I leaned up against the wall, looking around to make sure no one else was paying attention, and tried to figure out what to do next.
I had no idea what this would mean for Lance’s career. I was thrilled that he was going to be OK, but still, as he’d mentioned he was on a short leash with the Patriots as it was.
Oliver Lee was going to take over now at least until Lance was healthy enough to play. I was really worried that Lance would take it badly.
I hated that he had kept me so far away from him, despite us working together so closely every day. I really wanted to be able to be there for him, but I couldn’t, not with how he kept me at arm’s length all the time.
I sighed, letting it all out, finally admitting to myself that even though Lance Parker drove me nuts 95% of the time, I still really liked him, wanted him to succeed, and I wanted to be with him.
I couldn’t reconcile all that stuff together right now, but I had to hope that some time soon in the future I would be able to.
It was all I had to go on for now.
But Lance, Lance wouldn’t take this injury very well. The thing that mattered to him most on Earth was the Patriots and helping his brothers win, and he couldn’t do that from the sidelines.
Lance and I were in for a rough few weeks.
CHAPTER 07 - LANCE
When I woke up, I stared up at an unfamiliar ceiling. I looked around without turning my head at first, and it became quickly clear that I was in the medical wing.
There were IVs in my arm and monitors beeping away softly but consistently. That was a good sign, I wasn’t actually in the middle of dying. Score one for old Lance.
Memories of the game came flooding back. Week 3, the Pittsburgh Steelers. Late in the 4th quarter, big hit from my right side. The crunch coming from my right knee. I gritted my teeth as I remembered the wrenching pain as my knee bent in the wrong direction.
I sat up in the bed and looked down at it, covered in bandages, swelled up. Shit. That was a bad hit.
I didn’t know how long I’d be off the field, but someone would. I saw a nurse’s call button and pressed it over and over.
How could I have let this happen to me? I should have seen the rusher, I should have gone down faster, hit the dirt before he could get to me. Sure, some people would call me out in the media for getting down too fast, but if it saved me from an injury, saved me from missing time, why not?
The worst part was that we were already pretty much guaranteed to win the game, barring some miracle on the Steelers’ part. There really wasn’t any reason for me to have been in there.
Charlotte came in the room. Relief flooded over me as I saw her beautiful face and questioning look. “You’re awake!” She gushed. “How do you feel?”
“Not bad, all things considering.”
“Considering the nearly three hundred pound man determined to separate you from your legs?”
I chuckled. “You have a way with words; you paint such pretty pictures with them. Anyone ever tell you that before? Yeah, the 300 pound guy.”
“Why thank you.”
“Tell it to me straight, doc. How long am I going to be off the field?”
“There’s good news, and then there’s bad news.”
I grimaced. “What’s the good news?”
“It’s not career-ending.”
“Well, that’s a relief. And the bad news?”
“You’re gonna be out for a few weeks at least.”
Shit. A few weeks? That was an eternity in a football season. We only had 16 games before the playoffs, and every single one of them counted. Each one of them was a week of preparation and practice that I’d miss, a week of connection with my brothers, one more week for Oliver Lee to get used to working with them.
“Look, Lance, I can tell you’re bummed-“
I cut her off. “You don’t know the half of it.” I turned my head to the opposite side. “I’d like to be alone, please.”
“Lance, don’t do this-“
“I said, I’d like to be alone, Charlotte. Thank you for all your help.” I didn’t want it to sound so acidic and biting, but as soon as the words came out I knew that I had gone overboard. Too late now, couldn’t take them back.
“You’re going to have to talk to me at some point, Lance Parker.”
Ouch. Charlotte rarely used my full name like that. I think on some level she was still a little mad that I’d given her just my last name at the club that night, what felt like so long ago. “Maybe that’s true, but I would prefer it not to be right now.”
I knew without looking that Charlotte had her hands on her hips, looking at me with consternation. I was getting to know her a little better than I thought.
“Fine. I’ll be outside in the main room if you need me.”
“I’ll be fine in here, thanks.”
She turned and opened the door. “Also, you’ve got visitors, I’m going to start sending them in.”