Opal's Boy

Chapter 16

When I woke up the next morning, Sidney wasn't in the bed. Curious, I got up and walked downstairs into the kitchen. I smiled when I saw him in his workout clothes.

"Someone's feeling better," I said as I sat down beside him.

He grinned. "I called my coach and he said I should come in to get evaluated. He wants you there at ten, also."

I looked at the clock on the wall. Eight.

"Nice. What time do you have to go in?" I asked him.

"Eight thirty. I should get going," he said as he stood up.

I stood up with him and allowed him to pull me into his warm embrace.

"Have a good day," I smiled up at him.

"I will."

He smiled and kissed my lips lightly before heading out the door.

...

After an hour and a half of laying around, I went upstairs and got dressed. When I had my uniform on, I headed towards the rink.

I got there with five minutes to spare.

"We're on the ice today. Skates are in the lounge," my boss told me.

"Really?" I said excitedly.

"Yes ma'am. We're teaching the players specific techniques to prevent injury. We do this at least five or six times a month. Have the Blackhawks ever done this?" He asked in obvious disbelief.

"Never. But I'd always heard of other teams who did. It looked so fun."

"Well, today's your lucky day. Get strapped in."

With that, he left me alone with my skates and a few other trainers. When we got to the ice, the players were casually skating around. Suddenly, a whistle was blown and they lined up.

"Now, these trainers are here today to teach you how to stay safe on the ice without injuring yourselves. This will help some of you. Others, it may not."

A few players laughed and nudged each other.

"You'll be in groups of five. Get together with the trainer of your choice and get started."

The whistle sounded again and they broke apart.

I was soon face to face with Sidney, Geno, Pascal Dupis, Olli Maatta, and Beau Bennett.

"Coach want younger guys with us," Geno said as he pointed to Beau and Olli.

I laughed and nodded. "Okay guys, our first drill isn't gonna be too challenging. We're gonna pair up. Take turns pretending to check one another, but push your dominant shoulder forward and push off with the opposite foot so you don't fall."

Sidney came over to me so we could practice as the other guys paired up.

"I take it the coach cleared you for tonight?" I asked.

"Thankfully. I'm glad you're my partner, by the way. You look great in those skates," he winked.

I blushed and gathered all the boys back together.

"How was that?" I asked them.

"Not bad. It'll take some getting used to but I think it'll come in handy," Beau told me.

"Y'all are gonna gave fun with this one. Each of you will get a turn to push each other. As you're falling, try and lean to one side and put that side's hand out to brace your fall. Just because Sid's your captain doesn't mean you should go easy on him," I grinned.

"Was not planning to," Geno smiled at Sidney.

Sidney shook his head and skated around the group. Geno chased him and eventually pushed him down. He completed the technique flawlessly.

"That was the easiest fall I've had in a few years," Sidney laughed.

The drill went well for a few rounds, but they soon got childish. They started pushing each other and the whole team joined in. It didn't take long for the coach to blow the whistle.

"You guys think this is a game? This is one of the biggest games of the season and you're all acting like idiots! Stop-and-go's now!" He blew the whistle and they all lined up.

He blew the whistle again, they split up into two groups, and started sprinting. While they went back and forth, the coach called us trainers over to the bench.

"Who started this?" He asked.

I stepped forward reluctantly. "I was teaching them how to fall without hurting their tailbones. It was great the first few times but it just got out of hand," I told him.

He held up a finger and turned around to the ice.

"Why the hell are you going so slow? Get left behind, get left out of the game!" He yelled.

He turned back to me and his face softened.

"Who was in your group?"

"Sidney, Geno, Pascal, Beau, and Olli. What're you gonna do to them?" I asked nervously.

Instead of answering my question, he turned back to the ice.

"Crosby, Malkin, Dupis, Bennett, Maatta. Stay on the ice. Everyone else, get on the bench and don't say a word."

They did as they were told.

"Now you're gonna show me this falling technique you so kindly ruined the practice with. If you don't do it flawlessly, we will forfeit the game and you'll be here until midnight!" He yelled.

A chorus of distressed voices floated from the bench.

"I thought I said shut the hell up!" He yelled at them. He turned back to my group as the stood there on the ice. "Crosby, start." The whistle was blown and Sidney pushed Geno.

They went through the rotation carefully. After they finished, the coach looked to my boss, the head athletic trainer, for the verdict. He looked at the boys on the bench, the boys on the ice, then back to the coach. Silently, he gave him a thumbs up. The bench cheered but quickly stopped due to the death stare from the coach.

"Now if I ever catch any of you acting like that again, you will regret it. Especially you, Crosby. I expected better. Practice is over, be here at five for warm ups. You can go."

With that, the coach walked away.

I skated over to Sidney and rubbed his arm.

"Its okay, Sid," I said when I noticed his frown.

"No, it's not okay. I'm the captain and I need to act like it. I'll see you at home." With that, he skated away.

I skated back into the circle of my coworkers.

"Hey, is Sidney fine?" Someone asked me.

I shook my head. "He's upset. It was my fault. I shouldn't have even taught them that method."

"Don't say that. We were required to teach it. It wasn't your fault."

I nodded. "Well we should probably go see if we need to do anything else."