Chapter 40

[[I just love this picture. The Chicago skyline is beautiful!]]

I was getting excited to get out of Chicago for a while, and hearing that my parents took a road trip to Phoenix to see the boys play made me more excited to go on this trip. Crazy little me, I still hate flying, so I fall asleep on the bus and all I remember was Jon waking me up long enough to get through the airport, and then I’m asleep again by the time we’re on the plane. Yeah, bad flying experiences stay with me, bad enough to where my doctor had to give me tranquilizers to specifically take when we fly, it knocks me out within 30 minutes, its pretty amazing.

The 3-hour flight passes by, and before long, we are walking onto the bus to go to the hotel and arena. Since the boys didn’t have practice at the UC before leaving, Coach wanted them to have a short skate when we got in, so the boys get dropped off at the arena while the girls and I walk across the street to the hotel before meeting up with my parents for lunch in the Westgate City Center.

Before the game, my parents join the girls and me in the lounge for a few minutes so they could say hi to Jon before he gets out to the ice. We then make our way to the suite were we joined Stan, Diana and Scott, with my parents as well because Stan insisted they join us in the box. I talk with them while Dayna is busy talking to Elina

“So Jon had mentioned maybe getting a late dinner after the game with you guys,” I tell my parents as we sit down
“Oh, that would be great! It wont be too late?” My mom asks
“No, I don’t think so, the guys don’t play Dallas until Thursday, so it should be fine.”
“Ok, that sounds good then, around here somewhere?” my dad asks
“Yeah, probably McFadden’s, Jon loves that place!”

“Hey, Elina wants to talk to you,” Dayna says as she hands me her phone

“Hey E! What’s going on?” I say
“Hey girl, I just wanted to tell you that I’m going back to Sweden, and I’ll be with Hanna,” she says
“Like for good?”
“Yeah, Nik and I got in a huge fight, as you might have seen at ROOF, he said he needs space, so I’m going home,”
“Aw, no! Do you mind me asking what happened?”
“I messed up, and I cheated on him when I was back home. His brother saw me and tell Nik, so he doesn’t want to be with me right now,”
“Oh girl, are you ok?”
“I think I will be, I put all this on myself so, I think it’s what’s best.”
“Ok, well I wish we could see you off instead of saying bye over the phone!”
“I know, me too. But I can’t be here any longer, Hanna is here and she help me pack and fly home with me,”
“I bet,”
“But we’ll keep in touch! I still want to keep in touch with all you girls, especially Abby, I can’t wait to see what the little one looks like!”
“Yes we will! You have my email address, and Facebook too,”
“Definitely, well I have to go. But I’ll talk to you soon!”
“Ok, good luck with everything! Bye girl!”

“That’s so sad about Elina!” Savannah says
“I know, did she tell you what happened?” Dayna asks
“Yeah, she just said she cheated on Nik and his brother was wherever she was and saw, and he didn’t want to keep that from Nik,” I said
“Ok, I’m going to be completely honest here. I’m really surprised it didn’t happen sooner,” Dayna says
“Really?” Savannah and I question
“Yeah, I mean, she’s gone all the time, she’s always with Hannah who is single and is a crazy partier. Not to mention, Elina never cared when the boys lost or if Nik had a bad game, she would just blow it off,”
“And she would always go out when the boys were on road trips too,” I add
“Yeah, that too. So I hate to say it, but I saw it coming,”

The game started soon after the girls and I talked more and my parents joined us in the seats in front of the suite. The Coyotes took the early 2-0 lead 10 minutes in, but the boys cut the lead in half in the closing minute of the 1st period. The Hawks ended up winning the game, after regaining the lead in the 2nd period, and sealing the deal with an empty netter from Seabs, final score 4-2. Thankfully, with the win, Jon was in a good mood, and was excited to be going to dinner with my parents and I since neither of us had seen them since after our honeymoon.

Dinner with my parents was a good one, they were happy to see us happy and doing well and they couldn’t wait to visit Chicago again. Coach Q gave the team the day off once we landed in Dallas, so we decided to grab an early dinner at a steakhouse near the arena before walking around town and did some shopping.

Morning of game day the guys went to the arena for morning skate, the girls and I hung out at the hotel pool and worked on our tan a little bit, since it was starting to get cold back home. We did our own thing on game day while the guys did theirs, which was usually how it was when we were on the road with them; because back home, it was a whole other story.

The girls and I had our own pregame dinner at Victory Tavern, and then walked over to the American Airlines Center. I was secretly hoping I wouldn’t run into Laura, I didn’t want to have to deal with anything she wanted to say, and I also didn’t want to be the crazy hockey wife that would get kicked out of the arena for fighting. The 3 of us linked arms to keep from getting separated, and sure enough, we walk right past Laura standing near the team store with the 3 girls I hate the most. Dayna and Savannah both see her, give her the dirtiest looks I have ever seen, and we keep walking…while hearing “bitch” and “slut” coming out of their mouths. Yeah, real mature girls!

We make it to the suite that Stan and Diana invited us to for the game. Drinks and chips came around while the guys skated out onto the ice for warm ups. The game starts a little bit later, and it’s pretty fast paced, you can tell the guys are hungry for another win. Adam is the first to score for us, and the arena is filled with boos as he skates along the bench, getting fist bumps from the rest of the guys.

The guys keep the lead through the rest of the first. The second period is under way, and that’s when it happens. All our eyes are on the other side of the ice when the arena is silent.

“We have an injured Hawks player out on the ice…” is all we hear to get us out of our seats to look