Literally.
Meredith came up beside me and I wasn’t fast enough to get out of her way.
“Son-of-a-biscuit,” I muttered to myself, right before she checked me hard into the boards. The padding helped, but with her weight and the stupid angle she’d hit me at, my helmet cracked against the plexiglass pretty nicely.
I went down, unable to catch my breath. She’d gotten me right in the solar plexus and I knew I’d have a scary few minutes before I’d be breathing normally again.
“Hands and arms up, G,” Jillian said as she kneeled down beside me. Jillian lifted my arms for me while I tried not to panic. I knew it was only a momentary glitch. I’d be able to breathe again.
It was just scary as shit while I waited for my diaphragm to get on board with the plan.
“Deep breaths,” our assistant coach said, dropping a kit beside me. “Is anything hurting?” she asked me, using the tiny light in my eyes. I shook my head and tried to concentrate on breathing.
Seemed like I’d been doing that a lot lately.
Finally, my diaphragm gave up the ghost and relaxed. I sucked in huge gulps of air, my throat feeling dry as the cold air traveled down. “I’m fine,” I gasped, trying to catch up on my oxygen requirements.
“Get up, girl. We don’t play this game laying down.” Gianna stopped near me, offering both hands. I took them immediately, focusing on the look on her face. “That witch needs a lesson, I see. You good?”
I nodded, catching her drift.
“Gigi, that was a hard hit. I think you should sit for a while,” the assistant coach said as she grabbed onto my arm and started pulling me.
“No, I’m good. She caught me. It won’t happen again.” I dug in my skates and hurried to where the ref was standing.
The crowd boo’d as neither official called a penalty on Meredith.
I guess we knew who they were favoring tonight.
Again, I lined up with Meredith for a faceoff in their end, and just like before, she started mouthing off. “Your coach wants you to sit this one out, Gigi. Why don’t you let the big girls play? That’ll give you more time to catch up with all of Beau’s baby mamas out there. I bet he’s got a bunch of them, coast to coast.” She let out a loud cackle as the ref dropped the puck.
I won the puck and skated away as fast as I could, not willing to let her catch me again.
Meredith could do some damage, but only if she caught you first. And she wasn’t exactly a fast skater.
I saw that Jillian was open. Just as I was about to pass the puck to her, she shook her head and nodded forward.
Yeah, she was right.
I had the clearer shot.
And that’s exactly what I did.
Directly into the top, right shelf.
“Tough game tonight,Gigi. How are you feeling about your loss? Do you think it had anything to do with the personal issues you’ve been going through?” the commentator asked as she stuck the microphone in my face.
“Actually, I’m really proud of our team. We all fought hard right until the end. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t in the cards for us tonight. But we’ll get them next time,” I said, wiping my forehead as I maintained my composure.
“Do you think the results on the ice were a reflection of what’s been happening in your life back in Vegas?”
I knew she’d have some kind of question like this to press me with. If she didn’t ask and rub salt into the wound, her cohorts would accuse her of not doing her job.
Instead of getting upset, I smiled at her. “I love my life back in Vegas, and I consider myself extremely lucky to be on this team. Tonight, just wasn’t our night. We’ll regroup, go over our tapes and see what we can improve upon for next time.”
After that, she thanked me, and finally let me go.
“Wouldyou just answer it already? He’s not going to stop calling me until you do. I’m tired,” Jillian said, rolling over and groaning out loud.