The Trade - A Jamie Oleksiak Story

Chapter 2

"Savannah, it's been three hours. I'm coming in."

I had managed to keep myself composed while Chubbs finished filling me in. He explained that Jamie would be in town tomorrow afternoon. They were going to have the normal new trade ritual get together at Seggy's house instead of mine and Jaime was going to stay with Stephen Johns instead of at The Headquarters with me.

He also explained that as soon as the trade was announced, Jamie called Stephen. He asked about me. He asked if he could stay here. He asked for my new number.

Stephen said he'd let him know.

Chubbs told him no.

Radek threatened to knock his teeth out.

Rads threatened to kill him.

And now Jamie is more confused than ever and determined to figure out why I went from being upset when he left to downright hating him. He's asking questions. Questions I don't want to answer.

Roope didn't wait for an answer. He let himself in to my room and plopped himself on by king sized bed beside me. When I still didn't respond or move, he tugged the blanket down off my head and brushes my hair out of my face.

"She lives!" He joked, but I didn't smile. I didn't feel like I was living. I once again felt like an empty shell that's barely existing.

"I'm fine, Roope," the lie fell off my tongue way too easily. "I just need some time to process it."

"Well," Roope booped my nose, still trying to make me smile. "If you're fine then why don't you explain to me why everyone's acting like the devil is coming back here. I mean, I knew the guy when we played in the AHL. He seemed like a good dude."

"He's not the devil, but he does remind me of my personal hell."

"What do you mean?"

I sighed and sat up beside him. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me over until my head was lying on his chest. He ran his fingers through my hair to calm me. Even though he's 4 years younger than me, he acted so mature that he really did feel like my older brother most of the time.

"Tell me this, first. The promise that Chubbs and Faksy made y'all make about me. What is it exactly?" Roope sighed and kissed the top of my head before explaining.

"Apparently, a while back, when we started using this place and you had players stay with you, all of the current guys got together and made a pact to protect you. From them, from yourself, from the media, from anyone and anything. Then, as new guys would join the team, they would make them promise the same thing- to protect you and never hurt you. To treat you like family and with respect. By the time I came along, they also added in that you were off limits, just like a teammate's real family. You couldn't be hit on, you couldn't be chirped about, nothing. A couple of the guys said that part was added later, but I don't know. It was part of the promise I made when I came up from the AHL."

I nodded and closed my eyes. I loved those guys so much. The promise was a little much and basically made me feel like I was a little girl that needed all the big strong guys to protect me, but I also understood why they did it. I was in the middle of their world. They didn't let many people into their world like I was. I was closer to them than most of the WAGs.

"He's the reason for the new part of that promise." I whispered. I knew Chubbs and Faksy would have added that after everything we went through last year.

Radek was the one with me every single day when everything happened. He's the one who stayed by my side and nursed me back to health. He's the one who cooked for me and changed my bandages.