Tears Won't Let You See the Stars --3--

The first month without Bryan passed by faster than I ever could have imagined. It wasn't easy, but my family and friends helped more than I can say. My professors knew what had happened, and did all they could to make me focus on my studies so I could graduate with the honors I had hoped for. When it all came together, I had too much work to do to think about Bryan. It was almost the new year, which meant we would be getting internship assignments at Pitt. Since my major was Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine, and my grades were far above average, I was lucky enough to be selected for an internship at a Pittsburgh sports team.

I was assigned to be a physical therapist for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Two other students were assigned as trainers and, unfortunately, I was the only girl assigned to the Pens.

Over the next few days leading up to the holidays I had meetings with Mario and Ray and the coaching staff. I also had to sign confidentiality agreements and had to sign an agreement that I wouldn't date any of the players.

My first night with the Pens was against the Senators. I met with the training staff at the arena early on game day. They gave me a quick tour of the locker room and told me what I would be doing during the game. I would be waiting in the runway from the locker room and anytime a player was injured, i would take them back to the locker room and treat any minor injuries.

Before the game started, Mario took me to the locker room to introduce me to the team. As soon as I walked in, I was met by a familiar voice.

"Hey! April, right?" Jordan Staal was lacing up his skates when he spotted me and yelled.

Every player turned at looked at me after Jordan spoke, which caused Mario to look at me confused.

"Uhm, I ran into him once. Guess he remembered" Mario knodded at my excuse and turned to the team.

"Boys, this is April Miller. She's a senior at Pitt and she'll be interning as a physical therapist with us until she graduates. She'll be taking care of any minor injuries you may get during the games so make her feel welcome."

I noticed Kris Letang was staring at me the entire time Mario spoke. I remembered how rude I had been when he helped me after Bryan died, and figured that was why he was staring.

The game went along fine without much work for me, but during the second intermission Dr. Burke called me into the training area.

"It's time for your first job," Dr. Burke smiled at me and led me into the training area, "Kris has a cut on his hand. We're a little busy so we need you to check it out."

I walked into the room to see Kris sitting in a chair with a towel around his hand. He scoffed when I walked in, so I tried to ignore him, grabbed some gloves, and got to work. I didn't say anything while I cleaned the cut, and I guess that annoyed Kris.

"So, you're not going to ask any questions about what happened? Isn't that generally what people do?"

I rolled my eyes and responded, "What happened to your hand Kris?"

"Not really sure, I guess a puck hit where my glove didn't cover."

"Why did you want me to ask if you didn't know?" I glared at Kris, who looked away.

"Why are you so angry all the time?"

I stopped what I was doing as I tried to think what to say, instead I acted like I had no idea what he meant.

"I don't know what you mean, Kris."

"That's a lie. Why were you so upset at that apartment?"

"That's nothing you need to know." I finished stitching his hand and stormed out of the training room, the tears blocking the faces of those watching me.