The Foster Girls #3: Elizabeth

Chapter 15: Elizabeth

I woke up from my nap, feeling refreshed. The bed was insanely comfortable, easily the nicest one I'd ever slept on. Willow poked her head in. "Hey, sleepyhead, how're you feeling?"

"Good. The little nugget let me get some good sleep." The nurse popped in, smiling at me. I almost laughed. She was 60 if she was a day, gray-haired and very motherly. I'd bet Rig had purposely asked for older women after I accused him of wanting to start banging nurses. She introduced herself as Natalie and asked if I wanted to go to the family room. I agreed, so, after a quick stop in the restroom, she rolled me in to the family room and transferred me to the couch.

"Want to watch the game?" Willow asked. "Puck drop in five minutes."

I wanted to, but I didn't. Rig on the ice was a sight to behold – bold, aggressive, graceful, powerful. He was, despite the cliché, poetry in motion in an extremely aggressive, masculine way.

"Who are they playing?" Natalie asked, settling in one of the chairs near me. "It ought to be good to watch on this size TV.

Willow knew. "The Tornadoes  are playing the Slayers."

"Guess we're watching the game," I said grumpily.

"Oh, now, you don't want to miss your boyfriend play!" Natalie exclaimed.

"He's not my boyfriend," I corrected her quickly.

She looked confused. "But I thought he said the baby was his?"

"It is," I said. "We're just not together."

This seemed to confuse Natalie even more. Could you drop the puck already?

"Does he know that? Because he told me, and I quote, 'Take good care of my girls for me.' And it was kind of scary the way he said it...like a warning."

Natalie has balls, I'll give her that. She also has the tenacity of a pit bull. "I think it's just an expression."

Drop the freaking puck!

"The players are coming out on the ice," Willow announced, having caught my look of desperation. We all started watching, Willow and Natalie debating different players and I just watched the screen, trying to pick out Rig whenever he was on the ice in the first period.

The announcers were rattling off some statistics when one of them mentioned that this is the first period in the season that Rig hasn't started a fight.

Rig scored one goal and had an assist on another, helping lead his team to a 3-2 win. We watched the post-game interviews and he was charming and quick to give credit to his teammates for the win.

"So, no fights tonight, Rig? What's up with that?" a reporter asked him.

He shrugged those massive shoulders and replied that he just wants to play good hockey and focus on his game skills, not his fighting skills.

When we turned off the TV, Natalie left us for a minute to run to the bathroom before Willow took off.

"I hate that I have to leave when you just got back."

Since I was still beyond angry with her – I just couldn't let loose on her due to my need to stay calm for the baby – I didn't say anything.

"Listen, I know you're mad at me. And it's one of those 'sorry not sorry' situations. If I hadn't called him, what would you be doing?"

"Oh, I don't know. Probably gotten a nurse and a hotel and been just fine."