Julia groaned in annoyance when the alarm clock on the bedside table beeped obnoxiously. She had no clue what time it was, but she knew she hadn't been asleep for more than a couple of hours.
"Morning, baby," Jack muttered in a sleepy voice, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind.
"It's too early to expect me to be nice," she whined, squeezing her eyes shut as she smacked at the alarm that continued to pester her. Jack laughed, reaching over her and turning off the source of the beeping.
"How could I forget you're a monster before 9 o'clock?" He chuckled, nuzzling his face into her neck.
"10, to be safe," she warned him. She let out a huge yawn and rolled over to face him, although her eyes remained closed. "How are you feeling?"
"I feel fine," he said dismissively. She opened one eye, looking up at him warily.
"Are you being honest?"
"Yes," he insisted. "You taking care of me last night really did the trick. I could get on the ice right now. I don't even need those crutches."
"You're not funny," she huffed, picking up on his sarcasm despite her sleepy brain.
"Yes, I am. You're just grouchy," he smirked. "But I haven't even gotten out of bed so I'm not sure how it feels."
"We gotta get you back to your room before someone notices you're gone," she sighed, but made no move to get up. They laid in comfortable silence as Jack ran his fingers through her straightened hair. She desperately wanted to ignore their responsibilities and go back to sleep.
"Do you like my hair straight?" Julia wondered in a groggy voice after a few minutes.
"Yeah," he told her and hesitated before he continued. "But I think I like it curly better."
"I think I look like Cher with my hair straight."
"Are you ever gonna tell me the Cher story?" Jack asked with raised eyebrows. Magic was still the only one of the hockey players that knew the full story, and he reminded them of it as often as possible.
"Maybe later. But now we've gotta get you up and dressed," she decided, finally sitting up in bed.
"Oh, now you decide to get up," Jack grumbled.
It took both of them to get Jack dressed back into his clothes from the night before, but they managed with minimal frustration. Julia crept into the hallway first, happy to see it was empty in the early morning hours. Together they snuck down the hall to Jack and Rizzo's room.
"I'll see you when I decide to get up in a few hours," she giggled, giving him a kiss outside the door.
"Thanks again for taking care of me," he smiled as Julia took his key and unlocked the door.
"Can you get back into bed by yourself? Do you want help?" Julia questioned, worrying over him again.
"I'm sure I'll manage. Get back to bed, grumpy."
A few hours later, Julia was dressed in jeans and a sweater, sitting on her bed talking to Jim on the phone. Tommy had kept good on his word to explain the situation to everyone, and Julia was glad to hear that no one was upset with her.
"So, is he gonna be okay?" Jim inquired.
"I don't know," she sighed. "He stretched a ligament. I don't know much about sports injuries, but it sounds like it could have been worse. Just really bad timing, because he could be out for like two weeks."
"Will he be able to play?"
"No decisions have been made. Uncle Herb has to turn in his final roster tomorrow I think. I'm sure he doesn't want to cut Jack, but being down a man is...not ideal. Jack's pretty down about it."
"God, that blows. I hope he's able to play."
"Yeah, me too. What time is your flight?"
"We leave in a couple hours. Are you excited for Lake Placid?"
"I definitely wouldn't mind going back to the Los Angeles weather with you, but I'm sure the games will be tons of fun. I promise I'll be on the first flight back," she swore.
"You better," Jim chortled. "Tell the boys we said good luck. We'll be cheering them on."
"Will do. I'll see you soon."
Julia hung up the phone and grabbed her room key, heading downstairs in hopes of finding some breakfast. She found some of the boys downstairs, looking sullen as they picked at their breakfast. She remembered the score of the game the night before and attributed their attitudes to that. She grabbed a cup of coffee and took an open seat beside Magic.
"Good morning," she said softly. A few half-hearted greetings came in response.
"Did you hear?" Magic asked her quietly, pushing some eggs around his plate with his fork.
"About the game? Yeah," she said with a sympathetic expression.
"And Jack?" Robbie followed up, looking up at her sheepishly. She nodded, taking a sip of the mediocre hotel coffee.
"Yeah, I saw him last night. Sorry about the game," she told him, keeping her voice low.
"Yeah, me too," Magic sighed, stabbing his eggs with his fork. She didn't say anything, taking a big drink of her coffee.
Julia looked across the room to see Herb and Craig in deep conversation. Both of them were frowning, and she had an uneasy feeling that they were talking about Jack.
"Earth to Jules?" Rizzo called, waving a hand in front of her face. She jumped, looking over at him in shock.
"Sorry, I didn't see you sit down."
"I asked how the party was," Rizzo repeated.
"It was fine. Kinda boring," she shrugged. Rizzo raised an eyebrow at her, one corner of his mouth pulling up in a smirk.
"Is that the bull you told Jack to keep him from losing his mind that you left?"
"It's not bull," she insisted with an eyeroll. "Okay, maybe a little bit, but who cares? Parties are considerably less fun when everyone is under strict instruction to not serve me any booze."
"Oh, that makes sense," he chuckled. "How was he last night?"
"Not happy at first. I know he's worried about everything. Did you talk to him this morning?"
"A little bit, but Doc came to check on him and I was too hungry to wait for him."
"Fair," she sighed. She grabbed a newspaper off the table, picking it up to see a bold headline:
Soviet icemen deflate USA's amateurs 10-3
She slowly set the copy of The Daily News back down, with the headline facedown. She was sure the boys had already seen it, but it didn't need to be on display.
"Not so fun being in the papers. I get why you don't like it now," Rizzo gave a lone laugh. Before Julia could respond, Herb was walking over.
"Morning, Julie. How was the party?" He asked her.
"Stuffy and boring. I had to kiss my boss's ass," she said with a huff. Magic frowned beside her.
"You have a boss?" He questioned. Julia nodded.
"Yeah, Walter Yetnikoff. He's the president of Columbia Records, and they pretty much own me," she reported. Magic just looked thoughtful, and Herb ignored their exchange.
"A little birdy told me you showed up at the hospital last night," Herb remarked, one eyebrow quirking up in question.
"Yeah, I called here to see how the game went and heard Jack was hurt. The party was pretty lame, so I didn't mind leaving," she explained.
"How was he?"
"Not happy," she said honestly. "But you know Jack, he's tough as nails."
"Right," Herb nodded. "I have a surprise for you."
"Oh? And what is that?"
She was secretly hoping that Herb would tell her that Jack was going to make an expeditious recovery and would be playing in Lake Placid, although she doubted that would be his surprise.
"Well, when I turn in the final roster tomorrow, there's gonna be an extra name on the coaching staff."
Julia cocked her head to the side, clearly not following her uncle.
"You're going to be listed as Doc's assistant so that you have access to the village when we're in Lake Placid," Herb expanded. Julia's jaw dropped, as did several of the jaws at the table.
"What? Uncle Herb, I don't know anything about-"
"You're not really going to be assisting Doc. In fact, I'm gonna request that you sit in the stands during the games. But if we don't get you a pass, you can't go anywhere within the village. I just figured the team could use your emotional support," he explained with a half grin.
"Oh, my gosh. Thank you, Uncle Herb," she smiled, giving him a big hug. He laughed, patting her back.
"You're welcome. I expect you to be on your best behavior."
"I will," she promised him. When she pulled back from the hug, she had a mischievous grin and an evil glint in her eye. "Does this mean I can make the boys do Herbies?"
"No!" Magic, Robbie, and Rizzo all interjected together. Herb laughed at their reaction.
"You guys think I'm crazy, but I guarantee she'd make me look like a little league coach," Herb smirked.
"I don't doubt it," Bill Baker muttered. Julia's head snapped toward him and she glared.
"You better watch it, Baker," she threatened.
"What have you done?" Robbie questioned, looking up at Herb like a disappointed parent.
"Boys, she has no authority over you. Don't let her scare you. Julie, you have no authority over the boys. Bus leaves in half an hour," Herb told them all, before walking away. Julia grinned into her coffee.
After eating a couple slices of toast and finishing a second cup of coffee, she and Rizzo headed upstairs to check on Jack. When they entered the room, Jack was lying on his bed on his back as Doc stretched Jack's leg. His eyebrows were furrowed and his lips were pressed together tightly as he tried to fight through the obvious pain. He glanced up when he heard Rizzo and Jules come in.
"Hi," she greeted gently, going to stand beside his bed with Rizzo right behind her.
"Hi," he said through his teeth, grimacing in pain as Doc moved his leg.
"How's he doing, Doc?" Rizzo asked nervously.
"No decisions have been made, but we're going to do intense physical therapy until Herb decides," Doc explained. He looked to Julia with a twinkle in his eye. "And there's my new assistant."
"What?" Jack asked, looking up at Julia with confusion.
"Herb put me on the coaching staff so that I could go to the Olympian's village and stuff while we're in Lake Placid. If anyone from the Olympic Committee asks, I'm Doc's assistant," she explained. She thought that if he hadn't been in pain, Jack would've been smiling.
"That's good," he nodded. Julia frowned when she saw how hard Doc was pushing him. She had to remind herself that Doc knew what he was doing.
"Are you gonna be able to ride the bus in an hour? It's a pretty long drive," she pointed out. It would be about five hours to Lake Placid.
"No, Doc is taking me separately," Jack told her.
"We're stopping to see a colleague of mine for a second opinion on the way," Doc added. Julia didn't voice the uneasiness this made her feel. She would've felt better being around Jack, but she knew he was in good hands with Doc.
"Alright. Well, I'll see you when you get to Lake Placid later," she nodded, giving him a smile. His face relaxed as Doc released him from whatever stretch he had him in.
"I'll see you in a couple of hours," he said, finally giving her a smile. "Keep the boys in line, coach."
"I will," she laughed.
"It's gonna be alright, bud," Rizzo said confidently, giving Jack a pat on the shoulder. Jack nodded, and Julia thought he looked much calmer than he had last night. She gave him a quick kiss goodbye and wished him and Doc safe travels before heading back to her room. She fought with her luggage for a few minutes, trying desperately to fit all the clothes she had bought into her suitcase. When her suitcase seemed like it would burst at the seams, she dragged it out of her room.
"Need some help?" Robbie asked once she made it into the hallway, struggling to drag it behind her.
"Please."
He reached over, grabbing the handle on her suitcase and lifting it.
"Geez, what did you pack?" Robbie asked. "A set of encyclopedias?"
"You know I didn't pack any books," she retorted. They made their way to the elevator, and Julia looked over at her friend.
"Sorry about last night, Mac. I know that must've been rough."
"Yeah, it was. I'm glad you weren't there," he admitted, staring at the ground. He looked over at her with a serious expression. "Jack's gonna be alright, ya know."
"I know," she agreed. "He's Jack O'Callahan. He's got a reputation to uphold."
The two of them shared a laugh, but Robbie could tell that she was still tense with worry. She knew Jack would be okay, but it was a question of whether or not Herb would cut him. Everyone knew that the responsible thing for Herb to do would mean cutting Jack. Even Jack knew that.