Read More Than a Game for Free Online

one game. This will die down and you’ll be back on the ice before the next practice.”
     
    “I certainly hope so. I can’t believe that even happened.”
     
    “Shane, what exactly did happen? I couldn’t really tell from where I sat.”
     
    “I don’t know. It’s all a bit fuzzy. He barreled into me, again. I shoved back and we both went crashing to the ground. My skates came out from under me and my head hit the ice pretty hard. When I came up, I saw that his helmet had flown off and there was a massive puddle of blood, but everything was still a bit blurry. By the time the medics got to him, my vision had cleared a bit and I could see that he was cut badly. They said my skate hit his neck when I came down. The blades are very sharp,” he told her, his voice trailing off.
     
    “Was it deep? There seemed to be so much blood.”
     
    “I couldn’t tell. There was just blood everywhere. All I could see was red. I barely heard them telling me I was out of the game and everything seems so foggy, even now.”
     
    “Why are they making such a big deal out of an accident? It could have happened to anyone.”
     
    “Because of the animosity between us the whole game, they are speculating that I did it on purpose. It happened during a foul and that makes it look really bad for me.”
     
    “Surely he will tell them that it wasn’t your fault when he comes to,” she replied.
     
    “I don’t know what will happen. He’s a nasty bit of work, a fan favorite, but only because he’s considered a bad boy of the game. They love his aggression, both on and off the ice. He’s what people think of when they see a hockey player. He plays the game like a demon and when he’s not playing, he’s in bar fights, domestic disputes, smack talking. Fans who enjoy the rougher side of hockey eat it all up.”
     
    “Then they should know that he probably brought it on himself.”
     
    “Fans, maybe. Officials don’t play by those rules though. For them, it’s a matter of whether I intentionally fouled him and if that foul resulted in serious injury. It’s like saying my actions resulted in his injury. It is irrelevant if he fouled me first. Did I willingly decide to foul him and thus cause him bodily harm?”
     
    “I can’t believe that you would do such a thing.”
     
    “I didn’t. It was a knee-jerk reaction. He pushed me and I shoved back to get him off of me. I didn’t intend to do so aggressively enough for it to even be called a foul. I most certainly didn’t intend to leave him flat on his back with a head and neck wound.”
     
    “You’ll have your chance to explain your side of things, I’m sure.”
     
    “I did, in the locker room. I told them what happened. What happens now is up to them.”
     
    “The officials?”
     
    “Officials. Coaches. Owners. Even if the officials decide I am not at fault, the others could still decide I’m too much of a liability. There are a lot of factors involved. There is how bad the injury is and how he recovers from it. There is his side of the story. There is the matter of how fans react to it. There are a lot of things that go on outside the rink that affect how we, as players, are perceived and treated.”
     
    “I had no idea.”
     
    “Honestly, I didn’t either until I started playing. All I can do is hope for the best. Hey, you know, I’m not in much of a Pac-Man mood tonight, after all. Do you think we can just cuddle up on the sofa and watch a movie?”
     
    “That sounds like perfection. Though we both know you are just afraid of how badly I will beat you at Pac-Man.”
     
    He gave her the faintest of smiles and kissed her softly, leading her over to the sofa, where they curled up against one another and sipped their wine while he looked for a movie to stream. At some point, they fell asleep in one another’s arms, jumping when his phone rang. She sat up and rubbed her eyes as he answered, making a dark face as he listened to the person on the