When The Whistle Blows

Chapter 50

Astrid

My muscles screamed in protest as I lunged side-from-side. A whole week of conditioning and last night's intense game has seemed to catch up to me.

Not to mention, my face took every opportunity to throb its displeasure at every facial expression. The coloring was getting worse by the hour and my left eye was getting harder to keep open.

During opening ceremonies, it was hard to keep a smile on my face. Mostly due to the leering pricks from opposing teams but also from the pain it caused too.

"You want some Advil for that, love?" Bentley asked as he frowned down at my wincing expression.

"I would, but I haven't eat-" I froze mid-sentence as I realized what I almost admitted.

Sadly it was too much, too late, as Bentley's usually soft features hardened. "You haven't eaten yet today?"

I whispered a curse but chose not to respond as I continued my side stretches. I slowly moved from right to left as I touched my fingertips to my feet.

"You told Ryder that you had snuck down to get breakfast at the hotel," Bentley continued on as he stood glaring at me.

"And you know that how?"

"Because I and the chap ran into each other while eating our breakfast and I inquired if he knew the location of your hotel room. To which he ended up explaining that you told him you already ate and there was no need for any of us to bring you breakfast," Bentley explained as he pulled me by the arm and started leading me down the hall.

I was frozen at his sudden moves but quickly recovered as I dug my heels into the flooring.

"Where are we going?" I huffed as Bentley turned to look at me.

His green eyes sharpened at my protest. "To get you food," he supplied and tugged on my arm in hopes of making me move.

"I don't even have shoes," I glanced back at where I had been warming up before turning back to the frustrated brit who had started dragging away from our little warm-up area.

We briefly passed by the locker room and the training room, which left me really confused.

"Boohoo," he said in response to my desperate excuse while dragging me down the tunnel and towards the front lobby.

He led me through the double glass doors and stuttered slightly in his steps as he looked for his destination before continuing his path.

People buzzed around us, mostly employees for the rink, and were getting everything set up. I plastered as much of a smile on my face as I could in hopes of appearing somewhat normal - considering I was being dragged behind a very determined Brit, that was not an easy job.

I spotted our coaches sitting around talking at one end of the lobby. Judging by their demeanors, they seemed to just be conversing.

Finally, the tugging on my arm went slack and I turned towards Bentley. He had led me to the concessions stand.

"What can I get you two?" The Lady at the counter asked sweetly.

"Can we get a soft pretzel with cheese and a blue Powerade?" Bentley asked with an equally sweet smile.

"Is that all?"

"You know I can speak for myself?" I questioned Bentley with a wince as the frown I had made pulled at my stitches.

"Right Love, my apologies. What is it that you would fancy?" He asked with a smirk.

I turned to the lady at the counter with a sigh.  "That's all, thanks," I told her as Bentley pulled out his wallet and paid. He had gotten exactly what I would've gotten. Even down to the flavor of Powerade.

Once it was done, Bentley handed me the food and he still wore that self-satisfied smirk.

"Thank you, but you didn't have to do that," I told the Brit as I carried the food back to where we had been warming up.

He let out a soft scoff. "I didn't exactly see you jumping at the opportunity to feed yourself."

I shrugged defensively. "I had better things to do than try and choke down food."

"Is your throat giving you problems?" He inquired with a quick glance in my direction.

I didn't respond vocally as I didn't need him to worry nor tell the others and have all of them worrying. So instead I grabbed a chunk of pretzel, dipped it, and threw it in my mouth. I made a show of chewing and swallowing.

"I'm fine," I reassured him as we reached where we had been warming up.

I set my pretzel and drink on the ground before I proceeded to sit down. He walked away and disappeared around the corner which led to the locker room, so I quickly jumped up and went over to the trash can where I proceeded to spit the food back up.

It really hurt when food went down my throat so I tried to avoid it altogether. Lately, I have been drinking lots of shakes and smoothies. Bread especially hurt when traveling down my throat, so I wasn't too upset for wasting the food.

I did this three more times. Took a bite of food, chewed it, and spit it back up. There was still half of the pretzel left, but I figured that would be enough for the worry-wort Brit.

A swig of Powerade washed the salt and crumbs down just fine. Right in time too, as suddenly Bentley appeared with a little white bottle in his hand.

"Apologies. I must have misplaced the bottle I usually have on hand, so I had to resort to asking Blondie." Bentley explained while handing me the bottle.

The bottle taunted me in my hand as I stared down at it. If I took the painkillers on an empty stomach, I risk an ulcer. But it would relieve some of the aches that plagued me.

"Thank you again," I told Bentley as I unscrewed the lid and shook it till two blue pills landed in my palm.

"Anything for you, Love." He murmured as he found a spot to start warming up again. I watched briefly as he started going through stretches.

Without another second to overthink, I swallowed the pills and washed them down with my drink.

Moving the pretzel and the drink out of the way, I joined Bentley in warming up. Deciding to block everything out, I put in my earbuds and cranked the music.

I was here to play hockey and not worry about anything else. There wasn't much I could do about it, so until my health interferes with my ability to play, I wasn't going to stress over it.

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Thank you for reading Chapter 50. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Sorry for being MIA, I've been very busy for the past month. Feedback and comments make me happy!

~Until Next Chapter