Chapter 55 Adrian
ADRIAN
My team spreads across the lawn like pirates boarding a ship, except way more polite.
“Sorry for intruding, Mrs. Hughes,” they apologize to my mom, one by one.
“Thanks for confirming he was here,” says Macklin. “We kind of figured but wanted to be sure.”
She waves their concerns with her hand. “There’s enough food for everyone. You boys are always welcome!”
Unlike her, I’m panicking. There’s a good chunk of the team here. Over ten men in my mom’s backyard, greeting my sisters animatedly.
What’s going on?
Quinn steps forward and spots Sonya standing behind me—and his eyes widen before he recovers smoothly and whistles. “Everyone get into position. We practiced this.”
The Wings stop chatting with my family and come together. They spread in a semicircle around me and go down to one knee, even Lokhov with his old injury. It’s the same formation as our pregame huddles.
Gawking at them, I follow their lead, kneeling in front of them on the grass. “Seriously, someone tell me what’s going on. I’m ten seconds from freaking out.”
“This is an intervention,” Quinn announces. “Because we’ve been noticing how much you’re taking on.”
Automatically, I open my mouth to deny it when Jung raises his hand. “Sorry, I confirmed how much you’ve been training some of us personally. Putting your everything into it.”
“And I confronted Forrester,” Lokhov adds as if it’s no big deal. “He told us about the GM’s threats.”
Adrenaline and dread shoot through me as my knee digs deeper into the dirt. They all know? I can’t believe it. Now what?
I brace for all kinds of follow-up reactions. Their fears, their demands for answers, their requests for reassurances that I help guarantee their futures…
Meanwhile, multiple voices speak up.
“—thank you—”
“—you always fight for us—”
“—don’t have to do it alone—”
“—so much pressure—”
“—Captain, we have to figure out how to save ourselves together—”
I’m palming the ground for support. Especially when Lokhov bluntly reminds me, “The superpower of the Vancouver Wings is our we. It’s how we won the Cup in the first place.”
My breath catches. Fuck. He’s right.
Quinn nods. “You can’t have unity on the ice, if we don’t have it off the ice. Part of that means facing tough decisions together. If one of us is in danger of being traded, we all want to join the fight to protect them.”
“Do you trust us, Cap?” Raghr wonders.
My eyes go big. “Of course I do!”
“So, if the situation was reversed and anyone else on the team was in your position, trying to lift all the responsibility on their shoulders, what would you tell them?”
And that question—it cuts through it all, pulling the rug out from underneath my feet. I’m dizzy as it hits my chest. The realization that if anyone else was captain, I’d never let them carry the burden I’ve been carrying alone. I’d be on the other side, leading this intervention.
I close my eyes and mutter, “Fuck.”
I’ve been so worried about what being a captain means, I’ve forgotten that I’m also one of twenty six.
Like Lokhov said, never having to be alone is what being on the Wings means.
Our team isn’t just players who work together.
We stand stronger as one. Afraid of being selfish, afraid of losing them, afraid of my past repeating—I’d forgotten that.
“There’s something else.” Quinn’s scar shifts as he grimaces.
“We were going to wait until next practice to do this, but a video is starting to go around. Tagged as being taken at your hometown and that’s how we figured you’d be here.
As soon as I saw it, I messaged to see who else was available to drive out.
That’s why we had to find you right away. ”
“…what video?”
“I’m sorry, Cap. It’s your speech at the memorial.”
I start to tip over. Lokhov breaks from the group and steadies me.
Macklin flanks my other side, just in case. “If it helps, the reaction’s been really positive online. About what you went through.”
My fists tighten. “No one can bother the Osler family—”
“They’ll be protected,” Lokhov interrupts. “The Wings PR people are already on it.”
“So, everyone…knows about Jesse?”
In their expressions, there’s no pity to be found. Only quiet nods of empathy. They wait patiently for my reaction.
My hand grips Lokhov’s shoulder. And I’m leaning against Macklin, shaking. Because I feel…
Relieved.
My past is fully out in the open. It’s no longer clawing inside me. It’s free.
I didn’t think it was possible.
How did I get here?
It didn’t happen all at once.
I said Jesse’s name to Sonya when we were flying to Oslo. After I mentioned him to Jung at practice. And then like a cracked dam, I burst apart at the memorial. And since? My family knows. Now my team does, too.
What I’ve hidden shamefully for so long is supposed to lose power the more I talk about it. It hasn’t lost power. It’s transformed. Now, instead of fearing every reminder of Jesse, almost to the point of trying to forget him, suddenly I want to share how much he meant to me.
So I do.
We get up and join my mom, sisters, and Sonya—who have been patiently watching everything unfold from the sidelines—and I share more about Jesse. A lot of good memories come out, glowing bright. And this old weight—that I have to face and fix everything alone—soundlessly falls off my shoulder.