The last home game of November, the arena knows something is different.
It's not subtle.
The crowd is at capacity—every seat, every standing section—and the particular energy running through it has less to do with the Chicago Bears.
It has more to do with the fact that everyone in the building has seen the statement, or the video, or both, and has come tonight partly to watch hockey and partly to see what happens when these two share a public space for the first time.
Mia becomes aware of this approximately eight seconds after stepping out of the corridor and into the open air of the ice rink.
She's in her team physio jacket, medical kit at her feet, doing the thing she always does before a game. But the weight of it tonight is different. She can feel the eyes from the stands without
