Page 6 of Twisted Ruck

I could definitely relate to that kind of uncertainty. I hoped for her sake she'd have her position sorted quickly.

I caught movement in the corner of my eye. When I looked around, it was to see Atlas step into the room, followed closely by head coach Max Stanley.

Before he could catch my eye, I looked away, vaguely aware that he moved to the corner. If anyone was going to cause an uproar over my presence here, it would be him.

Hopefully, he'd keep his peace until this was over.

I suspected he would. He seemed all too aware of the negative impact of making a scene in public. No, he'd wait and make a scene in private.

"Thank you all for being here today," Coach started. His words put an immediate end to the quiet talking around the room. "By now, you all know about the passing of Bruce Fergus. His wife found him in the early hours of the morning. She called an ambulance, but they were…too late."

He coughed, choking back emotion, fist over his mouth. For a while, he was unable to continue. I didn't know much about the relationship between Bruce and Coach Stanley, but it seemed there was a healthy dose of respect there.

Finally, he cleared his throat and continued.

"Because of this tragic circumstance, we find ourselves in a difficult position. A new general manager will be appointed as quickly as possible. A number of open positions were due to be filled in the next day or so. For now, those will be handed over to whoever is in charge of that area of operations. As far as I'm concerned, we continue to do as we've always done. Work hard and play hard. Bruce would want us to give everything we have to the coming season. I suggest we do that in his honour. Whenwe hold that premiership cup up at the end of the season, we'll know we did it for him."

A rumble went through the meeting room, a subdued agreement to do as he suggested.

"That doesn't sound like a team ready to give it a red hot go," Coach said. He raised his hands and gestured around the room.

The players erupted in a chorus of shouts, claps and whistles.

"We've got this," Frost shouted out. "We can do this for Bruce!"

"For Bruce!" someone echoed.

"For Bruce!" the whole room said in unison.

I actually caught Storm quickly wiping his eyes. I leaned into him and squeezed his hand.

"I'm not crying, you are," he told me.

I sniffed. "I'm only crying a little bit." I dabbed at my own eyes before catching Doctor Stuart looking at me again. One of his eyebrows rose. Did that mean what I thought it meant? If he was allowed to choose his staff, did he choose me?

I managed a faint, hopeful smile, which faded slightly when Atlas stepped into my line of sight.

He was also looking at Doctor Stuart, but rather than looking angry, he looked triumphant.

Chapter Three

Chelsea

"This is…Um… Quite the turn of events." Doctor Stuart placed his phone down on his desk and turned to face me. If I thought he looked weary at the meeting, he looked downright exhausted now. "I can't help feeling personally responsible."

"Why on earth would you feel like that?" I closed the door behind us and stood leaning against it.

"He was due for a medical," Doctor Stuart said. "I kept reminding him and he kept putting me off. I should have insisted. If I had, I might have found any issues long before they got out of hand."

"If Bruce was anything like the other guys around here, he was as stubborn as a granite boulder," I said. "Convincing him to take the time would have been near impossible."

Doctor Stuart scrubbed a hand over his face. "It was, but I should have pushed my weight around and made him come here."

"I'm sure you tried." I stepped further into the room. "How many times did he cancel appointments with you?" I was guessing, but it was probably a pretty good guess. Men like Bruce knew how to be busy when they wanted to avoid something.

"Three or four," Doctor Stuart admitted. "Something was always more pressing. Scheduling, or the salary cap. Or somebody forgot to book flights to next month's games.Something. He always said he'd get around to it when the season started. And now…he can't." He swallowed heavily, struggling to contain his emotions.

I wanted to tell him I suspected Bruce's death wasn't from natural causes. Before I could confront Atlas, he'd got sent off with the rest of the team to train. I needed to speak to him, and soon, but this had to come first.

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