footy :: darcy moore

chapter twenty-nine

I never liked hospitals. I don't have some damaging back story where a family member or loved one died, i simply despised the concept. You go to hospital to prevent death and that was something to be shameful about. To me, whenever visiting a relative in hospital, decorations were never enough. Not when I knew that the person meant so much more than to be labeled as room 455. They meant more to me and going into hospitals made me realise they weren't acknowledged as a person they were acknowledged as someone with an injury, unknown sickness or disease.

It made me sad to know that Darcy was in that situation right now. All people in a hospital have one thing in common. Pain. Whether it's there pain or some else's. Physically or mentally. There was something causing them pain. And I didn't like that. Another reason as to why I hate hospitals.

"Darcy?" I asked quietly, peeking into his room. Jamie was close behind me as we started to lean into the private hospital room.

Once we could fully see the blonde haired boy, our eyes turned downwards seeing his lonely face stare up at the ceiling, searching the roof for answers to questions we don't know.  He didn't flinch, I knew he was aware of our presence, he didn't have to show us he acknowledged it, but still his eyes remained glued to the ceiling.

"Moore? You alright?" Jamie called softly and closed the door behind him.

Darcy finally sat up right and looked at us, his eyes were red-washed, glistening with tears ready to spill but he wouldn't let them. He refused. I immediately felt sad. Truly sad. The boy that I had fell in love with was aching inside. He was just getting better and now he would have to go through the record process all over again.

"What did I do?" He asked. We both furrowed our eyebrows in confusion. "Why?!" He exclaimed, slamming his fist down on the hospital table that hovered over his bed. I flinched at the motion.

"Why what?"

"Why haven't I got anything left?" His voice was shaking and made my heart feel sore. "Nothing good's going on in my life. The doctor said 3-4 weeks I'll be out for. Maybe the reoccurring event of injuring myself in footy is a sign."

I gave him a look.

"A sign to stop footy. For good." I was sure he wouldn't cry. But he did. A tear fell from his eye and streamed slowly down his face, resting on his chin. He didn't wipe it away though. "Because I feel like every time I get a step closer to being back, I'm always 2 steps away from achieving my goal."

Darcy just looked are his lap after his small speech. Jamie sat in the seat and looked at the floor, unsure of what to say. I almost did the same, but I knew that wouldn't help in any way.

So instead I walked over to Darcy's bed and sat at the mid-point of the bed, careful not to sit on him. I reached for his cheek, tilting it upward and wiping of the tear that was still there.

"Hey," I said trying to force his eyes onto mine. "I'm not giving up on you. You just need to be resilient. In order to be resilient you have to learn from your past struggles. In the future you'll be able to use this as an experience that built your resilience."

Darcy finally looked up at me, the evidence of tears was now gone but his eyes were still red.

"This is your passion. You've worked way to hard to give up now." He gave me a half-hearted smile, assuring me he appreciated my words. "And besides, you said you had nothing left. You have me."

Then his eyes lit up. Not very much, but enough that I could notice.

"I mean I've waited here for 3 f*cking hours to see when you would be admitted and almost sacrificed my entire phone battery. Now that's saying something." Darcy stifled a laugh.

"And me, doofus." Jamie added in.

"Shut up. Don't take credit for my speech."

I flipped him off.

"And don't forget you've also got all of these guys too."

Jamie then got up out of his seat and opened the door, revealing almost the entirety of the Collingwood football club players. AFL, VFL and a couple AFLW players flooded the halls of the hospital and Darcy's hospital room.

"You have our full support with whatever you do. But don't give up yet. You're to young to be this cynical. So be resilient and get through this. You'll thank me one day." I smiled and he smiled slightly back.

Josh T came from behind me to talk and encourage Darcy, others following his motion.

He needed to be loved, he needed to know he was. He was valued, not just as a player but also as a person. He was a friend and person you could trust your soul with. A boy I loved. Once many boys had left, the only people remaining was Darcy, Adam, Scott, Steele, Brodie and I. My dickhead brother left with Alex earlier because I was "affecting his happiness."

I walked back over to Darcy as we said goodbye to Steele and Scott, now only 4 of us were there. Adam and Brodie went out to find a fending machine, but were still near the room somewhere.

"So, you feeling better now?" I asked, a small but smug smile on my face.

"Yeah, I am." He returned the smile. "Thank you, Daisy, so much. You helped me be resilient."

"Don't get sappy on me now, Moore." I joked, lightly nudging him. He grinned up at me. "But you were resilient on your own, you just needed a little reminder of your passion and what fuels your passion." He gave me soft eyes, taking in the deep words I spoke. I suddenly burst out laughing. I hope he doesn't realise that these are words from my ninth grade essay that I found the other day.

Darcy looked confused as my laughter died down. "What?"

"Sorry." I said realising that I looked like I was making fun of him and my eyes widened. I then looked down before rushing out, "I was just laughing at how deep I sounded because I'm not a poetic person and how I said something meaningful for once and I wasn't laughing at you. Ah shit-" I cut myself off when I felt his fingers lifting my chin up, slowly and softly. It was dead silent. My eyes finally met his.

"I am so grateful for you Daisy." He whispered, his face moving closer to mine. "You're the most important person in my world." He said before lightly pressing his lips to mine.

I almost couldn't believe what was happening. I was kissing Darcy! Our lips moved slightly but in sync with each other. It was the most beautiful kiss I had ever shared with someone. It was cliche for sure, but not too an extreme extent. It was so simple yet it meant so much than something extravagant. We pulled away and just stared at each other, small smiles resting upon our faces.

"We leave them alone for 2 minutes, Brodie." We turned to face two guys, or little boys should I say, at the door. "Two minutes!"

"That was so cute. Oh my god." Brodie exclaimed.

"Guys." I snapped. "F*ck off?"

"Yeah, okay." Adam said before the two left the room once again.

Darcy and I looked at each other again, pausing for a minute before bursting into a fit of laughter.

"Idiots." I muttered, once our laughs had died down.

"Daisy, I really like you." Darcy spoke softly, completely bringing the subject back to us. I had almost forgotten about our kiss we shared just moments ago.
"I think we should be together. I-If that's what you want too."

Without hesitation, I nodded. "Yeah. It is what I want." I smiled before embracing him in a tight hug.

"Yes!" I heard from outside the room. "It's happening Jamie!" Adam.

"Look if you get here soon, you might witness another kiss. I don't know-" He was on the phone to my brother.

"Adam shut up!" I yelled again before laughing with both Darcy and Brodie, from outside the room.

I wasn't angry or anything. I was happy, for once. Generally happy.
And all I could think about was the tall, muscular, terrible blonde haired boy sitting in front of me.

So now I know something.

I like hospitals now.