Chapter 67

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Chapter 67

Lauren finally gave up on trying to sleep around five. She slipped out of bed and made some coffee before wrapping up in a blanket and stepping back out onto the balcony. She sat there for a while, keeping her hands warm around the steaming mug of coffee and watched the city begin its day. After a while, she went back inside and showered. By the time she was done in the shower, her family was up and when they had all gotten ready and dressed for the day, they went down to the hotel restaurant to get some breakfast.

After breakfast, an SUV was waiting outside to take them to the courthouse. The detective met them at the courthouse and greeted Lauren warmly. They were ushered into the courtroom. When they walked in, Vero was already seated with her parents at the front of the room. When she saw Lauren, she stood and embraced her in a tight hug, and then her parents slid down the row they were sitting on so that Lauren could sit next to Vero, and Leanna and her parents sat next to her. Sidney’s parents arrived a moment later and sat right behind them. Trina got her attention and handed her an envelope. Lauren immediately recognized Sidney’s handwriting. She carefully opened the enveloped and pulled out a letter. When she unfolded the paper, a picture fell into her lap. She smiled when she saw Sid’s smiling face next to hers. The picture had been taken at the Lemieux’s Christmas Eve party. With a silver sharpie, Sidney had written “I

My darling,
As I write this, I feel like the worst boyfriend in the world. This is probably one of the most difficult things you will ever do, and I am not there with you. I hope you know how much I wish I could be there, but I know you don’t want me missing games. I love you more than anything in the world – and I always will. I know that you will amaze everyone with your strength today – you amaze me more and more every day. I know how hard this is for you and I only wish there was a way I could just take all of this pain from you. I love you. You have, and always will have, my heart and my soul…

Yours forever,
Sidney

Court was called to order and Lauren braced herself. She knew they would bring Jimmy in at any moment and she didn’t know how she was going to react to seeing him. When the doors opened, Lauren grabbed Vero’s hand and held it tightly. When she saw Jimmy, Lauren found herself strangely unable to look away from him. His eyes caught hers and she could’ve sworn his lips curled into a smirk, which caused her blood to boil. She was still sad and upset and terrified and distraught and a whole slew of other emotions, but now she was pissed too. It was probably a good thing Sidney wasn’t there at that moment – his temper was even worse than hers was.

They sat down again and the trial began. It wasn’t long before Lauren was called to give her testimony. She took a deep breath and walked up to the witness stand. The bailiff swore her in and she began to tell the story again. Her hands were shaking and she folded her hands but her fingers kept running over her right ring finger, where the rings Sidney had given her used to be. They had had to cut them off at the hospital because of the swelling, and then they were collected as evidence because there was blood on them. She pulled the picture out of the pocket of her suit jacket and held it tightly in her hands.

Lauren had to stop and take a deep breath a few times, but somehow she made it through and the judge excused her back to her seat. When she finally looked over at where her family and Vero and Sid’s families were sitting and she saw that they were all crying. She gave Vero a reassuring pat on the shoulder as Vero walked up to the witness stand to give her testimony. As she sat down, Trina reached up and patted her on the shoulder and Troy leaned up and whispered in her ear, “You did good. Sidney would be proud of you. He is proud of you.” Lauren turned around and smiled in response.

Vero gave her testimony again as well and the attorneys asked her a few questions about things that happened after Lauren had passed out. Lauren was impressed with how well Vero handled everything – she knew this hadn’t been any easier on Vero than it had been on her. After Vero’s testimony, it was around noon, so they took a recess for lunch. The attorney and the detective asked to speak with Lauren and Vero in a conference room in the courthouse.

“This trial should be pretty quick – it’s a pretty open and shut case and we think the jury certainly knows that.” The attorney explained.

“And given the multiple assault charges and the breaking and entering and the stalking in addition to the sexual assault, he’s potentially looking at a life sentence.” The detective explained. Lauren and Vero both let out heavy sighs. Neither of them liked the idea of him getting anything less than a life sentence and potentially being free to terrorize someone else, so this was hopeful news for them.

They all grabbed some lunch at a café across the street from the courthouse and Lauren called Sidney. She had spoken with him briefly when she woke up that morning.

He answered breathlessly on the third ring. “Lauren? How’s it going?”

“It’s okay. This morning was tough – Vero and I both gave our testimonies. It was hard to see him.”

“I’m sure it was, babe. But at least the hardest part is over. And I’m sure you did great. I’m proud of you.”

“Thanks. I got a letter from the sweetest man in the whole world this morning, and it helped me a lot.”

Sidney smiled. “I’m glad it helped. I just wish it were me there instead of just a letter from me. I miss you.”

“I miss you too. How was practice?”

“It was pretty good. Everyone seemed a little distracted, Fleur and I especially, but I guess that’s to be expected.”

“Well I expect you all to play your hearts out tonight. For me and Vero.”

“For you and Vero, I think this team would do just about anything.” Sidney chuckled.

“I gotta go, babe. I love you and I miss you a lot. I’ll call you later, okay?”

“Okay. I love you too, darlin’. You’re doing great – just remember that.”

The afternoon in court didn’t seem as difficult as the morning had been, but Lauren was very anxious for the whole thing to just be over with. At 4:30, the judge called a recess until the next day. They still had a few more pieces of evidence to present in the morning, and Jimmy would be called to the stand as well.

They decided to just have some pizzas delivered to their hotel room, and Sidney’s parents and Vero and her parents joined them. When they got to the hotel room, Lauren collapsed onto her bed. The whole day had been exhausting for her, and her back was aching from sitting on a hard courtroom bench all day. She called Sidney, expecting to get his voicemail, so she was surprised when he answered.
“Hey babe. We’re back at the hotel. We’ve got pizzas on the way.”

“That’s good. How are you doing?” Sidney asked.

“My back is killing me, and I’m tired, but I’m better now that we’re away from the courtroom.”

“Sorry about your back – I’d give you a backrub if I was there.”

Lauren smiled. “I know you would – and that would feel amazing right about now. But I guess I’ll have to settle for a hot shower instead. I just called to tell you good luck tonight. Vero and I will be watching – she’s gonna sleep over tonight.” Lauren said with a chuckle.

Sidney laughed too. “Well, I’m certainly a little jealous of Vero then.”

“Love you, rock star. Call me when you’re done at the rink tonight – I don’t care how late it is.”

“Okay, bye baby. I love you.” Sidney said before hanging up.

Lauren took a quick shower while they were waiting for the pizza and to her relief, the hot water relieved some of the tension in her back. She put on some sweats and they all sat around on the beds in Lauren and Leanna’s room, eating pizza and watching the game. The Penguins played well and they won, much to Lauren’s delight. Sidney scored two goals that night, and each time, he put his hand over his heart, and Lauren knew that was his way of communicating with her.

After the game, Vero’s parents went home for the night and the Crosby’s went to their room for the night and Lauren’s parents went to bed and Vero and Lauren settled into bed and just chatted for a while with Leanna, who was curled up on the other bed. It was fun to have a girl’s night, and everyone was in a good mood thanks to the win. Lauren and Vero laughed when their phones started ringing at almost the same time.

“Hey babe.” Lauren said cheerfully.

“Hey! I didn’t wake you up, did I?” Sidney said, his voice chipper.

“No, you didn’t. We were just gabbing. Great game tonight.”

“Thanks! Those goals were just for you, you know.”

“Yeah, I know, babe. I loved them.”

“And I love you. I won’t keep you – have fun with the girls. I miss you. Wish I was on my way to your hotel right now instead of mine.”

“That might be kind of a long bus ride.” Lauren giggled.

“Yeah, I suppose you’re right. But to see you, it would be worth it.”

“I’ll see you in a few days, Sidney. I love you.”

Vero was already off the phone by the time Lauren hung up with Sidney. They turned the TV to TLC and watched TV until both of them eventually passed out for the night.