Ch. 1: Rolling in the Mud

"Mom, I'm fine. I just need to relax this weekend and I'll be okay," Riley said as she slipped on her running shoes and shifted her cell phone to her opposite ear.

"I know honey. I'm just worried about you. You seem so stressed out. Just keep thinking, only one more year and you'll be a doctor. You'll be done with school before you know it," her mom said lovingly through the phone.

"I'll talk to you later. I'm going for a run. Love you, bye," she hurriedly said as she finished putting her shoes on. It had been a long week and she was looking forward to a long run to let off some steam. It was one of the ways that she could put in some headphones and get out of her own head – just focus on the road. Medical school was tough, and she had been caring for a small child that was suffering from Ewing's sarcoma and it was hard. She loved taking care of kids, and she knew she wanted to apply for an orthopedic surgery residency and then complete a fellowship so she could be a pediatric orthopedist, but it was weeks like this one that made her question if she was strong enough to handle it. I just need to clear my head today, she thought to herself as she put her phone on the kitchen counter while picking up her iPod. She never liked taking her phone when she went running. If she dropped it then it would be too expensive to replace, so rather than risk it she just kept her little white iPod shuffle that she owned for years strapped to her arm.

She grabbed her apartment key and walked out of the door, locking it behind her and stashing her key in the little hidden pocket on the side of her running capris and stepped outside of her building. It was a beautiful late spring day in Philadelphia and she was looking forward to running on a trail through her favorite park by her apartment. She was lucky because it was relatively close to her apartment and close to the hospital she was at most days for hours on end, so she never really needed to wander far for her everyday activities. She turned on her iPod and stuck in her headphones just as the music started to play.

Gotta keep one jump ahead of the bread line, one swing ahead of the sword…

She smiled to herself. This playlist was one that she's listened to a million times and it never got old. For some reason, Disney songs just made running even more fun. She jogged the few blocks it took to get to the park and found her trail. She liked this specific trail because it had thick bushes and trees so she could forget she was in the city for a little while and pretend like she was in the woods, like back home. She missed home a lot, and was planning on applying for residency on the other half of the state so she could be back in her hometown after graduating from medical school next Spring.

She lost her thoughts while running, focusing only on breathing and the rewarding burn she felt as she ran farther and farther. Even the music just became background noise as she focused on putting one foot in front of the other. She had made it to the end of the trail and realized that it was starting to get dark, which meant she must have been running for a while – probably almost an hour on the part of the trail that makes a large loop. She decided to turn around and head back the way she came towards home. When she was almost towards the other end of the trail, about to poke out to the park to run the last few blocks to her apartment, a figure stepped out in front of her into the middle of the path. Before she could react she ran into the person, slipped to the side of them, and slid down a small embankment and into the bushes.

"Are you okay?" she heard as she started to realize what happened.

"I am so sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going. I was trying to, uh, just trying to get into the trail and I was looking backwards. Can you hear me?" She knew that it was a man speaking to her, but her eyesight was a little blurry. As she started to stand up, she realized that the back of her head was on a rock. Well that explains the blurry vision, she thought to herself.

"Yeah, I'm okay. My vision is a little blurry. I wasn't watching where I was going. I was lost in thought I suppose." She started to stand, but right when she started to put pressure on her left foot she felt a shooting pain go through her ankle as a small yelp escaped her lips. Since the pain caught her by surprise she nearly fell over again, but right before she lost her balance and toppled over she felt two hands grab her shoulders and keep her steady.

"Is there something else wrong? You hurt your foot, eh?" He said as he continued to keep her steady.

"I think I sprained my ankle," she replied as she rubbed her eyes. Her vision was slowly returning, with some white spots coming in and out of her periphery.

As he kept holding onto her he started to shift so that his arm was helping to support her left side a little more, helping to keep more of her weight off of the ankle.

"Do you have a phone so that we can call to get you some help?" he asked, with obvious concern in his voice.

"No. I don't bring my phone with me when I run. Do you have one that I could borrow? I can just get an Uber and go home."

"No, I don't. Well I mean, I have a phone that I would let you borrow, but unfortunately it's dead so it's not much help, sorry" he hastily replied.

"That's okay. I can just get to the road and take a cab…" she started, but before she could finish her thought he quickly chimed in.

"You really shouldn't be going home. You hurt your ankle and you hit your head pretty hard on that rock. You should make sure you at least get your head checked out. You don't want to have a concussion and not know it. Trust me, concussions are no fun." He said as he wrapped his arm further around her to help support her weight. She felt him nearly lift her off the ground. He must be pretty strong, she thought as she continued to rub her eyes a little.

"Honestly, I'm fine. Thank you for your help but I'll be okay." She tried to walk, but the moment she put her full weight on her ankle she felt pain again, although it wasn't as bad as she thought it might have been. She'd be able to deal with it until she got home. She was used to being on her feet during her surgery rotations for hours on end and just dealing with the pain in her feet or lower back, so she could deal with this to get back to the apartment that was only a few blocks away.

"You definitely don't need to thank me. I wasn't watching where I was going and stepped in front of you. And please consider getting looked at. I want to make sure you're okay." Before she could answer he wrapped his arm further around so that it was now on her waist and he was supporting nearly all of her weight with just one of his arms, almost lifting her off the ground. He must be pretty strong, she thought again.

"Okay. There is a hospital just a few blocks away from here. I can walk there." Just as she finished her sentence she realized that her vision was back to normal. She felt the back of her head to see if there was any blood. She felt something wet, but when she brought her hand back around to look at it all she saw was mud. No blood, that's a good sign.

"If you don't mind I'd like to make sure you get there okay. If it's only a few blocks away it'll only take five or ten minutes and I can be out of your hair. It'll make me feel better knowing you at least got there alright," he said gently, still sounding apologetic. His voice was calm and soothing, and even though she had better wits about her than to let a stranger get so close and personal, he had an endearing quality that made her feel comfortable. She tried to take another step and still felt the pain.

"Okay. Just walk straight to the sidewalk and we'll make a right," she said, deciding to accept his help rather than hobble her way home, and this way he wouldn't know where she lived he was a creep.

"Are you okay to walk with me helping you like this?" She could really hear how smooth his voice was, and she noticed that he had a slight accent. She wasn't sure exactly where from. He said eh earlier and the way he said sorry was different, but it wasn't a really thick accent, so maybe Toronto? As she was thinking about where he might be from she realized that she hadn't answered his question. She looked up to answer him, thinking that she hadn't really gotten a good look at him yet. He was wearing all black tennis shoes, black loose shorts that came to his knee, a dark grey zip up sweatshirt that was open, revealing a light blue t-shirt underneath, and a black Reebok hat that was pulled down pretty far. She focused her vision a little more, noticing he had a strong jaw with just a hint of dark stubble around his chin. His skin was smooth where there wasn't any stubble, and he had full, light pink lips. His eyes were large and a beautiful brown hue. He's handsome.

"Yeah, it's fine," and just as she was about to continue speaking it hit her like a ton a bricks. She recognized him, and nearly gasped out loud at her surprise and stupidity for taking so long to realize it, but was able to stop it right before the breath escaped her lips. Sidney Crosby!?