The Cat is Out of the Bag

Notes: This is based on the book on when Bombay found out. It works for me! And it's also based on an observation I made. It's amazing how many things you notice, when it's your favorite character. Also as my writing teacher says: dialogue isn't always necessary and y'all already know the dialogue!

We were all standing around talking. When a referee came up to us and asked where Bombay was. We all knew he was at some party or something. It's not as if he cares anymore about anything but winning. Did I mention yet that Bombay is starting to remind me of Reily?

Miss McKay volunteered to coach us. I must admit she wasn't that good of a coach but that's okay. We weren't going to forfeit the game.

I was sitting on the bench trying not to show that my wrist was hurting. But I don't know how long I can last. There was a duck call. We all turned around to see what was going on. There was Coach Bombay coming through the building with a duck decoy. We mostly ignored him. He was probably going to yell at us some more.

"Bring it in." He called the Ducks that were on the ice. I could see Jesse glaring at Bombay as they ignored him. But they came in anyway.

He explained to us that he was sorry for how he acted and that he wanted to coach us again. The game turned around and I played as well as I could. I was relieved when the final buzzer sounded. We filed into the locker room. While everyone else went to the shower, I took two Tylenol's. I also made sure I was the last one to exit the shower.

When I knew they were gone then I started wrapping my wrist. The game with Germany had really taken its toll on it. I was concentrating on my wrist that I hadn't even heard the coach enter.

I tried rotating the hockey stick but there was just no way and I knew it. I dropped it in frustration.

I listened to what he had to say. I tried to hide how much his words hurt. But I knew he could see the tears in my eyes. By not playing, I was letting down my dad. But what he told me about his father made sense. I could see my father feeling the same way. He was always supportive of my brother, sister, and I. He just pushed me because as he'd said a few times 'You have the talent to go far in hockey.' I nodded and followed him out the door.

We went to the UCLA hospital and had my wrist x-rayed. It wasn't broken but it was badly sprained. Gist of it was I couldn't play for awhile. I didn't even try to argue while coach was there. We rode back to the dorms in silence.

I got out of the car. Bombay said he was going back to his condominium to pack up his stuff. He was moving into the dorms. I walked to my dorm room and found Jesse and Charlie both waiting for me. They saw my arm in a sling and looked at me worriedly.

"Is it broken?" Jesse asked.

"No just badly sprained. The doctor thought I'd be better off it was in a sling."

"You didn't tell us that your wrist was that bad." Charlie said.

"I thought I could play with my wrist like this. Russ even showed me how to play with one wrist."

"You should have said something before." Charlie continued.

"You told me it was just sore. You could have told me the truth Banks." Jesse said. He must have seen my face drop because he quickly added, "Could be worse. It could be broken."

"Except that I'm benched."

"You'll be back though." Charlie reminded him. "Scouts can see you then."

"And if they still aren't impressed we'll sick the Bash Brothers on them." Jesse said.

I actually grinned for the first time that day.