by Kat Obie
The guys all nodded in approval. But that was why he loved his team. They were like family. They had each other’s back. He still couldn’t believe that both Petey and Scotty were willing to shave off their hair for him.
“Come on, let’s drink and relax. I’m sure we can hate watching a couple teams,” said Corey. He was trying to avoid thinking about his diagnosis. He was always down to root against Metro teams especially when they were playing out west.
So it was Scotty, Petey and him who were all chatting. Initially Lager was there but after about a half hour, he headed home so he could be with his family. If Corey wasn’t still pretty damn taken aback by life, tonight would have been like any other time they hung out. Just taking the piss at things. He needed the time to hang out.
His favorite part of the night was the part that Petey hated most. The girls came back up and joined them in the living room and cuddled up. With Jenna on his neck, he couldn’t help himself from just kissing her neck a few times. Normally he would have held back, but he knew that Scotty and Al were doing the same thing.
“Okay, enough with the mushy stuff, guys,” said Petey.
“You need to get laid,” said Corey. Although he stopped kissing Jenna for the moment out of respect for his buddy.
“It’s not that. I can get laid anytime I want. I just don’t want any bunny in town. I want what you guys have. A connection.” Fortunately, Petey realized what was going on with Aubrey and they had broken up.
“You’ll find it again. Just need to get out there a little more,” said Scotty.
“Dude, I’m glad you came over tonight. If you want, we can go out and leave the girls behind or we can just hang.” Corey wanted to make sure that Petey knew he was appreciated.
“I’m good with just hanging, I just don’t need you guys to be making out the whole time.”
28
Corey
Corey woke up with Jenna beside him. It was still weird that he wasn’t going to the rink or training like normal. He wanted to. He knew that his treatments didn’t actually start for a few days. His surgeon still wanted him to wait at least two weeks before he could skate.
Jenna’s alarm was starting to go off for work. He roused her to wake up. “Come on, beautiful, time to kill the alarm.”
Jenna eventually woke up and silenced the alarm. She got up into a sitting position clearly not ready to tackle the day. So he decided to try to make it sweeter. He started to kiss her. “You want me to make you breakfast?”
Jenna shook her head in the negative. “Babe, I love you, but no, you can’t cook.”
She was right, he wasn’t a good cook. He kissed her neck. “Alright. Are you sure? I don’t have to cook but I can prepare you something that’s not cooked.”
“Yeah. I could use some coffee and for you to go to the rink this morning.”
“Me at the rink?” asked Corey, shocked. It didn’t seem to make sense. Jenna knew that he couldn’t skate yet and that he was starting treatments on Monday. Why would he go to the rink?
“You need to be with the guys, use the gym, and use the trainers. I can’t have you feeling sorry for yourself. I know you have been damn strong with the painkillers, and I commend you for that, but babe, you need to do something and it’ll be good for you to hang out with the guys. Go there on days that you can.”
She was right. Absolutely right. There were days when he wouldn’t be able to go so why not go on the good days like today? The guys were going to be in town for the next few days.
“I love you for being brilliant. I’ll go to the rink today.”
“I love you too. Especially if you make me coffee,” she said with a kiss. Then she practically pushed him out of the bed.
He waddled over to the kitchen and started the coffeepot with a strong brew. He poured his cup of coffee and added in a bunch of sugar for himself. He swore the coffee allowed him to move more freely but part of that was probably more mental than physical.
He started to make a light breakfast. He slathered some almond butter on a piece of bread and then topped it off with sliced banana. He ate that and then he also grabbed a Greek yogurt from the fridge.
After ten minutes Jenna was out of the shower, so he poured some coffee and cut up some fruit for her. If Jenna didn’t want the fruit, he would eat it instead. He had everything all set on the counter for her when she came out into the hallway. He passed her and said, “I’m going to get a shower but your coffee is on the counter.”
It was a quick shower. By the time he got dressed, he didn’t see Jenna downstairs. Not wanting to really walk up the stairs, he yelled up, “I’ll see you later, beautiful. I’m taking your advice and going to the rink.”
Jenna
Jenna was glad to have Corey out of the house. In a way, she was surprised how easily he went to the rink. She wanted some alone time to work and also wanted him to feel like he wasn’t losing everything. Being sick was going to be tough.
Last night showed her two things. First, Corey was almost suffocating her with his affection. For a change, he was starting to do a lot of PDA in front of their friends and that just wasn’t normal for him. While she could tell she was a grounding tool for him, and she would support him regardless, she needed a break. Also, hanging out with his friends was good for him. Although he seemed to be in denial about the diagnosis or actively trying to avoid dealing with it.
Corey had barely said what treatments would include, just that they would start on Monday. So it was time to go to Google. It didn’t take long to find out that he was going to need another surgery. It most likely will require some chemotherapy, immunotherapy and radiation.
Thankfully she had flexibility at work for the most part. She was working from the home office to do most of her work but she still had to go Philly every so often for meetings. She just hoped that those trips wouldn’t leave Corey helpless and alone. But she needed him to give her more details to support him.
After a few hours, Corey came home. At first, he remained downstairs. Knowing him, he was probably playing Fortnite or Call of Duty. After a couple hours, she heard his heavy footsteps come up the hardwood stairs. He didn’t come straight into the office. So she knew he came up there with a purpose: most likely to get his guitar or some stuff from their old bedroom.
“Hey, beautiful.” She looked to see her Hercules with a guitar slung across his back.
“Hey there. How’s your day been?”
“It was so good. I’m glad you made me go to the rink. I’ll probably be sore in the morning but I needed that workout.”
“Weren’t you sore this morning?” teased Jenna. She knew full well he’s talking about his muscles and not his whole body. At least she was rewarded with a gorgeous smile from her beau. “Alright, babe. I know I didn’t ask for many details yesterday but I think we should talk.”
“I really hate that phrase, babe.”
Jenna shook her head and laughed. “Oh God, I didn’t mean it like that. It’s more you kept saying you start treatments on Monday. What type of treatments? Chemo? Surgery? Something else?”
Corey took a deep breath in. He really did hate talking about that stuff but he wasn’t running away and hiding. He just hated it. Although she couldn’t blame him, she hated it too. “All of the above. Although I’m pretty sure Monday is just to walk me through stuff. Kinda like before. The doc said I will have to do another surgery to remove a portion of my stomach. Then it will be a couple treatments of chemo, radiation and possibly immunotherapy.”
None of that honestly surprised her. She read about everything pretty consistently online. But that didn’t mean she liked it.
“So Monday is just a consultation?”
“I think so. I wasn’t asked to arrange a ride so it’s not the surgery, and the doc made it sound like that would be the first thing that happens.”
“Do you want me there?” She was totally willing to flip her day on its head for him. She just needed to know so she could block out a coupl
e hours on her calendar and warn her boss.
“Nah. Just be a phone call away.”
Jenna got up and walked over to her stud. She easily wrapped her arms around his neck and said, “That’s a given always. I love your calls and text. You wooed me that way.”
“I wooed you? Who uses the word woo? What’s next, are we courting?”
She just started laughing. Woo was a weird, outdated term and they were definitely beyond the Duggar style of courting. She kissed him at that point. “Yes, you wooed me and we are well beyond courting. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“Good. Any other questions, beautiful?”
“Nope. Except maybe what’s for dinner?” she asked with a twinkle in her eye. She wasn’t in the mood to cook and she could eat. Corey wouldn’t cook unless it’s absolutely necessary but that was their cue that they should go out.
29
Corey
Today was the day of yet another surgery. He was over them already but this was just as important as cutting the cancer out of his back. He knew that this one had some bigger risks and he likely would have to be very careful with his diet for the rest of his life. On the plus side, he wouldn’t have to worry about dropping weight at the end of summer.
He barely slept due to the fucking nerves. He knew that he probably had some pretty gnarly bedhead. The only sleep he got was holding on to his love but he was so afraid of waking her up that he would let go.
Jenna rolled over with clear, bright eyes staring up at him. “You ready, babe?”
“As ready as I can be. Minus the whole getting out of the bed situation.”
She started to play with his hair at his forehead and started to smooth it down. She smiled so sweetly. “You know that we have to get out of bed.”
Corey nodded. He pulled her out of the bed with him and took her straight to the bathroom. He wanted some solid shower sex before his surgery. He probably should have done it in the bed but he was tired of lying down and he knew he would be bedridden again afterward for a few days. Hell, he couldn’t even spend the night in his own bed tonight since they had to make sure he could eat something.
They got naked quickly but took their time in the shower. He was having fun playing with her clit and teasing her body to where she was just on the edge. She was both begging for the final release and clawing his shoulders. It was sexy as all hell. But Jenna was always sexy as all hell naked and when she was aroused. But knowing that they did have to get going for the day, he finally got her off and they actually got cleaned up.
Then it was time to get dressed. He kept it simple with just sweats, a T-shirt and a hoodie while Jenna took more time doing her thing in the bathroom. He packed a small overnight bag for the hospital.
It was the same old routine at the hospital as last time. The only major difference was that he was basically prepped for the surgery. There wouldn’t be the massive time needed in radiology. He got to hang out with Jenna in the room as they did the final preparations.
In a lone moment in the hospital room, Corey wanted to complain about the stupid IV drip going into hand since he hated the needle, but he didn’t want his last comments to Jenna be a complaint if things went sideways in the operation. So instead he reached up to Jenna and ran his fingers along her jawline and said, “Sorry to keep pulling you to the hospital every other week. Thank you for being here for me.”
She leaned into his hand and said, “Babe, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. You just have to remember, I expect your handsome ass to wake up tonight and you’re coming home with me tomorrow.”
He smiled. She didn’t always call him handsome or anything like that. He ate that shit up. Just like he loved that she would praise his hockey prowess especially when he got streaky hot. “So I have a handsome ass?”
“Noooo,” she said in a low voice. “You got a tight ass but it’s your face that’s handsome.”
“So why did you call me a handsome ass then?”
“’Cause it’s moments like this where you are a bit of an ass yet you are always handsome.”
“Score. I’m handsome,” he said with a wide smile. He loved the little banter. “You know what, beautiful, you should always call me handsome.”
“Oh, hell no. It would just inflate your ego.”
He balked, his ego wasn’t that bad. “Oh, really? Since when do I have a crazy big ego?”
Jenna smiled and put a finger to her lips thinking. If they weren’t in a hospital, he would probably have pulled her hand down to his mouth so he could suck on her finger. “You do get a wee bit cocky when you get on a hot streak.”
“I should be cocky about that. It’s damn hard to score in the NHL and to do it so often, it takes mad skills. I can’t even control if my mad skills will work on a goalie.”
Dr. Foci and another surgeon came into the room. Dr. Foci asked, “Are we interrupting anything?”
“Oh, no. We’re good. Just telling her that I’ll be fine.”
“Yup. While there will always be the risk for complications, they are exceedingly rare. But it’s time to get started on your surgery.”
“Okay.” He pulled Jenna down to the bed so he could kiss her soft lips. He laid his forehead on hers for a second, then whispered, “I love you, Jenna.”
“Love you too, Corey. See you on the other side,” she said in a whisper.
Corey nodded and then turned to the surgeons. “Okay. I’m ready.”
Jenna
Jenna truly hated waiting to hear how Corey made out with his surgery. Much like the last surgery, the waiting room got noisy with all of his teammates by the midafternoon. Alice and several other wives and girlfriends were there to distract her for most of the afternoon. She always knew how close the Sound was as a team. His own family didn’t actually come for his surgery in part because he wouldn’t let them. She was surprised his mom stayed away and she wasn’t even sure if his sister knew what was going on with his health. But you couldn’t keep Petey, Scotty, Lager and others away. Who cares if they had a game that night? They all gave up their pregame routine just to be there for them.
She was grateful that there weren’t any complications with his surgery. The only downside was that Corey had no idea that his teammates and their significant others had waited with her since they all had to get to the rink for the game against Columbus. The only one who stayed the entire time was Alice.
It wasn’t until he was taken up to his room that she got to see him. He lit up and said, “Hey you,” as soon as he saw her.
“Hey. How do you feel?”
“A little sleepy yet. How much longer ’til the game tonight?”
She looked down at her watch as she sat down beside the bed. “Pregame should be on just about now.”
“Good. I want to see the guys kill Columbus.”
Jenna was going to look for the remote when the TV came alive. So it was clear that Corey had the remote in his hand. “Guess you aren’t wasting any time to watch the game. You know the guys were here earlier.”
“Yeah. I had a feeling they would be. Both Petey and Scotty texted me last night to ask about the timing of everything. I just hope I didn’t fuck up their mojo for the game.”
Jenna nodded. She was going to say something but the announcers were talking about Corey and the fact that his season was out and were wishing him luck with his treatments. It seemed like that since news broke that he would be out of the rest of the season, it was all the hockey world could talk about. It wasn’t every day when a professional hockey player got diagnosed with cancer, not to mention when he was having a hell of a season. What was a wee bit surprising was how many teams and players were giving him well wishes but it was weird that they were using #CCStrong in all well wishes over social media.
“It’s crazy to hear everyone call you CC now.”
Corey shrugged his shoulders. “I can’t stop it. It’s not like I haven’t heard it all my life. But it was weird to see guys like Petey and Scotty use the hashtag
in their posts. They never call me that.”
“Yeah. But knowing Scotty, he only did it because of the hashtag.”
“He does know how to work social media.”
“You have no idea,” Jenna said with a smirk. Corey had a weird look on his face. If Jenna didn’t know better, he was getting jealous. He just looked so stern. Then she realized he was indeed getting jealous. It wasn’t like Corey to get jealous of Scotty but then again he was still a little drugged up and not thinking straight. She busted out laughing. “Babe. I found out he and Alice were dating thanks to Instagram and while checking out some of his other posts, I realized he was friends with a special hotshot hockey hottie.”
“Who was that?” Corey said with a little bit of sourness not even realizing that Jenna was talking about him, which got her laughing even more.
She kissed him and said, “You.”
Corey sighed in relief. “I guess I don’t have to kill him then.”
“That’s right. You are safe from yourself.”
With a smile, he said, “I’m a hotshot hockey hottie.” Jenna just shook her head and let it ride. She was tempted to ask if he was feeling okay. But she was pretty sure she knew the answer since he was all over the place. She was hoping to see the silly side like him getting a kick out of little things during his last surgery. Now she was seeing it and amused her.
“I wish this bed was bigger. I hate how you’re over there by yourself instead of lying down beside me,” he said with a slight pout.
“You and me both.”
“Knock knock,” said Alice as she entered the room. Apparently she spent the time alone to get Corey a gift from the gift shop. She gave the bag to Corey and then sat in the open chair. “Sorry, I know this is a terrible gift given everything but it’s the best I could do. Not much for guys in the gift shop. Nice you have the game on.”
As he started to open the gift, he said, “Of course. I want to see how the guys play tonight. I just hope that they pulled a win.” He pulled out some chocolate and a tin that might have been popcorn. He smiled and said, “It’s okay. Once I’m ready to eat, the popcorn will be nice, but I’m sure Jenna will like the chocolate.”
