A/N : I don't know if anyone knows, but Riker plays hockey for the Breckenridge Vipers now. He usually posts a link to the game. They have a YouTube channel where they stream all the games. I was watching the second half of it last night and Riker was shoved twice by someone on the opposite team, and one of the times he was shoved so hard he fell on the ice. I know Riker would never do anything like that to anyone else, but I get worried that other players on the opposite team will do stuff like that to him, knowing he won't do anything back and take advantage of him. And obviously I'm worried he'll get hurt. There's so many fights in hockey. In last nights game, the game was over and they were all shaking each others hands, and then there was another fight between 2 of the players. I know Riker usually plays hockey with his family, and I wonder if he knew what he was getting into when he joined the Vipers and how aggressive other hockey players can be.
93 - Shoved
You were going to one of Riker's hockey games tonight to support him. It was his first game on a new team he joined and he was super excited to be playing tonight.
You were sitting in the stands with Rydel and the rest of his family.
As soon as the game starts, you start searching for Riker. The players switch off so often, they're always changing, so you're always looking for Riker. After a few minutes, he's finally on the ice.
He seems super focused and high energy.
Throughout the game, you begin to get a little nervous because the other team seems really aggressive. There's been a few fights on the ice already. It seems like the fights were between guys who had already existing issues with each other. But you're still worried one of them will try to do something to Riker.
The game continues. Riker's on the ice every couple of minutes. His team is winning, which just seems to be making the other team more angry.
All of a sudden, you see one of the guys on the other team push Riker. He stays on his feet, but he seems a bit shaken up from it.
"Are they allowed to push people like that?" You ask Rydel.
"No. They get penalties for it sometimes."
You keep watching and then that same guy pushes Riker again, making him fall this time.
It looked like a hard fall, but Riker gets back up and keeps playing. But after about 30 seconds, he switches off with another guy on his team.
You're watching him on the bench, wondering what was going through his mind. All of a sudden, he gets up and walks out of the room, leaving the rest of his team on the bench.
"Let's go," Rydel says, grabbing your hand.
You get up and follow her out to the hallway. You don't see Riker though.
"He's probably in the locker rooms," Rydel said.
You both walk down the hall. Rydel knocks on the boys locker room door. She gets no response, so she opens it slightly.
"Riker," she says, going inside.
You follow her in.
"Can you go get dad?"
"Yeah."
Rydel leaves, but you stay with him. He has half of his hockey gear off already and he's sitting on a bench.
"What happened? Are you ok?" You ask.
"No."
"What's wrong?"
"My knee really hurts. Did you see that guy push me?"
"Yeah, we couldn't believe it."
Riker pulls up the bottom of his pants so you can see his knee. You can tell it's swollen.
"Can you help me get my skates off?"
"Yeah. Am I going to get in trouble for being in the guys locker room?"
"I don't care. Can you just help me?"
You untie his skates and help him get them off. And then his dad comes in. Riker finally breaks into tears.
Mark comes over and can tell it's Riker's knee that hurts. His dad wraps his knee up tight for him.
"Do you want to put your hockey gear back on and go back-"
"No."
"Riker, you're on a team now," his dad says.
"I can't put weight on my knee. It hurts too much. Please can you go tell my coach and can we go home?"
Mark sighs and leaves. You pack up Riker's hockey gear for him and help him get changed into regular clothes.
You help him out of the locker room, into the hallway. He sits down on one of the benches and starts rubbing his knee with his hand. The rest of his family comes out a few minutes later.
"You fell so you're going home?" Rocky asks.
"It's not funny. My knee hurts," Riker says.
"It might hurt, but you could still play-"
"No, I can't."
Mark takes Riker's hockey bag from you. You help Riker up and go out to the parking lot and get in the car. When you get back to Riker's house, you go up to his room with him.
"If you can walk up the stairs, you could've finished the game," Rocky says.
"How about you just leave me alone!?"
Riker pulls you into his room and then shuts and locks his door to keep Rocky out. He flops down on his bed, face down.
You sit down on the edge of his bed and lightly put your hand on his back. You can tell from his breathing that he's crying again.
"Riker, it's ok. You're ok."
You start rubbing his back, trying to calm him down. After a few minutes, his breathing slows down and he sits up and wipes his tears.
"Do you want ice for your knee?"
He shakes his head no.
"Ok, is there anything I can do for you?"
"I just got scared."
"What do you mean?"
"When that guy pushed me. The first time I thought maybe he didn't mean to push me that hard. But the second time it seemed intentional, and he pushed me hard. And I got really scared. He seemed like he was going after me specifically."
"What about your knee?"
"Yeah that hurts, but I was more scared than anything. And I just wanted to get out of there."
"What that guy did wasn't ok. Are you going to stay on the team?"
"Yeah, probably. I mean, it was hard to get on it and I made a commitment to it, so..."
"What if you get pushed again?"
"I don't know. I'm going to have to talk to my coach about it. He's been texting me all night, asking if I'm ok. But I'll talk to him later."
"Ok. Are you going to be alright?"
Riker nods.
"Can you stay with me tonight though?"
"Of course. Are you sure you don't want ice for your knee?"
"I'm sure. I just want to cuddle and forget about today."
"Ok."
Riker gets under his covers and you get under too. He wraps his arms around you super tight and sighs.
"Thanks for being there for me," he mumbles.
"Of course, Rik."
You turn and kiss his lips, making him smile. And you know he'll be ok.
