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burkymakar · 4 years ago

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Mikko Rantanen Imagine: Remembered (Part 1)

Summary: After an accident that finds you on the side of the road, you’re lost in the middle of the Vail mountains with no memory of who you are. Mikko Rantanen, with several Avalanche players, finds you and takes you in.

Word Count: 3.2k

Rating: T (Blood and vomit mentions, nothing graphic)

Note: I’ve never had amnesia and this is not medically accurate. This is soap opera amnesia. This is also basically the plot of the Hallmark movie A Christmas To Remember.

BLM Resources

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Pure rage coursed through your veins, but tears streamed down your face.

That was the worst part, that you were sad.

You wanted to feel joy, you should feel free.

Maybe you will tomorrow, but tonight, all you felt was misery.

You wiped at your face harshly with a gloved hand. When that glove was soggy, you used the other but found just your bare hand.

Fuck, in your haste to shove everything in your suitcase, you forgot your other glove. Who knew what else you forgot?

But you definitely knew what you left behind.

You looked at your car’s radio station, and tried to fiddle to get some music. But the storm seemed to be dulling the towers, because it was mostly static. You had no idea what Vail’s music stations were. Too bad your phone was dead.

You should have waited until the snow blew over but you needed to leave the resort immediately.

Giving up on music, you looked up to see a deer, standing in your headlights as you barrelled down on it. Shrieking, you swerved out of the way, and felt your car lose traction.

Desperate to right yourself, you lost all control of the car as it practically drove itself off the road and through the snow on the street side.

The deer and spinning snow were quickly replaced with a tree, and you didn’t have nearly enough time to react in this instance.

The car crashed into the tree, and metal crunched around you. Your head hit the steering wheel, the airbags went off, and everything went dark.

Mikko Rantanen was pleasantly sore from a long weekend of skiing with his Avalanche bros. Colorado snows were a lot different than Finnish winters, and he appreciated that. When he first moved to Denver, locals kept saying how the snow was “different here.” And he didn’t get that until he started skiing. It was like a winter wonderland that people always sing about.

It was also good to distract from the season, and just spend time as friends instead of teammates.

“You keep going this way, then get onto the highway in fifteen miles,” Mark Barberio said, reading from his phone.

“I still don’t get why you get the front seat,” Tyson Jost said, playing on his phone sullenly next to him in Andre Burakovsky’s car.

“I’m a better navigator, and I’m older,” Barbs replied.

“If Burky drives fast, we won’t have much to go,” Mikko reassured.

“I will turn this car around,” Andre threatened mockingly.

“Please, I already miss our lodge,” Josty said.

“I miss fireplace,” Mikko agreed. “So warm.”

“Get one in your place, Mr. Fancy Contract,” Barbs said.

Mikko kicked the back of his seat as they all laughed. Ignoring them and their playful jealousy, he looked out the window as the snow fell. Part of him was worried about the season returning, but this was a great reprieve. Andre always talked about “work-life balance” and he finally felt he hit a balance.

Outside the window, he looked at all the passing trees, covered in snow as the sun slowly set. It looked like a postcard. Fuck, he should send his mother a postcard.

But then, out in the trees, he saw someone on the side of the road, walking alone. For the briefest flash as the car drove fast, he saw your face, blood trickling from the forehead.

“Vittu! Burk, stop car,” he ordered, almost forgetting English.

“What?” Andre demanded, slowing down.

“There’s someone out there,” he said and hopped out of the car just as it slowed to a stop.

“No! No hitchhikers in my ride,” Burky yelled but Mikko was already racing to meet the stranger.

You looked freezing cold, in only a ski jacket and missing a glove. There was a bright pink beanie on your head with one of those puff balls on top, and you were wearing Uggs.

But the most concerning thing was the blood on your face.

“Are you okay?” He asked, once he was about three meters away.

You looked him in the eye, “Hello?”

“Hello,” he said. He could hear Burky and Tyson yelling at him, but he ignored them. “Are you okay?”

“I don’t think so,” You said. “Who are you?”

“I was gonna ask you that,” he said, trying to hide his obvious worry. You smiled a little. “What’s your name?”

“My name?” Your eyebrows furrowed, and you swayed a little. “My name is- Uh, fuck. I- I dunno.”

A chill different from the winter cold ran through him. “I’m Mikko,” he said. “You’re bleeding.”

“I am?” Your non-gloved hand went to your face and you winced as you pressed against your wound.

“What are you doing out here?”

“I don’t know,” You said, and took a step before losing footing. He rushed over and caught you before you hit the street.

“It’s okay,” he said, and kept your elbows in his grip. “I think we need go to hospital.”

“Are you okay?” You said, eyebrows furrowing in concern.

“I mean for you,” he said.

“Okay, Mikko,” You said.

“My friend Andre gonna drive you,” he said, gently leading you back to the car. “Do you know how you got here?”

“Got where?”

“On the side of the road?”

You shook your head and winced again.

“It’s okay, we figure it out,” he promised and saw Josty now standing outside the car, dancing slightly in the chill.

“Dude, what the fuck? Who is she?”

“I dunno,” Mikko admitted. “But I think she’s hurt.”

Tyson walked over, “Jeez, she looks like she fought a goon.”

“I might have,” You said. “Who are you?”

“This is Tyson,” Mikko said. “He’s nice but idiot.”

Tyson rolled his eyes, but they helped you into the car, gently putting you in the middle seat between them.

“I said no hitchhikers,” Andre said, turning around then pausing at the sight of you. “Shit, is she okay?”

Mikko grabbed one of the spare Nike towels Andre had lying around in his backseat. After it passed the sniff test, he gently held it to your forehead’s wound.

“Can we take her to hospital?”

“A hospital, oh god,” You said, looking nervous. “I- Do we have to?”

“I think Katie’s still around,” Barbs said, referring to Katie Chen, one of their medics. “I’ll see if she can take her in.”

“Thanks,” Mikko said. “It’s okay, we’ll get you help.”

“Thank you,” You said softly. “What’s your name again?”

“Mikko,” he said. “That’s Mark, Andre and Tyson.”

You waved hesitantly, “I’m sorry. I really appreciate this.”

“What’s your name?” Andre asked. “If I’m your chauffeur.”

“I don’t know,” You admitted.

“Do you think she has amnesia?” Mark asked. “And Katie said she can stay late at the Can and meet us there.”

“Oh god,” You said, tears welling in your eyes. Fuck, that made Mikko nervous. Since he was still applying pressure to your head wound, he patted your knee with his other hand.

“It’s okay,” Mikko said. “Dr. Katie is real good. She fix you.”

“Thank you,” You said softly. “You are all being so kind. I- I don’t know if I can repay you.”

“Don’t worry about that,” he assured. “Let’s just get you safe.”

“We’ll be there soon,” Andre added, and they kept driving back to Denver.

You stepped out of the very nice car and onto the streets in front of a giant building. All the lights were on, and the sign read Pepsi Center.

Your mouth watered, but you didn’t know what that name meant.

“Where are we?”

“This is where we work,” the one named Tyson but they called Josty said as Mikko steadied you with a gentle hand at your elbow. Christ, he was so tall. “One of our coworkers is a doctor, she can help you.”

You nodded and followed them into the building. They flashed badges and you were guided to a small room that was very brightly lit and it made your head hurt.

“If any of you fuckers got injured while skiing, I will kill you,” Someone said, and you jolted at the threat.

“Not us, Mikko picked up a stray,” the one named Mark said. The one who drove, who’s name you didn’t remember, elbowed him in the side.

“Oh?” A young Asian woman stepped up to the five of you, her clothes bright blue. “Oh jeez, that’s quite the head laceration. Bring her to me, what’s your name?”

You were moved to a chair, and you found you really hated the question what’s your name?

“I don’t know,” You said.

The woman looked at the four men and sighed, “That’s not a good sign.”

“I’m sorry,” You offered.

She finally smiled at you. “Not your fault. I’m Dr. Katie, I take care of these idiots. Let’s get that wound sealed up. We’ll figure out what to call you later.”

After numbing the wound, she sewed you up and performed “concussion protocol.”

“You definitely have a concussion,” she said. “Try not to look at screens- Oh, wait! If you have a phone, we could get your information?”

“Why didn’t we think of that?” Josty asked, berating of himself.

“Check your pockets,” the doctor ordered, and you instantly shoved your hands in your jean’s pockets, and in the pockets of your coat. Nothing except a gum packet. No wallet, no phone, no keys.

“It was a good idea,” You said. “I’m sorry I’m so useless, I don’t know why I can’t remember.”

“I know why, you have amnesia,” Katie said. “Retrograde it seems.”

“I know that,” the driver one said. “Mercury does that sometimes.”

“You so dumb,” Mikko said, and you hid a smile because that was mean but funny. “Is she get memory back?”

“She might. Ideally, we’d have her be in familiar places to jog it, but you guys said you said you found her on the side of the road.”

“She could have been skiing,” Mark said. “Or snowboarding.”

“Or she lived there as a lumberjack or she could be a tourist from New York,” Katie added. “Unfortunately, there are hundreds of possibilities. She’s gonna need a place to stay, routine is best for amnesiac patients.”

“She can stay with me,” Mikko said.

Everyone looked shocked at that idea, even you.

“Mikko, thank you, but I can’t ask you to do that,” You said.

“You not ask, I offer.” He shrugged. “It’s no big deal, I have extra room at my apartment.”

“Thank you,” You said, feeling lost in more ways than one. But at least you’d have a room that night. You didn’t even think about that.

Everything was swirling around you, and in panic and fear and exhaustion, you gagged. The doctor was prepared and handed you a wastebasket that you promptly threw up in.

“It’s been a rough day for you,” she soothed you, and you let the shame fill your body instead of the dizziness.

“I’m sorry,” You said. Not sure if you were saying it to the doctor or the men that found you or to yourself.

After that, the doctor sent the guys out, and it was just you and her. She ran a couple more tests on you, checking if you had whiplash (which you didn’t) or if you were dehydrated (you were).

“I don’t know if I can pay you back for this.”

“Don’t worry, I do this for fun,” she said with a grin. “Mikko!” She called, and you winced a little at the sudden sharp sound.

“Rantanen, bring her back to me in ten days so I can get those stitches out,” Katie said then turned to you. “Hopefully, though, you’ll be back at your doctor by that point.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Mikko said, and you nodded as well. You had no idea where home was but you wanted to find it so badly.

“And I was thinking, you found you on the side of a highway,” Katie said. “You could have gotten in an accident. Did you see a car nearby?”

“No, I was distracted by the bleeding girl.”

“That’s fair,” she conceded and turned back to you. “Do you remember anything before Mikko found you?”

You stared at Mikko, with his fluffy blonde hair and gray-blue eyes. Then blinked as you forced yourself to try to remember.

Before Mikko ran up to you, it was all white and green and gray. The snow, the trees, the road. When you tried to think back farther, it turned completely fuzzy and it even hurt to attempt to picture it.

“I don’t. At all- is that bad?”

“Not necessarily, you might have entered a minor fugue state,” she said. “That happens sometimes in amnesiacs. Considering you don’t have frostbite or hypothermia, you probably weren’t out there long. I’ll get the information to the police, and maybe they can find your car if it’s out there.”

You nodded.

“You can take ibuprofen for the pain,” she said. “Not best to go harder than that, especially with your memory fog. You got some at home, right, Rantanen?” The man nodded. “If you were serious about her staying with you, you can take her there now.”

“I can be serious.”

The doctor rolled her eyes, and lead them out of her office.

You stepped out of the Pepsi Center with Mikko, and stared out at the expansive parking lot.

“The snow is so pretty,” You couldn’t help but say, letting it fall on you without stepping anywhere to shield yourself. “I don’t even mind the cold.”

“Do you think you’re from somewhere cold?” He asked, shoving his hands in his pockets.

You turned to look at him and pursed your lips, “I dunno. I seem to be used to it, but... When I think back, it’s just a haze. Like a cloud, you know?”

He nodded.

You stared out at the big city and tall buildings. You didn’t even know where you were. The guys mentioned Denver but that town didn’t ring a bell.

Maybe your family was there. Maybe they were far away, and you were trapped. Did they know you were gone?

“Do you think people are looking for me?” You asked.

“Absolutely,” he said without hesitation.

“I hope so,” You said, shoving your own hands in your pockets as the snow picked up and flurried around you both. “That’d be awfully lonely otherwise. And just plain awful.” You cleared your throat to fight tears. You’d been too embarrassing already in your short amount of consciousness.

“It’ll be ok...” he said then trailed off. “I don’t know what call you,” he said.

“I don’t either,” You admitted. “I don’t even have a guess.”

He pursed his lips and looked around them, then said, “How about Snow?”

You stared at the falling snow again, and felt warm. “I like that. Please call me Snow.”

“Great, Snow. Let’s get you to my place.” Mikko gently held your elbow again and guided you to his car.

Mikko Rantanen had brought his fair share of women to his apartment in Denver, but all of them could remember their own name.

Until now.

“This place is really nice,” You said as you kicked off your boots at his front door. There were still snowflakes in your hair, but you didn’t seem to mind.

He was about to warn you about his dog when Bobby booked it into the front entryway and wiggled around.

As he knelt down, he told his dog how much he missed him in Finnish and gave him all the pets he could as Bobby licked his face.

“What language is that?” You asked.

At the sound of your voice, Bobby noticed you and barked at you, causing you to jump back into the wall. He left Mikko’s hands and immediately went to you, wiggling again but in an angry way this time. He jumped on your knees, still barking.

“Bobby! Ei! Alas!” He ordered his dog to get down. He always got too excited with new people. But you no longer seemed frightened.

“It’s okay,” You said. “We never had dogs but I love them,” You knelt down to scratch his ear and give him scratches. Bobby, enthused with the attention, switched from barking to happy whining. You perked up, “Wait, I remembered something! I remembered we didn’t have a dog.”

“Who’s we?” He tried to encourage you.

You paused, looking almost comical with Bobby licking your chin if it weren’t for the dimming excitement in your eyes. “Dammit. I don’t know. I can just almost picture wanting one, for a long time. You know?”

He couldn’t relate but he nodded anyway.

“I show you room, okay?” You pushed up and followed him. As he lead the way, he caught a note from Nazem Kadri, who nicely looked after Bobby while they were gone for the weekend. Naz’s wife is a cat person, so he loved looking after dogs when he could.

Bobby danced and weaved between both your feet but Mikko pushed into the guest room, still clean from when his parents visited to see American Thanksgiving.

“Wow,” You said, stepping in. “This is lovely.”

“Thanks,” he said, wondering absently if he was showing off. But you just seemed nicely impressed instead of taken aback. You shrugged out of your ski jacket. “The bathroom is across the hall. And- shit, you have no clothes.”

You looked down at your outfit, “Shit. You’re right.”

“One sec, I can grab some.” He stepped into his room, Bobby abandoning him for Snow. He dug into his closets and found a comfy Avalanche shirt from last year’s playoffs and some old trackies when he was a teenager that he packed like an idiot.

He came back to your room, and handed them to you in a stack. “I don’t have any ladies’ underwear, sorry.”

He wanted to warn you, but that seemed to just make you burn bright red.

“Fuck, sorry,” he continued, wishing he could rewind time five minutes. “I no know what I’m doing.”

You looked him in the eye, “You’re being absolutely kind, that’s what. I- It means so much to know I’m safe here. Thank you. I don’t- I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to pay you back.”

“You keep saying that,” he said gently. “No payment here. Just get warm and safe. We will find where you from.”

“Thank you,” You said.

“Good night, Snow.”

“Good night, Mikko.”

He closed the door and went back to his room. Bobby whined at your door for a bit, but Mikko bribed him with treats and they stayed in the master bedroom.

“We’ll see her in the morning,” Mikko reassured his dog, and got out of his clothes and into pajamas. Normally he liked to sleep naked, but you might need something in the middle of the night, and he didn’t want to frighten you.

Bobby curled up at the foot of his bed, and Mikko got himself situated. Even with his mind running a mile a minute (who are you? Will you be okay? How long will you stay?), he slowly drifted off to sleep from the effort of a big day.

Note: not sure when i’ll be able to update with part two but I’ll try to have it out soon. Thank you for reading and I hope you liked it!

#mikko rantanen imagine #colorado avalanche imagine #nhl imagine #mywriting

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