Blue Paint & Red Lights

The Blackhawks were on a roll. Today was the last game of the road trip and I wanted to get out of work as soon as possible. But of course, Karolina had to be my last patient.
"I'm starting water polo." She had told me.
"Are you ever going to give your shoulder a break?" I asked, exhausted.
"Uh, hell no. There are way too many sports I need to do. I don't really use my shoulder much in soccer, though!"
I just shook my head and finished up the form I had clipped to my clipboard.
"You gonna watch the game at your place?" Karolina asked, knowing full well I usually do. I pulled my hair back with my hands and replied, "Wanna come? I've got pizza in the freezer. You can hang around but once their plane lands, you're gonna have to hit the road."
"Why?" She whined and I gave her a level look before answering her.
"You know what married people do."
"Oh come on! I didn't need to know that. At all. Why did you tell me that?" Karolina shouted, sliding off the bench and added, "I'll swing by at five. When does the plane land?"
"It lands at eight. Hurry up and leave so I can high-tail it out of here. I need my pajamas." I said, leading her out of the room and hanging up the clipboard on the light wooden door.
"Pajamas? Would Mr. Niemi really appreciate pajamas?" Karolina asked with a certain tone that made it so easy to mess with her head.
"One, they won't be on for long, and two, Marian called me a couple days ago, says you won't return his calls- why is that?"
"I hate you so much sometimes, you know that, right?" She said seriously. Her plain dislike of Marian Hossa was clear, but I just wasn't able to wrap my mind around it.
"Why don't you give him a chance, Karolina?" I stood with my hand on my hip.
"No-just...No. I will see you later, in about an hour, yeah?" She pointed at me as she walked to the door. I just nodded and as soon as she was walking onto the cold Chicago streets, I grabbed my purse and coat from my office and told Suzy goodbye. Walking to my car was a short, cold walk with my jacket hanging over my arm but I was too damn tired to put it on.

I drove home and sped, eager to reach the apartment where Antti would soon be after this last game. He was going to start against the Canucks and be sleeping in our own bed tonight. I grabbed the mail in front of the door and unlocked it, stepping into the apartment and closing the large wooden door behind me. Sighing, I flipped through the mail as I walked into the bedroom where the comfortable pajama pants awaited me.
"Bill....bill....junk..." I commented on each envelope until I found one with the return address of my old high school in the country. "What?" I dropped the others on the dresser and ripped it open.
I scanned through the words and made a face, "High school reunion?" before I began laughing.
Someone entered my apartment and I went silent. I kept the air inside my lungs, trying to not make any noise until Angelina called out, "You here?"
"Jesus woman, can you KNOCK? You scared the crap out of me!" The air whooshed out of me and I clutched my chest. She walked into my bedroom and said, "Blah blah. What's that?" Angelina reached forward to take the letter from my hand.
She managed to grab it and read it out-loud.

"Blah blah high school would like to invite you to their high school reunion!" She began to make a face at me and I snatched the paper back.
"Don't hate on it- I might go and show off how successful I am." I laughed and she joined in, adding, "It'll be like that one movie, but you actually are pretty successful."
"Only 'pretty' successful?" I asked her, raising one eyebrow. "Girl, I have a steady job, an apartment, and a husband. I think I'm doing pretty well."
She just laughed and patted my tummy. "Where are the mini-Anttis now, huh?"
"You are so annoying." I shoved her in the arm and told her to go into the kitchen and make some snacks because Karolina would be here too.
When Angelina left the bedroom, I quickly closed the door and changed into the blue plaid pajama bottoms with the little Chicago Cubs emblem on the pocket. Finding a 'One Goal' shirt in one of Antti's drawers, I slid that on and pulled my hair up into a little stub of a ponytail and grabbed a clip to hold my bangs up.

Once I was comfortable in the pajamas, I entered the kitchen where Karolina was now sitting and watching Angelina struggle.
"How the hell do you make this fried cheese?" She shouted at me, flipping the switch on the hood of the stove-top. Karolina just clutched her stomach, laughing and munching on popcorn, not helping Angelina. I sighed and walked over to her, pushing her out of the way with my hip and quickly making a plateful of fried cheddar cheese. It wasn't the healthiest thing, but it was awesome to snack on with popcorn while watching the good old hockey game.

"Are you going out with Patty yet?" Angelina asked Karolina as we all walked into the front room, arms laden with goodies.
"I don't even know. He gave me his jersey to wear, even if I already had my own." She motioned down to her top, the thick red sweater with the indian head and 88 across the back. I glanced over at Gina and saw the same, with 22 on the back and quickly putting down the popcorn I held. "Oh shit I almost forgot!" I ran into the bedroom, finding the red jersey Antti had laid out before he left.
I pulled it on over the gray shirt I was already wearing and walked back into the front room. "That would have been bad." I said to the equally superstitious girls.
Finally we had gotten situated and the game began.
Boom, a goal on Antti almost instantly and I groaned, holding my head in my hands.
"It's okay, he'll bounce back." Karolina offered and I replied with a half-smile, "Yeah, but it's still painful to watch."
Boom, boom! Two goals right after the other on Luongo, making the score 2-1 in favor of the Blackhawks. Keith and Kane were credited with the goals and Karolina did a small little happy dance from the floor where she sat that looked vaguely like the 'Chelsea Dagger' dance.
1st intermission came and went, leaving the score stationary. The Canucks were starting to get violent and poor Hjalmarsson was slammed into the boards and no referee saw the boarding penalty.
"Oh those bitches!" Karolina was still angry by the end of the second period about how the refs were clearly blind and I cupped my hands around my mouth and yelled across the room at her, "Zebra, zebra, short and stout- find your head and pull it out!"
I took a deep breath and shouted again, "I'm blind, I'm deaf, I WANNA BE A REF."
She just smiled and Angelina threw another piece of popcorn at her.

When the players came back on the ice, the atmosphere was clearly different. The Vancouver Canucks wanted to score and change the momentum. The Blackhawks just wanted to play catch with the puck and waste time. The two ideas clashed and players began yipping at each other.
"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit." Angelina chanted. We all knew that a fight was going to happen, and I was the only one that was able to know with confidence that my husband wasn't going to be the one coming home beat up.
Helmets flew off in the corner, Ben Eager and Alexandre Burrows were duking it out. We all stood up and shouted, getting closer to the television. All of us remembered what he did ages ago in the playoffs. He pulled Keith's hair and slammed him face into the ice. Eager fought hard and soon a line fight began. Colin Fraser threw off his gloves and grabbed Ryan Kesler, Sopel tossed his helmet away and started to pull at Kevin Bieksa.

Then something all three of us would have never expected. In the midst of all the fights and us yelling at the large television, I noticed a small figure skating out alone to the center of the ice to meet another lone player. The player who engaged the other had a large '31' on his back, identical to the one resting on my back. My eyes widened and Karolina shouted, "HOLY FUCK IT'S A GOALIE FIGHT!"