We all shake it off as we watch the second line set up, getting our heads back in the game.
We all sigh dejectedly as we walk off down the hall to the locker rooms. At the end of the second period, the score is five to two with Boston in the lead.
The team is all over the place.
We’re making sloppy passes, bad calls, and just overall not paying attention to each other. Blake ended up getting checked into the boards pretty hard and when he took his time getting up from the ice, the medical team came to help him off.
I noticed that it was Alyssa, one of the other trainers that was helping Hannah, and not Kailyn. Not that there’s anything weird about that, she could be tied up doing something else, my gut just has an uneasy feeling after how she was behaving earlier, the pale color of her cheeks and the tired expression on her face. I couldn’t exactly stop the game to ask her where Kailyn was, though.
“Alright settle down,” Coach starts, and the locker room quiets. “I know you are all feeling frustrated leaving the ice. It’s evident in your eyes. We still have another period to play, so take this break to focus up and reset yourselves.”
We all nod in agreement and then scatter around, someguys retaping their sticks, some chatting and walking around, and others listening to music to calm themselves.
I make my way over to Emilia, who’s chatting along with Hannah as they laugh about something that I didn’t hear. “Hey ladies, how’s it going for you?”
“Not too bad, other than the hit Blake took. It’s been a slow night. We just finished loading him into the back of an ambulance. He's gonna go get some testing done to make sure that everything is okay.”
“Yeah, it looked like a hard hit, I hope he’s okay after this.”
“He seemed fine when I checked him out, but from how he was acting afterwards, we wanted to be sure.” When Blake couldn’t even get up from the ice or make out what was happening, I knew that they were most likely to take him to the hospital.
“You wanna tell me the real reason you came over here Jake?” Emilia calls me out.
“What if I really came over here to see you both? I can’t talk with my friends?” They both give me a knowing look and I sigh, laughing that they’ve caught on. “Okay, fine. I wanted to see if you know where Kailyn is. I haven’t seen her since before the game.”
They both share an uneasy look before Emilia looks back at me and places her hand on my arm and squeezes. “She ended up not feeling well, so she’s not working the game tonight.”
Panic starts to rise in my chest, my stomach bottoming out. “What happened? I caught onto something before we went out, but I wasn’t sure what it was.”
“She got her period this morning, and it’s been a really bad day for her. She could barely stand up, couldn’t really speak, and looked miserable. So, I talked to my dad and hetold her to go back to the hotel and rest.” Emilia says, voice in a hushed whisper.
A heavy breath escapes me, but it doesn’t ease my worries much.
When we were dating the first time, Kailyn told me about her periods, how her PMOS made them ten times worse for her, and how she had such crippling pain it kept her from functioning most days. She told me everything about it, from what it felt like to how it affected her everyday living and how she had her good and bad days. On her really bad days, which were never regular, I would always take care of her, dropping everything to make sure that she had someone to help ease the pain, even just by a little.
“How bad is it?” I ask cautiously.
“Let’s just say that when she went to the bathroom to throw up for the third time, I decided to ignore her wishes to stay and told my dad anyway.” Emilia says.
“She can be so stubborn, but I’m glad you were looking out for her.” I slightly tease, even if my nerves are shot and all I want to do is run out of this arena and take care of my girlfriend.
“She’s my best friend. Of course I would look out for her. And listen, I don’t know as much as you do about her history, so I’m trusting that after the game you’re going to take care of her.” She reaches into her back pocket and hands me a key card. “Here’s my room key. I hadn’t brought my things to the room, so I’m just gonna bunk with Hannah and Alyssa tonight. Just make sure you take care of our girl.”
“Thank you Em. I promise, I’ll take care of her.”
Em nods, and I walk back to my locker, sitting down with my head between my knees.
I hate that she’s in pain right now, and I’m here. I thinkthis game just has us all defeated, and I’m not sure that we can come back from it.
Coach is right, losses happen, and I’m just going to give everything I have this final period, then focus on taking care of my girl, even though the ice is the last place I want to be right now.
The final buzzer blares across the stadium, signaling the end of the game.
As I predicted, the game did not go in our favor, a five to two win for Boston. We’re all currently back in the locker room, a somber tone taking over the atmosphere. Everyone moves just a bit slower, tension lining their bodies as they all undress and get ready to board the bus.
This is our first game for this away series with two more to follow, and while this isn’t the way we wanted it to start, it doesn’t mean we need it to define us.
“Before Coach comes in here and gives us his post game speech, I just want to talk to you all.” Connor shifts into Captain mode, walking towards the center of the locker room and looking at all of us.
