Chapter 133: Jana III—Autographs
Jana’s hand felt fat and heavy. It didn’t hurt anymore, what hurt were the shots they gave her but even then she couldn’t really remember how much those had hurt to begin with anyway. They told her not to look at her hand but she did anyway and looked at the white bandage on it with the bloody splotch. It didn’t hurt anymore and she was pleased with herself for not crying anymore.
She sat with Mitchell in the video room so they wouldn’t be in the way of the grown-ups. Eric Lacroix was there, she liked Eric, he had always been so nice to her and now he was getting a big cozy belly just like Papa Lacroix. What irritated Jana was that Mitchell got to sit in Eric’s lap and not her.
This was a serious turn of events! Jana had been putting a lot of thought into this lately. More and more grown-ups were not letting her sit in their laps if Mitchell was around. Now Jana knew she loved Mitchell. Still, what did he have that she was losing? Today even Mommy let Mitchell sit in her lap and not her! How could this have happened? And now look at Eric!
Jana sighed loudly to let Eric know that she was annoyed with him. She could see Eric’s glance at her through the corner of her eye. Good, he noticed. She crossed her arms over her chest and jut out her lip, and she sighed again.
"Aw," Eric said, patting her on the head. "Poor kid."
Jana scowled. Poor kid? POOR KID?! Is that all she was gonna get these days is poor kid? Tragedy!
Fine then, she thought, she would ignore him and then he would be sorry.
Jana watched the different television screens of the ice. The glass was being cleaned up and yucky blood was being scraped away. That reminded Jana of how Jonathan was her hero! He was so brave to rescue her like that, she would have to remember to do something really nice for him.
"Who won the game?" Mitchell asked.
"No one yet," Eric replied. "They have to figure out the penalties and start overtime and someone still might not win."
Jana sighed and leaned back in the spinny chair until the game was finally started again. Well there was Daddy. The skaters skated the puck flew around there was some whistles and then Mitchell squealed, "Daddy!"
Jana sat up straight and leaned forward as she saw Joe skating all by himself, FLYING and then he shot the puck and into the net.
"YAY!" Jana howled and she could hear the outside rumblings of the audience in celebration.
"Now they won!" Eric exclaimed and he hugged Mitchell. "See your daddy won it!"
The grown-ups were noisy in the locker room and since they were all NAKED Jana and Mitchell had been transferred to the mommies in the mommy’s room. Mommy was not paying any attention to her because all of the other ladies were. They were all around her hugging her and kissing her and patting her hair. Mommy wasn’t a little girl why was she getting all this attention? And Jonathan too! All the ladies were hugging Jonathan and messing up his hair and Elena... It was almost enough to make her SCREAM!
Well, it was a little bit of consolation for Jana to see that Mitchell was now hanging onto her hand and no one was paying attention to him either. That meant they were on the same goat! Keaner had just taught her that phrase, on... the... same... GOAT! It meant comrades in arms... whatever that meant.
"Mitchell," Jana whispered into his ear. "Are you bored?"
"No." Mitchell replied.
"I’m bored too," Jana said. "I got an idea."
"Really?" Mitchell answered.
"Yup," said Jana, "No one is paying attention to us but if they can’t find us then they’ll worry about us lots! And then when they find us we might get presents!"
Mitchell’s eyes got really big. "I like presents!"
Jana grinned, "Who doesn’t? So if we want presents then we have to get lost."
Mitchell frowned. "I don’t like being lost Daddy says if I get lost someone might steal me!"
Jana scowled. "My Daddy says that too but I can take care of us both if anyone tried stealing you, SNAP I’ll bite his nose off!"
"Ohh," Mitchell whispered.
Jana smiled and held onto his hand with her good one. No one was watching them at all still. It would be easy to get lost and make them scared so that they would give them presents. Taking care to walk softly and slowly Jana snuck Mitchell out of the Mommy’s room and into the hallway. She narrowed her eyes and looked both ways. There were people but not a lot and they were all talking to each other. No one was looking at them.
The secret here was tough. If just one grown-up noticed them then it was CURTAINS! The jig was up! They would get taken back to Mommy. So they had to walk like they knew what they were doing. If it looked like her head was in the air and she was on a mission then they wouldn’t bother her.
Jana took a deep breath and holding her head high she walked down the hallway holding onto Mitchell. All along the way no one stopped them or bothered them or anything! Success! They had walked a very long time too! Jana wasn’t at all sure where they were inside the Pepsi Center though, and that was a little worrisome.
".......only trying to help the girl it’s a shame that his own son doesn’t understand how to behave!"
Jana frowned and she and Mitchell stepped into the room. There was a curtain and a few people standing around.
"Where are we?" Mitchell asked.
"Doesn’t matter," Jana replied knowing that if she said "Don’t know" then Mitchell would probably panic.
"Hey kids what the hell are you doing here?" a voice cried out.
"Eeeeeeeeeep!" Mitchell squealed.
"Run Mitchell!" Jana cried knowing that they were in deep trouble now.
She held onto his arm and ran with him away from the angry grown-up and through the curtain that had been set up. She stopped short, blinking into the bright room at the people sitting in rows of chairs with cameras and microphones and notepads. "Oops," she said.
"Where are we?" Mitchell asked again.
"There you are!" the angry man said.
Mitchell screamed again and she dragged him in front of the curtain and into a podium where a line of guys she recognized as Red Wings were sitting at a long table on chairs. "We took a wrong turn!" Jana cried to Mitchell. "I think I can get us out of here!"
She could hear a lot of people shouting and talking and there were camera flashes. And they seemed to be getting by the row of chairs pretty easily until she felt a hand at the back of her jersey and she screamed once, and she could hear Mitchell squeal as well. She was drenched in an overwhelming sense of failure! How could she have let them get caught like this.
"What do you think you’re doing little girl?" a man with dark almost black eyes and a scar on his chin said. He seemed slightly amused and slightly angry. Thinking for self-preservation Jana knew that she had to stay on his amused side. So she grinned with her prettiest smile.
"Hi Mr. Shanny-han," she said. "Please don’t get me in trouble!"
He rolled his eyes and looked away from her at the others. Jana looked too hoping Mitchell was OK. He was being held up on the lap of Chris Chelios who looked irritated, had lines on his face like Daddy’s when he was tired and he had a bandage on his wrist just like the one she had on her hand.
"Can I have your autograph?" Mitchell asked loudly.
There was a round of laughter from the reporters in the chairs and Jana sighed with relief. If people were laughing then that meant they weren’t in trouble. She blessed Mitchell for being such a fast thinker!
"Kid what do you need my autograph for? Who’s your father?" Mr. Chelios said.
"That’s Joe Sakic’s kid!" a reporter barked, "And that’s Patrick Roy’s daughter!"
There was more laughter and Jana looked at a camera that was being held up to the table, she grinned and waved at it.
"Daddy said I shouldn’t hate you cause you’re a Red Wing. He said even Red Wings have feelings too!" Mitchell said, "So can I have your autograph?"
Mr. Chelios sighed loudly and looked at the reporters. "See what I mean about lack of parental control? It’s such a tragedy!"
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