The first game to be played was against Sweden, who wouldn't be easy competition. The Olympics hadn't officially started yet, as the Opening Ceremonies wouldn't occur until the following day. Julia had found herself rather bored the last few days, as the team had been incredibly busy. Doc had been true to his word, and Jack spent hours every day doing physical therapy on his knee. Everyone could see how hard he was working, and it was clear that Herb hadn't made a mistake keeping him. Julia was elated when Kathy and Gayle made it to Lake Placid, and she caught a shuttle to meet them in town the morning of the game.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so happy to see you!" Julia squealed as she hugged the girls after finding them in their designated meeting spot at the small cafe in town.
"You too," Gayle smiled. "How's Jack?"
"He's alright. Doc's really working on him. He does physical therapy, like, three times a day every day. He's determined to play," she explained. The three of them got their coffees and sat down at a small table in the window. Julia watched the people passing by on the sidewalk. "It's so different from when we were here before Christmas. I can't believe how many people are here."
"I'm sure that's adding to the pressure for the boys," Kathy said, blowing on her coffee. "How was New York? How was the band?"
"It was really good," Julia smiled. "It was so nice to see them. And I got to introduce them to Jack. Tommy was kind of a jerk at first, but I whipped him into shape."
"And the party?" Gayle asked.
"It was pretty tame compared to parties of the past," Julia laughed before launching into the story of how the rest of the evening went. She filled the two girls in on everything that had happened until their arrival.
"How are the boys? Do they seem nervous?" Gayle questioned.
"Yeah," Julia admitted with a sigh. Gayle started to talk about how nervous she felt for the boys when the bell above the door caught Julia's attention. She perked up when she recognized the two people coming through the door.
"Annie! Joe!" She called, getting up to greet the O'Callahan siblings. She hadn't thought of asking Jack when they would be arriving so she could make sure to see them, which she now regretted. Nonetheless, she was glad to see them.
"Hi, Julie," Annie grinned, pulling her in for a hug. Julia had to admit that she felt a wave of relief at Annie's warm welcome. She was acutely aware that the O'Callahans knew about the Christmas Eve incident, and she was glad to see that at least one of them still liked her.
"Hey, Julie. It's good to see you," Joe greeted with a smile that reminded her of Jack.
"It's good to see you guys, too. This is Gayle, Buzz Schneider's wife, and this is Kathy, Rob McClanahan's little sister. Gayle, Kath, this is Annie and Joe. They're Jack's brother and sister," Julia introduced the groups. Everyone exchanged polite greetings, and after grabbing a couple cups of coffee, the O'Callahans joined the girls at their table.
"Has Jack been a demon since he got hurt?" Annie asked with a knowing look that told Julia the family had experienced that side of Jack before.
"He was...something," Julia laughed. "At first. He shaped up pretty quick."
"I'm sure he was nicer to you than he's ever been to anyone else," Joe scoffed.
"Do you play hockey, Joe?" Kathy asked, looking over at Joe, who sat on her left.
"Actually I play baseball," Joe told her proudly.
"Joey wants to play for the Red Sox someday," Annie informed them all, making Joe's face turn red. "Right now he plays for BU."
"Julie, didn't you just have a birthday?" Joe changed the subject suddenly.
"Yeah, on Friday," she confirmed. "Jack and I went to dinner with the rest of the band."
"Did he get the stamp of approval?" Annie inquired, taking a sip of her coffee.
"He definitely did," she smiled, thinking of how well it had gone after Tommy had agreed to behave.
By the time they were making their way to the game late that afternoon, the five of them were well acquainted. They managed to find Patti and the kids, who were with the McClanahans. Julia reunited with Jack's parents, who greeted her warmly. It made her feel silly for even having worried that they wouldn't like her. Even the Eruziones, Silks, and Mr. Craig remembered her. It seemed that most of the families were sitting in a sort of block, where the girls were safe to cheer and yell to their hearts' content. Joe looked at them like they were crazy.
During the first period, Robbie took a hit and went down in obvious pain. Julia and Kathy held their breath as his teammates helped him off the ice and onto the bench. At this point, Sweden had already scored once, and the Americans were missing Robbie and Jack. Julia took deep breaths and tried her best to remain calm. There was still a lot of time left.
"Gosh, I hope he's alright," Kathy said as the buzzer sounded to indicate the end of the first period. Her face was almost white with worry.
"Look who loves her big brother, after all," Julia teased with a smile. Kathy rolled her eyes but smiled at her friend's attempt to lighten the mood.
"We came all the way here to watch our brother sit on the bench," Joe reminded them. Annie shot her younger brother a glare.
"Not for long," Julia interjected. "Doc is gonna work his magic and make sure that Jack is playing. Just like he will with Robbie. Because Robbie and Jack both have to play."
Julia sounded so sure of herself that it only mildly shocked everyone when Robbie came skating onto the ice for the second period.
"I guess he's okay," Gayle said, sounding as pleasantly surprised as everyone felt. If there was any worry about how he might play, it was quickly stomped by the ferocity he was showing on the ice. It was clear that he was full of energy. The crowd erupted in cheers when Silky scored, putting Team USA on the board for the first time. It was sadly answered with another Sweden goal only five minutes later. Julia couldn't help but notice that Robbie wasn't sitting on the bench between shifts. He stood amongst his teammates, and it seemed that he was keeping some weight off of his leg. But whenever he was on the ice, it seemed like nothing was in his way.
"Come on, boys," Julia muttered with her hands crossed in front of her chin nervously. Her eyes darted back and forth with the puck. They were down by one with just about two minutes left in the third period. Jack had explained to her the day before that the team would need at least a tie in this game if they wanted any real shot at making it to the medal round. Julia couldn't help but glance at Jack every so often watching him chomp his gum and clutch onto his crutches nervously. She would've wanted to yell at him to sit down, but she knew he was too nervous to ever do that.
With just a minute left in the game, Jimmy was pulled from the net and a sixth skater was sent out onto the ice. Julia gnawed nervously on her bottom lip as she watched the seconds on the clock tick away. She didn't listen to the announcer as the boys moved the puck up the ice. Finally, Baker managed to put the puck in the net and the crowd exploded yet again as the game was tied up with thirty seconds to play. Kathy and Julia hugged each other tightly as they cheered. The next thirty seconds seemed to move achingly slowly as everyone waited to make sure that the Americans could hold onto their tie. When the final buzzer sounded, Julia felt a mix of elation and relief. They could take a tie. It wasn't a loss, and that was the important part.
"How are we going to survive the next couple weeks? That game alone just aged me ten years," Julia laughed, although she her heart was pounding from the nerves she had felt during the game.
"Just wait until your boy is back in," Gayle teased with a wink. They all slowly made their way out of the stands to wait for the boys in the lobby. Joe and Kathy talked about college, and Kathy asked plenty of questions about BU.
"I just hope Robbie is okay," Beverly sighed, her face filled with worry for her son. "He looked like he was in so much pain, I couldn't believe when he was back on the ice."
"I'm sure Doc took great care of him," Julia reassured her, although she was concerned herself. Before long, Jack was crutching his way toward the group. He greeted his siblings and parents with hugs, before leaning down to kiss Julia's forehead.
"One game closer to you being out there," she reminded him with a smile. He nodded, but she could tell that it was killing him to not be able to play with his team. "Hey, is Mac okay?"
Jack raised his eyebrows and shook his head, as if still in disbelief.
"Yeah, he's gonna be alright. But you should've seen the shitshow that went down in the locker room," he sighed.
"Jack, language," his mother chastised with a cluck of her tongue and a glare at her son.
"Sorry, Ma," he said, although everyone could tell he didn't mean it. "I don't know what happened, but Herb just went nuts on him. Called him a pretty boy and a cake eater and a candy ass."
Everyone gasped, and Patti in particular looked horrified.
"I think he did it to fire him up. And the rest of them. I guess it worked, but...Mrs. Brooks, I say this with all due respect, sometimes I think he's nuts," Jack admitted, looking at Patti with a mix of sympathy and fear.
"Jack, I know for a fact that he's nuts," Patti sighed. Everyone around her chuckled.
Eventually, the rest of the boys made their way out to the lobby to greet their friends and family. Robbie came out still barely limping, with a large bag of ice wrapped around his leg. He explained that it had been a deep leg bruise. He couldn't injure himself further by playing on it, but it was painful. He backed Jack's story about Herb and added a few more words to describe his coach. As everyone said their goodbyes for the night, Beverly fussed a little bit over her son.
"I'm fine, Mom," Robbie assured her with an impatient sigh.
"We'll find each other tomorrow before the ceremonies, right?" Annie asked, turning to look at the girls.
"Yes, definitely," Julia assured her, feeling grateful that Annie was fitting right in with them.
"Okay, we'll see you then," she grinned. She said goodbye to Jack, before turning to look at her youngest brother, who was talking to Kathy. "Joey? You ready to go?"
"Yeah, and you know not to call me Joey," he said with disdain. He looked at Kathy and grinned. "See you tomorrow."
"Bye," she waved as he walked off. When Julia glanced at Jack, he looked confused. When she glanced at Robbie, he looked irritated.
"What was that?" Robbie asked, looking at his sister.
"What?" Kathy asked innocently.
"What are you talking to him for?" Robbie questioned. Julia tried not to sigh out loud.
"Mac, relax. We've all been hanging out all day," Julia intervened, trying to keep Robbie from making a mountain out of a molehill.
"First my best friend and now my sister," Robbie scoffed, looking at Jack. "You O'Callahans are ruthless."
"We were just talking!" Kathy insisted with a huff.
"You could always try your luck with Annie," Julia grinned mischievously.
"Absolutely not, Julia," Jack said quickly, pointing at finger at her seriously. "My sister isn't allowed to date a hockey player."
"What's wrong with dating a hockey player?" Gayle asked, scrunching her nose and looking at Jack with one eyebrow raised.
"There's a lot wrong with dating a hockey player," Julia said loudly, sticking her tongue out at Jack.