Physical Therapy

Roxy’s POV

“So how is everything going?” I ask Sarah over Skype. It is in the middle of the day here and really early there so I am watching her get ready for work.

“Great” she says as she brushes her hair after her shower. “Dixie misses you guys” she says

“Why? What is she doing?”

“Sometimes she goes by the door and meows or looks out the window”

“Aw poor baby, I miss her too. So how are you and Sid?” as soon as I asked her cheeks heat up and she is smiling like a madman. “That good?”

“Better. It is so much less stressful without hockey in the picture. The other night I think he almost said I love you”

“What happened?”

“We just went out and saw a movie and got something to eat. He was dropping me off at the apartment and we were joking around and he said ‘oh my gosh, I love’ then paused then finished with ‘hanging out with you’.”

“Oh my gosh, was he kind of awkward after that?”

“Yeah”

“Then he was definitely thinking it” I say with a smile. “So did you talk to your boss? Can you come down for a week when we are down in Florida?”

“I am rearranging my schedule but it looks like I will be there”

“Sid joining you?”

“He might have a training camp that week”

“He can train all summer but can only be with all of us for that week. Use your girlfriend powers and convince him. Geno will be there so he won’t be alone and they can work out together.” I try to reason.

“I will talk to him tonight. What time is it there again?”

“It is almost 2:30 so Geno should be getting back for his afternoon nap soon”

“Game today?”

“Yeah, if they win this one then they are in the knockout round, semi finals”

“I will send good thoughts later” she says

“I will tell his you said good luck” I say but the door opens to show him standing there with a smile on his face. “Well you can tell him yourself” he comes around to look on the screen.

“I was just telling Rox to tell you good luck on your game today” she says

“Thank you, everything good?”

“Yeah everything is great here. Well I should go; I need to finish getting ready for work. I will talk to you guys later.”

“Bye, love you”

“Love you” she says before exiting out of the screen.

“Good practice?” I ask as he collapses on the bed.

“Da, just tired”

“Yeah you aren’t use to this, a game every day or every other day”

“You nap with me?”

“Of course” I say and get up to shut the curtains as he undresses and gets under the covers. I pull off my jeans and slid in next to him. As soon as I am lying down he tangles his legs with mine, throws an arm around my middle and uses my chest as a pillow.

“Can’t wait to go to Russia and show you everything” he says and I run my hand through his hair.

“I can’t wait for it either. I also can’t wait for you to come to Florida and I show you where I grew up.” I say and I can feel his breathing even out. I grab my phone off the bedside table and snap a picture of us. I send it to Sarah saying ‘Five minutes and he’s out’.

‘You guys are so cute’ she texts back. I set the alarm then snuggle in to sleep. Waking up I think it is because of the alarm but checking my phone I see there is another 30 minutes before we have to be up. I lay back down only to feel my stomach lurch into my throat. I untangle myself from Ev and run to the bathroom and throw up.

“Babe?” I hear but I can’t answer because I throw up again. I feel him come in and hold my hair and rub my back. “Okay? Feel better?” he asks sweetly.

“A little, I’m sorry I woke you” I say but before he can respond I am throwing up again.

“What do you need? I have some time before I leave for game.”

“I think it is food poisoning, I ate at that place around the corner today for lunch. Can you call the front desk or room service and ask for Pepto-Bismol? And maybe some crackers and water? ” I ask him before heaving again.

He calls the front desk and ten minutes later there is a knock on the door. The maid was very nice; I think she saw me as a child because as soon as she is in the door me she was doting on me. She brought crackers, ginger ale, water, and medicine. With a trashcan next to me and in pajamas I all but pushed Geno from the room.

“I will be fine, go win your game” I say to him and he looks really torn. “If you don’t go I will be so mad. I have the maid to look after me and I will be watching your game. I want a point tonight.” I say with a small smile.

“I’ll go, I love you. Feel better and try to eat something” he says giving me a kiss on the forehead before grabbing his bag and leaving.

I spend the next couple of hours throwing up, trying to watch the game, eating a little, and throwing up more. I fall asleep after the game ends and wake up to a kiss on the forehead.

“Hi baby, feel better?” Ev asks

“Yeah, a little. You won and got a goal” I say with a smile.

“Shh, go back to sleep. We talk in the morning” he says and starts undressing and getting ready for bed. I take a few sips of ginger ale before falling back asleep.

“Baby,” I hear and open my eyes to find Ev standing above me, ready for practice. “I have practice, be back for lunch?”

“Yeah, I feel better. I’m actually kind of hungry” I say sitting up.

“Good, eat something then I come back and we have lunch” he says with a kiss on the forehead. After getting up and using the bathroom and bushing my teeth I make my way to the door where Ev was waiting.

“I will see you after practice” I say and reach up on my tippy toes to kiss him. “I love you” I say after I pull away.

He pulls my in for one more kiss, “I love you too” he says before he is out the door and off to practice.

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“Oh I am so hungry now” I say as we sit down for lunch.

“That happens when sick” he says with a smile.

“Well I feel much better now, thanks to you. Just think, you will be really good at that when I have morning sickness.”

“I didn’t know what to do. I be better next time”

“I think you did fine” I say and order a burger with fries.

We get our food a while later and I dig in. “So how many more games do you have.”

“We have two games until medal round” he says with a shrug but I can see he is both excited and nervous.

“Well I have faith in you guys” I say “I have a good feeling”

“Can’t go against good feeling” he says with a wink.

“Hush and eat your sandwich”

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“Woohoo!” I yell as the horn sounds and Team Russia wins another one. I join some of the other wives and girlfriends down by the locker room.

“Great game” I say and give Ev a hug and a kiss.

“Thanks, let’s go home” he says grabbing my hand. He stops a few times to sign some autographs and pose for pictures. I see a few girls taking pictures of me and talking about me. I can tell because they are looking and pointing, I try to not let it bother me but it still does.

“You okay?” Ev asks as we eat some room service in bed.

“Yeah, I just have to remember not to let people get to me.”

“What you mean? People be mean to you?” he asks

“Not to my face, but there were girls at the game taking my picture and talking about me. I can bet there is a blog or twitter out there that hates me.” I say realizing I am more upset than I thought.

“Shouldn’t care. People who matter know you” he says

“Yeah, thanks” I say feeling better about it. Sitting there eating I get an email from Sarah.

‘What did you do at the game?’ she says and there is a link under it. I email her back saying I didn’t do anything out of the ordinary before clicking on the link. An article comes up and after translating it the title reads “Malkin new girlfriend?”

“Evgeni Malkin, after getting booted out of the National Hockey League’s Stanley Cup Playoffs, is now playing for Team Russia in the IIHF World Championships. This time instead of bringing his long time girlfriend Oksana he has brought, what sources say is, his new girlfriend from the United States. Seen in the pictures below is the new woman while cheering on her new man in the semi finals of the tournament.” There were pictures of me cheering, eating, and drinking. “As you can see she is quite the woman. Other patrons around her said she was loud and drinking excessively, so a typical American. We can’t wait to see what she does in the future and will be keeping you up to date on her status, as long as she stays around.”

By the time I am finished with the article I have tears in my eyes.

“What’s wrong?” he asks but I am up and into the bathroom with tears in my eyes. “Babe!” he calls from the other side of the locked door. “Talk to me”

“Why do you even like me? I am just a loud American drunk!” I sob at the door.

“Where did you hear that?” he asks sounding angry.

“Look at my phone” I say and I don’t hear anything for a while so I assume he is reading the article.
All of a sudden he is yelling in Russian and it takes a few seconds for my brain to switch.

“and I don’t want people making my girlfriend cry!” I hear him yell into what I assume is into a phone. I open the door to find him red in the face and pacing the room. “She was having a good time. She had one beer! So now she can’t enjoy herself?!” he yells but stops pacing when he sees me standing there. I can only hear one side of the conversation so wait for Ev to talk again. “Yeah, I will send you an email.” He says before hanging up the phone and pulling me into a hug. I start crying into his chest and he is trying to calm me down.

“I didn’t think I was that bad” I say with a hiccup and a sniffle.

“No baby, you were just having fun, they assholes. We are writing comments to agent.”

“Okay, can we do that in the morning?” I ask, just wanting to go to bed.

“Of course” he says before pulling me over to the bed and tucking me in.

“Will you just hold me?” I ask trying not to cry again.

“Oh baby” he says and gets into bed. He cradles me into his arms and kisses my forehead. “I love you and nothing they say can change that” that is the last thing I hear before I fall asleep and forget about my problems for the next 8 hours.