That night, insomnia tortured all of them.
Adam was thinking of all the ways his life would be over if he got caught - he would bring shame to his family and his father's political career, lose his parents' trust and he wouldn't be able to do the one thing he loves doing the most - play hockey.
Larson cried as a sense of dread enveloped him once more. He knew for sure his father would take drastic measures, especially if he found out who he got the drugs from;
Brown couldn't decide if he was more upset because of the potential doom of his hockey career or the streak of bad luck that plagued his love life. "Maybe I'm just undesirable…" He thought as a tear rolled down his cheek.
McGill stared at the ceiling, his sense of guilt eating him from inside. He felt as if two people fought inside him - the friend and the ambitious player. He dreaded finding out which one was going to win.
Nathan tossed in his bed, praying Gordon's trick would work. He was nothing without his friends and hockey was nothing without them, either. He didn't even want to think what he was going to do if this whole thing went to shit. And then there was Winnie...Nathan tried hard to dispel the thoughts that pushed a knife through his heart, but the more he tried, the worse they got. "What do you want, Winnie...was everything I've done for you not enough?" He remembered dancing in the club among all the other girls and flipped around, screaming into his pillow. "You idiot!"
In the morning, the gang got in the car, all exhausted from lack of sleep. On the way to the clinic they sat in silence until Michael sighed loudly.
"What's up, Mikey?" McGill asked.
"I don't know...am I doomed to never find love? I thought the girl I spoke to last night was nice but I guess I was just a target to her…" His voices trailed off.
Stickler felt bad. He knew Brown was deeply hurt by the events that transpired after Winnie's treatment and was wondering if perhaps he never got over it. Now having been drugged by a girl he liked, it was understandable for him to think the way he did.
"I get what you mean." Larson replied. "I thought Jake was amazing and I was happy to find someone here after having no one for so long but he fucked me over. I wanna kill him!"
"Uhm…" Adam began. "I think I may have been slipped something too…"
"What? Seriously?"
"When I saw Nate on the...when I saw him after me and the girl, you know...it's like something took control of my body, it's like it wasn't me."
"You had the drink?"
"Yeah."
The rest of the trip was spent in silence.
The boys parked the car and walked into the clinic where other players had already lined up.
"Hey, it's the Minnesota dudes!" One guy called out, attracting the attention of his fellow mates. "Sup, guys?"
"Great…" Larson mumbled under his breath and avoided looking at them.
"Great day for peeing in a cup, eh?"
"I wanna die." Brown whispered to the others as he waited next in line.
"Play it cool, man!" Stickler nudged him.
"Next!" The nurse yelled from inside.
Michael walked inside, his stomach in knots. Adam was to go in after him, his own mind torturing him.
"Next!"
One by one, the guys all had their turn. Without talking, they left the clinic and walked outside. Brown rushed to the nearest bin and threw up.
"Mike, are you ok?" Larson knelt down to him and tried to calm him down.
"Hey, Banks…about what happened at the club…"
"Forget about it, Nate. That night was insane, I know we're all better than that. I know you love Winnie more than anything."
Stickler nodded. "Thanks, man."
"Come on, fools, let's get home!" McGill started up the car.
Minneapolis, at a restaurant
"How are we going to tell them?" Winnie sighed in despair.
"Something tells me they won't be *that* devastated." Gina rolled her eyes. "You guys okay?" She turned to Joey, Chris and Morgan.
"Uhm yeah, it's just...weird, that's all."
"Man, I can't believe it!" Morgan mumbled while playing with his food.
"We should go see Mrs. Riley." Chris suggested and called the waiter for the bill.
"Do you think she'd want to see us? I mean we're responsible for getting Riley fired and the scandal that followed...what if his cancer developed because of that?" Winnie looked worried.
"We don't know that. Plus, we owe it to her, she'd always been so nice to us." Joey squeezed her hand in reassurance.
When they got to the house, there were people in black out front, waiting to pay their respects.
"Kids!" Mrs. Riley walked outside and called them into the house.
"Our condolences, Mrs. Riley."
She nodded, crying. "Thank you."
"Look, Mrs. Riley, we are sorry about what happened to your husband back in the pee wees." Gina said, hesitantly. Mrs. Riley waved her hand.
"You were right to do what you did. Jack was a winner but was a winner at any cost, often not caring that he hurt the people closest to him.
The gang exchanged looks of worry and confusion.
"How do you mean, Mrs. Riley?" Winnie asked while helping her sit down.
Mrs. Riley wiped her tears. "Jack and I couldn't have children of our own so when the treatments were supposed to start, he cancelled them to go abroad to an important conference. Our time was running short but he kept postponing it until it was too late. I came to terms with the fact that to him, career was more important than family."
Winnie and the others seemed devastated. "Sorry, Mrs. Riley, we had no idea…"
"Enough about me! Tell me how you kids are doing...Joey, I understand you're in college now, how are you finding it?"
"Uhm, it's great, I'm still finding my way around."
"Any idea what you want to study?"
"I want to follow in my father's steps, do something for this town."
"That's great to hear, Joey, I'm sure you will be just as loved as he was, your mother must be proud." Joey smiled shyly.
Before she could ask any of the others, a man came into the room. "Mrs. Riley, it's time."
She nodded. "I'm sorry, kids, I have to go but it was very good seeing you."
"When is the funeral?"
"3 weeks from now."
"We'll be there."
"So who's gonna call them to let them know?" Morgan asked, completely unwilling to do the job.
"I'll do it." Joey replied firmly.
LA
"I feel like I'm gonna puke!" Larson paced up and down the hallways of the clinic.
"Would you quit and sit back down?!" Stickler hissed at him.
"Gentlemen, what can I help you with?" An elderly nurse approached them.
"Oh, we're just waiting for our results, thanks."
10 minutes later, another nurse appeared from a room with a bunch of papers. "These are your results, a copy has been sent to the League office already so you don't have to present it to them." She smiled and walked away.
No one wanted to open their paper.
"I'll go first." McGill tore the packet and took out his paper. "Negative."
Stickler went next, his test also negative. "Banks?"
Adam opened his results with shaking hands and took a deep breath.
"Well?"
He threw his head back and exhaled. "Negative!"
"Wohoo yeah!" Nathan slapped him hard on the back. "Come on, Brown, open yours next!"
Michael tried to but dropped the package, trembling. "I- I…"
"Calm down, Mike, just open it."
"Okay." A tear rolled down his cheek. After reading through the paper, he jumped up and shouted in a fit of crying and laughter "It's negative! It's negative!" He threw himself at Adam, hugging him.
"Alright, bud, congrats!"
Michael sat bad down and leaned on the wall behind, all worry leaving his mind. They weren't fully out of the woods yet, though. All eyes were on Larson who just stared at the paper, his heart beating either very fast or not at all, he couldn't tell. "I can't do this. Here, you look." He pushed the paper into Nathan's hands. And bit his nails.
"Okay, dude, chill." Stickler opened the paper and ran his eyes up and down the report.
"Well?!" The others were eager to find out.
Nathan's face beamed, his smile slight at first, quickly becoming a toothy grin. "It's fucking negative!" Everyone cheered, Larson finally letting loose the tears that he'd been holding back.
"Excuse me! This is a clinic!" A nurse scolded him.
"Sorry, m'am."
"Hey, should we celebrate?" Brown asked, elated.
"Yeah, but definitely not at a club!" Adam joked.
"Funny, Banks." Larson glared at him.
"Hey, I got an idea! Why don't we invite Bombay over for dinner? You know, as a thank you?" Stickler shrugged.
"Sounds kinda lame, but what the hell!" McGill smirked.