RUNNING GAME (A SECOND CHANCE SPORTS ROMANCE) (2 page)

“
M
ama
, I don’t want to go school. Sara told everyone that I’m dying and that’s why I need my inhaler!”

“What! That’s awful!” I said, stuffing a turkey sandwich into a brown paper bag. “You know that’s not true!”

“Of course I do, but now nobody will talk to me, or even sit with me at the lunch table. She told them all I was contagious!”

“That little bitch,” I muttered, low enough that my daughter wouldn’t hear me. I hated little Sara Paulson for the way she’d treated Maddy the last few years. I was counting the days till they both went off to different middle schools.

“Maddy,” I said, “you’ve just got to learn to ignore Sara. I know it’s hard, but it’s the only thing you can do. If you want, I’ll try to talk to Ms. Stone again.”

“No!” she said, her bright blue eyes flashing in anger. “That just makes everything worse because Ms. Stone makes me sit at the back of the room!”

“Okay, then, you’re just going to have to learn to ignore her,” I said, kneeling down and pulling her in for a hug. She was so tiny, so fragile, so beautiful it made me almost hurt to look at her. I’d never loved anything in my life the way I loved her. I’d have walked through fire for her, and more than anything I wanted to give little Sara a piece of my mind.

But I knew it wouldn’t work. I couldn’t keep fighting all of Maddy’s battles for her, as much as I wanted to. I’d been doing it for so long that it was second nature.

I let her go, handed her lunch bag to her and kissed the top of her head. Her smooth blonde curls were the exact opposite of my unruly black ones, and they smelled like heaven. I inhaled deeply before turning her around and gently prodding her towards the door.

“Don’t miss the bus, babe,” I said. “Everything will be okay, honey, I promise. Now, do you have your inhaler?”

She checked her backpack and nodded before heading out the door. I watched her walk slowly down our winding sidewalk, her head hung low with dread. I hated the fact that I had to send her off unprotected into the cold, cruel society that created the Sara’s of the world, but it’s just the two of us. I have no choice if I want to keep food on the table and her inhaler filled with albuterol and pay for whatever the treatment of the month was.

“I love you, honey!” I called after her. She turned back and flashed me a hesitant, crooked smile.

My heart melted, just like it always did.

“Love you, too, Mama!” she waved and I stood at the door watching as she walked down the street and boarded the waiting school bus. I kept watching until it rounded the corner, taking away the only thing in this world that kept me going.

I’d come a long way since leaving Ault behind. So much had happened in ten years, and yet sometimes it felt like nothing had happened at all. Clyde’s old truck had miraculously carried me all the way to Ft. Collins that sunny day, and I hopped on a train to Denver as soon as I got there, leaving Clyde’s old Ford waiting just where I’d said it would be.

I always wondered if he ever picked it up. I never wondered how he was doing, or if he missed me, hell, I knew the answers to those questions. But the truck had always left me guessing. I guess I’ll never know now, though. Going back to Ault and finding the answers to my many unanswered questions had never been high on my priority list.
Someday, maybe,
I always told myself,
it might be nice to take a drive through the old town, see what’s changed… And see what hasn’t.

I was pretty sure it was just a whole lot of the same shit. A whole lot of nothing. The complete opposite of rapidly growing Denver. Denver had changed so much in the last ten years, I barely recognized the place sometimes.

But it had been good to me. I’d made it my home, and it had welcomed me with open arms when I needed it the most. I was terrified when I’d arrived, all alone, with nothing but a few hundred dollars and that tiny pink backpack to my name. There’d been long lonely days where I questioned everything I’d done, when I wondered if I was ever going to find stability, but it had all worked out.

With no time to waste, I was lucky and persistent enough to find a waitressing job on the third day I was here, which was good because Denver was a lot more expensive than I had expected, and my stash of money was quickly dwindling after paying for a cheap motel every night. When the nice old lady that gave me a job working at her greasy spoon said I could stay in the studio apartment above it until I made enough to start paying rent, I could have kissed her.

It was the first genuinely kind thing
anyone
had ever done for me in my life.

Daisy, the owner, became a kind of surrogate mother to me, and once I’d had Maddy, she took her in, too. I’d never been able to repay her for everything she taught me, and everything she did for me. I worked at that diner for over three years, even when I could have left to find a better paying job… I thought I had everything figured out when I left Ault behind in that rearview mirror, but looking back now, it hurt to think how naive I was. Daisy saved my life.

But that’s every eighteen year old, right? It's not like I had anyone in my life to teach me any better. I was going on what I’d learned fending for myself while Clyde was passed out.

And now, I was back to fending for myself again… Daisy died a year ago, and Maddy and I missed her like crazy, especially when I realized she’d left me one final gift.

When I was nineteen, I enrolled in some basic classes at the community college, and then later transferred to the University of Colorado and received my Human Physiology degree. There were some days I thought I’d never be able to finish, and it took me six months longer than it normally would have because I was juggling parenting Maddy and working at the diner. Three more years in the physical therapy program followed and I was on my way toward being a Doctor of Physical Therapy.

And Daisy’s will left me enough money to pay for the whole thing… She’d wiped my student loans clean and given me a leg up I never could have repaid her for.

It almost killed me from lack of sleep, but I couldn’t let Daisy down. Somehow I’d persevered and I was thoroughly enjoying my job at the Steadman Hawkins clinic helping elite athletes return to their full potential after suffering from injuries. My job kept me sane, gave me purpose outside of being a mother and even provided me with a little bit of a social life. Most importantly, it gave me and Maddy the stability that I’d craved so much growing up.

After I’d gotten the job we moved to the Greenwood Village neighborhood so I could be closer to work and Maddy could go to some of the best schools in the state, even if they came with little bullies like Sara. The house was the smallest one in the neighborhood, and came with an outrageous price tag which took up most of my salary, but it was
worth
it. I didn’t mind the sacrifice. I was determined to give Maddy a better life than I ever had. I owed that to her…

And I owed it to Daisy.

So far, so good.

I threw on my scrubs, put our breakfast dishes away and slid into my car, saying a little prayer that it didn’t give me any trouble today. My old Honda was on its last leg and I couldn’t afford to buy a new one just yet. With the rent and Maddy’s doctor bills, my budget was stretched thinner than ever, and I was praying the car lasted just a little bit longer. Luckily, it started right up, and as I made my way to the clinic I took a deep breath, breathing in the clean mountain air that I loved so much. I had a long day to get through. They’d scheduled appointments with two new patients and I still had three other sessions as well. I just hoped I could finish up in time to meet Maddy after school.

I was in my office looking over patient files and getting prepared for the day when my boss, Larry Steadman, walked in.

“Good morning, Larry,” I said. He sat across from me and smiled, staring deeply into my eyes for a second before speaking. His brown suit was meticulous, his black loafers polished and shiny. He’d lost all his hair long ago and he was twenty years older than me, but that didn’t stop his daily attempt at a mating ritual. Larry had been trying to get me to go out with him for six months now, and I always refused by telling him it wasn’t appropriate to date people from work. The truth was, he just wasn’t my type, whatever my
type
was. I didn’t really know, because I’d had no time for a social life while going to school and raising Maddy. Now that I was out of school and settled into my normal work hours, I had a little more time… But I still hadn’t dated much. I spent all my time with Maddy, sprinkled with occasional visits from my best friend Eddie.

It wasn’t that I wasn’t interested in dating. I longed for adult conversation, adult outings…
sex
. But I felt like such a fish out of water in those situations, and nothing much ever came from the few dates I had gone on. To say I was discouraged with the whole thing would be an understatement. If there was a good man left in Denver, I hadn’t found him yet, and I damn sure wasn’t going to find him in this office.

“How was your weekend?” Larry asked. “Do anything fun?”

“No, not really. Took Maddy to the aquarium downtown, did a little shopping. Nothing too exciting.”

“You know, Maisie, I’d love to take you and Maddy to the zoo or something sometime,” Larry said.

He was persistent, I had to give him that. Lately he seemed to think the key to my heart was through my daughter.

“Larry, I’ve already told you that I don’t mix business with pleasure,” I replied, forcing myself to smile through my irritation.

“Yes, I know,” he said, a hint of disappointment in his voice. “I just keep hoping you’ll change your mind.”

“I won’t,” I said. I hated saying no to people, but the last thing I needed was to create drama at work and lose my job. “You know how much I value this job, Larry.”

“I know, I know,” he replied. “I won’t ask again.”

He’d said that before and I knew he would break that promise again next week. It seemed like every Monday he was in my office trying to make small talk and wear me down. He’d been doing this for six months, but since he was co-owner of the clinic, there wasn’t really anyone I could complain to.

Not that I would. I wasn’t one to rock the boat like that.

“Thank you,” I said, smiling again, hoping that I’d found that balance between firmly turning him down and keeping my job.

“So,” he said, with an exaggerated sigh. “It’s going to be a busy week. All the usual suspects will be back for their regular therapy but I hear we’ve got a special guest coming in today. Guess we’ll be seeing a lot of him. Somebody really did a number on his leg.”

“A lot of who?”

“Didn’t you hear? You know the Denver Mustang that got hit by a car? Blew his knee out, along with some other minor injuries?”

“No, I didn’t hear about it,” I replied slowly, my heart slightly accelerating.

“It was all over the news,” he said.

“I try not to watch television,” I replied, the hair sticking up on the back of my neck. Something wasn’t right. My stomach flipped, just like it always did when I heard one of the Broncos was coming here for treatment.

“Don’t you read the internet?” Larry asked.

“Not if I can help it,” I replied. “Unless I’m doing research or something…”

“What about the radio?” he asked “You trapped in some kind of time warp? This is the biggest news of the whole year.”

“The radio in my car is broken,” I replied, my voice laced with annoyance. “Who’s coming? What happened?”

“Oh, man, it was bad. He was running downtown, ran into an intersection, and BAM!” Larry slammed his palm on my desk loudly and I jumped. “Some kid was texting, didn’t see him, plowed right through the light and slammed into him. Busted up his knee, ACL’s torn, gonna be in rehab for a while. Hell, he’s lucky to be alive. Thank God it’s off-season so he has a few months to heal up, but we’re going to have to work fast if he’s going to make it back onto the field…”

“That’s terrible,” I replied, starting to recite a little prayer in my head that my gut feeling was wrong this time.

“Sure is. I’m going to assign you to his case. You’re my best PT, Maisey. But you gotta perform some serious magic if this guy’s going to be back at full force by September. I have faith in your skills, though, Maizie. You’re really great,” he said, smiling that creepy smile at me again. It didn’t bother me this time, because I just wanted the answer to one question.

“Who is it, Larry?”

“Oh, I didn’t say?” he asked. I shook my head, resisting the urge to jump across the desk and strangle him.

“No, you didn’t,” I replied, my voice sounding like someone else’s suddenly.

“It’s Colorado, Maisey! Jesse Colorado!” Larry was as excited as if he’d won the lottery.

My mouth dropped, my heart dropped, and my ass almost dropped right out of the chair, too. I gripped the arms of my chair and bit down on the inside of my cheek hard to keep from fainting.

Here it was.

My worse nightmare, my worst case scenario, my greatest fear was coming to life right before my eyes.

I wanted to run. I was good at running. I’d run from him before…

But this time, I was trapped. There was no where to run to, no where to hide. I’d built this life for myself and I couldn’t unwind the threads that bound me to it.

I would have to face this demon head-on now, and all I could do was hope my world didn’t get turned upside down in the process.

A
fter surgery
, my knee was the size of a fucking football and stained yellow from whatever weird stuff the surgeons used on it. I looked down at what I was now calling my ‘frankenstein leg’ and tried to move it.

Nope.
Nothing
.

No movement, but no pain either. The Vicodin were doing a good job of masking the pain, but I was ready to be done with them.

I hated the way pain pills made me feel. Sleepy, groggy, my head all fogged up. That wasn’t my game. I preferred having laser-sharp focus. My life required clarity and for me to be as clear-headed as possible. Instead, I felt like a pile of fucking mashed potatoes or something. I could barely move the parts of me that still worked, let alone the pieces that were broken… I felt like my head weighed a ton and my limbs were limp and useless.

I was laying here like a weak little kitten and I hated every fucking second of it.

I wanted to smack that stupid texting kid upside his stupid fucking head for what he’d done to me. My left ACL was torn, my thigh was deeply bruised, and I had a groin sprain to go along with it. His car had hit me so hard I’d bounced a dozen feet away. The surgery had repaired my ACL by putting in pins and grafts but I still had a long road of physical therapy ahead of me if I was going to recover fully.

And if I didn’t recover… I didn’t even want to think about that…

I’d been in the hospital all weekend and today they were sending me home. Grady sat in the corner of my hospital room reading the newspaper and I was sitting up in bed scrolling through the dozens of well-wishing text messages I’d been sent from my friends and teammates over the weekend when my nurse walked in.

Nurse Peggy was hot in that way that only nurses can be. They always look so healthy and clean, don’t they? I’d been flirting shamelessly with her all weekend - it was the only thing I could do to take my mind off my miserable situation. Luckily, she’d given as good as she’d received, and it felt like we were old friends by now. It was pretty clear on day one I wasn’t going to be fucking this one, but maybe that was for the best. I needed more friends and less
ex
lovers…

“You ready to go home, Colorado?” she asked.

“I thought you’d never ask, Peggy,” I replied, winking at her.

“
Your
home, cowboy. Not mine,” she said, shaking her head and laughing. “Not that I wouldn’t mind having a piece of you… If you’re not careful I’ll ask the doctor if he’s got any bits of that shattered knee still laying around the office.”

“Oh, Peggy, you’re a twisted woman, aren’t you?”

“The best kind of twisted,” she said, as she pressed a cold stethoscope to my chest.

“Maybe you need a good man to straighten you out,” I said.

“Talk about unicorns,” she replied wearily.

“Touche!” I said, laughing.

“This guy harassing you again, Peggy?” my coach, Will Fox asked as he walked in the door. He’d been checking in on me everyday since the accident and I was glad to see him.

“Does he ever stop flirting?” she asked.

“Nope,” he replied. “I’ve even seen him sweet-talking the football before he throws it.”

“I’m not surprised,” she quipped. “Does it work?” she asked, turning back to me.

“Better than it does with you!” I replied.

We all laughed as Will sat in the chair next to my bed.

“You ready to get out of here, Champ?” he asked.

“God yes, I can’t wait to get home to my own bed!”

“Not so fast, Romeo,” Peggy said. “Doc said you have to go straight to rehab.”

“Today?”

“Yes, today,” Will replied. “There’s no time to waste. You’ll be spending most of your days at rehab, you can go home at night, but you gotta get right back there every morning. You have about six months of healing to do in three months time.”

“I was hoping for at least a day to rest,” I replied.

“You just spent three days in the hospital on your ass,” Peggy said. “You slept the whole time.”

“You’re not helping, darlin’,” I replied, wearily.

“I’m not here to help you slack off. I’m here to kick your ass into gear.”

“Are you always such a hardass?” I asked.

“Nope. Only to cocky sonsofbitches like you,” she winked, handing me a clip board with discharge papers attached. “Sign these and you’re out of here.”

I shook my head, scribbled my name and handed the clipboard back to her.

“Sure you don’t want to give me your number before I leave?” I asked.

“I’m sure, Colorado,” she replied. “You take care of that cute tush, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah…” I replied, looking warily over at Will. “Alright, we’ll I guess you’re the boss.”

“I like it when you call me that,” he said, standing up and handing me my crutches.

“Shouldn’t I be in a wheelchair?”

“And let your other leg get weak, too? No way. You’re going to work your ass off until you’re back to a hundred percent. No short-cuts.”

“Goddammit, I’m surrounded by a bunch of tyrants!” I exclaimed.

“Yeah, well, you gotta earn those millions, buddy,” he said, helping me to my feet and helping me place the crutches under my arms. Grady stood at my side, ready to catch me if I fell. “Unless you want to hand over all this fame and glory to the next guy in line?”

“Over my dead fucking body.”