The Ice Queen

Chapter Eighty Five
“Take it easy, AJ,” I heard and turned to see one of the trainers, Zack, watching me, “I know you want to push yourself, but you’re still healing.”

“It’s been a month, how much more healing do I need?!” I growled.

“Doc already said you’re not going to be ready for opening night of the regular season,” Zack said and I rubbed my face out of frustration and turned down the speed on the treadmill to a light jog and not a full blown out sprint.

“Better?”

“Yes,” he said and I sighed, feeling bad for the attitude I was giving him.

“I’m sorry, I’m just-“

“It’s all right, I understand how it feels,” he said and I looked at him and nodded my head, “The others should be here soon. How ‘bout you finish that mile and then come to the office so Doc can work on your muscles?”

“All right,” I said and then turned back to the machine to see that I had almost finished five miles, I won’t admit it to Zack, but I was starting to hurt, I knew I wasn’t healed all the way, but I wanted to be ready to start as soon as possible. The season hadn’t started yet, but everyone was back in town, there were only a few weeks left until the preseason.

I finished my jog and cleaned down the machine and wiped the sweat off. I looked at myself in the mirror to see that I did manage to put some weight back on, but I wasn’t what I was before. I heard the door to the gym open and saw some of my teammates walking in.

“Red!” Brad smiled as he jogged over towards me and hugged me, “How are you feeling?”

“Sore,” I smiled and he smirked and nodded his head, “How are you? With Segs gone, your partner in crime needs to be replaced.”

“Yeah, I know,” Brad said sadly and I sighed. I was shocked when Milan told me in the beginning of July that Tyler, Peverly and Button were traded to the Dallas Stars in exchange for Loui Eriksson, Reilly Smith, Matt Fraser and Joe Morrow, “So how was your summer? I haven’t seen you since I’ve been back!”

“I know, I’ve been training separately from all of you, Coach wanted to see how I was doing on my own before he put me back with everyone,” I explained and Brad nodded his head, “But my summer was nice, Milan and I trained a lot, but we took two weeks off to go home. We spent a week in Vancouver and then a week in Halifax.”

“I heard you were home, but the week you came, was the week I went on vacation with some friends,” Brad said and I smiled and nodded my head, “Glad you got to go to Halifax. How was it?”

“Nothing really changed,” I said and he laughed and nodded his head, “I haven’t been there in almost ten years, yet I still remembered where everything was.”

“I think that’s why my parents still live there,” Brad said and I smiled.

“Yo Marshy! Come on! Quit flirting with my girl!” I heard Milan yell and I smiled towards him to see that he was smirked.

“Shut up!” Brad yelled and then chuckled, “See ya later, eh?”

“Yeah! I have to go see Doc anyways,” I said and Brad nodded his head and I turned around and headed for the door.

-Milan-
“How’s she doing?” Patrice asked and I sighed.

“She’s pushing herself,” I said as I put the weight down and looked at him, “Doc said that she’ll be ready in about two months.”

“She’ll miss opening season,” Chara said as he came on my other side and I nodded my head, “Bet she’s not happy about that.”

“No, she’s not, but there’s nothing that she can do,” I said and sighed, “She just has to listen to Doc. Kane did damage on her and then with her stomach problem, it took a toll on her body. She lost muscle that she needs to get back before she even thinks about playing again.”

“You think her career’s over?” Patrice asked and I shook my head.

“No, I know she’ll pull through and be back on the ice with us,” I said and smirked, “She just needs to have patience.”

“That’s one thing that Red’s always lacked,” Brad laughed and I smirked towards him because it was very true.

After I finished my work out, I went down to Doc’s office to find Alyssa on the table and Doc was stretching her muscles. I leaned against the wall and waited silently to be noticed. I watched as there was a pained look on Alyssa’s face and I felt really bad for her.

“Milan,” I heard and looked to see Alyssa looking at me with sad eyes.

“Ah, Looch, I’m almost finished with her,” Doc said and I nodded my head and walked over towards Alyssa and leaned against the table, a hand next to her head and the other by her hip.

“How are you feeling?” I asked and Alyssa winced as Doc did something with her hip.

“I’ve been better,” she said and I sighed and took her hand in mine.

“There, all finished,” Doc said and Alyssa sighed and then sat up, with mine and Doc’s help of course.

“I feel like I just ran a hundred miles,” she said and I chuckled. Alyssa leaned against me and I kissed her forehead, “I’m beat.”

“Let’s head home then,” I said and she smiled tiredly towards me and nodded her head.

“Just be careful, Red, I’ll see you tomorrow!”

“Thanks Doc,” Alyssa called as we walked out of the office and headed for the parking lot.

It was a quiet drive back to my house and when I pulled into my driveway, I saw why, Alyssa had fallen asleep. I smiled and cut the engine, got out of the car and headed for her side. I made sure that I was very careful as I opened the door and picked her up. I carried her into the house and up to my room. Duke was jumping around when he saw us and I smirked towards the happy puppy.

Alyssa didn’t stir as I laid her down on the bed, took her shoes and socks off and then covered her with a blanket. Duke was about to jump on the bed, but I stopped him, not wanting him to wake Alyssa up, “Come on, boy,” I whispered as I grabbed his collar and started to pull him out of the bedroom, “Want to go out?”

-Alyssa-
I felt like I was lying on a bed and instantly shot up, and then instantly regretting it as soreness shot throughout my whole body. I groaned and then looked around the room to see that I was at Milan’s house, I sighed and then pushed the covers off of me and climbed out of bed.

I walked down the stairs, hearing the TV on and followed the noise to see Milan sitting in the living room watching a baseball game, “Babe,” I called out and Milan turned his head and smiled towards me.

“Her highness is up,” he chuckled and I giggled as I made my way towards him, “How are you feeling?”

“Sore,” I said as I sat next to him, leaning up against the side of the couch and then throwing my legs onto his lap, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”

“It’s no problem, I heard you worked yourself hard today,” he said and I sighed and nodded my head, “Maybe a little too hard?”

“Maybe,” I muttered and then tried to crack my neck because it and my shoulders were sore, “Damn,” I breathed because it wasn’t working.

“What’s up?” Milan asked as he looked at me again, “Your neck?” he asked and I nodded my head, “Here, sit on the floor,” he said as he moved his feet from the coffee table and opened his legs, signaling me to sit in-between them.

I sighed and got up and plopped myself in-between Milan’s legs and leaned my back against the couch, instantly groaning and melting under his hands as he started to rub my neck and shoulders, “You’re a saint.”

Milan chuckled and then leaned down and kissed my cheek, “Just helpin’ a lady in need.”

“And this lady appreciates it,” I giggled and let the man work his magic on my muscles. Just as Milan was getting started, the doorbell rang and I groaned in disappointment because it meant that Milan had to leave me.

“I’ll be right back,” he said and then kissed my head and headed for the front door.

I saw Duke trot into the living room from the dining room and stare into the hallway. He cocked his head to the side, interested on seeing who was at the front door. When I heard a few voices, I was interested as well, but I was too tired and sore to move to see who it was.

“Red!” I heard and turned my head only to smile when I saw Tyler, Nathan and Brad.

“Segs!” I said and smiled towards him, “You’re here!”

“Only for a few days, I’m cleaning out my apartment,” he said and I frowned, “You’re not gunna give me a hug, eh?”

“You’ll have to help me up, every muscle in my body is screaming,” I said and Tyler smirked and walked over towards me, grabbed both of my hands and pulled me up.

“There, look at you all right side up,” Tyler chuckled and I smiled and wrapped my arms around his waist.

“It’s good to see you again, I haven’t seen you since I was still in the hospital,” I said and Tyler nodded his head and kissed my forehead.

“I’m happy you’re doing better,” he said and I pulled back and nodded my head.

“I heard about your trade, I’m sorry,” I said and he sighed and nodded his head.

“So what are you doing here?” Milan asked as he walked back into the room.

“Pizza and Socs?” Brad asked and I giggled and smiled towards Milan.

“When’s the game?”

“An hour,” Nathan said and Milan nodded his head.

“Sure.”