@rozanovmenace / plotted started
Shane was observant. He saw everything and everyone on the ice. The crowd was like white noise to him, always had been, during a game. He was always able to tune it out and focus on the game. Where's the puck - who is passing to who - who is skating slower than normal - who keeps trying to make the same shot against the goalie - everything. For both teams, really. His eyes kept up with everything in between his own shifts on the ice, even now.
His eyes scan where everyone stands before the faceoff, where he can see Ilya's lips moving, likely chirping at the center opposite of him, before the puck drops and play begins. As easy as it might be for Shane to get distracted by just watching Ilya, he's a professional, always has been, even after three years of playing on the same team now. He's more aware of Ilya than anyone else on the ice, but he's able to separate his husband from his teammate. Usually.
Until he sees Ilya get tripped, too near the boards, his left leg crushed against the boards, and even from the bench, Shane can see the angle is wrong, bad, and he's on the ice the second the whistle is blown, skating over. The next few hours seem to pass in a blur - in retrospect, it's going to be a whole story about whether or not married players should be allowed to play in the same league, or on the same team, if it's going to force two players out of a game because of an injury. And it isn't as though neither of them had left a game in the past three years, but it's never been this serious.
Which is why he's sitting in the chair by Ilya's bed, Ilya who is still knocked out - the painkillers will do that to you - but Shane has been there since the ice. Ilya's leg is affixed for now, a temporary set, but Shane could tell from seeing it on the ice that this was more than a few weeks out of the game. This was likely the whole season or --- Shane wasn't going to try and think that far ahead. He'd need surgery, rehabilitation, and help at home ('another reason why players shouldn't be allowed to play together, they're distracted, or abandoning their team'), and Shane would be there, at home, with Ilya.
Like he was here now, holding his hand while he slept, half asleep himself, resting his head in his other hand, elbow holding him up on the armrest of the chair. He'd changed, because his parents had brought him some clothes and picked up the dogs. He still felt gross from playing almost an entire game without showering, but at least he was out of his hockey gear, and he was far too focused on his unconscious and injured husband to be too bothered about that. For now.
He's struggling to keep himself alert, but he wants to be awake when Ilya wakes up himself, though he's starting to think that's going to be impossible, nodding off every few seconds. Perhaps Ilya will sleep until the morning, so he should just let himself find a couple of hours of sleep before then. Shane is still here, whether awake or resting, right? It's what he tells himself this final time he lets his eyes close against his the hand slightly holding his head up.
