Chapter 2

Dan, Karen, Wendy, and Brad’s sisters arrived at the sound of the siren’s echoing off of the building. “Are you alright, Brad?” Dan asked, seeing the bloodstains on his hockey uniform.

“I’m okay; it was Pete. I think a skate must have slashed him across the neck above his neck guard when we were on the ice. It happened so fast that at first I thought it was me who was cut. Are you guys going to the hospital?”

“I’m not sure; we should.” They looked at his blood-stained hands and uniform, growing nauseous.

“Go if you need to go; Jake and I can get a lift to the hospital after the game. Mr. Kendall, Vicky, and Abby have already left for the hospital.”

“You two can go; I’ll stay behind and bring Brad and Jake,” Wendy offered.

“We’ll stay with her too,” Diane and Brenda agreed.

“Go, Mom and Dad. I know you’d want to be there for Scott, Vicky, and Abby,” Brad motioned.

The arena staff took scrapers, shovels, and a large plastic can out to the ice. The ref conferred with the other ref and linemen, then went to both benches, then finally to the timekeeper’s box.

“Ladies and gentlemen, as you can see, we’ve had an injured player on the ice. Our thoughts and prayers will be with the Kingston player, Pete Kendall, and his family. Both teams are being sent to their dressing rooms so that the ice can be cleaned. The remaining 4:34 of the first period will be played after the intermission, then the teams will switch ends of the ice for the second period.”

Rob St.Cyr quickly cancelled the fun and games that usually take place at the intermission, and the Public Address system played subdued rock music. Several fans in the arena were affected by the sight of blood gushing from the injured hockey player. Some had to sit down feeling faint or go to the bathroom feeling nauseous. Anyone would be distressed by the sight of so much blood.

Volunteer members of St. John’s Ambulance, who would usually attend to an injured spectator, aided those who felt ill.

Brad tried to wipe the blood, now sticky, from his hands with the once-white towel and returned to the ice. He picked up his gloves and stick, and fans looked on in horror at the streaks of blood that had stained his white sweater, sleeves, face shield, hands, and face. The fierce-looking Falcon emblem on his sweater looked like it had been in a life-or-death battle for survival.

The crowd began to stand and applaud him for his part in helping the injured Kingston player. This was no time to smile and wave to the appreciative fans, and he skated off the ice with a blank stare in his eyes.

In the ambulance, the paramedic started an IV with blood plasma to counter Pete’s blood loss. Jim stayed straddled over Pete’s unconscious body, applying pressure to his neck wound. The Ambulance driver radioed the hospital, describing the victim’s injuries, and the emergency room was alerted.

Jim had to take his hands away from Pete’s neck as Doctor Anderson attempted to stem the flow of blood with locking forceps clamps. Blood spurted from his wound as the Doctor frantically tried to find the damaged artery. He found the blood vessel and clamped off the cut end. The other end continued to pump out blood, and Jim returned his hands to apply pressure to the wound.

The clamp looked odd, hanging to the side of his neck as the three worked frantically to save Peter’s life. “Do you know his blood type?” Dr. Anderson asked. Jim instructed him to take his cell phone from his side pocket, saying he kept medical information on all the players.

“Most of the players are type O,” Jim mentioned.

“Yes, he is type O and has no allergies. Good information to have on your team,” the doctor mentioned.

“He looks very pale,” Jim commented of Pete’s facial colour.

“How much blood do you think he lost?” The doctor asked.

“I’d say about two litres, maybe more. His heart and pulse were pumping it out so fast.”

“The human body only holds four litres, so he’s lost close to half.”

The ambulance abruptly halted under the canopy of the emergency entrance to Belleville General Hospital. The fast pace of Jim, the paramedics, and Doctor Anderson indicated the dire situation for Pete. Jim breathed heavily from adrenalin as the hospital staff took over Pete’s care. He began to supply the admitting staff with the personal information he had on Pete.

Inside the treatment room, Jim finally stood up from straddling Pete on the gurney. Several nurses immediately began to cut off Pete’s uniform, pads, and skates. In less than a minute, he was naked, then covered, and rushed to the operating room.

Jim took off his rubber gloves, then went to the washroom to calm his nerves and wash up. He was joined by Dr. Anderson. “You were quick to help your player. I’ll catch a ride with you back to the game.”

Jim called Coach Green, saying Pete was at the hospital and he would take a cab back to the arena. While waiting for his ride, he recognized Scott and Vicky arriving. They met in the waiting room, and he said Pete was in good hands. Doctor Anderson said Pete’s neck wound was very serious and that he would have to wait for more accurate information from the hospital staff.

Dan and Karen soon arrived and joined Scott, Vicky, and Abby to wait for news concerning Peter. They exchanged handshakes, and the wives hugged and held hands in support. Jim went to the window to tell the nurse that the parents of the injured hockey player had arrived. He came out of the restricted area, and they hurried to him.

“Thank you so much, Jim, for helping Pete.” Scott offered his hand.

“I want to see Peter!” Abby implored.

“He’s gone to surgery. I’m glad I was able to help, but you should be thanking the Hayward boy from the other team who began to apply pressure to Pete’s neck wound right away. At the rate he was losing blood, Pete would have had only a few minutes to live.”

“The other boy you mentioned is our son, Brad Hayward. Our families are best friends,” Karen said, kissing the back of Vicky’s hand.

“Brad is my boyfriend, and Pete is my brother,” Abby mentioned.

“Aha, so you’re the sister who caused Pete to put Hayward in the hospital?” Jim surmised, his eyes scanning her petite body in her revealing dress.

A nurse came to them and said Pete was on the third floor, and there was a waiting room up there. The families hurried to the elevator as Jim and Doctor Anderson went out to their waiting cab. “I want to stay with you, but I must get back to the team.”

Vicky held Scott’s hand tight as they rode the elevator in silence to the third floor. “Derek plays tonight in Ottawa. Should I call him and tell him what happened to Pete?” She asked.

“Maybe you should. News of this kind will travel fast through the other hockey teams and no doubt be on the TV news.”

Once in the waiting room, Vicky called Derek to tell him what happened to Pete. She tried to explain the incident as best she could and mentioned that Brad was the first person on the ice to help him. Derek wanted to leave right away for home, but Vicky and Scott said he should play his game and would call the team with any news.

The Falcons’ dressing room went silent as Brad entered. The players looked on, wide-eyed, at the bloodstains on his sweater, pants, and socks. His helmet, visor, and cheek also showed smears of blood. Feeling queasy, he hurried to the washroom and immediately threw up in the toilet.

“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” He yelled, pounding his fist on the wall in frustration with Pete’s injury.

He returned to the main room, with his teammates looking at him. “Holy shit, man! What you did was something else!” Dale remarked.

“I couldn’t believe all the fucking blood! Guys, make sure your neck guards are on and fitting you properly!” Brad mentioned, and they all took them off and reattached them.

Coach Stanton went to Brad. “Son, I’m proud of what you did for Kendall. That’s real sportsmanship. If you want to leave the game and go to the hospital, we’d understand.”

“Thanks, coach, but all I’d do is wait around like the rest of the family. Besides, we’ve got a game to win.”

“Brad, you’ll have to change your uniform. It’s too bloody to be allowed back into the game. Besides, I don’t want the fans to see how much of the white was turned red,” the trainer said. He went to the storage room and returned with a clean sweater, pants, and socks.

As Brad changed, Coach Stanton prepared the team for the next period. “As a coach, parent, and hockey fan, I pray that Pete Kendall will be alright. Of the thousands of body checks and falls that happen to players during the course of the season, it’s no wonder more of you aren’t injured. I know it’s difficult to control a fall, but please try to be mindful of your skates. The blades are kept so sharp now you can shave off your whiskers, for those who can grow them,” he jested with a grin.

“However, as Brad said, we have a game to win. Kendall’s injury will likely play on the Frontenacs minds, and we must take advantage of that. Keep steady pressure on their D-men close to the net.”

Brad asked permission to look for his family in the seats. He caught Wendy’s attention and motioned her to the lower level, the player’s entrance. She noticed the clean uniform he was wearing and gave him a long thank-you hug. Wendy said his parents had gone to the hospital to be with Scott, Vicky, and Abby. If she found out anything about Pete’s condition, she’d get word to him.

The National Sports Network returned from a commercial break, “Ken Morrison back again with Mark Bailey and Jim Armstrong. Gentlemen, we witnessed one of the dangers of playing hockey: a player being horribly cut by a very sharp skate blade.” A replay was shown and stopped at the point of impact between the colliding players.

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to Pete Kendall, his parents, and the Frontenacs team. Isn’t it ironic that the player Pete Kendall put in the hospital with cracked ribs, Brad Hayward, would be the one closest to him to react and begin first aid?” Mark noted.

“We will pass along any news on Pete Kendall’s condition as soon as we have it,” Ken added. “I wonder if Belleville will try to take advantage of the mindset the Kingston players must be feeling knowing their teammate might be, at this very moment, fighting for his life.”

Ken could be seen with his hand on his earpiece. “Our operators in the studio truck have informed me that the head referee went to the Kingston coach and asked him if he wanted to postpone the remainder of the game due to Kendall’s injury. Coach Green replied that the team wanted to finish the game for their teammate. This could also inspire the Frontenacs to play harder for the sake of their fallen player.”

“The referees reviewed several replays of the incident in slow motion, wanting to make sure the Kingston team didn’t single out the Belleville player as the cause of Kendall’s injury. A close examination of the video showed that, in the confusion of the four-player collision, Pete Kendall’s neck was cut by the skate of his own teammate, Will Carson.”

“What may be lost in this horrible incident is the fact that Brad Hayward continues to put points on the board with a goal and assist in the first period,” Mark stated.

The teams returned to the ice for the remainder of the first period, ten minutes longer than the usual intermission. The ice behind the Kingston net was cleaned, leaving a slightly pinkish tinge to the usual white colour. Brad looked up to the stands and noticed only Wendy, Diane, and Brenda remained. No happy smiles, only stone-faced stares anxiously wondering about Peter’s fate. He and Jake gave a wave of their glove to them, and Brad was anxious to hear any word about Pete’s condition. He didn’t want to think of the worst possible ending.