That Pivotal Moment

Chapter 6

What the hell happened? I felt like I got hit by a truck. I couldn't open my eyes as I tried to get a look at my surroundings. I heard a constant beeping and voices whispering from a distance. I tried to move my body but all I felt sharp pains and groaned.

"Easy there, Golden Boy."

I know that voice.

I managed to force my eyes about halfway and I saw her sitting in a chair next to me. She was leaning forward with her elbows on her knees as her hair fell in her face. The smooth way she did it made it seem like it was a habit.

"Gabby? What happened?" Fuck my voice was raspy.

She sat back and looked at me, a slight frown on her face. "You're in the hospital. You don't remember?"

I tried to think about it. It took a few minutes before I remembered seeing Roy, Luke and Jimmy arguing with Gabby. Then the whole thing came back to me and I looked at her again. "Roy...the guys..."

She crossed her arms over her chest. "Yeah, like I told you. Fucking assholes."

I let out a short laugh which ended up causing more pain. This shit really fucking hurts.

I closed my eyes and tried to breathe through it as she said, "Your mom is here. She's in the cafeteria. She asked who I was. I just told her I witnessed the whole thing."

I looked at my left leg which was now in a cast and elevated in a sling. "Guess I'm out the next few games, huh?"

She had a weird expression on her face, and I asked, "What is it?"

"Maybe I should get the doctors..."

Dread filled me at her statement. "Tell me, Gabby."

She rose from the chair and stood next to my bed. Taking a deep breath, she said, "The guy who hit you, he hit you with a steel baseball bat. You have a patellar fracture. The doctor said this type of fracture happens when the patellar, which is a shield of the kneecap or something, is severely fractured from the injury and then it's also crushed from falling on it. He said a bunch of mumbo jumbo, but...they performed surgery right away."

I tried to absorb all the information she was telling me. By the sound of it, I have the feeling I won't be able to play anymore. When that possibility presented itself, I felt like a weight had been lifted. Like I have been holding my breath all these years and I can finally breathe. Then it dawned on me. "Has my dad been here?"

She hesitated. "Your mom said he went by the school to talk to your coach."

I didn't know what to think about that. My dad was probably fuming right now. Even with the best rehabilitation I'm pretty sure there is no way back from this type of injury. And as much as this sucked and hurt like a mother fucker, I couldn't help what I was feeling. Free.

Gabby brought me back to the present as she said quietly, "It's crazy to think that a few minutes can take your dream away, isn't it?"

"I told you this wasn't my dream," I said a little harsher than I wanted.

She looked me in the eye. "Then what is your dream?"

I looked at her and all I could do was accept the feelings I felt for her. Even though I was in a fuck load amount of pain, I wanted to kiss her and hold her. I knew she could tell what I was trying not to say. Her expression turned guarded as she retreated towards the door. The doctors came in the room as she left. I watched her walk away and she didn't turn around once to look back at me.

When I couldn't see her anymore, I looked to the three doctors who were looking at me with concerned expressions. "Son, we have some unfortunate news."