Page 92 of The Night We Met

I don’t see it. I don’t see the hit coming before it’s too late. It feels like a semi has crashed into my body. The sharp sting of pain that happens when the force of our bodies landing on the side of my body. And I know that I just cracked a rib.

I try to move my body once the weight of the defenseman is up, but I can’t feel the left side of my body.

The roar of the crowd fades to nothing as I try to get my brain to send waves to unresponsive body parts.

“Mason. Can you move?” One of the athletic trainers asks me.

I move my right arm and leg.

“Good. How about the other side?”

I manage to twitch my left foot. “I can’t move my arm Jeff.”

“What about your neck?”

I turn my head left and right. The team doctors continue their on field assessment. Jeff comes back mournfully with a, “We’re going to have to cart you offthe field.”

My nod is all that I can give. I went my whole career without a major injury. Hamstring, quad, and shoulder injuries were easy to come back from. But can I come back from this? The sound of the gator getting closer gets my heart rate pumping. If I could walk off this field to alleviate myself, my teammates, the fans, my family…and Kamryn I would.

I drown out the noise around me. As if that hasn’t already happened with the crowd falling to a hush. The only time it’s been silent in this stadium is when I come here for solo drills. But now, the silence is because of me.

I’m jostled around as my body is flipped onto a backboard. I keep my stare on the night sky. Not wanting to look at my teammates or my opponents. I distantly hear the crowd of applause as I’m loaded onto the gator. When the cart moves I give a thumbs up to the crowd. Not truly knowing if everything is okay. But knowing that this injury may be the one to take me out of the game.

“Please let me back to see him,” a feminine voice says.

“It’s against protocol, ma’am. I can’t let you back there,” a burly voice says.

I look over at Jeff, “If that’s Kamryn will you let her back here?”

They have me laid up on a table. The team doctor did a quick evaluation and said there was no explanation for the numbness that I experienced, but an MRI would answer all of the questions.

A flurry of dark chocolate hair and worried eyes enter my line of sight. My girl is trying her best tohold off her tears. I told her I never wanted to make her cry again. This is why.

“Baby, come here,” I beckon with my right arm. My left arm is in a sling and I have an icepack on my ribs. It hurts to breathe but I can’t stand not holding her.

Kam slides onto the bed next to me. Too carefully for my liking but I know she’s doing it because of my injury. When she’s settled next to me I feel her body relax.

Her touch is delicate as it slings low over my waist.

I voice the fear and realization, “I think this might be it for me.”

“What do you mean?”

“When I got hit, I couldn't feel the left side of my body,” I run my free hand up and down her back soothing her. “The team doctor doesn’t know why it happened but that an MRI would hopefully explain it more.”

“But you can rehab right?” Her voice is so hopeful. This game is what brought me to the city. It’s what brought me back to her. I can survive without the game, but I can’t survive without her. I barely did before but not anymore.

“I think it all depends on what the doctor says. I’d want to avoid surgery at all costs, so PT would be the best route. But I don’t want to think about that.”

“Watching you from the box, not knowing what was happening, I was terrified Mason.”

One of the biggest risks of playing professionally is getting hurt. College was slightly easier. But I’m playing against guys with way more experience under their belt. So when my O-line fails the other team will take advantage of that.

“I’m sorry baby.”

Kamryn leans up to kiss me. I can’t move too much towards her so one kiss is all we can do. We lay here untilthe game ends and I’m set to go to the hospital. By the sounds of the team, we at least won the game. I send Kam home because she has a big meeting regarding her holiday line. But the fact that she was here tonight meant the world to me. Now I wait for news to whether or not I can keep playing a game that took me away from the one person I ever loved.

Kamryn

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