After two periods of intense hockey, Jane was pretty close to her pain threshold. Maura had done a good job trying to make her hand at least a little bit better the last 40 hours, but it still hurt. The irony of it all was that the game against the Carolina Pumas turned into a real physical fight. So when the referee signaled for second intermission, Jane sprinted down the tunnel and into the locker room. Maura was already there, waiting for her.
"It really hurts, doc…" She dropped her gloves on the floor and reached for her water bottle.
"I know. Give me your hand" Maura commanded. She placed a heating pad in Jane's hand before moving on, and Jane made a mental not of how Maura already knew it was about the hand and had prepared everything.
The coach came in and gave them all a pep-talk. It was a tied game with one period left, and they had a good chance at winning this one. Jane squeezed gently at the heating pad and felt how it eliminated some of the pain.
A few minutes before intermission was over, Maura returned to Jane, removed the heating pad and started massaging the hand. Jane watched as Maura's fingers worked on the sore muscles, and she smiled for herself. It was already the third time that day she had had the luxury of a massage. "Damn, I could really get used to this" she smirked.
"What? Being injured?" Maura countered and looked up at Jane.
"No! But this…" Jane nodded towards their hands.
"Well, don't get used to this. It won't be a daily routine" Maura smiled.
Jane just smiled while her head offered a lot of replies, but none that Jane wanted to say out loud while the rest of the team was around.
It was still tied as the minutes went by in the last period. Both teams were changing before a face off in the Boston zone. Jane got on the ice and skated towards Heather who stood in front of Louisa.
"Hey, if you get a chance, flip the puck deep into their zone" Jane said as she skated around Heather and stopped. She saw the confusion on her face.
"But that will ice it…"
Jane smiled and shook her head. "Not if I get to the puck first."
Heather seemed to catch up to Jane's idea and nodded. "Of course… Speedy Gonzales. You sure you'll win that race?"
"Have you seen my legs?" Jane shot back.
Louisa laughed behind them, and Heather nodded. "Fine. You're on."
They all positioned themselves for the face off, and Jane took a deep breath. She had practiced this so many times in her life, there was no need to get nervous. Jessie, the center on Jane's line, won the face off and barely got it to Amanda, who played defense with Heather. Jane kept an eye on the puck, and one eye on the other teams' defense. It was all about timing. And getting possession of the puck long enough to actually do something about it. Heather and Amanda were tied up in the left corner, fighting for the puck. Jessie went over to help out, and Jane was skating nervously around on the right side. She just needed to keep an eye on number 39, and the puck.
The trio down in the corner managed to get the puck out behind the goal, and Jane knew she had to decide. She took the chance and skated up towards the blue line. A quick glance over her shoulder confirmed that Heather was looking at her. Then she flipped the puck over everyone and it landed in the middle of the Pumas' zone. Number 39 was quick to turn around and skate after the puck, but Jane was slightly faster. The chant from her bench was just like a whisper as she flew by, and she got to the puck behind the goal line before anyone else. At that moment she realized she hadn't really thought it through. Now what was she gonna do?
She skated behind the goal, to the corner and flipped it along the boards to Jessie who came as support. She held on to the puck until Heather entered the zone, and Jane moved over to the other side. Jessie left the puck for Heather, and skated behind the goal, drawing one player with her. Jane saw it open up a perfect passing line in front of the goal, and she hurried towards the goal post. Heather saw it right away and passed the puck perfectly along the ice. It slid right underneath the stick of number 39, and Jane just had to steer the puck into the net behind the goalie.
It was all in slow motion as Jane saw the puck cross the line, the goalie just a split second too late to stop it, and everything inside Jane exploded. "Yeah!" she yelled and embraced Heather and Jessie who almost threw themselves at her. Amanda and Vicky, the left wing, joined them too and they all congratulated Jane. She suddenly got a bit shy, and made sure to compliment her team. "Perfect play, girls. Just perfect! You guys set it up, I just steered it in."
They all laughed as they broke up, and headed for the bench to celebrate with the rest of the team. Jane led the way, and all she saw were smiling faces, hands in the air, even a huge smile on the doctor's face. Jane laughed and patted the logo on her chest, just like she had done during the introduction in her first game, before she skated past the bench and bumped fists with everyone.
First of many?
After three games with no points, it finally paid off for Boston's newest addition. Jane Rizzoli scored her first goal in tonight's game against Carolina, 18 minutes into the third period and made sure the Daredevils won 2-1 against a very physical Carolina team. Coach Aaron Landers was happy with the team's effort.
"It was a tough game tonight, but the girls did a great job out there against Carolina. They are without a doubt the toughest team to play against. But the girls showed real determination and they wanted to win this one badly. And Rizzoli got her first goal, which meant a lot to her. She showed everyone how dangerous she can be with her speed, and hopefully this is just the beginning."
Already in her first game, Rizzoli was given the chance at the second line with center Jessie Perry and left wing Vicky Draper, bumping Amy Wallace down to the third line. From the looks of it, it was a good choice. The trio seems to have good chemistry and according to Rizzoli, it should only improve in the future as they play together.
"Obviously it was fun and a relief to finally score that first goal, but you know, it was a team effort. I was at the right place at the right time and Jessie and Heather did most of the work. But this proves that we are learning to play together, we seem to have found chemistry on our line, and that's all that matters. Hopefully we'll continue to produce."
After tomorrow's game in Atlanta, the Devils have some days off before a three home game stretch followed by a new trip, this time to the west, including Rizzoli's old team, Denver Grizzlies.
Jane dropped her bag right inside the door, followed by her jacket and closed the door behind her. She looked around in the messy but still empty apartment and sighed. Her old couch was the only thing that looked like it was supposed to be there, all the boxes at the end of the living room formed a wall, something that made her exhausted just by looking at it. Of course she knew it would be this way. Playing hockey all over the country didn't fit with unpacking in your new apartment.
Jane glared at the boxes to her left and headed for her bedroom. A brand new bed was there, with simple blue sheets and a bunch of gray towels, neatly stacked at the foot of the bed. She smiled and could picture how her mother had folded them and made sure it looked perfect, straightening one of the corners, tucking in another. Along the wall next to the closet was several bags, containing her clothes. Feeling completely discouraged to start, Jane plopped down on the bed instead. As soon as she felt her body relax, she started to smile. The road trip had absolutely been a success. After the game in Carolina where she scored her first goal, they had flown to Atlanta the next day. Still floating on the feel-good vibes from Carolina, Jane had scored another goal and even assisted one against Atlanta. She was starting to feel like the goal scorer she had always been.
On Sunday, Jane met Danielle for lunch at their favorite café on Newbury St. As soon as the waitress arrived with their coffees, Danielle reached for hers and raised it. "Congrats on your first goals! May you score more…"
Jane smiled and raised her coffee. "Thanks."
"With Doctor Dimple" Danielle added with a smirk.
Jane laughed and shook her head. They carefully clinked their cups before they started catching up. Jane told Danielle all about her goals, and for once she didn't hold back any feelings. She said exactly how she felt, bragged and gloated as much as she felt like, knowing Danielle wouldn't take it the wrong way. It was a comfort for Jane to have a friend who understood the sport. Danielle was that one person Jane could always go to, that wasn't part of the team in any way and never got bored of hockey talk. Jane knew she could say whatever she wanted, and it would stay between them. She wouldn't be mocked or yelled at, and even though they joked a lot with each other, they both knew when it was time to be serious.
They laughed and chatted throughout their meal, Danielle explaining how high she jumped when she saw the puck crossing the goal line and Jane describing the pain from the blocked shot. It was a normal lunch between the two friends until Jane suddenly froze and stared at something past Danielle.
"Jane, what's wrong?" Danielle asked.
"Huh…" Jane mumbled before she smiled, her eyes still focused on something. "This should be fun" she said and finally looked at Danielle. "A certain doctor is here… No! Don't turn-"
But Danielle had already turned around and Jane rolled her eyes. Maura had seen them and was headed towards them. And as Maura smiled, Jane realized that the guy behind Maura was actually with her and not some random guy that Jane was hoping for. Danielle turned back to Jane as Maura stopped by their table.
"Hi Jane. Nice to see you here!" she smiled.
Jane put on a smile. "Yeah, you too." And then she totally blanked, not knowing what to say.
"How's the apartment coming along?" Maura continued and saved them all from a very awkward moment.
"Oh, I haven't done much yet" Jane replied and didn't see the smirk on Danielle's face. "Too tired when I got home yesterday. But I plan on staying in Boston a while so I guess I'll have plenty of time."
"Of course" the doctor smiled.
Danielle casually cleared her throat and managed to get Jane's attention. "Oh" Jane blurted. "This is my friend, Danielle."
"Hi, nice to meet you" Danielle smiled and shook Maura's outreached hand.
"Nice to meet you too, I'm Maura, Jane's doctor."
Danielle couldn't help the grin that formed on her face. "Yeah I know. And you were the one that helped me when Jane fell, right?"
"Oh, that was you? I'm sorry, I didn't recognize you. But yes, that was me."
Jane's eyes travelled from the doctor to Danielle. It was strange to see them interact, especially since she and Danielle had talked so much about this woman.
Maura turned to the guy by her side before she looked at Jane. "This is George, a friend of mine from medical school."
They all shook hands and Jane pretended to be polite. She eyed him closely on instinct. A part of her, most likely her heart, wondered if this was 'just' a friend.
"It was nice meeting you, Danielle" Maura continued. "And Jane… I'll see you tomorrow." And with the wave of a hand she moved on, with George close behind.
Jane forced herself to stay put, not turn around to watch the doctor go.
"Well… that was interesting" Danielle smiled and rested her arms on the table.
"What?"
"Doctor Dimple already knows about your new apartment, even though it's less than a week since you got the keys."
"So what? We talk." Jane shrugged as she pushed her empty cup towards the empty plate at the side of the table. She should've known Danielle would make a big deal out of it.
