Just before impact, I rolled to my side and ducked my head into my arms. Grace's zebra-striped knee pad came down hard on the back of my left shoulder. I didn't exactly pass out, but the pain triggered stars that twinkled in my eyes and paralyzed me on the floor. The sound of the whistle was still ringing in my ears while I watched the remainder of practice from the bleachers, and held an ice pack to my shoulder.

"Let me see it," Olivia said with a twisted grimace when she skated over at the end of practice.

I turned my back to her and removed the ice pack. Kelly had helped me strip down to my sports bra when we applied the ice. I had worried she'd have to cut the shirt off me, it hurt so badly, but she didn't.

I heard Olivia suck in a sharp breath through her teeth. "Oh, Lucy."

"Is it bad?" I asked. I hadn't seen it since it first happened. Immediately, the spot had flashed a bright pink.

She leaned closer. "It's going to be a nasty bruise. Do you think you should go to the emergency room?"

Kelly had asked the same thing.

"No. I can move my shoulder. It just hurts like hell." I turned back to face her. "You were great out there today."

And she was. She'd spent the last twenty minutes of practice knocking around the coaches like she was Muhammad Ali on roller skates.

"Thanks. It was fun." She dropped down onto her knee pads in front of me and began unlacing my skates, a task I'd been unable to do myself.

I could have kissed her. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. I also have some ibuprofen in my purse if you want some," she said, glancing up at me with a sympathetic smile.

"That would be great."

Grace, Monica, and Zoey skated over. Grace looked like she might burst into tears. "Are you OK, Lucy?" She'd asked that question about a hundred times since I fell underneath her. "Can I do anything at all to help?"

I forced a smile and a nod. "I'll be fine. Nothing's broken. And it wasn't your fault, Grace. Stop beating yourself up about it."

Olivia freed my feet from the skates, then pulled off my knee pads. "I'm surprised you made it till now without serious injury. I'd had you pegged for a broken leg last week."

I winced as I stood. "Shut up."

"Do you still feel like riding all the way to Indianapolis?" Grace asked. "It's going to be a long time in the car."

"Yeah, I'd like to. If I can get a shirt on," I said.

Grace carried my skates and pads over to my gym bag, and we followed her. She flashed a smile as she put my skates in my bag. "I'm pretty sure shirts are optional at the playoffs."

I laughed, and it hurt.

"If it makes you feel any better, you were killing it out there with Kelly before you went down," Zoey said.

I smirked. "Thanks."

"Seriously. I even heard Kelly say so when she came back from the track," Monica agreed.

"Really?" I asked.

"It's true. I saw you hit her just before I..." Grace's voice faded away and her eyes fell to the floor.

With my good arm, I threw the ice pack at her. "Let it go. It was my fault."

She nodded, but her expression was unconvinced.

Full Metal Jackie skated over to us, carrying something in her hand. "How's the shoulder?"

"Kinda feels like fire and death are brewing under my shoulder blade, but not too bad," I answered.

She laughed and held out what she was holding. "Put this on a couple of times a day. It should help."

I looked at the white jar. "Arnica cream?"

"I use it all the time. It's great for bruises," she said.

"Thank you, Jackie."

"Don't mention it. Something tells me you're going to need a lot of it."

I laughed and dropped the jar into my bag. "You're a fast learner."

"You're doing good though. Keep it up."

I could've melted into a puddle on the floor.

"Are you going to watch the bout today?" she asked.

Nodding, I gestured around to my friends. "Yeah. We're driving up there as soon as we leave here."

She gave me a thumbs-up. "Great. Then I'll see you there."

I held up the jar. "I'll replace this for you."

She waved her hand. "Don't worry about it. I'm retiring, so I won't need it anymore."

"You're retiring?" Grace asked beside me.

Jackie touched her stomach. "Yep. Came down with the Nine-Month Injury. I'm due in the spring. My first kid with my husband."

"Congratulations. That's awesome," I said.

She beamed. "Thank you. I'll see you guys in Indiana."