Page 65 of The Love Penalty

One.Mitchell comes out of the box and heads straight for Jordan. Olivia is skating up right behind them both, trying to get the right angle on the play to see what they are doing. Mitchell transitions so that he’s skating backwards towards his net, then attempts to trip Jordan which makes him stop his pursuit towards the net. The two of them are just kind of locked in on each other as Jordan handles the puck and looks for someone to pass it to. Mitchell’s eyes dart to Olivia who is by the glass behind Jordan.

Then, Mitchell charges at Jordan as if he’ll check him and Jordan retreats backwards toward Olivia, who is trying to move out of the way. Except she’s not fast enough. Not when Mitchell is headed toward her at full speed. I always thought that when something crazy happens, time would slow down. Like how sometimes people describe being in a car accident and remember every detail because it happened in slow motion.

Mitchell checking Olivia into the boards is fast. One moment she’s standing up, and the next she’s flat on her back with Mitchell on top of her. And I swear my heart stops.

My view is blocked by the linesmen and the other ref approaching and if a whistle is going off, I don’t hear it. I jump over the bench wall and skate up to them in a daze, and it feels like everyone in the whole damn arena is collectively holding their breath. You could probably hear a pin drop on the ice, but all I hear is the rushing in my ears. Because there, on the ice, Olivia is on her back with no helmet on. There is blood coming out from the back of her head and she’s not moving.

The team physician is walking out and my teammates are gathering around us to keep people’s view blocked.

And all I see isred.

Mitchell is just standing there and I move so fast no one has a chance to stop me as I rip his helmet off and punch him in the head hard enough that he goes down on the ice. I should stop here, but I don’t. I get on top of him and continue to land more hits on his face and gut. The fucker doesn’t even fight back.

Two sets of hands have to pry me off of him and I hear Ash and Jordan talking over each other, telling me to calm down.

“How the fuck am I supposed to calm down when she’s fucking bleeding and unconscious because of him?!” I yell at them. As they pull me away from Mitchell I see that a stretcher has been brought out for Olivia. Fuck. I need to see her face.

I try to move closer to her but Bob, the second referee stops me in my tracks. “Elliot, what the hell was that? You realize you’re out of the game and will definitely get suspended, right?”

“I don’t care. How is she?” I say in a commanding voice.

Bob straightens and a look of understanding passes over his face. He gets closer and whispers, “Doc said the head wound is not too bad, considering. But she may have broken a couple ribs. She was just coming back to when they brought the stretcher.”

My head whips up and I see them opening the glass doors over by the zamboni area to take her out of the arena. I skate up to them despite Bob and my friends’ protests. I see Olivia looking around, probably confused as hell and get closer to her.

“Olive!” I say, loud enough that she hears me and looks over, eyes going wide.

“Robbie,” she says, and the team physician and the EMT slow down so that I fully catch up.

“What hospital are you taking her to?”

“St. Mary’s. A few blocks away.”

I don’t take my eyes off of Olivia for a moment but I give her the best smile I can muster and say, “I’ll meet you there, love.” She nods back with tears in her eyes and I breathe a sigh of relief at seeing her awake.

When I skate back to the tunnel, I don’t look at any of my teammates as I walk to the locker room, take my equipment off, and plan to head out to the hospital. Coach tries to stop me but there’s no chance in hell.

“Elliot, I appreciate your sense of righteousness but did you have to pummel the guy?”

“He deserved much worse,” I say and leave him gaping after me.

The short driveto the hospital still somehow feels like forever. When I park the car, I quickly check my phone and see tons of messages and missed calls from my family and friends. I open up the text from Alice and quickly type a message telling her what hospital I am at. Then I call Elias as I walk into the lobby, heading to the ER.

“Robbie, thank God. Where are you?”

“Hospital.”

“Is she okay?”

“I don’t know yet, I’m trying to figure that out,” I say as I reach a shaky hand and press the third floor button in the elevator. Only now I realize my knuckles are split and bloody after what I did to Mitchell.

“Okay. You do that. We told Coach you and Olivia are friends and that Mitchell took it too far, obviously. But, Robbie, I don’t think even Coach can do anything to get you out of a suspension.”

“I seriously don’t even care about that right now, man.”

“Okay. Well, we’re headed into the third period soon, and I don’t think Mitchell is coming back out either. So, at least we won’t try to finish the job.”

“Look, can you do me a favor after the game and bring me and Olivia some clothes? I’m sure she’ll want something clean to change into.”

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