Page 105 of Secret Love

I DON’T LIKE THIS PART

TRU

The fear I feel when Henley doesn’t get back up is indescribable. I’m still a newbie to football, but since the season began, I’ve been to every home game, including the ones during the preseason.

Every time he’s tackled, my heart stops, but he always hops right back up, that grin visible from the field, and he brushes it off like it's nothing. Even though I can see later that he's hurting.

We've spent many hours in the hot tub to ease his aches and pains. The game is taking a toll on his body, but he never shows it…so when he stays down on the field for too long, I feel like I might collapse myself.

“What's happening?” Cassidy asks. “Why isn't he getting up?”

The girls and I clutch each other's hands and I pick Gracie up when she starts crying.

When the stretcher lifts him up and puts him on the cart, I study the screen to see if I can tell anything. His eyes are squeezed shut, but his hands are clenching.

He’s not unconscious.

He’s okay, he’s okay, he’s okay.

Please be okay.

They roll off the field and the noise is deafening.

“What should we do?” I look at Sadie. “Can I go down there? Can I take the girls with me?”

“I think so,” she says. “I’ll come with you. I don't know if they'll let us see him, but we can try.”

I leave the suite with the girls and we rush through the back halls, Sadie leading the way. Timothy, one of the trainers, is outside the office when we get there. He motions for us to follow him.

“He wanted you to know he's okay. All of you,” he says, looking at me and the girls.

“What happened?” I ask.

“I wish I knew more…”

“Can we see him?”

“He's with the doctor right now and if he has anything to say about it, you’ll see him soon. He was more worried about you guys than anything.”

Gracie buries her head in my hair and sniffles and my other hand grips Audrey’s as we follow Timothy. I can tell we’re gettingclose because of the crowd slowly gathering around the closed door. I’ve seen the way these guys look after they’ve just won a game and this is not it. They look gutted and it just adds to the apprehension I’m feeling.

My phone buzzes and I pull it out. Bree.

“I should take this. It’s your mom,” I tell the girls. “Hey, Bree.”

“Is he okay?”

“I haven’t seen him yet, but one of the trainers says he is. The girls are with me. I’ll let you know what’s going on as soon as I’ve seen him.”

“Thank you. Hug the girls for me and tell Henley that Alex and I are praying for him.”

“I will.”

We hang up, and when it's time for us to go back, I rush to Henley's side. He grabs my hand and the girls take turns hugging him. We surround him, and I try to stay calm for everyone’s sake, but inside, I’m still panicking.

“I’m okay. I'm okay,” he says, but he looks awful.

His coloring is wrong. His forehead is clammy and the way he's squeezing my hand, I can tell he's hurting.

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