so Kevin, who had woken up off the couch, and Rikko helped him with that and anything else he might need, with Kevin setting up Mika's toothbrush. Mika needed no help with actually brushing his teeth, though.
"Thanks, you two," said Mika before Kevin went off to his room. "I appreciate the help."
"You're welcome," Kevin replied. He then headed off to his room.
"Thanks again, Rikko," Mika added.
"You're welcome, Mika," Rikko responded. "It's the least I can do."
"That was a great sandwich you made, by the way," Mika put in.
"Well," Rikko responded, "peanut butter and jelly is my specialty. I was hoping you would like it."
"And I did," said Mika.
"Well, I'm glad to hear that," Rikko replied.
Before they headed off to bed, the two Finns hugged and shared a long, soft kiss goodnight. It was so long, they both almost fell asleep in the middle of it - and while still standing up. After whispering "I love you" to each other upon finishing the smooch, they went off to their own rooms and off to sleep. Karelia came into Mika's room, where he usually slept on the bed with his master, and he too, called it a night.

The next morning, Mika was in a slightly better frame of mind, even though the pain in his shoulder was still great. He didn't have trouble waking up or getting out of bed, but as expected, tasks like making breakfast, setting up his toothbrush, changing his clothes, or any other tasks that required using both hands, proved very difficult. Just like getting ready for bed last night, Mika still needed help from Kevin or Rikko, sometimes both of them. But neither one of them complained about it. They couldn't exactly afford to complain. Mika was going to be in that cast for about two months, so he was going to need a fair amount of help with those things. And it was no different the day after. In between getting their own breakfast, making and packing their own lunch, and getting ready themselves, Kevin and Rikko would take time out to help Mika, knowing that his injury was only going to be a temporary burden.
"Morning, guys," Mika said as he walked in. Kevin and Rikko were already having their breakfast of a bowl of cold cereal and orange juice. Rikko also had an banana on hand.
"Good morning," Kevin said.
"Morning, baby," said Rikko as she looked at him adoringly. She then got up and gave him a good morning kiss, which he returned.
Mika then headed over to the counter to get his own breakfast.
"Oh, Mika," Rikko spoke up as she noticed him head toward the counter. "I hope you don't mind, but we already set up yours."
"Found it," Mika said as he then sat down at the kitchen table. Because they were in an apartment, all they had was a kitchenette. Mika and Kevin both had an orange with their breakfast.
"You gonna be alright here by yourself today?" Kevin asked.
"I should be okay," Mika responded.
"You sure, honey?" Rikko asked.
"I'll be fine, sweetheart," Mika replied as he put his left arm around her shoulder and kissed her right cheek.
After finishing breakfast, Kevin was the first to hit the bathroom and get ready for work. It was a Friday, so it was casual clothing that he adorned. Rikko was next, with Mika, not needing to go anywhere that day, brought up the rear. While Rikko was in there, she went ahead and set up Mika's toothbrush. After finishing in the bathroom, Kevin and Rikko both proceeded to get dressed. Kevin was going to be meeting up with some friends for lunch that day at a restaurant downtown, so he didn't need to make one here. Rikko, however, was not eating out for lunch, so she had to make her own. Sure enough, she went ahead and fixed herself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (no meat was available, so this was her only option), an apple, and a small carton of milk for lunch. There was plenty of room in Rikko's lunch pail for her to lay everything flat in it, which she did. There were sectioned compartments in them for each item, so Rikko knew where to put everything. And she definitely wouldn't have to worry about her sandwich getting smashed flat. She also put the peanut butter on both slices of bread to prevent the jelly from soaking through the bread, thereby avoiding the dreaded "jelly wet spot". It would be a while between the time she made the sandwich and the time she would get around to eating it, so that's why she made it that way.
Rikko gave PB&J  a try after hearing about it from a co-worker, whose wife usually made them as a school lunch for two of their children, both of whom were school-age. And they loved it. On that particular day, she just had a peanut butter sandwich to eat, with no jelly. After her tongue was cemented to the roof of her mouth by the peanut butter - and mentioning the various combos she had tried to no avail - her co-worker suggested adding jelly. When Rikko first took a PB&J to work for lunch, she did thank him for the suggestion.
By now, Kevin was already waiting at the front door to drive her to the paper where they both worked.
"You gonna be alright here alone?" Kevin asked Mika.
"I'll be fine," Mika replied. "I may head down to the rink and see how the team is doing and if coach (Jack) Adams has a suggestion for any exercise I can do while recovering."
"You sure you can walk there?" Kevin asked again.
"It's not that far," Mika responded. "And I can take Karelia with me and get him some exercise."
"Okay," Kevin added. "Oh, are you meeting up with me and the guys today?"
"I'm not sure," Mika replied. "Isn't this a work only thing?"
"Oh, that's right, I forgot," Kevin responded. "My bad. Come on, Rikko."
Kevin then said "See you later" to both Mika and Karelia as he went through the doorway just as Rikko, with her long, blonde hair done in a ponytail, came through the area where Mika was standing. She was carrying her lunch and a few assorted work-related items including her camera.
"See you when you get home," said Mika.
"I'll see you then, too," Rikko said back.
Before Rikko left, she and Mika shared a goodbye kiss - as they did every time that one of them had to go away - before she headed off.
"I love you," Mika added.
"I love you, too," Rikko put in. She then bent down and pet Karelia and went, "Bye, Karelia!" before heading out the door to catch up with Kevin.

Later that day, Mika met up with some of his teammates at a restaurant in downtown Detroit, albeit not the same one that Kevin was at. Afterwards, it was off to the Detroit Olympia arena for practice. Mika was just there to watch, and he did indeed bring Karelia with him.
"Well, Karelia," said Mika as they entered the locker room. "It's time you got a look at my professional life."
"Oh, this ought to be good," said Karelia, knowing that only Mika could hear him say that.
Most of Mika's teammates were already in there and were happy to see him there despite not being able to play due to his injury. As Mika made his rounds, Karelia got greetings from virtually everybody in the locker room. Even the trainers and head coach greeted the malamute puppy.
"Hi, Mika," said Coach Jack Adams. "Good to see you here."
"Hello, Jack," Mika said back, knowing that Jack didn't mind his players calling him by his first name.
"Ah, you brought Karelia!" Jack said taking notice of the gray-and-white puppy sitting next to Mika. He bent down to pet the dog.
"So, how's the shoulder doing?" Jack asked. "Still have any pain in it?"
While in Boston, Mika was given a painkiller to numb any pain in the affected area. It was a IV painkiller that when Mika had it administered had been injected right down to the bone to alleviate any pain in his right shoulder. And according to Mika, those injections hurt as bad as the pain that was already the
"Yeah, it still hurts a bit," Mika replied. "It's worse if any weight is put on it, which rarely happens."
"Well, try and avoid that as much as possible, okay," said Jack.
"Okay," Mika said back. "Say, any ideas for any exercises I could do while my shoulder heals. Not exercises for my shoulder, but for, basically everything else."
"You can ask the trainer about that," Jack answered. "I'm sure he can come up with something you can do while your shoulder heals."
That would indeed be Mika's next stop. The exercise tips he got included mostly strength training for the lower body, seeing how there wasn't much he could do with the upper body for the time being. During the offseason, long-distance running was one of Mika's most commonly used training methods, and sure enough, running was indeed offered as a suggestion. Cleaning up afterward, however, would be a problem. With Mika needing to keep the cast covering his shoulder dry, he couldn't necessarily take a shower. A bath would be the only option that would allow him to clean up without the full risk of getting the cast wet.
After visiting with the trainer, Mika then took Karelia out to the rink to watch practice.
"So this is what you normally do when you come here, right?" Karelia asked his owner.
"Yes it is, Karelia," Mika answered back. "When there's not a game going on, that is."
"I figured that much," Karelia added.
As they watched the Cougars practice, Mika couldn't help but want to be out