I'll Be Right Beside You

“Bates, Staal, TK, ready to get out there?” I nodded, ready for the first shift of the game. Cam had been vibrating with excitement and nerves all night, and she was more than ready to play and prove to everybody else that she could. Sid’s line had taken the first shift, followed by Geno’s, as Dan kind of wanted to set the pace of the game before throwing her into what looked like a physical game.

As the whistle blew we hopped over the boards and skated down to Washington’s end for the face off. Kunitz mumbled to me that the Capitals had been bad mouthing already about having a girl on the team, something that had me seeing red before taking my place across from Backstrom.

I tangled him up in the faceoff, and saw Cam coming in to steal the puck. Right away Chimera backed off of her, and I saw her expression darken as she realized it too.

She passed the puck over to TK, who’s quick drop pass to Brooks made for a good one-timer opportunity but it didn’t get past Holtby.

“What’s your problem?” she demanded, getting in Chimera’s face.

“What are you talking about?” he raised an eyebrow, before sneering at her expression.

“I’m not fucking playing against a girl,” was his response before he skated past her. I saw her tense up and grit her teeth, but thankfully she didn’t say anything and made her way back to her position. As soon as the puck dropped she gave Chimera a hard check, getting him out of position as she came to get the puck. He refused to retaliate, which made her even angrier, and she gave him a hard cross-check, earning a whistle from the ref.

“Fucking douchebag,” she growled under her breath as she skated by me. I wanted to pull her into a hug, but I knew she’d get angry with me for doing something like that during a game.

“What’s with her tonight?” TK asked, and I sighed, taking a drink from my water bottle and trying to catch my breath before responding.

“She’s mad. Nobody will play against her, like, really play against her. She’s getting frustrated and she’s trying to start something to prove that she can play with the guys,” I replied, and he paled slightly.

“She’s gonna get herself hurt keeping this up,” he mumbled, and I nodded, picking at the label on the water bottle. That’s exactly what I was afraid of.

As her fourth penalty of the night was up she skated back to the bench, sitting down beside me, and grumbling to herself. I could tell she was getting close to tears from her frustration.

“It’s okay Cam, just relax. You have to give everybody the chance to get used to the idea,” I gently reminded her, and she huffed.

“They’ve had a couple of weeks,” she reminded me.

“But this is the first time they’ve had to play you,” I continued, and she continued grumbling under her breath. I understood her frustration, but I wanted her to let it go, at least for tonight, so she didn’t do anything stupid.

“Cam, take it easy, okay? I don’t want you getting hurt on me,” Dan softly reminded her, patting her shoulder. There wasn’t even a hint of a smile on her face for him, and I knew that tonight would continue to get worse.

The game ended with Cam racking up more penalty minutes than she saw all of last season, and when she stormed down the tunnel I winced as she swung her hockey stick at the wall and busted it. She sat down for two seconds flat to kick off her skates and the heaviest of her equipment before she left the room without a second glance. Dan would have never let any one of us leave the locker room and not hear his after-game talk, but I think he understood that she couldn’t handle it right now, and didn’t do so much as mention it. He kept his speech quick, knowing that there was some unease in the locker room that we needed to solve with the way that the Capitals had treated Cam throughout the game. I quickly stripped down to my Under Armor before I went looking for her, and Vero made a bee-line for me when she saw me walk into the player’s lounge.

“Is Cam okay?” she asked, concern making her voice and accent thick.

“No, do you know where she is?” she shook her head, but guessed that the bathroom would be a likely place for her. I knocked loudly on the bathroom door, hoping like hell that there wasn’t anybody else in the women’s bathroom before I let myself in. I could hear sniffling, and let out a long breath, trying to mentally prepare myself for the painful image of my girlfriend crying.

“Cam? Sweetheart you in here?” I asked quietly, and the noise abruptly cut off, making me feel even shittier. She didn’t want me to know she was crying, and I had no idea if she’d even want me to be here right now.

I walked to the last stall, and saw her sock feet. I pushed the door open to find her sitting on the closed toilet seat, her face buried in her hands.

“Come here,” I choked out, and almost instantaneously she was in my arms, trying her best to keep from sobbing. I rubbed her back and kissed her temple, not sure of what to say right now, and not wanting to make promises I couldn’t keep.

“You’ll be all right,” I murmured, kissing her forehead once more before looking into her eyes.

“I don’t know Jordy, I can’t do this if they’re all going to treat me like that,” she admitted quietly.

“Not everybody will be like Chimera,” I assured her, and wrapped an arm around her to try and gently guide her out of the bathroom, because the quicker we got changed the quicker I could get her home.

“But what if they are?”