Sticks and Skates [Wayhaught]

Western Conference Playoffs Round One (Part Two)

Game 3: Sunday, April 14—Purgatory @ Brandon (Series tied 1-1)

"Ow...Ow...Ow!" Nicole hissed as Kate worked, "Motherfu—"

"Okay, seriously? You're numbed up. Who knew you could be such a whiner, Red?" The trainer said with a hint of amusement, momentarily stopping her actions. "You know, you really shouldn't move so much while I'm trying to sew your face back together."

Nicole frowned, but apologized, promising to try to sit still.

She'd taken a high stick to the face that had left a gash right underneath her bottom lip that extended ever so slightly onto her chin. The action, a double minor penalty for high sticking, had earned the Devils a four-minute Power Play because Nicole had started bleeding on the play. It could've been a big break for the squad, a long time with a one-man advantage trailing 2-1 with just under five minutes remaining in the third. Nicole was beyond pissed that Doc had sent her down the tunnel for stitches, desperately wishing to be out there for these important moments.

She held onto a little hope that she might get to go back out for the last minute or so, or maybe her teammates would come through and tie it up and she'd be able to go back out for overtime, but those hopes seemed to be dwindling as she watched the clock tick down from where she sat, hearing the horn signifying that Brandon had potted an empty-netter to all but seal the deal.

Nicole was more than certain that Kate was good at her job, but still wasn't all that fond that there was currently a needle being driven through her face. Even though Kate had applied a local anesthetic before she started, that didn't mean that it didn't hurt (even if she may have been being the teeniest bit dramatic). She hadn't been able to see the gash before Kate got to work, but knew it had to be at least kind of deep judging from the amount of blood that soiled her white jersey. She could only imagine the reaction that Waverly would have once she saw her face.

"Waverly's gonna kill me," she mused aloud, "or she's gonna be worried that I didn't go back out on the ice, she's gonna think it's seri—OW!"

She flinched again, earning a scowl from Kate.

"Your girlfriend's gonna kill me if you end up looking like Frankenstein, so sit still, stop being a baby and let me finish. I'm almost done."

This time she did her best not to move or talk, allowing Kate to just do her job. She started to hear the team file into the locker room next door, most of them silent after being handed another loss. The only distinguishable sound, Shae slamming the door and yelling Fuck!, encapsulated the team's feeling about falling behind two games to one in the series.

"Someone's angry." Kate couldn't help but let a small chuckle escape as she switched out her suturing tools for a small bandage to protect the stitches.

"I'm sure she'd call it passionate." She rolled her eyes a bit.

"She can call it what she wants; doesn't change the fact she's a hothead."

"Not really sure I wanna go in there right now," she said, overhearing a muffled version of some intense monologue from the captain.

"Not even two minutes ago you were itching to get out of here."

"Yeah, but that was to go back to play, not to get yelled at."

"Well," Kate started, "unless you've got some other injury, which will keep you out of the next game by the way, I'm afraid I can't help you out." Nicole pondered the idea, but decided a fake injury wasn't worth it and decided to bite the bullet. Begrudgingly, she hopped off the training room bench and made her way to the door. "Godspeed," Kate sent her off with a chuckle.