First Sight [Odell Beckham Jr. Love Story]

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Alana Cardenas

I cried the entire way over here. I knew this was going to happen. I knew I would have to go through this again. I just don't understand how. He was at the gym. I followed him. He went there to work out just like he promised me. How did he end up at my apartment complex? He told me this stuff was in his past and he would do better. The night he got arrested should have been the night this shit came to an end. Things were supposed to change. He promised. I rushed into the hospital once I parked the car. I quickly went over to the front desk in a panic. "Odell Beckham?!" she turned and face the computer next to her. She typed in his name. "He's just been transferred to floor seven, room 708." I nodded then got on an elevator. I had called everyone. His mom, his dad, Jordan, even Jarvis. He sounded just as upset as I was when I called him. I could tell he was hurt. Speaking or not..he loved Odell like a brother.

The elevator stopped at my floor so I got off. I found room 708, but found people outside the room first. "Lana!" Sean exclaimed as he approached me. His expression changed from panic to sympathy once he noticed I was crying. "C'mere." he said softly then pulled me into a hug. We wrapped our arms around each other while I sobbed in his chest. "Don't cry, I talked to the doctor already. He's going to be fine." I let out a sigh of relief then took a deep breath to calm myself down. I pulled away from Sean's chest and looked past him. Once my vision focused on what I was looking at, I grew angry.

I backed away from Sean, leaving him confused, then stormed over to Luke. "What did you do to him?!" I asked angrily. He seemed shocked. "What!? Why you think I did something?" he questioned back. "Because I know about his college days and he told me you were trouble," I stated. "I'm not dumb, I can put two and two together!" he sighed then looked down at his feet. "Baby?" a short girl came out of nowhere and grabbed his arm. "Who are you?" I asked. "This is my girlfriend, Chrissy." he informed me. "Can you give us a minuet babe? This is Odell's girlfriend." she nodded vigorously then walked away. "Girlfriend? Really?" he shrugged a little. "Just leave." he rolled his eyes. "You can't tell me what to do, maybe I want to stay."

"And maybe your girlfriend would like to hear about you giving your number out to random girls in your apartment complex."

"On second thought, I think it's time we did leave." he walked past me and exited with his girlfriend. Sean approached me from the side. "What was that about?" I shook my head in disbelief. "Nothing," I said letting the situation with Luke go. "Tell me what happened." I asked turning to him. He sighed then stuffed his hands in his pockets. "I went to see you, but your place was empty—you need to explain that by the way—so I went back out and heard somebody scream. I went to the noise then saw ole boy stretched out."

I put my face in my hands and kept shaking my head. Sean grabbed my shoulders and kept me still. "Calm down, he's fine." he assured. "He's not fine, he needs help. I just want to see him." I said. "Alright, once the doctor shows up again I'll tell him you want to see him, but for now just have a seat and stay calm. I have to call Crystal." I nodded then walked over to the five chairs lined up against the wall while Sean aimlessly walked in the opposite direction. "Alana!?"

I looked up and saw Ms. Heather running towards me. She had tears running down her face. She rushed over to me me and we hugged. Odell's mother began to sob on my shoulder. "Where's my son?" she asked in between her cries. I faintly nodded my head in the direction of his door. "I haven't talked to a doctor yet, but my brother did. They said he's fine."

"If he's fine, can I see him?" I shrugged.

"No clue yet."

She pulled away from me and sighed loud and frustratedly. "This wasn't supposed to happen to my son again." she whined. I nodded then grabbed her hand. "I know, but I'm not taking no for an answer this time." I assured her. "He's going to rehab, whether he agrees with it or not." she nodded. "You damn right, and this is the last time I want to deal with him in these type of situations."

"Lana!" Sean shouted from down the hall. He was walking over to us with a doctor besides him. "Hey, how you doin?" Sean shook Ms. Heather's hand. "This is my brother." I explained to her. She nodded and greeted him warmly. "Thank you so much." she said. "Don't thank me, the doctor wants to talk to y'all." we all turned our attention to him.

"Are you family?" he asked.

"I'm his mother, she's his girlfriend." she informed him. He nodded. "Okay, Mr. Beckham is up. I just need a couple seconds to see if he's ready to have visitors right now. Odds are he'll only be able to see one person at a time because we he's weak." the both of us nodded. "I'll be right back." he walked into the room and we nervously waited. A moment later he came back out. "Okay, he's asking for..Alana?" I nodded. "That's me." the doctor stepped aside and let me in.

I went inside the room and saw Odell laying in the hospital bed. His complexion was dull and lighter than usual. The tip of his nose was bright red. I approached the side of his bed then grabbed his hand. "You had me worried sick." I said while looking down on him. "I know...I'm sorry." he replied faintly. "Your mom's out there crying her eyes out." he looked down. "How? You said you were going to the gym. I saw you go to the gym." he rested his head back on the pillow. "I tricked you, I saw you and Crystal so I waited until y'all left." he explained.

"That's why you sold my apartment? So you could do drugs with your old pal Luke without getting caught?" I asked. "I was just..just going to use for a little. I was going to stop. I got carried away today and over did it. I'm sorry." I sighed then broke down. "I just want you to be safe. I hate the fact that you do this to yourself. I love you. I'll be there for you. But you won't give me the opportunity to help you because you're not willing to help yourself. You have to check into the facility, Odell." he rolled his eyes then turned his head to face another direction.

"Don't do that! Listen to me!" he slowly turned back to me. "I want you to do better for yourself, but if you want to leave this hospital and not get the proper help you need then fine! But when you're here again for the same exact reason, just remember that I tried to talk some sense into your stubborn ass! You have millions of people, thousands and thousands of kids, all looking up to you. You have a responsibility to them and yourself. Guys with a passion for football would literally kill to be where you are, but your going to let this shit get to you? Im offering you help and a way out, baby! I'll be there for you, I promise! Just please make the right decision now."

The room grew silent. I didn't mean to snap like that, but he was irritating me. So many people look to him as a hero. His one goal in life is to win a Super Bowl. He wants to be the best at what he does and these drugs are the only thing with the potential to ruin that for him. I'll support him. I'll walk every step of the way with him. I'll keep him on track at any cost, even if that means putting Ms. Shannon on hold. I'll be his backbone and any other thing he needs me to be. I'll visit him everyday and stay for hours if that's what he wants. I'll take care of Tzar and Dre while he's gone. All I'm asking is that he helps himself just this once.

"I'll think about it." he replied dryly.
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Damn. Thoughts on Odell?😔 Thoughts on Luke too?🤔😒