Skate On {NHL Fanfic}

Chapter 18: Panic

CHAPTER 18: Panic

“Rose?” I heard a voice, very calm and quiet.

I was still lying flat on the bench in the locker room. I was only wearing spandex shorts with a black tank top, simply what I was wearing under all of my hockey gear. I straightened up to see who was standing at the entrance and I quickly picked myself up when I noticed my coach stepping into the changing room. He looked down at me and I was almost waiting for him to say something. I had no idea what he was still doing here, anyways. Practice ended a while back. “Is there something wrong, sir?”

He took a seat on the bench at a fair distance from me and kept his gaze on the floor for a moment. “I need to speak with you, Rose, about something that I don’t want to bring up around the others. And I would really like for you to hear me out.”

I nodded, a bit scared at what he was about to tell me.

“Do you ever think of your father, Rose?” He asked me.

“Too much, sir.” I said, not wanting to get into the subject but allowed him to continue.

“Your father was a really good man.” He said, finally looking me in the eyes. “He was a lucky man to be able to play hockey… and he knew it.”

“I know how he died. I’m not sure I want to have this conversation.” I said.

“Please, hear me out.” He said, and I nodded. “Your father died where he would’ve wanted to… but he took a risk and from what I’ve seen you do these last few weeks, kind of resembles the way your father was in his last months.”

I got to my feet, unable to believe what I was hearing. “You don’t know what you’re talking about, I need to go.”

“Rose, stop!” He shouted, angrily. He took a deep breath and I paused just before leaving through the exit. “You’re the greatest player I’ve ever seen but I don’t want to see what happened to your father happen to you.”

My jaw clenched, and I was a bit angry, unable to hold back. I turned back around to face him, “I’m not my father!”

He almost smiled, but shook his head. “You know that’s not true.”

I turned around and burst through the door, unable to hold myself back. I wanted to yell in rage. How dare he’d brought up that subject with me? Nobody talks about my parents’ death, and specifically not my father’s death. Just thinking about my father and what happened to him, made me very scared. I didn’t even want to think about it, ever.

I ran towards the gym, picking up a sprint until my lungs were burning. I was finally entering into the gym and I felt like yelling, only able to hold myself back for a few more seconds. I was so angry, yet so terrified at the same time, I couldn’t stop the tears from falling from my eyes. I slammed the door behind me and brushed my hair back, furiously.

I went towards the weights and was ready to throw them against the wall, just wanting to release my anger out, when arms suddenly went around me, preventing me to do so.

“Rose, calm down.” It was Patrick Kane’s voice. He took the weights and dropped them on the ground next to my feet. He kept his grip around my chest and whispered into my ear, softly. “It’s okay, it’s just me, Rose. You’re okay.”

Just the sound of his voice was very calming, yet I still felt like I needed to scream and punch a wall. He could feel the energy arising from my body evidently and didn’t release me. I looked down, realizing that there was still people in the gym, and a few of them turning towards me.