a eight year old. And I know he feels out of place around here but he actually fits in well with our family. He wants to be happy and be a part of something and who are we to deny him that?

One day mid April we decide to bring him to a game but I notice he has a bruise on his face. It was impossible not to. He was over yesterday and I didn't see it then, it was a nasty one too. It's hard to believe that happened by a accident, at least I didn't believe it did. It even had a good sized cut on it.

"Hey buddy, what happened to your face" I ask pointing to his swollen and nearly infected eye.

"Ummm I um... I got hurt in PE" he stutters.

"Didn't you have that before PE" Jackson asks.

"Nope, I uh, I fell... roller skating" he says slowly. I nod but didn't actually believe him. I let it go not wanting him to feel attacked and he puts on one of my jerseys that Jackson had and we haul everyone to the UC. As April starts that means we're that much closer to the playoffs. The team already clinched first in the west and the presidents trophy, now we were playing to get ready for the games that really matter. I sit in the locker room and put my pads on before Patrick comes to sit next to me.

"So why didnt you tell me planning a wedding was like getting your foot stuck in a bear trap" he asks causing me to laugh.

"It's not that bad" I insist.

"On the contrary, I think I'm losing hair" he claims. Poor boy, he loved his hair more than he loved most things.

"Oh hush it. You'll be fine. When you see her walking down the isle then it'll all be worth it" I assure him.

"If you say so" he mumbles. We take the ice for warm ups and I stay back to talk to Patrick. He usually talks my ear off but he seemed pretty curious today.

"Who's that kid with Jackson" he asks.

"That's Sam, probably their sweetest most grown up boy I've ever met. He's actually in the same class as Henry and Jackson" I explain.

"Ohhh so that's the Sam Henry always tells me about. I guess him and Jackson are close now huh" he asks.

"Yeah, we've been helping him out a lot lately. He isn't in the best of situations and Maisie feels for him. He's a good kid and doesn't deserve whatever he's going through" I sigh.

"You think his parents hit him" he asks.

"He has that black eye and I know it's not from PE like he claims, Jackson said it was there before that. Something like that comes from force, I'm not even sure you can get a shiner like that playing hockey" I explain.

"Wow, what are you gonna do" he asks.

"I wish I knew... I wish I knew."

The game ends and like many times before this season, we won. We celebrate in the locker room and hand out the belt then change before Jackson brings Sam out to meet the team. He was shy at first but the guys got him to open up. It took him a lot less time to make his way around than Jackson did his first time in here. He played mini sticks with crow and Shaw and Jackson got piggy back rides from Duncs because Jackson is adamant he is a satyr. I shouldn't have let him watch The Lightning Thief. I watch as they play around and I smile to myself. For a kid like Sam this is probably the coolest thing ever. He didn't know what hockey was a little over a week ago and now he's playing with the best team in the league. It was a cool feeling knowing you can mean something big like this to a kid. Eventually the guys have to go home and we pry Jackson and Samuel from the group.

"This was the best day of my life" he cheers and I smile to myself. We go home and Jackson and Sam go to to Jacks room for the night as we put the other kids to bed. I crawl into my own bed and pull my wife into my chest. We laid there silently before she broke the ice.

"I want to talk to Sam's parents" she mentions.

"Baby I just don't think that's a good idea" I sigh.

"Sometimes the best decisions are the hardest ones. I will not stand by and watch that kid beg for happiness. A bruise like that doesn't come from PE, it comes from from force. That's abuse and if we sit here and act like this isn't happening we're just as bad as the people who did that to him" she defends. I never thought of it that way. I didn't want to say not to help the kid, because he was great. But we already have three kids and the play offs coming up, did we really need another one?

"I trust your decisions, just don't do anything rash, okay? Making decisions when you're emotional is a bad idea" I remind her.

"Don't I know it. But he needs someone, and I am someone. But I can't help him if I don't know what I'm supposed to be fixing" she explains.

"That is true" I admit. A second later I hear soft snoring and see she's out cold. It's impressive how she does that. I kiss the top of her head and close my eyes before falling asleep too.

Authors Note: This one event was broken up into three chapters that will all be released today! Hope you enjoy them!!! :)