My Name Is... Olivia

Chapter 19

I locked the car once we all stepped out from it. For the entire car ride, it was completely quiet; Adam was focusing hard on like he did every time and Dougie was too excited to say anything. Tonight, Dougie was returning to the ice, it was about time! He got the pass from the physician last week but it didn't come into effect until now.

While we walked into the back entrance of the rink, Adam wrapped his arm around Dougie's shoulder. "You excited to hit the ice again?" he questioned.

"Yeah. But a little nervous. I haven't played for a while, I don't know if I'll be quick enough," he admitted.

"You'll be fine," I assured Dougie.

Adam patted Dougie's chest. "If some idiot decides to hit you too hard into the boards, don't worry, I'll handle them," Adam promised.

"Thanks, Adam."

We headed into the rink where we split up from each other. I headed towards Claude's office whereas Dougie and Adam were heading to the change room. Where they would sit for half an hour before they actually did get changed.

The logic of hockey players - I still don't understand it.

Before the game, all the staff members go together for a quick meeting to discuss last minute things like our opponents, our players, feuds that could be happening on the ice tonight. Most importantly, we discussed Dougie's ability. Although he was cleared, the physician made it clear that Dougie was still in a fragile manner and we shouldn't take a hard hit lightly, he should be getting serious attention.

Then the meeting ended and I headed up to the press boxes alongside my uncle, the scratches for the game, and the rest of the staff members. When the game started, like usual, I working as hard as I usually could.

Or that's what I believe I do as I steal another chip from Krejic's bag.

But quite honestly, I've been doing more work in the last month than I think I ever have. Let me add that I've had this "job" for close to a year. So really, I've done a crap ton of work. I think the extra motivation to actually work comes from the fact that I now need to pay bills, rent, and this is a legitimate job that I can be fired from.

During the game, the thing I've noticed the most from the team was that after ever shift that Dougie was on, there was so much concern for him. It was refreshing to see; people who actually took care of him. And I know we've made up and that everything between us so should be good and cool... but they seem far from it. Things still seem so rigid around the edges.

Another thing that I noticed from the game was that Adam was playing like shit. We were down by two goals in the second period and those two goals were scored when Adam was on the ice. When Adam plays angry, he stays angry. His demeanour stays angry consistently throughout the game; I was expecting to see at least two more penalties for him by the end of the game if he kept playing the way he is now.

After the game, I was correct. Adam was angry throughout the rest of the game but managed to only spend two minutes in the penalty box instead of four. He had another goal scored on him and now he was just pissed. After every game, I would hug him and give him a kiss on the cheek after every game. When I went down to the locker room and waited for Dougie and Adam, Dougie came out first and waited with me.

We talked about how he was feeling - especially in the brain. Dougie wouldn't shut up about how good it felt to be back on the ice. He also didn't shut up about how he even managed to get a couple shots on net and even hit a few guys without feeling woozy.