Falling for the Goalie and Other Dangerous Sports

Chapter 44 - Maddy

It wasn't quite on target. Mark was in the right position to get some contact with it, sending it back out along with the majority of the confusion. A center mid then cut to it, Dakota trailing, and the goal to his disposal. Out of nowhere, which is what usually happened on corner kicks, Derek had a wild dive. It wasn't quite a dive though, more of a shocked stumble that was enough to hit it out and enough to put him on the ground, scrambling to get back up.

But let's rewind. As the center mid shot, I had dropped back to cover the forward that was waiting to crash the back side. I kept him in the corner of my eye as the shot was deflected. Yet, the forward sprung into action with a wide open goal steps away.

I don't think I've ever moved my feet so quick. In the moment, there was only one way I was getting to that ball in time enough to put some sort of stop to it. And instinctively, I did a panicked slide tackle.

So listen: slide tackles are dangerous. And if you don't do it the one, right, legal way (not from the back, one leg, going for the ball), then you can seriously injure the other player and/or get a red card. No questions asked. They're illegal in younger leagues. Obviously many would regard this as a bad idea, considering I've never done a slide tackle before, but by the grace of god I did it absolutely fine. I still wonder how the hell that happened.

But, with little experience, I didn't execute it quite right. I hit my hip hard off the ground, and my uniform shorts were pulled up so my entire right leg dragged across the bone-dry dirt and grass. Something sharp, more than likely a rock, scraped from my knee up to mid thigh. I wasn't thinking about any of that though, I was in some sort of mind-limbo as the forward shot with as much force possible. It actually hit off my leg before tripping him up onto the ground, but the ball then hit hard off the lower portion of the crossbar, looking like a sure fire goal. The ball bounced hard right off the line, and Derek had picked himself up enough to fling his body over it before it could do some other funky bounce and go in.

It took a second or two before anyone knew what had happened. Breathing heavily, propped up on my elbows, sprawled forward over my outstretched leg, I caught sight of Derek's face. He was staring wide-eyed, straight ahead, petrified and huffing himself. After cheering erupted, he finally relaxed his head and smiled a little. He looked to me and said cheerfully, "That was close."

The forward picked himself up off of me as Derek got up too, jogging out to the 18 to punt it. I picked myself up, smiling at first, but the lightest rub of my shorts against my thigh stung painfully and wiped the smile off my face. I tried to keep walking, but the sting continued all the way down to my knee and even made bending it hurt. I continued to go forward though, I couldn't stop now. Derek was walking back as the offense was finally getting some momentum, Bridesdale completely heartbroken. He looked up before passing me, slightly smiling, but then wide eyed as he caught sight of my leg. He stopped before me. "God Maddy, you need out."

"I'm fine." I went to walk past him, but he grabbed my arm.

"No, you need out."

"I'm okay."

"You're bleeding. If you get blood on your shorts they won't let you play and that needs cleaned as soon as possible."

"What? Why?" I glanced down, surprised to find the majority of the side of my leg pink and torn up with small spots of blood, but even more startled by the thin, eight inch cut extending from my knee to thigh. It wasn't dangerously deep, but it was already starting to bleed.

"Health concern. Hold your shorts away from your leg. Coach already has a sub waiting for you."

"But I can -"

He grabbed my shoulder with a squishy gloved hand and shook me. "Maddy, you need out. Don't injure yourself more by staying in." A whistle cut our conversation short as Zane called me off, sending Wyatt back to defense. Derek let his hand slip off my shoulder as I started to walk out.