Page 201 of The Surprise Play
I scan everyone and don’t see Wily, so I run up to the counter, all out of breath and flustered.
“I need to see Wily Wilson!” I practically yell at the poor receptionist.
She gives me an unimpressed scowl before the lady behind her steps forward with an efficient air. “Are you his girlfriend?”
“Yes.” I nod.
She flashes me a smile. “His friend told me you’d be coming. This way.” She flicks her finger, and I follow her through the NO ENTRY doors and into a large treatment room separated by curtained-off sections, a bed in each one.
“The last one on your left.” She gives me a wince. “I would walk you down there, but we’re under the pump, so if you could just…” She points, and I nod my thanks.
Gripping my beanie, I creep across the shiny linoleum floor, shuffling past two closed curtains. One of them has a child wailing behind it. The curtain after that is open, revealing a lady lying on her back with an oxygen mask over her face. She has a bandage on her head, and she’s so pale, I can see the veins in her neck. Her eyes are closed, and I glance away, wanting to respect her privacy.
This place is really full. I don’t think there’s a spare bed in the treatment room.
Glancing over my shoulder, I take in the hustle and bustle going on behind those sliding glass doors I just walked through. There’s a frenetic energy about this place that’s unsettling.
I slow to a stop just before the last curtain on the left, my heart rate spiking as I catch the murmured conversation behind it. The voices are low and rumbly, and thesecond I peek my head around the pale blue fabric, the conversation stops.
Zander and Grady, who are standing on either side of a shellshocked Wily, give me equally sad smiles. But all I can see is my boyfriend.
He’s lying on the bed, looking hollow, like he can’t believe this is happening.
His leg is propped up on a stack of pillows, and he has an ice pack over his left knee.
I gaze at the injury, my face crumpling to show just a touch of the heartache I’m feeling.
Wily’s broken. The look on his face right now has me fighting tears.
“Thanks for coming.” Zander lightly squeezes my shoulder, then looks at Grady. “I’m gonna go call the house, give them an update.”
“Yeah.” Grady nods, then looks from me to Wily before murmuring, “I’ll come with you, see if Coach Jones has managed to speak with a doctor yet.”
And so it becomes just Wily and me.
I’m at the end of the bed, staring at his ashen face and wondering how to approach this heinous situation.
Wily won’t look at me. He’s staring at his knee, caught in a dazed stupor as he no doubt tries to wrap his brain around this thing.
“Wily,” I whisper, inching around the bed. His eyes dart to mine, and it’s like he’s noticing me for the first time. “Hey.” I give him a weak smile, then reach for his hand. “I’m here.”
“Satch.” He sucks in a breath, sudden tears filling his eyes as he grips my hand. “What am I gonna do?”
“It’s gonna be okay.” I perch on the bed beside him.
“It’s not.” He shakes his head. “I can’t play like this.”
“I know.” I look down at his knee, about to tell him that he’ll heal and this is not the end, just a delay.
“I’m nothing without football.” The words wobble out of him. “I’m nothing without the game.”
“That’s not true.” I stand, taking his face in my hands and forcing those glassy eyes to look at me. “You don’tneedthis game. You can beanything.”
He shakes his head, not believing me.
“I know it’s what youwant, and because of that, you’re gonna play again. I know you will.” I try to give him an encouraging smile. “Just not yet.”
His lips dip into a heart-wrenching frown, and then it happens. My big, strong, tough boyfriend shatters. It starts with a breathy sob that scrunches his entire face, and then he pulls me close, clinging to me as he rests his head on my shoulder and weeps.
