No Sense of Direction

Chapter Fifty Three

“Peak a Boo!” I heard as I was helping Geno. I smirked and turned around to see Sidney standing there with a smile on his face, “Sorry I’m late, my flight got all screwed up.”

“You’re here,” I smiled and then wrapped my arms around his neck and gently pressed my lips onto his.

When I pulled my head back Sidney kissed my forehead and then looked at Geno and snorted, “What the hell happened to you?!”

“Russians don’t mix well with the sun,” I answered as I pulled away from Sidney and placed my hand on Geno’s knee, “Didn’t you put sunscreen on?”

“I did, but I fall asleep next to pool,” Geno said and I sighed and shook my head, trying to bite back a laugh, because this was a stupid reason for Geno to not be able to play tonight, “No laugh, Kat! It no funny!”

“I’m sorry sweetie, but it is,” I said with a smile on my face, and then I couldn’t hold it back, I started to laugh and heard Geno groan.

“How is he, Katrina?” Uncle Dan asked as he walked into the office.

“He’s not gunna be able to play tonight, Uncle Dan, he’s gunna be too sore,” I said and he growled and nodded his head and then stormed out of the room.

“He angry,” Geno said and I sighed and nodded my head.

“It’ll be all right, you’ll be back for the next game.”

“What I do? It hurt to move,” he said and I nodded my head.

“Sid, can you go and get me some ice cubes?” I asked and he nodded his head and then left the office, “After the game, when we get back to the hotel, I’ll be able to help you more, but for now, all I can do is cool down your body.”

Sidney came back with a big bag of ice and I took a cube and started to gently apply it to his burnt skin. Some of the other guys walked into the office and I heard there snickering and I couldn’t help but continue my snicker.

“Shut up! You go!” Geno said and I grabbed another ice cube and placed the other one on his neck.

“You know Geno, I’m experienced in hockey injuries, not sunburns,” I snickered, which only made the guys laugh harder.

“You no funny! It painful!” he whined and I smiled and nodded my head.

“You guys better get dressed, warm up starts soon,” Sidney said and I sighed.

“You better get up to the press box, Sid,” I said and Sidney sighed and walked over towards me and kissed my cheek.

“Stay away from the sun, G,” Sidney chuckled and started to walk towards the door, “It’s not your friend.”

“Shut up!” he growled and I leaned over and snickered and heard Geno sigh.

“I’m sorry sweetie, but you have to admit that this is stupid.”

“I know it stupid,” he said and I smirked and nodded my head.

After the hockey game, Penguins beating the Panthers three to one, we all headed back to the hotel. I stopped at the grocery store on the way back, because I needed to pick up a few things for Geno.

I walked into his hotel room after his roommate, Kris, opened the door. I smirked when I saw Geno lying on his bed afraid to move, “How do you feel sweetie?”

“I burn, it hot,” he said and I smiled and patted his knee.

“You need to stand up,” I said and he groaned and then started to sit up. I grabbed his hand as Kris grabbed his other hand, and we helped him stand up, “Come on sweetie,” I said as I walked him to the bathroom.

“What I do?” he asked and I put the lid down on the toilet and had him sit down.

“Stay there,” I said and he nodded his head, “Kris!”

“Yeah.”

“Will you take you ice bucket and go get some ice? Tell whoever’s next to us to do it too, we’re gunna need a lot,” I said and he nodded his head and then left the room after he grabbed the ice bucket.

I walked over towards the bathtub and turned the cold water on and started to let the tub fill up. I turned back to Geno and had him lift up his arms so that I could help him get his shirt off.

“You can leave your boxers on,” I said and he nodded his head as he kicked his shoes off and pulled his jeans down.

“Got the ice,” I heard Kris say and I nodded my head and had Geno step into the bathtub and sit him down.

“Cold,” he muttered and I smirked and nodded my head.

Kris, Marc, Sidney and Pascal dumped the small buckets over and poured the ice into the water and Geno muttered some things in Russian. I walked over towards the counter where I had placed the bag from the grocery store and pulled out the box of baking soda.

“Baking soda?” Kris asked and I nodded my head.

“It’s a cooling supplement that will help the skin retain its moisture,” I said and the guys looked impressed and nodded their heads. I walked into the bathroom again and poured some of the baking soda around and told Geno to make sure that his shoulders and chest soaked in it for a while, “I’ll be in the other room.”

“Ok,” he said and I walked out of the room, closing the door behind me and seeing the rest of the guys in the room.

“Where did you learn that trick?” Pascal asked and I sat on the bed.

“My mom,” I muttered and it got awkwardly quiet in the room.

I took one of the ice bucks and walked over towards the sink, filling it a little with water and then walking back to the desk and pouring some of the baking soda into the water.

“Sid, can you go into my room and grab my bag?” I asked and he nodded his head and took the key from my back pocket and left the room.

“What are you doing now?” Kris asked, interested in what I’m doing.

“The more moisture Geno gets into his skin, the faster he’ll be back on the ice. The baking soda thickens in the water and forms this paste substance, when Geno gets out of the water and air dries, I’ll apply this to his skin and have him sit to let it harden a little, and then I’ll peel it off.”

“Look at you gettin’ all sciencey,” Marc said and I laughed and then saw Sidney walk back into the room with my back.

“Thanks.”

“Yup,” he said and placed the bag on the bed.

After Geno had soaked in the water long enough, Sidney and Kris helped him out of the water and sat him on the toilet. A few minutes after that, Geno walked out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist. I threw some towels onto the bed and had him sit down.

“What this?” he asked as he looked at the paste that I was moving around.

“This’ll help,” I said and he nodded his head, “I need you to pick your arms up,” I said and he groaned and nodded his head, “Will one of you get the bandages out of my bag for me, please?”

“Sure,” Kris said and then grabbed two packages and opened them.

“You ever do paper mache?” I asked and Kris smirked and nodded his head, “Good, that’s the idea here.”

“Nice,” he said and then as I placed the paste substance on Geno’s skin, Kris wrapped the bandages around.

We wrapped all of Geno’s upper body, chest, back, shoulders arms, neck, everything but his face. He sat with his hands on his sides and I told him that he couldn’t move until it was harden. Uncle Dan ended up walking into the room and looking at Geno and became highly amused. Sidney had taken a picture and sent it around to the other guys, and of course, they wanted to see it in person.

Geno must have sat still for about an hour or so and I was really impressed. I had him stand up and we walked out to the balcony and he sat on the chair. I grabbed the ice bucket and filled it up with water, along with the others, and walked back out to the balcony and poured it over the cast, feeling it become mushy again and I peeled the bandages off of Geno.

Pascal had grabbed a big garbage bag and I threw the bandages into the garbage and then cleaned the remaining paste substance off of the Geno’s body. Once I was finished, Geno sighed in relief and I smiled.

“How do you feel?”

“Better.”

“You’re still a little red, but definitely not as much as before. How’s the soreness?”

“Practically gone,” he said and I smiled.

“Well, we leave for North Carolina tomorrow afternoon and by that time, you should be fine, if not, we’ll do this one more time, and you definitely be fine for that game against the Hurricanes.”

“All right,” he smiled and I nudged my head for him to go inside.

“I’d stay out of the sun if I were you.”

“Yeah, no sun for me,” he said and I laughed and let him walk inside.

I cleaned up my stuff and then said that I was going to head back to my room, with Sidney following behind me.

“Hey, Kat!” I heard and turned to see Geno looking at me, “Thanks.”

“It’s my job, just stay away from the sun ya vampire!” I teased and he scoffed and turned his head.